Wednesday 11 February 2015

Starting my weight-loss journey

Perhaps I should say I am restarting my weight-loss journey, because it is certainly not the first time I have tried. I do think this is the most dedicated to weight-loss I have been though and I am hoping this dedication will help me succeed this time.
 
I am using an app on my smartphone called Noom, I have used the free version of this app before and found it really easy to use but I have decided to opt for the paid version at least for a while so I signed up to a three month subscription. You can read more about the Noom app here: http://us.noom.com/ its available for iPhone and android.
 
I don't want to turn this post into a review of the app (although I may do that later) but I do want to point out the things it does well that makes it suitable for people with a limited diet like myself.
 
You are not actually forced to change your diet drastically, Noom works by calorie counting and using what's called 'volumetrics' to decide which foods you should eat more of and which foods you should use less of. It uses a handy traffic light system to help you see the good and bad foods you eat. Volumetrics is about how much the calories actually fill you up so something which is a green food may not necessarily have less calories than a red food, but those calories will make you feel full longer, in theory making you eat less.
 
Although Noom counts calories you actually don't have to count them often. The app has a great database of foods which have all the calories listed, you simply input what you ate and Noom tells you the calories and if its a green, red or amber food, although being honest the new version of the app is not as god at this as the old version, the display was better in the older one and it was easier to see if you had eaten green foods or not. If a food is not listed in their database you can easily add it and it even has a handy barcode scanner, although I am yet to actually get this to work.
 
I also went to the supermarket and had a browse round the shelves trying to work out what I can eat that is at least a little healthy. I left with the ingredients to make a chicken and mushroom risotto which I think will be a green food since rice is filling and it has one vegetable in it. I also picked up some mince and carrots which I will have tomorrow, although I forgot to grab potatoes which I will have to get on the way home tomorrow.
 
yesterday I was in the gym for an hour which according to Noom burned only 200 calories, I think I may have entered the information wrong as that doesn't seem like enough. I will take more care with it next time. Noom also has a built in pedometer as well as a separate pedometer app, I am unsure if you need to have both - one to count the steps and then transfer them into the app, or if just having the regular app would be enough. I have only taken 1864 steps today and my target is 8000. Your step target can go up and down depending on what you eat and your calorie allowance can change in relation to your exercise.
 
My big worry is university tomorrow, there is literally only a few things I can eat, none of which are likely to be green, or even amber foods. I know that the sensible option is to take something with me but I don't actually eat that many cold foods and there are no facilities to heat anything up. At least I only have two weeks left of classes before I start placement again where I will have access to a microwave and a toaster, not much but its something.
 
This weight-loss thing is not going to be easy, but I am determined.

2 comments:

  1. I think this one must have been a while ago, so how did it work out? Exercise doesn't use up that many calories.

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  2. Yes, I wrote this post in 2015. I had a falling out with the Noom app after several updates and having a bad experience with their pro version. I now use the Samsung health app which is actually much better. I am still really into weight loss - I am now a Forever Living business owner selling a variety of products including weight management plans and I have had some success with them. I have lost weight, not enough yet mind you but I am much better than I used to be. I am not allowed to go to the gym right now due to a back injury but my physiotherapist says I should be ok to go in the next few weeks if I agree to start with non-straining things like the bikes and treadmill and leave the weights alone. I am definitely still a work in progress, but I feel better than I have in quite some time.

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