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Circumference: Waist and hip measurements are unaffected by water, muscle or other outside influences. "In many ways, these numbers are even better than BMI, weight or even body fat percentage because they’re more stagnant," says Gidus. And they tell you if you’ve lost inches -- not just water weight.

Weight: Research shows that people who weigh themselves regularly are the most likely to maintain and lose weight. Even though weight fluctuates -- you can gain a few pounds just from being, er, a little backed up -- checking in with the scale every day will give you a better idea of your progress.

Calories and Fat: Need a no-nonsense way to determine your daily allotment of calories and fat grams? Take your goal weight and multiply it by 11 if you’re a woman and 12 if you’re a man. So a woman who wants to weigh 140 pounds should get about 1,540 calories each day (140 x 11). Since experts recommend that 30 percent of calories should come from fat, multiply your calorie goal by .3 (30 percent) and then divide by nine (since there are nine calories in one gram of fat) to get your daily quota of fat. So the woman in this example should shoot for about 51 grams of fat.

Target Heart Rate: To figure out your target heart rate, subtract your age from 220 and then multiply by 60 to 85 percent. “That’s the range you hit during exercise for maximum calorie burning,” says Gidus. Using a heart-rate monitor during your workouts can help you make sure you’re in the “zone.”
--Amy Paturel