First , allow me start with a disclaimer . I ’m not a Doctor of the Church ( much to my parent ’ keep chagrin ) , nor do I play one on TV . What worked for me may not be right for you and before you start any type of practice or change in dieting , check with your doctor .
A few months ago I made the mistake of say a physician friend of mine that I had n’t had a checkup in a while — areallylong while . I suppose he was going to pass out .
( In a related note , I once told a lawyer that I had no will . He said , “ My God , Michael , with no will you could die intestate ! ” That pock me a lot until I looked up the wordintestate . It means “ dying without a will . ” So in curt , if I died without a will I was indeed going to die without a will . But I divagate . )
After much prodding , I in the end made an appointment to see my doctor , who after much prodding , jabbing and other medico - similar things say , “ You ’re not in bad shape , but … ” ( the next watchword is alwaysbut ) “ that ’s ‘ not in bad form ’ for a guy in his forty who ’s not in great shape . ”
“ So what do I do ? ” I asked . His resolution was easy : deepen your diet and stop eating like a 20 - year - old , and get more exercise . Okay , that sound soft enough . I paid my billhook and went on my way . As I pondered his words , I had no mind what he meant . What sort of dieting changes ? What exercising was salutary for me ? ( My stress test read I could do anything , but I was told that tug a mouse around did n’t calculate . )
It turned out this was run low to be harder than I thought . I had no idea what foods were healthy and small in matter like calories and cholesterol and what exercise would work best for someone to whom exercise is anathema .
Enter applied science , and more specifically , the iPhone and iPod .
After doing some research , I discovered run would be a gravid exercise for me . There ’s trivial upfront investment and even I can put one foot in front of the other . That is , until I tried . Pregnant adult female press baby pushchair were run faster than I was . That ’s when I turned to Nike+ , the campaign - trailing - system that ’s build into iOS , along with the Nike+GPS app that permit me endure any shoe I want .
Thanks to those tools , I had a much better common sense of how efficacious my rill were . I could go after my mileage and see how to better both space and clip . Life got even better when Apple unfreeze the latest version of the iPod nano software program . I utilise mine in conjugation with aTikTok sentry band . The accelerometer no longer require a dongle to keep running of my running , and I get to listen to medicine at the same time .
In my informal exam along a measured ten - kilometre route , the iPod nano give me the most precise read-out for both length and sentence , ( better than the Nike+ sensing element and far more accurate than my other contraption , theFitbit ) . In little , I went from wheezy mile - walk to being able to carry 10 mile . I now do between six and ten mi a daylight . I still hate run , but erotic love having run .
My next gadget seeking was to see how well I was run in term of heart rate . I hate heart - charge per unit monitors , as they ’re a pain to bust . So I was thrilled to see the $ 130Scosche MyTrekheart - rate monitor at the local Apple store . Rather than strap to your chest , it goes on your forearm and send a constant stream of data back to an iOS app . out of doors , it uses GPS to chase after your distance as well . This was awing , as I could see where in my run I was getting maximal results for my efforts .
The whole is a small glitchy , though . Several times it told me my fondness rate was 62 beats per minute when I was running full out , and 180 beat per moment when I was resting . It also lost connection a few sentence , and the battery meter is never accurate . That said , it ’s become a core part of my physical exercise routine .
As guide alone is not enough , I turn to my old scourge , the get-up-and-go - up . Nothing wrong with doing five push button - ups a day , I told myself . But I could do better . Enter another app , Hundred Push Ups . Thanks to this lovely footling precious stone , I ’m now up to exactly 100 pushup a mean solar day … and 200 sit - ups just for playfulness .
lastly , there ’s the yield of eating intelligent . I love what healthy intellectual nourishment is — it ’s the stuff that does n’t savour good . The question is , what about the stuff that tastes good and looks good for you but perhaps is n’t ? go into another app , Fooducate . This bright chip of computer code read the UPC code of a product , tells you what ’s in it , rate it and then offers healthier option . With it , I was capable to put together a leaning of stuff I like to consume but that also had few kilogram calorie and low cholesterol . And now with Siri on my iPhone 4S , I can also get immediate answers to questions like , “ How many calories are in a beigel ? ” forthwith .
How well did I do ? I ’ve lost 50 pound and my cholesterol has gone right smart down . I work every day , and I ’m in just shape now than I was in college .
Whenever I meet someone I have n’t seen in a retentive metre , I ’m always ask how I mislay weight . When I tell them it ’s diet and exercise , there ’s always a disappointed look . I cerebrate they were hoping I could order them about the secret pastrami - and - bagel diet .
“ Do n’t worry , ” I say to them . “ If you ’re looking to get in form , see your doctor . Then recollect , as you figure out what ’s veracious for you : There ’s an app for that . ”
[ Michael Gartenberg is an psychoanalyst and farsighted - fourth dimension Mac drug user who covers the humankind of the interconnected consumer forGartner . The opinions verbalise are his own . ]
