Self-Monitoring for Success

Self-Monitoring: Fitness Trackers, Apps, Smart Scales and More

Why Track?

Many studies have shown that self-monitoring is an effective tool to aid in weight management. There are a variety of tools available, but tracking does not need to be complicated or expensive. Below are some ideas to consider.

Dietary Intake

An appropriate nutrition plan is a cornerstone to successful weight loss. Working with your doctor, you will identify specific nutritional goals. You may choose to track calories, macros (the amount of protein, fat, and carbohydrates that you eat every day), servings of fruits/vegetables, etc.

Available options include:

• Phone-based apps such as MyFitnessPal or MyPlate Calorie Counter
  Many are free, but for a small fee you can access additional features that may be helpful such as an ad-free interface, the ability to download and share your diary with your health care provider, QR code readers to import some nutritional information, and meal planning/shopping list features. Some even have AI features where you can snap a photo of your plate, and it will estimate the nutritional content of the meal.
• Pencil and Paper
  It does not have to be complicated or expensive. If you prefer, simply jotting down what you eat in a small notebook can be just as effective for some people.

Tracking your food intake does not need to be an all-or-nothing approach. Often it is useful to track daily for a few weeks as you are embarking on your weight-loss journey, or if you reach a plateau or are otherwise not seeing the results you expect. For many patients, once you have settled into some good habits, you may choose to track less frequently (such as tracking 2-3 days a week, just weekends, or one week per month). Different approaches will work for different people. The goal is to ensure that you stay aware of what you are eating in order to keep yourself accountable and motivated to reach your goals.

Physical Activity

Physical activity is an important part of a healthy lifestyle. It is recommended that most adults engage in 150 to 300 minutes per week of moderate intensity physical activity, or 75 to 150 minutes per week of vigorous physical activity. While this may feel unachievable when you are first starting out, setting small, achievable goals will help you to improve your level of physical activity and overall physical fitness. Your doctor can help you to plan a safe and feasible physical activity program.

Fitness trackers can be fun and motivating for some people! Options include:

• Pedometer/Step Tracker
  A simple and inexpensive option to monitor your daily step count. Walking is a great form of physical activity, especially if you are just starting out or returning to exercise after an injury or extended period of inactivity.
• Smart Watch/Fitness Watch
  Smart watches have lots of features to track physical activity. If you are enthusiastic about a particular sport, you may choose one that is specially designed for that (for example, to track runs, swimming, cycling, etc.). Most smart watches (Apple Watch, Garmin, Pixel Watch) have options to track your heart rate, distance, and other parameters. This can be helpful to some people to guide the level of effort/exertion during a workout.
• Phone-based Apps
  There are many app-based trackers. Some of them will allow you to track a wide variety of exercises (MyFitnessPal, Fitbit, etc.), others will provide detailed workout plans for a subscription fee (Peloton and iFit offer cardio, strength, dance, and more), and some are sport specific (Couch to 5K, Run with Hal, Nike Runclub, and many others).
• Low Tech
  A chart on the fridge where you get a gold star for every day you are active also works great. It’s all about finding what will motivate you!

Weight and Body Composition

Regularly weighing yourself is a necessary part of a weight loss plan. Although it can be daunting and many people dread stepping on the scale, ultimately we need to know where we are to make progress toward where we want to be.

Weighing yourself at least once a week will help provide useful information to share with your doctor as we adjust your weight loss plan over time. Some people prefer to weigh themselves daily to get more rapid feedback on how their choices are affecting their weight. Remember that if the number on the scale goes up 3 lbs. overnight, that is not fat! You would have needed to eat an excess of 10,500 calories the day before! However, your weight may fluctuate day to day due to salt intake, water retention, etc. This information might help you tweak how you are eating in order to feel your best.

Body composition analysis can be a useful tool when you are working on a long-term weight loss/weight management plan. Plateaus are inevitable during a weight loss journey. Sometimes other positive changes are occurring, even if the number on the scale is not moving. For example, you may be gaining muscle (if you are eating well and strength training), or reducing your visceral fat (fat around the organs that leads to health problems). Understanding more about your body composition can motivate you to keep going to improve your health.

The Bottom Line

Obesity is a chronic disease, and regular monitoring is essential to optimize treatment. In the same way that a patient treated for hypertension needs to monitor their blood pressure, or a patient with diabetes needs to check their blood sugar, patients undergoing treatment for obesity benefit from regular assessment and self-monitoring. The more we know, the better we can address inevitable challenges and setbacks, and adjust your treatment plan to set you up for success.