Using Mobile Apps To Help You Lose Weight

With most people leading busy lives, it can be difficult to carve out time specifically for your weight loss journey. But taking advantage of advances in health information technology can be right at your fingertips. There exist many mobile phone applications that can help to track your food intake, suggest healthy meal items, measure your successes, and plan your next workout.

Some of the most popular mobile phone applications are those that track your daily caloric consumption. Rather than spending time at the end of your day remembering what was consumed, the user can input each specific food as it is eaten. Tracking food as it is eaten is proven to be more effective than remembering an entire day’s meals at once. A readout will then list calories consumed, as well as fat, carbohydrates, fiber, sugar, and protein. By tracking each of these macronutrients, it can be ensured that all nutritional needs are met. Additionally, calories can be monitored so that weight loss goals can be achieved faster. If you are unsure of your caloric needs, your weight, height, gender, physical activity, and other parameters can be set for a custom plan. These plans show you your calorie “budget” to get you to your goal weight.

Another benefit to using mobile phone apps is to measure the physical changes in your body. If looking better is the goal, weight is not the only factor. Measurements and body fat percentages are vital indicators of improving physical fitness. The health information technology available in many applications allows the user to input specific information like waist circumference and lean body mass. Graphs or charts can then show progress being made for each marker of physical fitness. Seeing instant visual representations of success is a big motivator for those looking to make healthier decisions and become fitter.

Cell phones can now come equipped with Global Positioning Systems (GPS) or accelerometers. These functions can track the distance traveled on foot, as well as speed and direction. Pedometer applications can be used for walking or running, and help the user meet their exercise goals. The United States government suggests that each person walk 5 miles per day, or roughly 10,00 steps. Mobile phone applications that make this easier to track bring us one step closer to meeting these daily recommendations.

Other applications act as a virtual personal trainer, offering hundreds or even thousands of possible strength training exercises. A picture or video of each move is shown on the phone’s screen, as well as detailed instructions to make sure proper form is being followed with each repetition. Suggestions can be found for exercises that work specific areas, whether that is whittling down the waist or building up biceps. Significantly cheaper than a one-on-one session with a personal trainer, applications like this allow anyone with a mobile phone the opportunity to work out in a safe and informed way. Not limited to weight bearing exercises, applications are available for detailed workouts in the areas of yoga, pilates, or even stretching to gain flexibility and prevent injury on your new fitness journey!

Mitchell Gavillion has been freelance writing for the past 2 years since studying health information technology. Mitchell is passionate about learning, he writes about health care, education, and fitness.