A good friend of mine once lost a significant amount of weight, without once stepping on the scale. I marveled at her ability not to measure her success, except every time she dropped a pant size, of course.

Then, there are the rest of us, the ones who need feedback on a little more regular basis. I step on the scale every single day, not because I'm obsessed, but because the information it gives me is motivating -- positive or negative.

While a bathroom scale is a simple and inexpensive way to track your progress, as Health points out, there's more than one way to skin a cat keep track of the fat you're burning. You can track your BMI, measure your waist circumference, or even get an accurate but expensive DEXA scan.

The scale works for me, though I understand it's only a number and not an indication of my overall fitness. What's your favorite way to track weight loss?

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Recent research shows that most parents overestimate the time their kids are engaging in physical activity. On average, parents estimated that their kids were active for two hours a day. Actually, their kids were active for less than 30 minutes a day.

If your child is school age and old enough to go play with friends in the neighborhood as my son does, it can be hard to gauge their physical activity. If they're out of your sight, how can you know for sure what amount of exercising they're doing?

You can use this activity chart with your kids to check their activity level. But the best possible way to verify your kids are getting at least one hour of exercise each day (at least!) is to be active with them. Play a game of basketball, go for a walk or bike ride, visit a local playground, or go swimming. Active games -- such as hide and seek or red light/green light -- are also great ways to get your kids moving.

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