Posts Tagged ‘fitness’

Fitness Challenge 2012 – iOS Apps I am Using – Calorie Counter and Diet Tracker by MyFitnessPal.com

Fitness Challenge, Geek | Posted by Dean
Jan 24 2012

MyFitnessPal.com

Calorie Counter and Diet Tracker by MyFirnessPal.com


I have been on a lifestyle improvement program. Part of this program is to pay more intention as to what I ingest and how active I am. My body has been a low priority over the years, and despite a couple of false starts in previous years I have decided to give this another go. Being a geek of course I have looked for ways to leverage my existing technological investment in iOS devices (iPhone 4 and iPad 1) further to assist me in this journey, I hate using that word but it fits (pardon the pun).

The first App I became aware of, thanks to Mr Dan Hughes from Lee and Dan’s Midnight Movie Club, was Calorie Counter & Diet Tracker by MyFitnessPal. MyFitnessPal is a site that has a large (and dynamically growing) database of foods and exercises and is a combination of website and iOS App. Basically after putting in a current weight, a goal weight, and a timeline to achieve the goal it works out a daily calorie goal. This goal is adjusted as cardiovascular exercises are added to your daily diary, strength exercises can be recorded, but have no bearing on your suggested intake.

The downside I find to the App is that the calorie’s burned for cardiovascular exercise is guesstimated based on user input. For example, for a walk you enter the amount of time you walked for and a rough speed estimate. The burn is then worked out according to an arbitrary formula and takes into no account the inclination and declination of the travel. Surely both of these are key factors in getting an accurate reading. As such the calories burnt can only be thought of as a guesstimate.

Technically the App is not needed as all can be done on the website, however having the App in my pocket gives me the ability to see at a glance my calorie intake and guesstimated calorie burn for the day. This helps me make smart decisions, and gives me a way to monitor what it is I am eating. The site does have a social aspect to it as well with a reasonably active forum of like minded people becoming more active.

It’s a good idea and could well be expanded upon and improved further. If you are in the market for something like this then give it a go.


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Getting Back on the Fitness Train

Fitness Challenge | Posted by Dean
Aug 30 2011

Over recent weeks/months I have been extremely lax in my fitness routine. To the point that the routine is non-existent. Upon reflection this is disappointing as the routine was working. I was beginning to feel better about myself, was more relaxed, and was getting encouraging comments from others. Clearly the effects were obvious. Since falling off the fitness train I have noticed the bad habits and grumpiness return.

If I recall the fall from the fitness train occurred around Mothers Day when I had a terrible flu that had me bed-ridden for two days. After the main bug was gone I was left with a cough that would not quit and was keen to wait it out. I have then also had two trips to Melbourne. Whilst one of the trips was a personal trip and involved a lot of walking, it also involved a lot of drinking and eating out. The second trip was a business trip, and likewise involved eating out with little walking.

I have also been studying intensely in a vendor partners products at full steam and paid little attention to other endeavours, including my fitness. There is a need for this to ensure the company I work for is compliant with the partner agreement which requires four sales accreditations and two technical accreditations. The sales accreditations are done and dusted whereas the two technical accreditations are outstanding. The first technical exam though comes up in just under a week. I have also set myself an open-ended personal challenge to get a higher accreditation that requires 11 sub-accreditations split up into six sales and five technical. The six sales accreditations are done, they took a few hours each. One of the five technical accreditations is within the two for the partner agreement, the other four though will take longer and I have not set an end date for those.

All in all this threw me from the fitness train and smashed my motivation levels. Over recent weeks though I have heard the whistle in the distance. The motivations to get back on the fitness train has increased, as has the need to get out of the house. That drove me to the visit to the Killalea State Park last Saturday. I spent an hour walking in the fresh salty air and then a 500 metre x 60 degree hill climb to finish. Whilst the hill climb was short it was steep and after an hour of walking exposed my sad fitness state. Whilst I can’t go there daily I will be trying to make it regularly.

I will have to get back into the suburban walking on the days when I work from home. Tonight is the night to board the fitness train and get back into a routine.


