Lose Weight with Your SmartPhone – Part Two

The tools and resources available via your smartphone are incredible!  Not only can you use it to organize your entire life, but you can also use it to lose and maintain weight.  Last week, I posted five of my top ten tips to lose weight using your smartphone.  If you missed it, be sure to catch up here.  Now, here are tips six through ten.

 

6. Create motivational slideshows with Slidz.

Slidz is one of my favorite apps!  It’s a really cool and different way to motivate yourself to get through workouts when you’re just not feeling it.  Slidz allows you to synch photos with your playlist on your smartphone.

 

Use this app to help you on your fitness journey by collecting motivational photos, before and after photos, motivational phrases, etc. on your phone. Then, synch these images to your favorite workout playlist. 

 

When you’re struggling through your last few minutes on the treadmill or your last few reps lifting weights, and your head just isn’t in it, play your slideshow.  There’s no way you’re quitting when you have a series of motivational photos playing to your favorite songs.  Works every time!

 

7. Use hashtags to connect with people of interest on Instagram.

You can find people on Instagram that share your interests and motivate you with their posts via hashtags.  Just run a search using a hashtag like #workout or #healthy, and you will find users that post photos of this kind. (To search, click “Profile” and “Search Instagram.”)

 

In addition to searching with hashtags, you can also use them on your own photos to help others find you.  This will connect you with a community of people that share similar interests.

 

8. Use alarms on your phone to set daily healthy reminders.

Set an alarm on your phone to remind you to drink water, work out, track your calories, go to bed, etc.  Whatever healthy habit you’re trying to form that you have difficulty with, set an alarm for it on your phone.  These reminders will keep you on the right track.

 

9. Set a date for your health goals and use a countdown calendar app.

Dates keep us accountable and give us something to work toward.  Set deadlines for things that will motivate you to reach your health and weight loss goals, such as a wedding, high school reunion, or a vacation.  Then, download one of the many countdown calendar apps available for your smartphone to remind you what you are working towards and provide extra motivation to get there.

 

10-Use your phone to take photos of your food.

When I was a personal trainer, I had my clients keep a food journal.  They wrote down what they ate, but oftentimes, they would greatly underestimate their portion size or disregard it all together.  It’s so easy to forget how much you’ve consumed over the course of the day.  Taking pictures on your phone is a great reminder because you can see exactly how much you’ve eaten.  A photo provides an accurate record of what you’ve consumed and can keep you in check.