Welcome to my weekly column in which I make use of diet and fitness apps to try and get (back) in shape. Each week will alternate between a diet and an exercise app, and you can follow my progress on Twitter @DoFuss . Also, please keep in mind that I have previously had a high fitness level, if you are just starting out please take it slowly and see a doctor before making any major changes.
I have always struggled with my weight. Even as a baby, I was big. It never really bothered me until I turned 15 and my mum joined a popular weight loss club, at which point I decided that I wasn’t going to let her be thinner than me. As a young male the weight melted off, and before long I was playing rugby, weightlifting, and rowing in a body none would have guessed had once been XXXL .
But time and lifestyle changes have taken their toll (who would have though a life in tech journalism would be bad for one’s health). For a time this seemed okay, as my general well being seemed to hold strong thanks to my previously active lifestyle. Now, at 35, life has caught up with me. The health credit I built up when I was young has all been spent, and I am starting to feel it – even when I’m only climbing the six floors to my apartment.
And so my mind turns to apps, the solution to (and often cause of) many of my life’s problems. There are hundreds of programs out there that provide advice and help track your eating and activity habits . I intend to cycle through these to find the best, and get myself back in shape.
My first two apps are Mango – Calories Counter & Diet Tracker ( iOS ), and Daily Yoga – Lose Weight, Get Relief ( Android and iOS ) – 8 fit ( Android and iOS ).
Mango is designed to track calorie consumption , and could well be an app that I stick with across all of my subsequent diet apps. As a starter for the first week, this seemed like the ideal way to see just how far I have strayed.
Daily Yoga is quite self-explanatory, but I have chosen it because it provides low impact daily exercises that will ease me back into the more rigorous regime I hope to eventually return to. I will give this two weeks before I revisit it.
Check back next week to see how scared Mango has made me .
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Follow me on Twitter: @DoFuss
