Apple Fitness+ Was a Big Help for My Weight Loss

 

Apple Fitness+ Was a Big Help for My Weight Loss

I’m glad that I came back to it


HEALTH

Adobe Firefly image by author “Older man exercising with dumbbells”
Adobe Firefly image by author “Older man exercising with dumbbells”

I recently wrote about my long path to lose the weight I had gained before retiring. As I said there, part of my success came from exercising more than I did when I was working.

I have always found time for exercise and was never in really poor shape, but I wasn’t doing enough to stay in really good shape. It didn’t help that I was a smoker until 1995, and the long hours I spent driving to my customers who were scattered all over New England added to my sloth and my dad bod.

Most of my exercise was simple things like walking, pushups, calisthenics, that sort of thing, with an occasional visit to the gym. Those at least kept me from obesity. Then, shortly after I retired, Apple announced Fitness+ and I added that to my workouts.

Too hard for me

I had a hard time with the workouts. I wasn’t flexible enough, my endurance was poor; I found the workouts too hard. I tried, but began to do them less and less and eventually they slipped out of sight and out of mind. I returned to my own stuff, though more frequently because retirement gave me the necessary time. These did let me slowly trim my bulging waist. I was able to put my 34 inch jeans away and move to 32's.

Recently I found that I was stuck at a plateau of 157 pounds and could not move below it without starving myself. I like a 12–14 hour daily fast, but I do not like being hungry all day!

So I started up Apple Fitness+ again and I’m glad I did. I’m still doing my walking, pushups, and all that, but now I fire up Fitness+ three times a week, Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday. No extreme food reduction!

Suddenly not so hard

To my surprise, the workouts seemed easier. I don’t think Apple made the workouts any lighter, though they do have an Older Adult section and I found those are quite easy (at least for me), so I switched to the “real” workouts.

Those “normal” sets can be challenging. I sweat, my heartbeat gets up there, and I “feel the burn” often. I’m usually using the same weights the lead trainer uses, and sometimes more. I’m enjoying these workouts!

I started with just one twenty minute workout (plus my other exercises). I’d vary between upper body, lower body, and core, depending on how I felt from previous sets. More recently, I have added a 10-minute HIIT set before the twenty minute weight bearing sets.

It was this and a very mild calorie reduction that allowed me to break through that 157 pound plateau, reaching 152 within a few weeks.

Strongly recommended

If you have the equipment, Apple gear, time, and can afford the cost of Fitness+ or Apple One Premier, this is a great way to exercise. You don’t have to use weights; they have workouts with no gear needed. You can start with short workouts, Older Adult (even if you aren’t!), Pure Dance sets, Yoga, or others and you can only do what your body lets you do — nobody is watching except you!

You can even do the dumbbell sets without dumbbells. Your arms and your legs are weights, you know! Do what you can do and work your way up at your own pace.

It works for me

All together, my own exercise and the Fitness+ workouts add about 200 calories a day or more to my Move Ring. That may not seem like much, but if that is actually all extra, those burned calories could mean almost half a pound lost weekly.

I know, that seems painfully slow if you are trying to get back into clothes you used to wear. I was aiming to pull on my old 30–30 jeans again, and yes, it took me several years to get there, but I think this is the way to lose weight healthily and to keep that weight off. I don’t think crash diets or shunning carbs or any of those other fads are good for you. That may or may not agree with current medical thinking, but it does work, you don’t go hungry, and you won’t be missing any important nutrients if you stick to a healthy diet.

Just my opinions, of course, but your doctor might strongly agree, don’t you think?

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