Filed under: Features, How-tos, Apple, iPhone, Apple TV
TUAW Fitness: An Apple a day makes the weight go away
I've struggled with my weight for a long time. In my free-wheeling post-college days I lived with my two best friends, sitting around playing video games, drinking beer and eating Taco Bell. I put on a lot of weight in a short amount of time with that diet and exercise schedule, topping out at 260 pounds. I decided enough was enough, and I strapped on my running shoes, straightened up my eating habits, and lost almost 90 pounds. In the years that have followed, my weight has gone up and down several times, and I'm at the point now that I need to get serious about losing weight again. According to my BMI, at 6'3" I should top out at 199 pounds, and right now I'm at 225.
This time my weight loss should be easier since I have 3 secret weapons: my iPhone 3GS, my Mac and my AppleTV. Read on for my weight loss plan and how these Apple products will help me achieve my goals.
iPhone 3GS
This one is obvious. The Nike+ integration makes this a no-brainer accessory in my battle against my belly, and the GPS enables many exercise apps to track my runs and bike rides. Running is my exercise of choice, and in the next few weeks as I progress I'll post my opinions on RunKeeper, JogBuddy, Trailguru, and of course Nike+. Maybe this experiment will be enough of a success that I'll use Can Do 26.2 to train for (another) marathon by the time this is all through.I've been a pretty avid runner for many years, so even though I'm back to being heavier I'm still capable of 3-5 mile runs, albeit not nearly as fast as when I was at my thinnest. The apps will be used more to speed up on my runs rather than increase my distance, although for those of you who may just be starting out on running I'll be sure to test on longer runs to see if they properly motivate you to finish. I'm a bit embarrassed to admit that I've never been one to run with my iPod or iPhone, and certainly not with Nike+, so I am coming into this whole "iPhone as training device" as a total newbie.
Mac
There's a variety of great software available to track calories, like Calorie King, BeFit, and Perfect Diet Tracker. MacGourmet can help plan my meals so that I don't exceed my daily caloric limit. Weightmania provides a wide variety of tools to track workouts, meals, measurements, and more. There's no shortage of Mac software to help you track your food and exercises of choice.AppleTV
The AppleTV may encourage a sedentary lifestyle with the plethora of movies and TV shows it offers, but it can also be friendly to the waistline with a variety of TV shows and podcasts available made to help you achieve your weight loss goals. ExerciseTV has a variety of TV shows available to get you off the couch and moving, including free (at the time of this writing) Yoga classes (iTunes). There are also plenty of free video and audio podcasts available to help you eat right and exercise, like the eDiets podcast (iTunes), and Diet.com podcast (iTunes).I have several weight loss success stories under my belt (including the time I won over $200 in an office pool for who could lose the most), but I've never used any of the aforementioned tools in any of my efforts. I hope that through this series of articles, I can help out of those of you who, like me, sometimes find it hard to motivate yourself to eat right and exercise.
Follow along with me as I lose the weight with Apple as my virtual personal trainer and virtual chef. On the advice of fellow TUAW blogger Steven Sande, I've created an account at LIVESTRONG and am already impressed with what the iPhone app and associated web app has to offer. In the coming weeks and months I'll write more articles on my progress and my thoughts on the various applications available.
Do you use your Apple products to keep your weight in check? Sound off in the comments.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 4)
Kevin Harter said 1:18AM on 8-01-2009
Good luck on reaching your weight loss goals. I'll be cheering you on... from the couch... with a big bowl of ice cream. =)
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CraigButrick said 4:07PM on 8-02-2009
I use Nike plus. I really like the Twitter and facebook status updates. Nothing to motivate you like your friends making fun of you.
Rick Stratton said 3:01PM on 8-01-2009
I primarily use my iPhone, using three main apps: iPod, iFitness (for workouts) and iTreadmill (for my jogs).
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wplate said 3:02PM on 8-01-2009
Don't forget awesome weight tracker's like "Track Your Weight"* and the web site physicsdiet.com
Tracking your weight helps keep you accountable and rewards you with happy graphs displaying your dropping weight.
* http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewSoftware?id=300436590&mt=8
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artifex said 8:53PM on 8-02-2009
An amazing thing about that physicsdiet site is that it's been pretty much abandoned, it seems, for two years, and keeps working great. Can't even figure out if the guy who started it is still alive. (A sad but real concern when dealing with weight issues like he mentioned in his blogs)
Dale said 3:07PM on 8-01-2009
Thanks for this article! I'm an 18yo trying to lose about 60-70 lbs of weight I gained during junior high and high school, and this is rather helpful as to ways I can help myself keep track of how I'm doing :D
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FoO said 3:08PM on 8-01-2009
Please please please don't skip over testing out iPhone arm/wrist cases. It's a battle trying to figure out which ones will fit well /and/ keep enough sweat/moisture out to keep from triggering the "water sensors".
