How to Take Body Measurements for Weight Loss: The Checklist Our Coaches Send (and Why the Tape Beats the Scale)
The exact six-line measurement checklist our coaches message members, how they measure on a video call, how often, and October results the scale missed: a 34 to 32 inch waist and "better in my clothes than on the scale".
"If you can reduce my inch, I will be grateful," a member told her coach in class. The coach's reply: "Do you have the inch tape so we can measure? We'll do that in the next session." Measuring used to be our weakest habit. In the August to September recordings only 16% of classes took a measurement, and we said so publicly. In October it became routine, and the first results from the tape are the reason this post exists.
Method: from recorded YourTrainer one-to-one classes, Aug to Oct 2026 (measurement share from the 101-class Aug to Sep sample), and coach chats with members, Sep to Oct 2026. Members anonymised, coach lines verbatim. Example measurements are a composite, not one person.
Why the tape beats the scale
The scale moves 0.5 to 1.5 kg a day with water and cannot tell fat from muscle. The tape at the waist moves only when fat moves, and it moves early. Our coaches log weight weekly and measurements monthly, and judge the plan on the tape.
Our data
16%
of classes took a measurement, Aug to Sep
6 lines
chest, waist, belly, hips, thighs, arms, in cm
34 to 32 in
one member's waist on the October tape
every 4 weeks
how often coaches repeat the tape
Source: YourTrainer recorded classes and coach chats, Aug to Oct 2026
The checklist coaches send
This is the exact chat a coach sends before the first measurement session: "Please share these measurements by tomorrow. Everything in centimetres. Chest, Waist, Hips, Belly, Thighs, Arms." Here is how each is taken, with the cues coaches used on camera this month.
| Line | Where | The coach's cue |
|---|---|---|
| Chest | Across the nipple line, tape level under the arms | "Keep the tape firm but not too tight" |
| Waist | At the navel, standing relaxed, after breathing out | Tape level all the way round; check the back on camera |
| Belly | Widest point below the navel | Where many members carry fat and where it moves first |
| Hips | Widest point of the hips and glutes, feet together | Side-on to the camera so the tape line is visible |
| Thigh | Upper third of the thigh, same leg every time | Mark the spot in your head: a hand's width below the crease |
| Arm | Upper arm, relaxed at the side, same arm every time | Not flexed |
Morning, before food and before the workout. A session pumps the muscles and changes thigh and arm readings. Measure first, then train.
Same tape, same lines, same side. Write "right thigh" and keep it right.
Snug, not tight. The tape should sit flat on the skin without pressing in. On camera the coach watches for a dip at the back.
Breathe out at the waist. Hold the number after a normal breath out, not sucked in.
Date it and log it. In the app under Progress, or in the chat. One member wrote "my measurements are not marked here, just for my reference since I had not noted it" and had lost her day-one numbers. Write them down.
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| Line | Day 1 | Week 4 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chest | 89.5 cm | 89.0 cm | 0.5 |
| Waist (navel) | 84.0 cm | 81.5 cm | 2.5 |
| Belly (below navel) | 91.0 cm | 88.0 cm | 3.0 |
| Hips | 99.0 cm | 97.5 cm | 1.5 |
| Thigh | 58.0 cm | 57.5 cm | 0.5 |
| Arm | 25.5 cm | 25.5 cm | 0 |
| Weight | 63.0 kg | 62.1 kg | 0.9 |
That card is the whole argument. Less than a kilo on the scale, 5.5 cm off the middle. Anyone judging the month by the scale would call it a failure. Anyone with the tape would call it a good month.
Coach's tip: Take two photos on measurement day, front and side, same spot, same light, same clothes. In three months the photos will show what neither the tape nor the scale can.
What October's tape showed
- "32 waist, so it was 34, so it reduced, and the 39 inches, so it has reduced." (member, 5 Oct)
- "People who met me after a while said, though it was just 2.5 kg on the scale and I wasn't expecting anyone to notice, you are doing something." And: "In my clothes it is much better than on the scale." (member, 9 Oct)
- "Also want to acknowledge the 2 kg weight loss in 2 weeks. Moving forward the scale might move a bit slower. Our focus now is turning that drop into inches off the waist." (coach, in chat, 3 Oct)
- "I do see slight inch loss and slight toning in my arms. It's still not great, but it's there." (member, 26 Sep)
Why coaches switched to monthly tape
Three reasons from the recordings and the earlier data.
- The scale lies mid-programme. A member building strength with 2.5 to 5 kg dumbbells and eating 90 g of protein is gaining a little muscle while losing fat. Coach Vivek's line in class: "Don't fixate on that weight number, because you're building muscle and losing fat at the same time."
- Centimetres are what people feel. Nobody feels 900 g. Everybody feels a belt notch. The member whose friends noticed before her scale did is the normal case, not the exception.
- It is the proof that keeps people going. In our data on why people skip, the members who stayed had something to show for month one. A tape card is that something.
Weight weekly, tape monthly, photos quarterly
| Measure | How often | What it is for |
|---|---|---|
| Morning weight | Daily, read weekly | The trend, and spotting period and salt swings (see our week-one post) |
| Six-line tape | Every 4 weeks | Fat loss; the number the plan is judged on |
| Photos, front and side | Every 12 weeks | Shape and posture; what the tape cannot show |
| Lifts and plank time | Every session | Strength; it moves first. A member's plank passed one minute in the same week her waist moved |
Member story
Priya, 30s
Fat loss goal, measured on day one and again on 5 October
- Day one: waist 34 inches, hips 39, on a tape the coach watched her place on camera.
- Four weeks: waist 32, hips down too. Scale down about 2 kg.
- Coach's note in the same session: "You look so fresh and energetic." Her session rating that day: 10 on 10.
From her recorded class, 5 Oct 2026. Name changed.
"Member: If you can reduce my inch, I will be grateful. Coach: Do you have the inch tape so we can measure? We'll do that in the next session." (recorded class, Sep 2026)
Common mistakes we fix on camera
- Tape higher at the back than the front (the camera side-on catches this).
- Measuring after the workout, when the thighs and arms are pumped.
- Sucking in at the waist on day one and relaxing at week four, which hides real loss.
- Different tapes: a cloth tailor's tape and a plastic one can differ by a centimetre.
- Measuring every day. The tape, like the scale, has noise; monthly is the signal.
Want a coach who takes your tape on day one and reads it with you every month?
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About Anish Agarwal
Founder & Head Coach, YourTrainer · NASM & K11 Certified Personal Trainer · coaching since 2022
Featured in Dietitians.io, Fitness Interview, NRI Pulse, The MASALA Study. Press and media
Anish Agarwal is a NASM and K11 certified personal trainer coaching fat loss, body transformation, strength, and nutrition for clients across India since 2022. He founded YourTrainer to make expert, science-based coaching accessible online and in Bengaluru. Coach Anish's profile and the YourTrainer story.
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