Weight Loss Help Ways to Lose Weight With Apps and Fitness Trackers

If youre trying to lose weight, you need a plan, a toolkit, and a little support to keep you motivated and working hard toward your goal. Fitness trackers, which are the most popular wearable devices, according to Nielsen, are an integral piece of the weight loss puzzle, but theyre not enough on their own to get you the results you want in the long term.

Part of the problem is that about a third of people wearing activity trackers and smartwatches get device fatigue and stop using their gadgets within six months, according to a survey by Endeavor Partners last year.

So here are some additional tools and services to add to your weight-loss program.

Start Tracking

According to a 2013 paper about mobile technology and weight loss published in the journal Obesity Reviews (Interventions employing mobile technology for overweight and obesity) one of the key components for effective technology-based weight loss intervention is self-monitoring. "Consistent self-monitoring of exercise is associated with greater total weight loss, greater amount of exercise, and fewer difficulties with exercise," the authors write. "In moving past traditional methods of self-monitoring such as paper-and-pen diaries, research has found that technology can simplify the monitoring process. This can include recording ones progress of food intake and physical activity."

As mentioned, an activity tracker, such as the Fitbit Charge or Jawbone UP Move , that counts your daily steps and overall activity, can be an excellent component for weight-loss and self-tracking. But smart pedometers only track one kind of data on their own, and thats not enough. 

In addition to tracking the number of steps you take and daily activity, youll also want to track the calories you consume and make sure to stay under a target caloric goal thats individualized for your body and goals. Some activity trackers, such as those by Fitbit, have their own food-logging platforms built right into the companion app. My favorite standalone app for calorie-counting, however, is MyFitnessPal, which is very easy to use. I also love that MyFitnessPal integrates with many of the top activity trackers, meaning the app will automatically adjust the personalized calorie goal for you for the day based on how much exercise your fitness tracker records.

Add a Heart Rate Monitor
One problem with some activity monitors is they only guess how many calories youre burning based on your height, weight, age, sex, and the amount of motion it detects throughout the day. To get more accurate calorie burn estimates, you really need to use a heart rate monitor.

Liz Dickinson, CEO of Mio Global, explained to me recently that "heart rate is perfectly correlated to caloric expenditure. The faster your heart is moving or beating, the more calories youre burning. If your objective is weight loss, what you want to do is burn as many calories as possible, safely, by [exercising] for as long as possible. What many people do is they get all excited about exercising, and they go like a bat out of hell, and in 15 minutes theyre exhausted. The next day, theyre in pain, and they dont want to exercise any more. What heart rate training does is help you focus on keeping your heart rate lower than where you might think it should be so that you can go for a maximal amount of time and actually expend the greatest number of calories."

There are two ways to add a heart-rate monitor to your high-tech fitness plan. One is to buy a device that only does heart rate monitoring, and the other is to get a fitness tracker that has one included.

If youre already in the market for a new activity tracker, I definitely recommend buying one that includes an optical heart rate monitor, which is generally worn on the wrist. Two that l love are the Mio Fuse (shown), which is ideal for runners and other very active types, andBasis Peak , which is a little better for people who are generally active or trying to become so, but who are not necessarily in athletic shape.

Join a Community
Social engagement has a huge effect on weight loss. According to a 2014 report from MyFitnessPal, people who engage in the social aspects of the platform by joining "tribes" lost twice as much weight as those who didnt.

Another place to find a community of supporters may be right on your wrist. Some of the best activity trackers have sections in their apps and dashboards where you can connect with others. My favorite brand of trackers for its community is Fitbit, where Ive befriended both long-lost college mates as well as complete strangers. In Fitbits app and website, you can see a leaderboard ranking you and your friends in terms of how many steps youve taken in the past seven days. Just checking in on the competition might be enough to keep you actively looking at your data and keeping your determination to exercise strong.

Work With a Coach
Sure, youd love to work with a personal trainer, dietician, and weight-loss coach, but doing so in-person will easily cost you more than $100 per week. Luckily, in todays high-tech world, you dont actually have to visit these kinds of professionals to work with them, which drops the cost dramatically. Plenty of apps and online programs connect you with weight-loss specialists who provide feedback, motivation, and a personalized plan for you.

Vida Health Coach ($15 per week), for example, is an iPhone app that hooks you up with a personal coach. You can find a coach that specializes in your specific needs, such as diabetes management. The coach swaps in-app messages with you when you have questions, helps you design a plan for your goals, and meets with you either via video conference or phone call once a week for a consultation and check-in.

Another service, called RevUp by MD Revolution, focuses more on overall health management but can certainly include weight loss. In that platform, you connect with an entire team of health professionals, which can include nutritionists, exercise physiologists, and nurses. RevUp is available through integrated health care networks, physician practices/medical groups, and company wellness programs, meaning to join it, you have to be a patient of a doctor or participant in a plan that is already associated with the service.

Track Your Weight Easily With a Wi-Fi Scale
If youre trying to lose weight, youll want to keep monitor and chart your weight so that you can see progress and know youre meeting your goals. Recording your weigh-ins, however, isnt foolproof when youre doing it manually, so why not automate the process with a Wi-Fi or Bluetooth scale?

Smart bathroom scales and body analyzers connect directly to your Wi-Fi network or mobile device to send your weight and other metrics, like fat percent, directly into the platform you use to track other health and fitness data. So when you step on the scale, you dont even have to peer down at the number if youre not feeling up to it. The information will automatically show up in the app you use, and you can read it when youre ready. Youll also be able to see over time how your weight fluctuates, and hopefully that it decreases.

Many very good smart bathroom scales and body analyzers are now on the market at a range of prices. The $129 Fitbit Aria Wi-Fi Smart Scale , for example, works seamlessly with other Fitbit devices and has a reasonable price tag.

Fans of the Runtastic apps and fitness tracker Runtastic Orbit might prefer the Runtastic Libra Bluetooth Smart Scale . And if youre a Withings user, you might want the Withings Wi-Fi Body Scale  (shown).

One new device coming out this year, called QardioBase actually lets you make the weight measurement invisible if you want, and replaces it with an emoticon (hopefully, a happy face each at weigh-in). It also has a pregnancy-tracking mode that sends only happy faces as soon-to-be moms gain that necessary weight.

Keep It Up!
With some of these apps, services, and ideas, you may be able to keep at your weight loss goals in the long term, rather than giving up two weeks after New Years Day. And if youre new to these tools, feel free to connect with me in Fitbits community (username jillduffy) and MyFitnessPals (username jilleduffy). 

By Jill Duffy

Source: http://uk.pcmag.com/health-fitness/38885/feature/5-ways-to-lose-weight-with-apps-and-fitness-tracke