I've struggled with my weight my entire adult life. I'd lose 40 pounds and then gain 50 back. Yo-Yo dieting was just a part of my life for almost 40 years. I was making progress in 2019, but from September of 2019 to Christmas 2019, I gained 45 pounds. I'm 55 years old; 5' 10" tall; and I had ballooned up to 210 pounds with 21% body fat. I felt tired all the time and had a lot of pain in my knees and back. I was eating mostly burgers, pizza, sandwiches, and brownies…I love brownies. I complained about my weight, aches and pains to my family and friends, so for Christmas my wife bought me a Fitbit Versa 2. My Fitbit sat in the box for a few weeks as I continued to complain about my weight, aches, and pains. Finally, my family said, "We’re really tired of hearing you complain and doing nothing to improve your situation, why don't you learn about the Fitbit you got and start using it." I finally opened the box and kind of started using the Fitbit, but it was half-hearted.
Then in March of 2020 the Covid-19 Pandemic hit. I got furloughed from work and I knew that I would not go back to work for several weeks. I knew I had two choices: I could gain a Covid 20 pounds like a lot of people, and binge watch Netflix for hours on end (It would be so easy to kick back and lose myself for weeks on end), or, I could use all this time I’d been given to do something really good and get my life in order. Thankfully, I went with the second choice. The difference between when I was only half-hearted in my quest to lose weight vs. using the Fitbit was the difference between reaching my ultimate weight loss goal.
I watched several Fitbit tutorials online and read the Fitbit manual. I was amazed by how many things the Fitbit could do. Little did I know the important role the Fitbit would play in my fitness journey. Over the last 5 months, I have lost 45 pounds and 6% of body fat. Now I weigh a healthy 165 pounds and have 15% body fat.
My family and friends have told me how much better I look, but more important is how I feel. I no longer have any aches and pains and I don't get tired mid-afternoon anymore. I can't think of a time when I've felt so good and I have Fitbit to thank for keeping me on track.
FITBIT TOOLS I USED
Food Tracker:
I used the Fitbit Food Tracker to record everything I ate and drank. EVERYTHING. I really liked that if the Tracker did not have a food or meal I wanted, I could create my own custom food and save it for later use. Food Tracker made it easy to set my goal weight and goal body fat. I input that I wanted to lose 2 pounds per week and it let me know how many calories I should eat per day and let me know where I was at any time through out the day with easy color coding: red (I was over my calories) green (I was within my calorie zone) and blue (I was under my calories for the day). It also informed me how many of my calories came from fat, carbohydrates, and protein.
Exercise Tab:
I used the Fitbit Exercise Tracker for all my weight and cardio workouts, and I worked to increase my weights a little each week and improve my walking time each week.
Weight and Body fat Tab:
I used the Weight and Body Fat Tracker which helped me track my weight and body fat so I knew how much weight I was losing each day and I could compare it with weeks before. It really kept me on track.
Relax App:
I started and ended each day with the guided relaxation app. It's only 2 minutes long, and it made a big difference in starting my day. It also helped me sleep better each night.
ADVICE:
Plan your meals, resistance training and cardio at least a day in advance. I plan mine a week in advance and prepare all my meals for the coming week on Sunday mornings. This way I don't have to think about anything, I just wake up and look at my Fitbit and know what exercises I have to complete that day and what meals I'll be eating.
Treat your weight loss like a marathon, not a sprint. My suggestion is to lose 1-2 pounds a week. If you lose more than that, you're probably losing hard earned muscle in addition to fat.
Give yourself one cheat meal per week. One cheat MEAL, not a CHEAT DAY! I find that it's not that hard to eat clean for 6 days in a row when I know on the 7th day, I can have some pizza and brownies for one meal. I definitely enjoy my cheat meal, though I find that the morning after my cheat I don't feel quite as good, which makes it easy to get back to eating clean for another 6 days!