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Back on it

Fitness Challenge | Posted by Dean
Apr 06 2011

Last evening I decided to go for a walk for the first time since the move. I decided to explore a new direction given the new location. The new house is on a hill, toward the crest. I headed up the street.

I ended up at Shipman’s Park, a park that I had often passed but never visited. I decided to have a brief rest whilst addind the site to Foursquare. The park is built on a significant slope, it is not a park that you would go for a kick of the football, but is a nice place to have a sit and smell the fresh air and look over the suburb toward the ocean.

After deciding to press on my calf muscles both complained with a contraction. Thankfully this lasted about one minute and then was fine. I continued in the same direction and then continued to the major shopping centre. It wasa very easy walk with a slight decline all the way.

I had to purchase some milk and some bread, so I headed to Woolworths. At this time I was talking to Bobbie who was on her way home from work. This is about 5 minutes walk from the main shopping centre. The walk again was relatively flat until the driveway and stairs. That said they were not a challenge. As I got to Woolworths it started drizzling. The kind of rain that you can stand in for hours and not truly get wet. Bobbie and I hung up so I could get through the shop, that we know has a significant dead spot in it.

I then went and got the supplies from Woolworths and headed out, the rain had stopped. I decided to go out the back way. As I was heading out I called Bobbie again and was chatti g to her.

The back way has a steep long hill. I saw this as a challenge that I wanted to conquer. About half way up I was double thinking my desire, but continued and eventually made it albeit huffing and puffing. I had to have a break and drink my water. Fortunately there was a park at the end.

After a 10 minute break I continued on. The next hill was only a minute down the road. This hill was not as long, but just as steep. Again it was conquered. About 50% of the way up this hill the rain returned. This time it was heavier and I was quite wet by the end. My headset then played up in the rain making our chat very frustrating. I though continued on looking like a drowned rat and was fortunate that Bobbie was heading home from work. I ended up in the car for the last kilometer.

All in all a 105 minute walk and today I had a very slight ache in the legs, but nothing to worry about.


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Paying the Price

Fitness Challenge | Posted by Dean
Mar 20 2011

Today I have begun paying the price of Friday evenings Seafood Gorge. I ballooned up 1.9kg. Not unexpected after the consumption. Tonight I decided to get back onto the wagon. 45 minutes on Kinect Sports before dinner, and then an hour on a walk around the area.

Walked past the potential new house, and then down the side street. The walk was progressing well until I was walking past the local workers club. I slipped on a hidden mud patch and practically did the splits. I joked on Facebook that I scraped my nuts on the pavement, whilst not hat bad I did hyper-extend my knee. I was relatively close to home and decided to continue on, I was also not feeling any ill effects.

I soon was experiencing pain though on a small rise near the cemetery. Almost simultaneously the heavens decided to open up. I was unable to walk quicker, and certainly not run, so I became a fat drowned rat. Within 5 metres from home the rain of course eased back to previous levels. The knee has been a constant recurring injury for me, so I am not concerned. Ice is on it and by morning I am confident that the pain will have subsided substantially.

I feel good for getting back on the wagon, now to stay there!


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Challenging Day

Fitness Challenge, General | Posted by Dean
Mar 15 2011

Today has been a rather challenging day. I have had to juggle work and family commitments at the last minute. Dad had to go to hospital and was planning to walk there. I felt that was simply a bad solution and decided to do a two part work day and get dad to the hospital in the middle.

At this point I have managed 3.5 hours of work and to get Dad to the hospital. Now waiting to call the hoapital then go see Dad before heading home. The procedure he is in for is his usual procedure, it is nothing major, so no need to worry.

I seriously suspct the 15 minutes on my sisters exercise machine will be the extent of my activity today for Fat Attack 2011. In terms of food I have had yoghurts and a chilli chicken wrap. So not too much crap going in. I did weigh myself this morning and Wii Fit had my BMI heading down and the weight down by 200 grams, though that means nearly nothing as I hadn’t eaten or drunk anything.

In terms of work it looks like I will be working late tonight to make up the remaining 4 hours. I have a couple of tasks in mind that sould fill that time nicely. Basically monitoring of update publications for a endpoint protection platform. Won’t say it will be fun, but it will be a kind of perverse pleasure.


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