‘I Lost 100 Pounds Using This Device To Track My Calories’
I never really had issues with my weight until five years ago-when my life was turned upside down.
For one, I started my own business (I own a cake company); but around the same time, my son was also diagnosed with ADHD. Basically, I was majorly stressed out, so I turned to food to comfort myself-ice cream and chips were my go-to foods. The stress of both made me binge on ice cream and chips for comfort. At my heaviest, I weighed 250 pounds.
For years, I dieted off and on. Sometimes I'd lose 10 or 20 pounds-but then I'd get bored or frustrated and give up. Finally, in April 2017, I decided I'd had enough-I made up my mind to lose the weight for real this time.
My husband, knowing I wanted to get serious about losing weight, got me an Apple Watch as an incentive to be more active-I immediately got it out of its box, downloaded an app called Lose It! (I heard it was an easy way to track calories), and began recording everything I ate and every step I took. And honestly, the watch and app have changed my life.
My Apple Watch is on my wrist from the minute I wake up until I go to sleep. I check it at least twice an hour for various reasons (reading text messages, playing music, answering calls)-which means my activity and food goals are always right there in front of my face no matter what I’m doing.
Most people track their activity levels on their Apple Watch, and while I do that too, I also use it keep track of what I eat-it's much easier to track my calories and macros on my watch than on my phone.
Honestly, I haven't changed my diet all that much from what I was eating before I began tracking my calories (aside from cutting back on my comfort foods). I have noticed, however, that the days I feel best are the days that I've eaten a lot of veggies, protein, and healthy fats (being careful not to go under 1,500 calories)-and the only way I know that is from tracking. Every. Single. Day. Also: While I'm not technically on the keto diet, I do still limit myself to 50 net carbs a day-it just makes me feel my best.
But, like I said, I still track my activity levels with my Apple Watch, too-and it's actually a lot of fun.
The watch displays three little activity rings, which I keep on the screen at all times: move (you set a goal for calories burned through movement), exercise (at least 30 minutes of brisk activity), stand (you have to stand for one minute, 12 hours of the day). As you complete them, the rings close.
As a goal-oriented person, I get super into this-I need to close those rings every day; if I don’t, I’m in my bedroom at 11 p.m. doing squats. I don't think that's a bad thing-I’ve realized that exercise is a way better de-stressor than food.
The only thing worse than not closing all of my rings: forgetting my Apple Watch at home. That's only happened to me once-in the beginning of my weight-loss journey–but it was an incredibly frustrating day. Now, I wear the watch so often that I have a very obvious watch tan (which is just another reminder to wear my watch if I don't immediately put it on).
Since starting my weight-loss journey (and wearing my Apple Watch) last year, I've lost 100 pounds-simply by tracking my exercise and food-and I have the tool to my success right at my fingertips (er, on my wrist) every day. It makes holding myself accountable much more intuitive, which then makes sticking to my goals even more successful.
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