Stuff that is improving my life (part 2)
Having an even more significant impact on my life than computerised filing is my latest diet, which I'm managing easily (at least for now) largely because of the tools I'm using.
The first of these is my new Withings WiFi bathroom scales. I bought these thinking them an expensive (but cool) frippery, but at least they would handle my weight (I'm heavier than most scales can measure, including my old ones). They have instead proved to be incredibly valuable, because:
a) they come with "carpet feet" to stick over the regular ones if you're using them on carpet, so I can sit them right at the top of the stairs where I pass them every morning. I have actually bothered to weigh myself every day because of this.
b) they upload my weight via Wi-fi to the Withings website (you can also see it on an iPhone or Android app), which not only tracks my weight but also provides a weighted moving average, which is the white line on this graph:
The weighted moving average smooths out all the daily fluctuations and is what you really pay attention to: so long as your weight measurements are mostly underneath it, it'll keep going down.
More valuable even than the scales, though (and 100% cheaper) is the MyFitnessPal website & Android app (they also have an iPhone app) which I use for calorie-counting. You enter your details and targets, and as you eat food over the day you either search the database or scan the barcode (they don't seem to have much of a barcode database yet, but it's a new feature), or just enter the number of calories. It means (mostly) avoiding complex foods that aren't labelled with calories (or at least weight) - you can add a boiled egg or a banana easily enough of course, or even search for a cheese and ham baguette and try and guess which one is closest in size to the unlabelled one on offer, but an unmeasured portion of something like lasagne is going to be tough to figure out.
I've been using this app for 12 weeks now, and have fairly steadily (and painlessly) lost 33lb - so 2.75lb/week, somewhat above my 2lb/week target but given my size I'm not inclined to make adjustments to slow things down just yet. I just hope it carries on being this easy for a good while longer!
The first of these is my new Withings WiFi bathroom scales. I bought these thinking them an expensive (but cool) frippery, but at least they would handle my weight (I'm heavier than most scales can measure, including my old ones). They have instead proved to be incredibly valuable, because:
a) they come with "carpet feet" to stick over the regular ones if you're using them on carpet, so I can sit them right at the top of the stairs where I pass them every morning. I have actually bothered to weigh myself every day because of this.
b) they upload my weight via Wi-fi to the Withings website (you can also see it on an iPhone or Android app), which not only tracks my weight but also provides a weighted moving average, which is the white line on this graph:
The weighted moving average smooths out all the daily fluctuations and is what you really pay attention to: so long as your weight measurements are mostly underneath it, it'll keep going down.
More valuable even than the scales, though (and 100% cheaper) is the MyFitnessPal website & Android app (they also have an iPhone app) which I use for calorie-counting. You enter your details and targets, and as you eat food over the day you either search the database or scan the barcode (they don't seem to have much of a barcode database yet, but it's a new feature), or just enter the number of calories. It means (mostly) avoiding complex foods that aren't labelled with calories (or at least weight) - you can add a boiled egg or a banana easily enough of course, or even search for a cheese and ham baguette and try and guess which one is closest in size to the unlabelled one on offer, but an unmeasured portion of something like lasagne is going to be tough to figure out.
I've been using this app for 12 weeks now, and have fairly steadily (and painlessly) lost 33lb - so 2.75lb/week, somewhat above my 2lb/week target but given my size I'm not inclined to make adjustments to slow things down just yet. I just hope it carries on being this easy for a good while longer!