So I mentioned way back here that I had purchased in 2015 a Wihtings Smart Body Analyzer. I bought it out of curiosity mainly but also with the logic of only by measuring and making myself aware (of my weight) could I potentially reduce it. Hearing the same logic in a business context not long before, that informing employees of their energy consumption that an organization was able to reduce their consumption by 10%, so I thought well I can buy this scale and do the same right? For context at that time I was 79.4kg and 179cm or so (12 stone 7lbs and 5'11") or BMI of 24.4, so in the healthy range... As they say here in the Netherlands "Meten is Weten" - measuring is knowing... So the logic was I would then weigh myself regularly and guilt myself into a healthier eating and more active lifestyle. Incidentally the Withings mobile app, now called Health Mate was able to track steps also. (Probably not as accurately as the Fitbit I had in 2012 or so but then I left that in airport security and it is convinced I have been very lazy ever since) The reality was something quite different of course, as shown here: So I had gone from 79.4kg to +/- 84.4kg from Sept 2015 till April 2018 - safely into the "Overweight" zone. Unfortunately there is no story of muscle weighing more than fat either as this is a smart scale remember and I could also see (thanks to changes in the reporting in the App) that my body fat was also up around 5kg also! So it definitely counted as Epic fail, not only had I spent 150 Euro or so but I had ignored what it was telling me - I was now technical overweight for the first time in my life, joining the majority of people in Europe. So what triggered the change? Was it the fact that the Withings founder was buying the company back from Nokia that had purchased it a few years before? Of course not, but interesting all the same - I had noticed more frequent app updates from Nokia bringing more functionality in every couple of weeks. The main reason was a bloodtest that revealed bad Cholesterol levels, overall too high, the bad too high, the good too low and Triglycerides also too high. So now with there was the triple whammy of Overweight, too much fat, and now also unhealthy. In a way it shouldn't have come as a surprise as I sit behind a laptop most of my days and nights working. So what did I do? Small changes that I knew would be sustainable, there was no wonder diet, gym (Well except on holiday!) or personal training involved. But light exercise with a kettlebell and tips from the Slow carb diet in 4-hour body by Tim Ferriss and daily morning weigh-ins on my Withings scale to track progress, I did use MyFitnessPal to track what I was eating and exercise (Which was also linked to the Nokia(Withings) Health Mate app) but that didn't last very long. About 143 days later and I have lost about 8.5kg or 10% (18lbs) of my body weight. The Goal line I have steadily been decreasing as I push through each one - first the healthy line, then 80kg, then 77kg (My end 2012 weight) and now 75kg (My weight in 2000 or so) Today I was 76.2kg.
The body fat chart is the same shape as above and as a result my cholesterol & triglyceride levels are now back in normal range. Although having tried a DEXA body scan that gives a more accurate picture of amount of body fat I can safely say that the Withings underestimates my body fat %, so tend to use it only as trend information. The methodology it uses is slightly flawed and influenced by a glass of water even. So my advice is yes measure, yes do use a smart scale (the automated charting alone has been worthwhile) but measure more - go to have a general blood test to pro-actively understand your body before your doctor tells you about the cause of any serious illness. Most important learning for me was that when you put your mind to it anything is possible, technology can help to measure and track but the mindset needs to come first. Hope you have enjoyed reading and if you do want to lose some weight start with small goals and realize that weight will fluctuate a lot over a day and overall, so weigh daily and get the trend line heading in the right direction. Disclaimer: I am not a Doctor, nor qualified in nutrition or similar. Consult your qualified medical professional before any dramatic changes to diet or in exercise
1 Comment
|
AuthorJust a guy with lots of smart home tech: Archives
August 2018
Categories
All
|