Whenever you start a fat loss program, you should have some way of measuring your progress. Unfortunately, most people simply look at the scale and end up extremely unmotivated.

Well, the weight scale fails to take into account many variables that change as your body composition improves. In fact, your weight could be going up while your body fat is going down! Thus, you need an accurate way of measuring your progress in order to truly know whether or not you should stick with your program.

Having said that, you should know that not all methods for testing body composition are equally effective.

Thus, here is a primer on how to measure your body fat levels:

1. The pinchers. Do you remember seeing a trainer at your gym pinch a client with a plier-like contraption? Well, he was measuring the thickness of the clients skin in order to estimate levels of body fat. This type of method is extremely easy to do and very inexpensive. The only drawback is that it can be somewhat inaccurate and you need a seasoned pro to take your measurements.

2. Underwater weighing. You have to get wet with this one, and some people are not up for the inconvenience. This measurement basically estimates how dense your body is. The more density the more lean tissue. Remember that muscle is much more dense than fat. Unfortunately, the preparation and requirements for this type of testing leaves little to be desired?

3. Bioelectrical impedance. I am sure you have seen the little gadgets with handles that you hold in your hands to get an almost immediate reading of your body fat levels. The major drawback? They are usually extremely inaccurate. Why? Because they send an electrical signal through your body and too many things can interrupt the signals path.

4. X-rays. There are machines that send weak x-rays through the body to determine the ratio of fat to lean mass. Of all the methods mentioned thus far, this one is probably the best in terms of accuracy and preparation. The only issue here is cost?

Each method for measuring body fat has its pros and cons. For the most part, the biggest factor affecting accuracy will be the professionals skill and experience with taking the measurements. Having said that, you should pick a method and use it consistently so that you can know whether or not your program is working.