After an accident and the subsequent weight gain, I managed to lose almost 100 lbs with the help of MyFitnessPal and Runtastic. Here’s my story.
At the height of my physical fitness, I was involved in a terrible car accident that caused major injuries to my back, neck, knees and wrist. It took 4 years to gain enough strength to be able to walk with minimal back pain. The inability to be physically active pushed me into a serious depression. I couldn’t handle the pain and inactivity, and began to rely on pills to manage.
I’m 5 feet tall on a good day and was at my heaviest weight of 275 lbs. After 10 years, I finally stopped trying to deal with the pain in pill form and decided to start slowly trying to exercise in order to lose the weight I’d gained. I searched for apps to help me get back into shape. A friend had just started to run to lose weight and introduced me to Runtastic and MyFitnessPal.
I started in November of 2013 by walking my dog just over a mile. Over the course of the next month I worked my way up to 5 miles. We then worked on our speed. I changed my diet and started logging every cup of coffee and piece of food that entered my mouth, using the MyFitnessPal app. This led me to make changes, like cutting back on my bread intake and substituting lettuce wraps.
By the spring of 2014, I started a Couch to 5K training plan with my dog—she loves to run! Some weeks had to be repeated, but I finished it and ran my first 5K in August as my birthday celebration. Then, I found the Runtastic Fitness Channel on YouTube with Lunden. Adding her videos to my workout routine has helped me build muscle and stamina.
It’s been just over a year since I embarked on my fitness journey, and I’ve lost 81 lbs! I still have 50 lbs more to go before I reach my goal, but I’m well on my way. I can run a 13 minute mile (which I always track on Runtastic) and I joined a local all-women’s gym. I attend their classes and trainings and run outside with my Runtastic app. I still log my food in MyFitnessPal, too. It lets me know when I overeat, so I can compensate with a bit of additional exercise.
Runtastic and MyFitnessPal were the foundation of my lifestyle change. There are some days when I “cheat,” but I never gorge anymore. I have learned portion control and to look at the nutritional facts on all foods. The newsletters from both companies are fantastically informative—I have most of them saved to a folder in my email. And the 28-day squat challenge is amazing (I’m currently partaking in it with my friend). I just wanted to thank Runtastic and MyFitnessPal for everything. Without the constant information and videos that keep me motivated, I would have not been so driven to succeed.
