4 Ways Your Smartphone Can Help You Lose Weight

Do you go old-school when you want to lose weight? The idea of pounding the treadmill and reducing your kcal to the bare minimum is what constitutes a healthy lifestyle in lots of peoples’ minds. Using your smartphone is the opposite considering a Twitter survey ranked “unplugging” as the number one lifestyle change men and women want to make.

However, you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover. Sure, your device is a maze of social media likes and YouTube videos, and you can spend hours doing nothing and being unproductive. But, it’s also an incredibly helpful tool when used correctly as it can target tons of bad habits, the factors contributing to weight gain included.

Your weight loss journey can be more enjoyable and less complicated with the help of your handset, elements that are synonymous with success, and these are the reasons why.

HIIT Apps

Finding the perfect exercise method for your requirements is the place to begin regarding weight loss. If you don’t burn enough calories regularly, you don’t run a kcal deficit and target the problem areas on your body. Thankfully, high-intensity-interval-training applications have got your back.

HIIT is a form of exercise that focuses on short, sharp bursts of energy, so you only need to participate in a 25-minute session to feel the burn. Even better, a smartphone and internet connection combination lets you conduct them from anywhere in the world. It doesn’t matter where you are because, as long as you have the right cell phone accessories, you’ll be fully-equipped. A durable, outdoor case is ideal.

Having the inspiration on an application on your phone could make you more likely to work out. After all, it’s not as if your device won’t be far away from your person!

Gentle Reminders

The best-laid plans of mice and men often go awry. This saying is never more true than when talking about dieting and weight loss. Although you have designs to resist temptation, you can’t help yourself sometimes. Plus, it’s easy to forget, especially if you have bad eating habits and are stuck in a rut.

Thankfully, a text reminder is scientifically-proven to boost your motivation and stick to your targets. People who receive a phone alert and a video informing them of their responsibilities eat more fruits and veggies and exercise more often. Currently, staring at your phone is viewed as unhealthy since it increases screen time.

Yet, a notification, although it is distracting, is also a fantastic way to keep you on track. In truth, part of the problem with losing weight is maintaining the same routine. The good news is, your phone can remind you why your routine is important.

Quick Notes

A tried and tested method of losing weight is to keep a food diary. By writing down what you eat and drink, you can count your daily calories and make adjustments should you verge on the brink of going over your allocation. You might think you can do this without your phone, yet consider this – how often do you carry a pen and writing pad?

Some people will answer “often” to this question. However, lots will remember instances when they needed a pen and piece of paper and relied on their phone instead. Yes, your smartphone is a perfect food journal tool as you can write everything down throughout the day.

Waiting to get home, or doing it at the end of a day because you are busy are bad habits because you will forget small things that make big differences. As long as your phone has battery life, you can jot the details down and make yourself accountable.

Plugged Sessions

If you have arrived at the gym to realize you have forgotten your iPod, you’re not wrong in letting out a sigh of frustration. The reality is that unplugged exercise sessions are worse for your physical endurance, which means you’ll work out at a lower intensity for less time without a playlist.

The actual amount is 15%, and that’s a significant drop in endurance. Of course, your handy smartphone makes this scenario more and more unlikely. Why? It’s because it doubles up as a music player. By downloading the Spotify or Apple Music app and storing the tunes on your phone, you’ll never have to worry about dropping your standards at the gym.

All you need to fret about is bringing your earphones!

A smartphone is an all-rounder, which means it has the exercise features to keep your workouts fun and intense.

Photo credits: Andrea Piacquadio and Ketut Subiyanto