Spoiler alert: no, it doesn’t involve going on a diet!

The science of weight loss

Weight loss is a widely popular topic within fitness & health, as Google is showing above. January is the peaking month, after which the interest steadily decreases, making December the low point of the year.

Most people are determined to lose weight in the beginning of the year as they are given the opportunity of a fresh start – and then, with time, they increasingly steer away from their goal as the year passes, as summer ends and they might or might not have reached their desired weight. By December, this search word is close to dead, only to be resurrected in January. The cycle goes on.

If we look at how this Google trend has developed over time, we can also see that the search volume has almost doubled from 2004 to 2018.

People have become increasingly interested in looking their best, which almost always involves losing weight. And if you’re planning to lose weight, you probably have a few ideas of how to go about it yourselve, based on tips and stories from friends, common knowledge, advertisements, etc.

How about basing it on science?

An American research makes a good case for long-term weight loss maintenance through 6 important aspects that showed consistent results throughout all study cases.

If you’re planning to lose weight, you most likely want results that will stick. Too many diets and weight loss programs end up with results that last for a couple of months before you regress to the weight you started with. So long-term weight loss is a priority.

Here is what the research found makes or breaks a long-term weight loss journey:

1. Engaging in high levels of physical activity
2. Eating a diet that is low in calories and fat
3. Eating breakfast
4. Self-monitoring weight on a regular basis
5. Maintaining a consistent eating pattern
6. Catching “slips” before they turn into larger regains

According to the research, if you are planning to lose 10% of your body weight and maintain the weight loss for 1 year of more, you should follow the recommendations above.

Some of the guidelines above are old knowledge. Exercising regularly is no surprise, neither is eating healthy, which is basically eating a low fat and low calorie diet.

Eating breakfast might sound new, and the recommended meal consists of cereal and fruit. Self-monitoring of weight and measurements might be relatively new to anyone reading this. Here is how this is explained.

Monitoring your weight & measurements

When it comes to monitoring measurements, 44% reported to monitoring their weight at least once a day, and 31% said they weighted themselves at least once a week. This frequent monitoring would allow them to catch small weight gains and correct them before they became bigger “slips”.

Guideline no 4 is closely related to no 6, catching slips before they turn into larger gains. By regularly monitoring your body, you get to notice even the smallest changes and can most likely trace them back to a behavior, like cutting gym, eating out more often, indulging on sugary drinks too many times, etc. Before it becomes a weight loss problem, you actually get to correct it and get back on track on your weight loss journey.

In support of that, another recent study shows that weighing yourself every day gives you more control over your measurements and leads to greater weight loss.

Monitoring your weight & measurements = long-term weight loss?

Apparently so.

The research used the scale as the main monitoring tool, but the fact is, whatever tool you use that can show the changes in your body is just as useful. A tape measure can show you the changes in inches or cm, broken down to each body part. A caliper will show your Body Fat %, a body scanner has the potential to show your entire body mass in %. BodyBarista can show you your progress in inches via a smartphone.

Whichever tool you use, just make sure you stick to it, use it regularly, and coupled with the rest of the 6 aspects of long-term weight loss maintenance, you’ll be on your way to success.

Anyone out there planning to start taking their measurements regularly?

Comment with your motivation & tips!

The post The science of weight loss appeared first on BodyBarista.

Here’s to summer! We all love it – well, most of us do.

And while you’re out there enjoying it and having fun, it’s a good idea to use BodyBarista from time to time to keep a pulse on your measurements. 

Here’s why.

You might not like it, but during the summer holidays, exercise and working out is probably not the first priority on your list.

And you probably don’t watch out for what you eat as often as you otherwise do. Most people let go a little during this season, and that’s ok. 

However, monitoring how your body changes during this time might be interesting. You monitor how your body changes when you are putting the effort into it, so why not keep a pulse on what exactly is happening to your body when you don’t?

It can also help to track where the changes are happening exactly. 

You might have an idea of where you tend to put on weight the fastest or which of your muscles weaken first – but wouldn’t it be interesting to see this data accurately in inches/cm?

And, furthermore, recording it for future use?

And if you’re the type of person who only needs a little push to stay motivated, taking your measurements as the summer progresses might work to your benefit.

BodyBarista will be able to tell the small changes that you might otherwise not really notice at first, and consequently motivate you to try and eat (a little) healthier during your vacation, and to try to be (a little) more active. 

Not to mention the health benefits to that.

Taking your measurements regularly even during summer could motivate you extra-hard when summer is over and you’re back to your routine.

How so?

If your body has changed considerably during the summer months, you will, in turn, see the progress faster and easier as you get back to your regular exercising.

This works great for your motivation! Seeing progress is the #1 reason we stick to our fitness plan. 

And let’s not forget the long-term perspective.

Keeping a tab on your measurements regularly gives a long-term perspective to your fitness, health and physical appearance. You will have the data on your fluctuation of your measurements, your best and worst shape, all on your phone. 

And finally, the Secret – not so secret – Bonus

In just a couple of weeks, we’ll be releasing a new feature where you’ll be able to save your photos when taking a measurement and revisit them for any date.

Basically, enjoying before & after pictures!

From then on, you’ll be able to check back on your summer picture from last year, your before summer and after summer picture, and so on. 

For those of you who enjoy a visual representation of your fitness progress, this is just what you’ve been waiting for. 

Which of the benefits above surprised you most?

The post The hidden benefits of using BodyBarista during the summer holidays appeared first on BodyBarista.

If you’ve ever searched for an app to monitor your weight, you’ll be happy to hear there is one now that only uses your phone. No more bathroom scales, BMI indicators, body composition analyzers. There’s finally an app for monitoring your weight, and it’s free.

Monitoring your weight is important and you should do it regularly. But here’s an alternative idea: don’t measure your weight, measure your body in inches and cm. Measuring your weight will only inform you about the overall weight of your entire body – but it doesn’t tell you about the status of your individual muscles and body parts, which areas are more problematic and what you should focus on. People give compliments about a persons figure, not their weight, and there’s a reason for that. Weight doesn’t offer a detailed view of your fitness state, and therefore there’s little you can do with that one number. 

Monitor your measurements regularly & build a healthy habit

Monitoring your measurements regularly has been proven to significantly increase the success ratio of sticking to a workout or diet. The more you can see your results in numbers, the more motivated you will be and the more insights you have on what has an effect on you. So when you start seeing that your waistline is shrinking, your biceps are growing and you’re losing inches in your hips, you’ll be more likely to continue your exercise or diet plan. In much the same way, if you’re working towards gaining muscle mass, you should see an increase in inches or cm in the different body parts you’ve been working out. And what if you don’t see the changes in numbers? It will also work to your benefit. If you’re putting in the effort, but not seeing the results, it might be a good indication that you should be doing something different. Update your exercises, add some activity to your daily routine like always taking the stairs, try a different diet, or increase the amount of veggies and whole grains in your diet – whatever it is, if you can’t see the changes in inches or cm, the app will let you know.

You can monitor your measurements with BodyBarista at any fitness center for free. All it takes is a snap in the mirror with your iPhone. Do it regularly, and do it anywhere, because you always have your phone on you. Build the healthy habit of measuring yourself – you’ll thank yourself later. Inside BodyBarista there’s a lot of patent technology under the hood that do all those boring calibration and calculation tasks. So that you can focus on living a great life and give your body the attention is deserves. After all, your body is the only body you’ll ever get.

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