A bumpy weight loss journey...

I have struggled with my weight for as long as I can remember. I am not one of those people, who seem to win the genetic lottery and are always thin no matter what they eat or drink. For me, it has been a constant struggle to try and build routines and know what I can and can’t eat. I wanted to share my experience and some of the lessons I have learnt in the hopes that you may find this useful in your own journey.

There are several fad diets out there, (soup diet, shake diet, intermittent fasting, paleo diet, to name a few), I never went down this path, I wanted something that had the best chance of being sustainable. Also, I didn’t like the idea of not eating certain types of food, or eating food that tastes bad.

After talking with friends and doing some research, I decided to give calorie deficit a go. It seemed like the best path, where I wouldn’t have to dramatically change the food I ate, I could just eat less of it. This would be paired with exercise, to help support weight loss.

Being the techie that I am, I went looking for apps and gadgets to help track my journey. I came across a few different options, the following are a few different apps/gadgets that I have used and continue to use in my journey.

MyFitnessPal

The MyFitnessPal app has been the best thing for me to track what I am eating against my daily goals. It has a huge database of foods, and the capability of scanning a bar code on a box and using that to search for nutrition information to track your intake. It also can link to your exercise app, for me FitBit, and syncs information to adjust your calorie intake. Basically, if you do a walk or run, it will add calories to your daily limit.
Though there is a premium version, that can provide greater insights and advice on healthy living and weight loss, I have also used the basic version as it has met my needs of tracking my calorie intake.

Google Fit/ Fitbit

When I first started this journey, I had a WearOS (Android) watch, that linked to the Google Health app, and I used it to track all my walks and bike rides. These days, I have a Pixel Watch, that is linked to Fitbit. Both integrated into the MyFitnessPal app, to help me see the value of the exercise I was doing in terms of food.

Smart Watches

Now, I will come out and say, I am firmly in the Android camp. I have been using android devices for the past 10 years plus and have several Google devices around my home. What I did enjoy was the interoperability of WearOS and Google Fit (and later Fitbit) to integrate with various apps and share health information. Having my activity tracked through something I wore everyday helped me keep track of how I was doing against my targets. It also enabled me to compare previous activities to see if there was improvement. I regularly walk around a lake near my home, and I was able to see if my pace improved and if my heart rate was lower. Useful information to gauge improvement and help continue to push as you can see data that shows your results.

Virtual Challenges

Something I learnt is that there are several companies now that have created virtual challenges. Basically, the ability to earn a real medal, for virtually completing a challenge. A few months into my weight loss journey, I came across the Conqueror Virtual Challenges. Using the distance you travel my exercising, the conqueror app will progress you along virtual route, such as across the English Channel or trekking to the summit of Mount Fuji. The cost of these challenges can go from $30 USD to $50 USD, which includes access to the challenge, and medal and the postage, once you have completed the challenge.
I found that using these challenges helped keep me interested in doing exercise, as I knew I would get a cool looking medal at the end of it. So far, I have completed several challenges and have a several cool looking medals.

About 4 years ago, using a lot of self-control, I managed to track my calories, exercising almost every day and eating food that would not exceed my limits for about 12 months. During this time, I managed to lose about 30 kilograms, dropping to below 100kg for the first time in a very long time. But as they say, all good things must come to an end, and once COVID hit, I found myself falling out of routine and not exercising enough, and a lot of my hard work went to waste. I am happy to report that I didn’t put all the weight back on, through the process I went though, I learnt what foods I should eat and appropriate portion sizes.

As I try to embark on the same journey again to lose weight, I wanted to share some of the things I have learnt in the hopes that you may find it useful:

• When starting out, pick regular exercise or count calories to start with, do not try both. Trying to do both at the same time can be hard to manage and it is likely you will neglect one or both and ultimately not met the goals you are looking for. After you manage to successfully implement one of the options, introduce the second one and work on balancing the both.
• Track your exercise, as it can provide motivation to continue the routine. Many of the apps have awards you can earn by completing exercise goals that can help push you forward. There is also the Conqueror virtual challenges to help motivate you.
• Find a friend or a group friends that can help push you to keep exercising. Having other people to do it with, can help motivate you to do it, and provide an incentive to keep it up.
• Reward yourself (but not too much). Make sure that you find ways to reward yourself for keeping it up. That might be that new gadget you have had your eye on, some sugary treats you have had your eye on.

I am not an expert on dieting or nutrition or a doctor, I am just looking to share my experience in the hope that someone might learn from it and help them in their personal journey.