There’s an App for that!

Hi everyone. My name is Krisztina and I’m an addict...

I’m addicted to apps (applications for my iPhone) – and other gadgets.

I cannot get enough and I keep finding new treasures to make my life – supposedly – easier.

Here is a short list of those apps which I use on my WLS journey:

MyFitnessPal (Link here)

Honestly the best calorie tracker I’ve tried – and I tried a lot! I signed up for the website on the day I started my pre-op diet and faithfully tracking every bite ever since (and exercise). Having it on my phone also makes it easier to account for everything passing my lips (Hey, don’t think dirty! This is a weight loss blog!). I believe accountability starts at basic level, and I must be totally honest with myself if I expect results (therefore even the lick of peanut butter and the bite of naan bread makes it to my log – no bite is too small to account for!) Honestly, I would be devastated without it!

Ticker Factory (Link here)

I’m using their weight-loss ticker on this blog (see my little choo-choo train on the top? You know, as in “being chained to it”?). You can decide if you want to show your current weight or what you lost or how far are you from your goal. They have an really good app for androids, and a not-that-good for iPhone (it only tracks dates so far, not weight loss. And the import function does not work for iPhones either. I hope they correct this soon). You can add your ticker to your iGoogle page or website too. Great motivator to see the decreasing figures all day every day! I love it!

Target Weight for Adults (Personal Daily Weight Tracker and BMI)

My newest obsession – it turns out to be. I set out a scale related non-scale-related goal which sounds like a contradiction in itself, but just listen to my problem:

I’ve been suffering from major scale-scare due to a painfully slow digestion (all my life). So many times, when weigh-in day comes (or came on my various previous attempt to lose weight including both SW and WW) I go into extremes to make sure the figure on that day will show MY weight, as opposed to the weight of all the food I’ve eaten in the days running up to the weigh-in. (Whoever has been afflicted with the same problem will surely understand that.) If that does not happen I shy away from the scale as I know it will not show a great result – due to no fault of my own. So I do all I can to make sure the REAL figure shows on the day. However, I KNOW it is not necessarily good and healthy habit to have so I set out to break it. And my way of trying to break it is to weigh myself every single morning. This, for one, makes me more confident in stepping on the scale and also – after a transitory period, I guess – I will be able to take the number showing regardless of the state of my digestion on that particular morning. I hope to brake the lax habit eventually (that is also part of my Goals List – but more about that later).

This little app (not so little, when you get to know it) is a great tool to help you in that. I love my details and researches and graphs, and this gives you all and more! Just after a week using it I cannot wait till the morning weigh-in, so I can enter my daily number. Major improvement on my previous attitude! Fab graph on the main screen straight away! It also shows how many days you have left until your next goal and how much weight you need to lose to reach it. I love it!

C25K – couch to 5K running programme (Link here)

Another of my non-weight related goals is to be able to run/jog 5K and to enter a 5K run sometime soon. I tried similar programmes before, but they were printed so you either had to take the paper to the gym (or park) or try to remember that day’s routine... Also, clock watching while trying to stay alive on the treadmill does not work for me... And enter C25K – it not only gives you the complete 9 weeks program (which I hope to finish before going on holiday end of September), but it actually talks you through it. You can pick from  male or female trainer, who will instruct you when you need to run or walk, tell you when you are half way through...etc. You can also link it with your music on your phone, so it’s playing while you are running. Now I only have to concentrate on changing the speed when instructed. Ohh, nearly forgot: at the end you can enter the details of each training and it gives you pretty charts of your progress! I love it!

P.s.: I'm on week 3 now, and like it so much I offered to translate the program into Hungarian for their website - it just went live :)

Not WLS related:

MultiConvert – a converter of all things. Not in the religious sense. I use it a lot when entering weights and speed and volumes into my various other apps. I don’t like the frustration of not knowing exactly how many mph is 7kmph... and the likes.

My Polar F7 heart rate monitor and fitness thingy... (Link here)

If you take your calorie counting seriously you also want to know how much energy you expend. You can rely on databases (like the one on MyFitnessPal) or the screen of the machine you use – or you can go seriously serious and know what you REALLY do by using a one of these monitors (or any other make/brand doing the same). As you have to enter you height and your weight and you must wear a transmitter around your chest while using it, it pretty much gives you the real deal – not general calculations, but figures relating your body and your heart. And it not only counts your exercise time and calories burnt, but also indicates how much of the energy you spent was from fat stores. How about that! After using mine for over 2 years, I’m planning on updating to an FT40... I will attach that as a reward to one of my goals. And I might just give away my old F7 to a lucky reader – watch this space!

So these are my apps and gadgets helping me through and pushing me forward every day. But I’m a techy girl – this might not be everybody’s cup of tea. What helps you do your bit and stay accountable each day? I would love to know!

Take care all!