I started the low carb WOL again on the 7th, I have lost 5 lbs. so far. I am trying to get my water intake up to what it is suppose to be, and I have an exercise plan in the works. I need to take my measurements now. My question is how often should I take measurements? I weigh daily, but I know that is too often for measurements. Any ideas or tips on this?

If you want to see real changes in the measurements it's best to do it monthly. At the outset you'll be losing fat faster and inches faster so every 2 weeks wouldnt be too short a time, but eventually that will slow down - a month gives you enough time that you'll actually see more of a change.

Be sure to measure in many places. Neck, bust, under bust, waist, belly button, hips, wrist, upper arm (both of them), thighs (both of them) and calves (both of them!). Often you'll not see a change in one side of your body but there will be a loss on the other - fat moves around! You'd be surprized at how much you can lose off your wrist, Dee

Nat

I don't have the patience to measure anything but waist and hips--and that I do only rarely. Instead, I use the "stuff I own" measuring system. I keep trying on this same pair of size 10 jeans (first you can't get them past your hips, then you can, eventually you can zip them, and eventually they actually fit!)...or I notice how much looser my khaki slacks are every time I put them on...or I notice how far down my arm my watch falls now! (Nat's right about that--you DO lose in the wrist!) The other day I put on an old sweatshirt and thought, "wow, this is big"--so measured how much too big at the bust: 12 inches! It was never super-tight, but I may well have lost 10 there, a happy thought. I like finding those little surprises--clothes than now hang on me, or old clothes I can get zipped.

So Nat's is the more accurate method--mine is the lazy measurer's method.

Two comments

1. There's NOTHING like pulling on those once too tight jeans and having them fit. I have done this with size 18, 16 and 14. The 12's, 10's and smaller are all lined up on the shelf in order awaiting their debut in the "clothing I am now wearing closet". Getting into those jeans does more for me than seeing a number go down on the scale. The "pant-o-meter" rules!

2. Lazy is the last word I'd ever associate with you, Razzle.

Nat

I measure every two weeks. To be more accurate Mrs. R does the measuring and I just stand there with an inane grin on my face.

But what exactly is she measuring? should she for example stuff the tape measure into my belly button and measure round the inside curve. What contours should be measured around the hips. Perhaps we should not go there! But it is fascinating what and how to measure.

Dr Eades in Protein Power has a measuring bit in his lean body mass calcs and says to measure three times and take the average. Skin and flesh just do not seem to want to stay put.
So In an attempt for more accuracy I am afraid that we all now must learn fractal mathematics. The problem of measuring things in nature all depends on the scale and the measuring stick.

It was the mathematician Benoit Mandlebrot who first posed the question....How long is the coast-line of Great Britain? At first sight this question may seem trivial. Given a map one can sit down with a ruler and soon come up with a value for the length. The problem is that repeating the operation with a larger scale map yields a greater estimate of the length. If we actually went to the coast and measured it directly, then a still greater estimate would result. As we look more and more closely, we just keep seeing more and more detail, so the measurement just gets bigger and bigger. Bigger fleas have little fleas to bite 'em and so ad infinitum.

Thus I have patented the low carb piece of string to standardise what we mean by "measurement" and it will be on sale through Shop America for $59.99. There will be both metric and imperial string and one version in dress sizes and another in belt sizes. Anyone who works in a fashion store will be denied access to all the supply of string larger than XL and all size 42inches and above will have mysteriously dissapeared.

Im pretty well new to this too and measured in the places Nat described and then again after 2 weeks.
WOW very pleased with the results My biggest change was around my chest under the bust, 4 inches :yay so dont forget to do all the places as it's interesting when you go back

I will do again next week which will be 4th week and then maybe monthly when/if the results slow down.

I also do the jeans one and weigh (daily at present ) and measure body fat, hey Im doing this for results so I like to experience them every way I can