Apologies to the Apple marketing team, but seriously, there’s an app for losing weight. At least two of ’em. Probably a lot more than that. These two came well-recommended by friends of the blog (FOB? FOSD? FOH?).
I haven’t had a chance to test-drive either of these, but both seem solid. They both have web sites with full-featured tools for setting and achieving weight-loss/health-living goals, and they both have (obviously) mobile apps (I’m an iPhone user, as are the friends who recommended these). The web presences are gateways, but the apps are what make these worthwhile.
Both My Fitness Pal and Lose It! are helpful specifically because they follow you around (OK, you carry them around) and make you think about what you’re doing in reference to your weight loss as your day progresses. Both expect you to input (simply) the food you eat as you eat it (and both do a great job of indexing your choices against your goal from a nutritional standpoint). When you eat you tell the app what and how much you ate.
It’s nice to be able to keep track, but both friends told me the real value is that it makes it a pain in the rear to have a snack. “When I make my lunch for the next day I’ve always had a bite here and there while I prepare it. Now that I have to enter every little bite into the app, it’s easier to leave it alone than it is to have a mindless snack,” one friend told me.
“There’s no more ‘Dr. Pepper and a candy bar’ stops at the convenience store when I stop for gas. If I did I’d have to enter it into the app,” said the friend who uses Lose It!
I’m looking forward to trying these (my two and a half year old 3G iPhone is too full to add any apps right now), as they look solid and my friends swear by them. But more interesting (to me) is that two friends (who don’t know each other) who are readers of this blog came to me within two days of each other, unsolicited, to recommend tools that have been helpful to them.
What I choose to take from this is that a.) this blog has value to people other than me and b.) people don’t just make random hits to this blog, they actually read it. Both of which are mighty gratifying to me. Thank you.
I should also thank the several of you who went out of your way yesterday to mention that you appreciated yesterday’s post about how difficult it is to guide children into a life of healthy eating. Again, I’m glad what I’m doing here has some resonance with you, and I appreciate you reading. All of you.
Skipping Dessert 