Technology continues to advance, creating improvements in countless areas of life including the ability to have your groceries delivered right to your doorstep as well as the ability to track your workouts and nutrition to help you crush your transformation challenge.
At the same time, while the advances of technology have given us many conveniences, it’s not without its drawbacks. Believe it or not, technology can actually work against your fitness goals.
With that in mind, here are the technology Do’s and Don’ts for weight loss.
Technology Do’s for Weight Loss
#1 Track Your Calorie Intake
If you want to efficiently and easily lose weight, then it’s imperative to track your calorie intake. The reason for this is that weight loss is first and foremost driven by a calorie deficit.
The only way to know with reasonable certainty that you are actually in a deficit is to know how many calories you need to eat to maintain your weight and then eat fewer calories than that number.
Now, many people will use any of the countless calorie calculators that are available on the internet to estimate their calorie needs, but these are woefully inaccurate typically.
A better option is to use the 1UP FItness App, which not only provides suggested calorie and macronutrient goals for you based on your age, sex, experience level, etc., but it also allows you to easily track your food intake so that you can be sure that you’re on the right track with your fitness and nutrition plan.
#2 Explore New Fitness Opportunities
Advancements in internet connection speeds have opened up a world of opportunities, including the ability to stream workouts and/or scour the web for fun ways to exercise.
There’s seemingly no end to the different ways people have created to move their bodies, all the while burning tons of calories and losing weight.
If you feel like you’re in a rut, feel free to explore one of these new exercise regimens. Additionally, if you’re just getting started on your fitness journey and overwhelmed by all of the options, pull up the 1UP Fitness app, which provides customized training programs along with instructional videos to help you find the right workout for your goals and achieve the results you want.
#3 Put Your Phone Away at Mealtime
Far too often (seemingly all the time these days), individuals stare at their phone (or tablet or TV) while scarfing down a giant pile of food.
This “distracted eating” is known to lead to overeating and/or seek out less healthy (“junk”) food options.[1,2]
Simply put, when you’re eating, put the phone away. Leave it in the other room. Leave it in the car if dining out. Leave it anywhere but in your hand or on the table.
This will help stop you from mindlessly overeating as well as overindulging in the mindless negativity that can permeate across social media and news outlets.
Instead, enjoy the company of those around you at the dining table, or if you’re dining alone, take some time to practice mindfulness in which you appreciate and savor each and every bite of the meal. Not only will you get more enjoyment from your meal, but you’ll also take a considerable step towards avoiding overeating.
Technology Don’ts for Weight Loss
#1 Don’t Major in the Minors
Calorie counting and macro tracking can be incredibly helpful when it comes to optimizing and streamlining weight loss. At the same time, becoming too engrossed in tracking the minutiae of your food intake can be detrimental.
For instance, we’ve had questions before about which is “better” for dieting green apples or red apples. Other instances of such questions that can derail you from your main objective are asking for the “best exercise for X muscle group” or “best protein source.”
We’ll clear the confusion up right now...there is no universal “best” anything for all individuals in all life scenarios. There may be a more “optimal” option for your personal diet and training preferences, but that doesn’t mean it’s the same across the board for all individuals looking to lose weight.
If you find yourself starting to stress over such small details as debating which color apple is best for weight loss, you’ve taken things too far. It’s time to step away from the technology and get reacquainted with the big picture ideas -- focusing on hard training, whole foods, getting enough sleep, etc.
#2 Don’t Spend Too Much Time on Devices
As we mentioned at the outset of this article, technology does a great many things for improving modern living, but that doesn’t mean it’s perfect. In fact, spending too much time on devices can actually hinder your weight loss results.
Between tracking nutrition, participating in online workouts, and scrolling through the never-ending social media feeds, you can literally lose hours and hours each day that could be spent more productively (aka getting work done!).
Now, if running a social media account or training clients online is your job, then that’s another story, but still, it’s important to detach yourself from your technological devices for a certain amount of time each day.
Some ways we enjoy unplugging from tech are going for walks in nature, stretching, enjoying a cup of coffee or tea with a friend, and/or reading a good book (you know those things with pages that you actually have to turn).
#3 Don’t Blindly Adhere to “Gurus”
There’s a LOT of information that is readily available both on the internet and social media. Some of it is good, but not all of it.
As such, just because someone has a large following doesn’t mean they are actually providing quality, reliable information.
Every piece of content you consume -- video, audio, or otherwise -- approach it with an inquisitive mindset. Don’t just accept everything you’re told with blind faith.
References
- Robinson E, Aveyard P, Daley A, et al. Eating attentively: a systematic review and meta-analysis of the effect of food intake memory and awareness on eating. Am J Clin Nutr. 2013;97(4):728-742. doi:10.3945/ajcn.112.045245
- Iris Duif, Joost Wegman, Monica M Mars, Cees de Graaf, Paul A M Smeets, Esther Aarts, Effects of distraction on taste-related neural processing: a cross-sectional fMRI study, The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Volume 111, Issue 5, May 2020, Pages 950–961, https://doi.org/10.1093/ajcn/nqaa032
