Success Stories
Manon decided to take control of her health and lose weight after her boyfriend proposed to her during a vacation to California. At the time she weighed 194 pounds at just 5 feet tall. Read on to learn how food tracking, a supportive social media following, and watching success in the Health Mate app helped keep her motivated to make healthier choices.
What were the first steps you took? What tools helped you?
Manon: My weight loss journey started in November 2014 thanks to MyFitnessPal and my scale that I discovered a few months after I began losing weight. By weighing my food, I realized how many calories it contained, which naturally led me to alter the quantities that I ate. I used to eat half a baguette with my meals and, when I realized how many calories that was, I reduced my portion sizes dramatically. I didn’t stop there, however, because I soon started running as well.
Did you make a radical lifestyle change or instead take small steps toward change?
In terms of my diet, I didn’t feel like I changed my habits radically, because I didn’t experience any frustration or ever feel hungry. However, with hindsight, I did switch from eating a lot of fatty foods to a healthier, more balanced diet.
How did you discover MyFitnessPal and our scale?
I discovered MyFitnessPal online when I was looking for an app to count calories. I loved the app right from the start; it’s really practical, quite intuitive to use, and very comprehensive! I then discovered the scale in spring 2015. I already had a traditional scale, but I wanted to invest in something more comprehensive and personalized that would measure body fat. When I was looking into it online, I found this smart scale.
What do you like about your scale? How did it help you? Your weight-loss graph must look amazing! Did the graph help keep you motivated?
I love the scale’s design and I really like the fact that it is connected. All of my data is automatically synchronized in the Health Mate app. It’s so useful to see your weight graph right on your phone! Also, being able to monitor your body fat is really useful. I’m hardly losing any more weight now, so it’s great to have something that shows me that even when my weight is pretty stable, I’m still reducing my body fat.
Would you recommend the scale to someone who wants to lose weight? Why?
Yes, I would really recommend this scale because it lets you measure the things that are important for losing weight. Besides your weight, it can calculate your body fat and your heart rate. All of the data is synchronized automatically with the Health Mate app, which is a great hub for all your health data. When you’re in the app, you can see different graphs, including ones for weight and body fat. Seeing those lines steadily go down over a long period of time helped motivate me and encourage me to not give up!
Withings Smart Scales
How many times a week do you weigh yourself? Do you think frequency is important?
I weigh myself every day. It’s an argument I have a lot on Instagram, because people say you shouldn’t do that, but I feel the need to jump on the scale every morning. It helps me not give in to unhealthy habits, I’m more rational and, when the results aren’t great, I can take a step back and resolve not to throw in the towel.
Has logging your meals in MyFitnessPal changed your attitude towards food?
MyFitnessPal helped me become aware of the quantity of food I was eating every day. I had a totally distorted view of reality. One portion of pasta was a plate crammed full of food, one portion of bread was half a baguette…
When did you decide to share your story on social media? What do you get out of sharing this story with other people?
From the very start of my weight loss journey, I got interested in Instagram on the recommendation of a friend. At the beginning, I only used it to follow pretty “Fit girls”, then I gradually started to post things on there as well. The more people started to follow me, the more I got into it, and the more I would post! My followers are so supportive. That’s why I can’t give up. I can never thank them enough.
When did you start to feel really good about yourself?
That’s a difficult question… Girls are never satisfied, everybody knows that! At the beginning of my diet, the body that I have now would have made me very happy. Now that I’ve reached that target, I still see things I want to change. But I can see that I’m much happier with myself now.
Have you managed not to make this weight loss a day-to-day obsession, to find some balance between your personal life and your health goals?
It isn’t always easy to find that balance in life. As my Instagram account took off, it inevitably took up more and more time in my life. But I make an effort to maintain a healthy balance to avoid getting obsessed.
What advice would you give someone who would like to embark on a diet like yours, but doesn’t know where to begin?
Most importantly, don’t go on a diet! You just need to find some balance and, of course, do some exercise. Analyzing what I was eating was a real light bulb moment for me and helped me embrace some better habits. It’s been almost 6 months now since I stopped counting calories, but I’ve held on to my healthy habits and sensible portions.
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Thanks to Manon for her time!
Remember that the Health Mate app and MyFitnessPal work together to become a real-time weight loss coach. By linking your accounts on the two apps, you can balance your diet with your physical activity to reach your weight loss targets.
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