Technology that can help you reach your goals.

[RDY2SRV12]

Over the years a lot has changed when it comes to physical fitness. One thing that has not changed is the constant introduction of the latest and greatest gadget to help you reach your goals. Some are good, some are, well, useless. In my quest to get back to my optimum healthy weight I have come across a few things that have actually worked, and few that have not. I started this topic to share my experience, and hopefully hear from others on what worked for them, and what did not.

When it comes to the latest tech "apps" are all the rage. When it comes to health and fitness, indeed, there is an "app" for that.

About 3 months ago I came across an "app" called My Fitness Pal, which is a free download on smart phones. Let me tell you this is much more than a calorie counter. Some of the features are;

Tracking everything you eat and automatically tabulating all nutritional values - gone are the days of carrying around a pad and pencil to count your calories then spending time adding it all up, this baby does all the work for you.

Instant addition of food items and meal memory - Scan the barcode from the foodstuff that you are adding to your meal and it is instantly added to your database, and is there the next time you eat that item.

Create custom meals and recipes - Have a favorite recipe? add up the ingredients, scan them as above, divide into portion sizes and save it in your database, next time you make that healthy lasagna just tap it on your screen and it is counted, too easy.

Track your workouts and weight progression - Forgot what muscle groups you did yesterday? No problem pull up yesterdays work out in the exercise menu. You can track each exercise you did, reps, sets, weight. Cardio instantly accounts for calorie burn in your available calorie intake counter, over eating will never be an issue again.

Progress tracking - This app even allows you to input your daily weigh in and major measurements allowing you to see how good you are doing over time. Watching that graph go down when you are trying to lose weight is a real motivator.

Add friends and motivate each other - You can add friends and keep each other honest and send messages of support. Did you go over your calorie count? Your friends will know about it!

So much more - From graphs to tables and even water consumption this app will help you stay on top of your fitness goals, and it is FREE!!!

I have been using this app for three months and have dropped 30lbs without radically altering my fitness program. It has helped me to clearly see what I am putting into my body and to avoid foods that throw me off. I highly recommend this app to anyone who is into fitness, or just needs some help reaching a weight goal.

Regards,

 

[antigone33]

I totally love my fitness pal. i don't use the app as I don't have a smart phone but it was the cheapest way of doing the old weight watchers program.  I also found it easier to use then spark people. I have lost weight using it and my friend lost 30 bls.

There is another app/fitness site that logs your fitness workouts called fitocracy. Friends of mine at work loved it because you earned points for various fitness exercises and would challenge each other to gain to see who could gain as many points as they could. they personally did rewards for the person who won. As you win points by exercising, you level up ie right now I am level 20! There is also challenges that score you more points and as well as another award system for dead lifts, getting so many props or posting so many comments. You can also create groups or join groups. In the groups- you can set challenges for the members for example- my group did a boot camp one to see how much running, push up, sit up in a given time. They have also done who can earn the most points. If you pay for fitocracy ie fitocrary hero- you can challenge other fitocracy hero members to a duel for points.  I love it.     

i used mapmyrun to figure out my distance and pace before i got a GPS watch. Another friend of mine used runkeeper for the same thing. 


Since it says Technology- I am a big fan of my garmin forerunner. I find it helpful at the end of my runs to push me to run an extra kilometer or more time. The data it gives is also super helpful- it will tell you the pace you run at as well as map your run and tell you how far you went. Be warned with GPS watches not to take them as absolute data. Many a race director has recieved emails that their race is too short because someone's GPS watch told them they were out a KM. (this is on tried and true race courses.) I also found that depending on satellite locations- sometimes your paces doesn't update as quickly as you would like and it can take a few minutes to locate a satellite for your run especially in the city.  I have the garmin forerunner 110 which has basic features.

When I started running- I had a heart rate monitor- again super basic- just does heart rate and time. I also managed to get a timex heart rate monitor as well. I prefer the band for the polar although I like the watch part of the timex one.  Timex heartrate monitors you can change the batteries on the band yourself and I have been told that Polar is has super awesome customer support.  It is helpful to see how hard or not so hard you are running according to your heart and how quickly your heart returns to normal post exercise.  I have alarms on both watches to tell me that i am above or bellow a targeted zone.  A friend of mine used to use these to help train his clients.