Recomposition progress calculator: heavier on the scale, smaller in the mirror
Log your weight and up to 21 tape measurements every 2 to 3 weeks, plus your caliper readings if you have them. The calculator shows the change at every site and for each body region, your waist-to-hip and waist-to-height ratios, and puts weight and measurements on one chart, so you see what the scale hides: when you train and eat enough protein, your weight can hold or even rise while your waist, belly and hips get smaller. That is fat leaving and muscle arriving.
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@withme.nutritionAlexandra Lasconi, WITH ME
Your details Required. Saved once, used for the ratios.
Add a check-in
Weight, waist and hips are needed for every check-in. Every other measurement is optional, but the more you take, the clearer the picture: take the same ones every time. The grey numbers are your last check-in.
Upper body
Midsection
Hips and legs
From the calipers, and your cycle (optional)
Your check-ins are saved only in this browser, on this device. Nothing is sent to WITH ME. Download the CSV or the PDF to keep a copy.
Your progress
Example data: a woman, 168 cm, training 3 times a week for 12 weeks at maintenance calories. Your own check-ins are not affected until you save one.
Weight and measurements, together
Every measurement: first and latest check-in
| Measurement | First | Latest | Change |
|---|
All check-ins
| Date | Weight | Waist | Hips | Total cm | Waist-to-hip | Body fat | Skinfolds | Cycle day |
|---|
Why the scale can go up while you get smaller
- Muscle is denser than fat. 1 kg of body fat takes up about 1.1 litres; 1 kg of muscle about 0.94 litres. Swap fat for muscle and you take up less space at the same weight.
- New training holds water. In the first weeks of strength training, muscles store more glycogen and water to repair and fuel themselves. That is a good sign, not fat.
- Your cycle moves the scale. Before a period, water retention can add 2 to 4% of your bodyweight for a few days. Compare check-ins on a similar cycle day.
- The scale is one number for everything. Water, food in your gut, glycogen, muscle and fat all weigh something. Measurements, calipers, photos and strength show which one is changing.
What your results mean
- Weight up or stable, measurements down: recomposition. You are losing fat and building muscle.
- Midsection down, arms, shoulders or glutes steady or up: the shape change recomposition is about. Fat comes off the middle first for most people; muscle shows on the arms, shoulders and glutes.
- Weight down, measurements down: fat loss. Keep protein high and keep lifting so most of it stays fat.
- Weight up, measurements up: gaining. Waist steady and strength up points to muscle; waist rising faster points to fat.
- Weight down, measurements unchanged: mostly water or lean mass. Check protein, training and sleep.
Two ratios worth watching
- Waist-to-height ratio = waist ÷ height. Under 0.5 is the healthy range ("keep your waist to less than half your height"); 0.5 to 0.59 means increased health risk; 0.6 or more, high risk. It works for women and men of any height.
- Waist-to-hip ratio = waist ÷ hips. The World Health Organization links a ratio of 0.85 or more in women, and 0.90 or more in men, with a substantially higher risk of metabolic disease. When it falls, fat is leaving your middle faster than your hips.
How to measure, so the numbers mean something
- Every 2 to 3 weeks, first thing in the morning, after the bathroom, before eating or training.
- Soft tape on bare skin, snug but not pressing in, parallel to the floor. Stand relaxed and breathe normally.
- Same tape, same spots, same person if possible. Use a mirror, or a mark on the skin, to find the same spot again.
- Measure each spot twice; if the two differ by more than 0.5 cm, take a third and enter the average.
- Left and right: measure both, because most people are slightly bigger on their dominant side.
- Women: on a similar day of your cycle each time.
- Weigh daily if you like, and enter the weekly average here; one weigh-in can swing 1 to 2%.
Next: get your recomposition calories and protein, with a realistic timeline in 4-month blocks, in the macros calculator. Measure your body fat with the body fat calculator (9-site calipers) and add it, with your sum of skinfolds, to each check-in. See how much muscle your frame can carry with the muscle potential calculator.
Sources
- Density of body fat about 0.90 kg per litre: Siri WE. Body composition from fluid spaces and density (1961), the basis of the two-compartment model.
- Ward SR, Lieber RL. Density and hydration of fresh and fixed human skeletal muscle. J Biomech (2005): muscle about 1.06 kg per litre.
- Barakat C et al. Body recomposition: can trained individuals build muscle and lose fat at the same time? Strength Cond J (2020).
- World Health Organization. Waist circumference and waist-hip ratio: report of a WHO expert consultation (2008).
- Ashwell M, Gunn P, Gibson S. Waist-to-height ratio is a better screening tool than waist circumference and BMI for adult cardiometabolic risk factors: systematic review and meta-analysis. Obes Rev (2012). NICE (UK) guidance, 2022: keep your waist to less than half your height.
- Measurement sites: International Society for the Advancement of Kinanthropometry (ISAK) girth protocol, simplified for home use; water retention before a period: WITH ME coaching convention (2 to 4% of bodyweight), consistent with the cycle guide.
Talk to Alexandra in a complimentary 30-minute consultation
The 16-week Nutrition & Lifestyle Remodel tracks your measurements with you and adapts the plan every week.
These tools give general estimates for healthy adults and are not medical advice. If you are pregnant, breastfeeding, under 18, or have a medical condition, talk to your doctor.
