Your smartphone is an excellent tool to help you along your weight loss journey. For one, it’s often — always? — with you. Chances are, you’re reading this on your smartphone right now.
Your phone can also be used to track your daily activities. And, you can use the information it collects to your benefit.
Take a look at three ways your smartphone apps can be a resource to help you reach your goal.
They Help You Find Your Starting Point
Apps such as Baritastic and MyFitnessPal can be a great resource in documenting your starting point. You can put in information such as your starting weight, goal weight, current intake, and overall routine.
Tracking your intake, even if you are not restricting your calories, can give you great insight on the number of calories and fluid you take in a day. By being clear and realistic about your starting point, such as your weight, diet and exercise habits, you are not only holding yourself accountable, but also more likely to come up with realistic goals moving forward.
They Track Your Intake and Exercise
Tracking how much you eat is still the best way to make sure you are staying within an appropriate calorie range for weight loss. Tracking your intake can also give insight on times that you might feel hungrier than others, identify possible foods that are not well tolerated, as well as help you identify foods that better fit your routine.
After bariatric surgery, both Baritastic and MyFitnessPal can help you track your protein and fluid status. Both are crucial factors for healing and proper hydration post bariatric surgery.
A Fitbit or Apple watch can help track your steps and the number of calories you burn in a day. This information can be valuable. It can help you challenge yourself for better performance in your exercise routine, as well as give insight on how many calories to eat.
They Allow You to See Your Progress
The best way to know how far you’ve come is to track your journey. Although you might not see changes within days, in the long term, you can check some health markers to see your overall progress, including weight loss, fiber, protein, and fluid intake. Seeing changes can be a wonderful motivation to keep working toward your goals.