Thursday, August 30, 2018
Fitness Apps Week 4 Google Fit MyFitnessPal and MapMyRun
Fitness Apps Week 4 Google Fit MyFitnessPal and MapMyRun
I used to drink one cup of tea or coffee after another between the hours of 7.30 am and 5 pm. In the first week after I stopped drinking tea and coffee altogether I drank pint after pint of water. But eventually when water is your staple drink you hit an equilibrium and the intake slows down following the initial rehydration.
Over the day I now drink most likely 8-10 cups (eight being the recommended daily amount on MyFitnessPal), but at the start of this regime I was drinking more like 8-10 pints of water. At the moment, Ive cut all hot drinks and had no occasion to drink tea or coffee socially for a while. (It being January, the month of hibernation.)
The last tea that I drank was Rosebud and White Peony, which I first tasted at the LRB Cake Shop and which I have been obsessed with ever since. So much so that a caddy of the rose and peony tea is on my birthday list, but in the meantime and just in case I have reason to drink tea socially at some point before my next birthday I picked up a pack of Clipper white tea. It was the only one I could find in my local supermarket and Im yet to crack open the box, but at only just over a pound I thought it worth picking up and giving a try. (And if articles on the web are to be believed, then it has a whole catalogue of health benefits.)
Tech
Im still with the same apps as when I began: Google Fit, MyFitnessPal and MapMyRun. These are running on an Android mobile (a Moto G 1st generation to be precise). I dont have a wristband or a smart watch, I simply wear lightweight walking/cargo trousers on my runs and have the phone in one of the pockets. (This week I did two 4.5 km runs.)
During aerobic exercises I tend to not have the phone in my pocket but record the exercise afterwards in MyFitnessPal. But even with apps, there is a reliance on data being input and although yes if you weigh every portion and scan every ingredient youll have a reliable count of calories in, sometimes, as Ive written before, you just pick the closest match for homemade such and such if time is tight. So, likewise I dont think it really matters if your exercise is not a precise record of calories burnt or heart rate at the time. What really matters is that you take on healthy habits and that the app provides guidance to help you make healthy choices, and that includes giving yourself a calorie boost when you need it. Fitness bands take some of the pain out of the process of recording but if you start your regime and then add tech to it, I think youre more likely to succeed than if you buy a gadget as a motivator for exercise.
Wisdom
There are no prizes for starving yourself of calories. The prize comes from having a steady loss of weight and becoming fitter and healthier. The tech (particularly the phone apps) provide you with the information to make choices. But its important, at the same time, that you dont let the gamification drive you to score as many green points as possible.
Personally, I find that if I still have around 1200 or 1300 calories to spare come mid-afternoon that I can feel in need of food. The exercise is partly responsible for this and I was surprised that rather than finding it hard to resist eating for the pleasure of eating Ive sometimes had to eat so as to not feel drained of energy. MyFitnessPal lets me know that this is OK and Im still on target.
Personally, I find that if I still have around 1200 or 1300 calories to spare come mid-afternoon that I can feel in need of food. The exercise is partly responsible for this and I was surprised that rather than finding it hard to resist eating for the pleasure of eating Ive sometimes had to eat so as to not feel drained of energy. MyFitnessPal lets me know that this is OK and Im still on target.
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