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Custom measurements ​

Beyond weight, the app tracks body circumferences and composition values. Built-in presets cover common measurements; you can add custom ones for anything else.

What's preloaded ​

The app ships with these measurement presets, organized by category:

Body circumferences (length):

  • Arm (left, right)
  • Forearm (left, right)
  • Thigh (left, right)
  • Calf (left, right)
  • Wrist
  • Neck
  • Shoulders
  • Chest
  • Waist
  • Hips

Body composition:

  • Body fat (%)
  • Lean mass (mass)

Each preset has a sensible default unit (inches or cm depending on your unit system).

How to enable ​

By default, all presets are disabled. Enable the ones you'll actually measure:

  1. Profile → Measurements.
  2. Toggle on the ones you want.
  3. They appear as rows on the Log page's Measurements section.

Disabling a preset hides it but does not delete history — re-enabling later restores the data.

Logging a measurement ​

  1. Log page → Measurements section → tap a row.
  2. Enter the value.
  3. Date defaults to today.
  4. Save.

Custom measurements ​

If a preset doesn't cover what you want to track, add your own:

  1. Profile → Measurements → + Add custom.
  2. Pick a name.
  3. Pick a dimension (length, mass, volume, duration, count).
  4. Pick a default display unit if you want to override the system default.
  5. Save.

Custom measurements work the same as presets — they appear on the Log page and the dashboard.

Examples of useful custom measurements:

  • Resting heart rate (count, bpm).
  • Blood pressure (custom dimension; see workaround below).
  • Sleep duration (duration, hours).
  • Step count (count).

Two-value measurements

The app stores one numeric value per measurement entry. For things like blood pressure (systolic + diastolic), create two custom measurements ("BP systolic" and "BP diastolic") and log them paired.

Frequency ​

There's no app-side requirement. Most users:

  • Daily: weight, body fat (if from a smart scale).
  • Weekly: waist, hip, neck.
  • Monthly: arms, thighs, chest.

Trends matter more than precision. Same time of day, same conditions (post-bathroom, fasted, no clothes or consistent clothes) makes the trend cleaner.

Why waist matters ​

Of all the circumferences, waist is the highest-signal measurement for body composition change. While weight bounces with water, glycogen, and digestion, waist tracks abdominal fat with much less noise.

If you're recomp-ing (gaining muscle while losing fat), weight may be flat or even rising while waist drops. That's the case where weight alone is misleading.

What the dashboard shows ​

Each enabled measurement is a series on the multi-series dashboard chart. You can:

  • Plot weight + waist together on a dual axis.
  • Overlay body fat % against weight to see recomp.
  • Compare an arm measurement against resistance training volume.

Pattern insights ​

Measurements participate in the pattern insights engine. With ≥14 days of overlap, the engine can find correlations like:

  • "Waist drops 2 days after dose escalation."
  • "Body fat % co-tracks weight at r=0.92" (definitional, but useful as a reality check).
  • "Neck stable, chest declining" — recomp signature.

Common questions ​

"Why aren't BMI / FFMI shown as measurements?" They're computed from other values (BMI from weight + height; FFMI from lean mass + height). The Weight section's stat grid surfaces BMI directly. FFMI we don't currently compute — feature request via support if you'd like it.

"Can I delete a preset?" No. Disable instead. Deleting presets would orphan history. Disabled presets don't appear in the UI.

"Can I delete a custom measurement?" Yes. Deletion cascade-deletes all logged values for that measurement. Make sure you actually want it gone.

"My smart scale gives me 12 numbers. Can I import all of them?" Not via direct integration. You can manually log the ones you care about. Body fat % and lean mass are the two most useful from smart scales.

Privacy ​

Measurement data is included in your export and removed on deletion.

Help docs for Protokol Tracker and Protokol Lab.

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