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Chris said 11:09AM on 8-02-2009
Yes please! I have been looking for a case for my iPhone for weeks, and there are just so many out there.
Tristan said 7:29PM on 8-02-2009
Another yes here for testing iPhone running cases.
I've used both the ExtremeMac case and the Belkin case...
The Belkin just stuck out too far and caught on my shirts and while the ExtremeMac case is GREAT, I've bought 2 of them now and both have problems with the glue from inside the case getting all over the phone... which sticks to it for DAYS...
Ideally I would love a case that lets the iPhone strap to your wrist... Maybe I need to wait for an iPhone Nano for this though?
Michael Jones said 11:47AM on 8-03-2009
I'm sure we will probably do a post with details on different cases, but I'll throw in my experience with the blue Belkin sportswrap that is carried in most Apple stores.
There are no openings for the camera, cables, or to reach the side controls, which is understandable if you're wanting to seal the phone in to protect it from moisture. However, the back of the case is a thin, almost meshy fabric that could possibly still let moisture through.
The face of the case "appears" to be sewn on to the back, which would be much more secure, but in reality it is glued and many users have reported it easily separating from the back rendering the case unusable.
The strap is comfortable, although not made for small arms, so you might encounter some slippage. I do like the way the belt clip on the case snaps into the armband, though some people have had problems with that breaking over time.
For the most part, it at least works, and could be used as a quick fix if you need a sportcase, but I'm not terribly impressed with it.
Jersey Todd said 3:09PM on 8-01-2009
you forgot nike plus? Greatest thing since sliced bread. Actually, lay off the bread and get running
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John said 11:12AM on 8-02-2009
Apps like runkeeper are better than nike plus. The latter is old technology that works like a pedometer. Runkeeper (and some of the others) uses GPS to track your speeds, distances and it maps it and tweets out your run. GPS is definetly more modern than a pedometer.
Gerardo Algarin said 3:18PM on 8-01-2009
i use Couch to 5k from felt tip inc. its the easiest way (at least to me) to begin jogging and running...
http://www.felttip.com/c25k/
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ethan said 3:33PM on 8-01-2009
You might want to check out www.dailyburn.com It's great if your looking that allows you to keep all the nutrition,weight, and workout data in one place online. I joined last week with a goal of getting down 30 lbs in the next 3 months.
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CraigButrick said 3:25PM on 8-01-2009
Also highly recommend the remote watch. Makes an easy way to
check run stats and change tracks if you are using an armband.
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Alek said 3:48PM on 8-01-2009
Also checkout Run Mate. It has Nike's 6 weeks program for beginners and ability for you to adjust and input new programs, as you go along.
http://codeaplus.com/runmate/
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mi_sat said 3:50PM on 8-01-2009
Is it possible to fornicate one's self to his/her ideal weight? That may sound silly, but i cannot think of a better motivator. Plus, you get to ask friends to work out!
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Anthony said 4:01PM on 8-01-2009
WEIRD!
I am 6'4" and I weigh 218. The doctor says that I am very healthy though... I guess muscle mass could be the differential factor between us...
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Digaos said 4:09PM on 8-01-2009
There's an app called Lose it! for the iPhone that is a great tool to keep track of calories, nutrients and exercises. It allows you to set your goals and select how much you wanna lose per week.
So far I lost 7 pounds in 3 week, which is above my goal of 2 lb/week. I'm 6'0" and my starting weight was 210 lb.
And this app is free.
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Juz said 11:17PM on 8-03-2009
I have a very similar story. I have been using LOSE IT! for about 4 weeks and am 12 pounds down, from a starting weight of 217. Basically, I am not sacrificing much but portions! If, like many technically minded folks you love recording & tracking things, this is a simple nirvana to steady weight loss.
Having the app makes plan ahead more (going to the pub? have al ight lunch), shows you some good info on calories (alcohol is a killer, so is cheese, but you dont have to avoid em!), and makes you curious as to what is in many lunches/foods etc. I often fiund myself jumping onto company websites to see thier nutrition info.
Highly recommend. My wife is using LIVESTRONG for same, we haven't compared yet, but both are free and LOSE IT has my vote regardless.