Knowing whether you are making progress towards your goals and whether you need to change your habits requires clear measures, used thoughtfully. If you measure too often, noise accumulates so much that it’s hard to find a good signal. Measure too infrequently and you have a strong signal without an opportunity to take timely action. Combine 2 or 3 relevant measures to get a clearer signal than 1 measure on its own.

Take bodyweight as an example. If you measure it every day, normal fluctuations make it hard to know what’s real change. Measure it only once or twice per year and you may discover too late that your habits are ruining your health. Knowing that changes to your habits take some time to show, weighing yourself every 1 to 2 weeks is a good balance.

The signal can be even clearer if you combine your weight with a waist measurement to estimate body composition.* Better still if you add neck measurement (for men) or hip measurement (for women). If your weight stays the same and the other measures decrease, you’re likely losing fat and gaining muscle (Sweet!). If your weight goes down and the other measures stay the same, you’re losing muscle (Bummer!).

* If you’re not sure why body composition is more important than body weight, consider this comparison:
– Weight 180 pounds, 20% body fat (36 pounds of fat)
– Weight 160 pounds, 30% body fat (48 pounds of fat)
Because muscle is more compact than fat, the heavier person will look more fit. Lean muscle also keeps your metabolism higher, making it easier to stay lean.

What do you do to filter out noise and find clear signals?