Fitness Measuring Tools

As you go through your 12 weeks you will find that there are certain tools you will need to rely upon over and over. We highly suggest you get these tools now if you don’t already have them. Trust us, you will use them…
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Fat Caliper

People get wrapped up in how much they weigh. But think about this. Burning a pound of fat makes you feel GREAT. Right? And gaining a pound of lean muscle mass means you are leaning out, toning up and making progress. Right? But if you burn a pound of fat AND gain a pound of lean muscle mass, what will the scales tell you? When your weight stays the same, or even goes up, this can be so discouraging.

To keep from thinking you are not making progress, when you actually may be making a phenomenal transformation, use this fat caliper to measure your body fat.
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Heart Rate Monitor
Are you getting the most from your cardio workouts? Monitoring your heart rate is a great way to determine the intensity of your cardio workouts.

If I’ve had a tough day, I can fool myself into believing that I’m having a GREAT cardio workout, when really I’m just going through the motions. But the heart doesn’t lie! Using the Heart Rate Monitor I can watch how my body is reacting to each cardio workout, and, when I feel like it, push it up a notch!

There are so many choices in heart monitors, it makes sense for you to search for the one that is likely to fit you:

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Food Scale
During our first challenge, we measured every morsel of food. As we continued to do Body-for-LIFE, we thought we had a good handle on our portions and quit measuring. Then we committed to our second official challenge, and it was back to measuring again. I was astonished at how inaccurate I had become with portion sizes! I quickly discovered that by “eying” my portions, I was consistently eating 25-50% more at each sitting than I wanted to eat.

Still to this day, I measure almost every meal to ensure that we stick to our program. We started with one of those cheap, $10 scales, but the odd shape of the basket made it difficult to measure most foods. This food scale is accurate, easy to use, and it looks good on the kitchen counter.
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Body Scale
OK. You know that I’m not a fan of using the scales as your only measure of fitness. However, it is one way to monitor your progress, and how much we weigh has been so ingrained into our minds.

PLEASE avoid the fancy-schmancy scales that measure your Boy Fat, Body Mass Index, Hydration, etc. I have yet to find one that is reliable. There are more accurate ways to take these measurements. This simple scale is the only thing you need to track your weight through the 12 weeks.
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Hand Blender
People have different preferences when making their Myoplex shakes. Some use milk, others use water. Some like shakes thick, others like to add more water. We’ve even found that using different blenders can make a HUGE difference in the taste of the shake. Both at home and on the run, this hand blender is so handy (pun intended!) AND it mixes shakes just right.

Traditional blenders tend to bring more air into the shake, making it thicker and, oddly, warmer. This blender goes everywhere with me! (Its only downfall is when I take it on trips with me, explaining to airport security screeners what it is!) Many people have thanked me for this recommendation as it makes it super easy to enjoy healthy meals on the run.