Throughout my life, from elementary school to high school, I was skinny. I played soccer and did a fair bit of skateboarding. Most of my afternoons were spent being active outside. In college, I started to go to the gym and was able to stay thin. 

Like most folks, my daily routines shifted after I graduated. I was spending 8-9 hours a day sitting at a desk and had ‘less time.’ A couple years later, I got married and started a family. I was less active and I was putting on weight, but I wasn’t noticing it. When you look at yourself every day, the small changes are easy to miss, especially when you’re not keeping track. In my mind, I was always the skinny kid.  I didn’t have a pulse of my own weight, save for the occasional trips to the doctor.

So when I went in for my physical 3 years ago and heard “try and lose 10 pounds,” I was really surprised. I mentioned the feedback to my wife and, well, she wasn’t surprised. Same with my immediate family and friends. Their responses were like a trigger and I began to look at pictures of myself on Facebook. When did this happen? 

Needless to say, in my mind, the challenge was on.

Ryan, third from left to right. “I was less active and I was putting on weight, but I wasn’t noticing it.”

The first thing I did was to get a FITINDEX Bluetooth Scale— I wanted something inexpensive that would do the tracking for me on my phone and that would allow me to see my progress over time. In my career as a digital marketer, I know an active pulse on the data and knowing where you are in correspondence to where you want to be, is critical for goal achieving. 

The FITINDEX scale uses bioelectrical impedance analysis to give more information around body fat % and visceral fat; it also calculates BMI in addition to weight. These metrics also include visual ranges (high, low, normal, overweight, etc.) to give you feedback related to various health levels. I wanted to get my weight down as well as improve my body fat %. 

I got the scale on Amazon and started to hit the gym in the early mornings, 3-4 times a week before the family woke up.

Exercising before work became a part of my routine, and I definitely felt better. My split of exercises were pretty even between cardio (stairs, interval running and walking) and strength training. I lost 10 lbs with this regular exercise routine. But, eventually, I plateaued.

I enjoy eating and I am a huge fan of a nighttime beer or a glass of wine. But this additional intake wasn’t doing my weight any favors. I became familiar with intermittent fasting and the idea of restricting my eating windows upon joining LifeOmic in late 2018. I made it my goal to stop caloric consumption after my 5:30 PM dinner,  but I didn’t make any diet changes. I cut out after-dinner snacks. If I wanted a beer or a glass of wine, I’d have it with dinner. I was determined to commit to my eating window.

I also tried to up my fruit, veggie, and healthy nut intake to at least 5 servings a day.  I wasn’t shifting my lunches to salads. I was simply changing my snacks to raw fruits and veggies. Tracking the additional intake in LIFE Extend made the shift measurable as well.

Measuring and tracking progress with the FITINDEX bluetooth scale is motivating and rewarding. Each morning and evening I would weigh in— the FITINDEX app allowed me to toggle between my morning and evening weights— to ensure I was measuring consistently. By getting regular feedback on my weight, body fat and BMI, I was reinforcing the positive decisions I made every day: The 3rd slice of pizza or the 9 PM beer wasn’t going to help me hit my goals. On top of that, seeing all of my progress history was encouraging when I had the inevitable lapses in judgment. 

The FITINDEX app allows you to see your weight changes over time.

Since my prompt to “lose 10 pounds”, I’ve lost 30! My goal was to get down to 160 pounds and have actually been able to go beyond my goal to 153. I have way more energy and I am much happier, and my skin even cleared up (bonus points!).

Losing 30 pounds was the result of setting and achieving multiple goals. As I hit this goal, I was motivated to keep going and I created new goals. Seeing the progress is both encouraging and challenging. I know if I’ve not been on my best eating behavior and I know if I have. The lack of progress or regression can be discouraging, but the positive movement is even more motivating. 

My goal now is to increase my overall fitness while maintaining my current weight. I’ll be tracking my progress using metrics like the number of pull ups I can do, my per-mile pace, resistance weight changes and, of course, my morning and evening weigh-ins. 

Disclaimer: We may receive a small commission when you purchase the products listed on this site.

LifeOmicÂź is the software company that leverages the cloud, machine learning and mobile devices to improve healthspans – from prevention and wellness to disease management and treatment.

     

Locations

Contact Us

Privacy Preference Center