Best Answer
I've struggled with my weight my entire adult life. I'd lose 40 pounds and then gain 50 back. Yo-Yo dieting was just a part of my life for almost 40 years. I was making progress in 2019, but from September of 2019 to Christmas 2019, I gained 45 pounds. I'm 55 years old; 5' 10" tall; and I had ballooned up to 210 pounds with 21% body fat. I felt tired all the time and had a lot of pain in my knees and back. I was eating mostly burgers, pizza, sandwiches, and brownies…I love brownies. I complained about my weight, aches and pains to my family and friends, so for Christmas my wife bought me a Fitbit Versa 2. My Fitbit sat in the box for a few weeks as I continued to complain about my weight, aches, and pains. Finally, my family said, "We’re really tired of hearing you complain and doing nothing to improve your situation, why don't you learn about the Fitbit you got and start using it." I finally opened the box and kind of started using the Fitbit, but it was half-hearted.
Then in March of 2020 the Covid-19 Pandemic hit. I got furloughed from work and I knew that I would not go back to work for several weeks. I knew I had two choices: I could gain a Covid 20 pounds like a lot of people, and binge watch Netflix for hours on end (It would be so easy to kick back and lose myself for weeks on end), or, I could use all this time I’d been given to do something really good and get my life in order. Thankfully, I went with the second choice. The difference between when I was only half-hearted in my quest to lose weight vs. using the Fitbit was the difference between reaching my ultimate weight loss goal.
I watched several Fitbit tutorials online and read the Fitbit manual. I was amazed by how many things the Fitbit could do. Little did I know the important role the Fitbit would play in my fitness journey. Over the last 5 months, I have lost 45 pounds and 6% of body fat. Now I weigh a healthy 165 pounds and have 15% body fat.
My family and friends have told me how much better I look, but more important is how I feel. I no longer have any aches and pains and I don't get tired mid-afternoon anymore. I can't think of a time when I've felt so good and I have Fitbit to thank for keeping me on track.
FITBIT TOOLS I USED
Food Tracker:
I used the Fitbit Food Tracker to record everything I ate and drank. EVERYTHING. I really liked that if the Tracker did not have a food or meal I wanted, I could create my own custom food and save it for later use. Food Tracker made it easy to set my goal weight and goal body fat. I input that I wanted to lose 2 pounds per week and it let me know how many calories I should eat per day and let me know where I was at any time through out the day with easy color coding: red (I was over my calories) green (I was within my calorie zone) and blue (I was under my calories for the day). It also informed me how many of my calories came from fat, carbohydrates, and protein.
Exercise Tab:
I used the Fitbit Exercise Tracker for all my weight and cardio workouts, and I worked to increase my weights a little each week and improve my walking time each week.
Weight and Body fat Tab:
I used the Weight and Body Fat Tracker which helped me track my weight and body fat so I knew how much weight I was losing each day and I could compare it with weeks before. It really kept me on track.
Relax App:
I started and ended each day with the guided relaxation app. It's only 2 minutes long, and it made a big difference in starting my day. It also helped me sleep better each night.
ADVICE:
Plan your meals, resistance training and cardio at least a day in advance. I plan mine a week in advance and prepare all my meals for the coming week on Sunday mornings. This way I don't have to think about anything, I just wake up and look at my Fitbit and know what exercises I have to complete that day and what meals I'll be eating.
Treat your weight loss like a marathon, not a sprint. My suggestion is to lose 1-2 pounds a week. If you lose more than that, you're probably losing hard earned muscle in addition to fat.
Give yourself one cheat meal per week. One cheat MEAL, not a CHEAT DAY! I find that it's not that hard to eat clean for 6 days in a row when I know on the 7th day, I can have some pizza and brownies for one meal. I definitely enjoy my cheat meal, though I find that the morning after my cheat I don't feel quite as good, which makes it easy to get back to eating clean for another 6 days!
Best Answer
Fitbit Product Experts Alumni are retired members of the Fitbit Product Expert Program. Learn more
Great story! Thanks for sharing! You look great! Congrats!
Best Answer
Community Moderator Alumni are previous members of the Moderation Team, which ensures conversations are friendly, factual, and on-topic. Moderators are here to answer questions, escalate bugs, and make sure your voice is heard by the larger Fitbit team. Learn more
Best Answer
Community Moderator Alumni are previous members of the Moderation Team, which ensures conversations are friendly, factual, and on-topic. Moderators are here to answer questions, escalate bugs, and make sure your voice is heard by the larger Fitbit team. Learn more
Best Answer
