Fitness Apps: Week 7 (Google Fit, MyFitnessPal and MapMyRun)

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Activity

It's happened. I've started running every morning (well except for when it's raining, or when I've been up late the night before). Rising early and completing 4.5 km before breakfast while watching the sun rise. I know the exact point at which I'll feel the twinge of a stitch (at the highest point of the run), the exact point where I'll need to belch (pardon me, I'm not the only one) before I go through the underpass. And I try to put out of my mind the points where I slow, to overcome the psychological barriers.

The aim now is to get faster rather than further. At the moment the run (which has 32 m of gain) takes me half an hour. I'd like to eventually shave some minutes off that, and once I've become quicker I'll work on additional height gain and distance. (There's a hill that would conveniently extend my run, which I've incorporated a couple of times but only with my running buddy – my eldest son – and it's not the most inviting challenge in the early morning.)

It's a great feeling getting to see the sun rise as you run each day and the getting out of bed early isn't difficult with the added boost of energy that the exercise provides. There's also motivation and a sense of fulfilment at completing something before the day begins. It puts you in exactly the right mood to start work.

Progress

I have the equivalent of two large bags of sugar left to lose before I'm inside the hallowed lair of my ideal weight range according to the NHS BMI guidelines. It's easy to visualise and also to hold in my hands. (It's around the weight of a 4-pint milk carton filled with sand.)

There's a desire in me to sprint to the finish (or at least to the first stage of my goal), but at the same time I know that to starve myself of nutrition simply to arrive there faster makes no sense. Especially if I'm going to maintain the stamina to progress to the secondary goal of reaching the centre of my BMI range.

All-in-all progress is steady and continues along the trend of the past 40 days (losing around two pounds a week), which is great considering there's been a fair number of family get togethers, meals out and trips to the pub in January and February (not to mention December).

What's next

So here's to entering Week 7. The weather is gradually improving removing one of the largest barriers to outdoor exercise, and I've been keeping going. So it turns out 2015 is my year for regaining fitness and becoming more active. There's been no massive changes to diet, because MyFitnessPal indicates there's no need, I simply tweak here and there trying to achieve the ideal Carbohydrate (50%), Fat (20%) and Protein (20%) split, the biggest challenge of which (though still small) is to increase protein intake.

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