Testimonial by Fitdigits user, Loren C.

After gaining 30 pounds last year due to various stresses in my life, I decided that I needed to lose weight. On August 10, 2011, I weighed 252 lbs, which was 67 pounds overweight. I decided to join Team Weight Loss at Lifetime Fitness in the Bloomington North facility.

Loren at Lifetime Fitness

Part of its program is journaling what you consume and your exercise. However, I had a problem keeping the journal up to date because I did not carry it everywhere with me. I was using the polar heart strap and watch, but started to experience problems. I decided to start searching for heart monitor alternatives.

I carry my iPhone with me all the time, so I started looking for apps that would help. I found MyFitnessPal, which took care of the journaling. I kept looking for ways to use polar with my iPhone, but I never found a solution. Then I found Fitdigits. Fitdigits is an iPhone app that uses a transceiver (Fitdigits Connect) that plugs into the dock connector of the iPhone. I upgraded to the Garmin Premium Heart Rate Monitor which uses ANT+ technology to communicate with Fitdigits and picked up the transceiver, too.

Once equipped with Fitdigits, I was able to track my food diary (MyFitnessPal) and my exercise progress. I also wanted to make sure that my heart rate zones were accurate, so I had a CardioPoint* fitness test. The information from the CardioPpoint was uploaded to the NewLeaf website. Fitdigits synchronizes with NewLeaf and downloads the heart rate zones into the phone.

I am an information junkie. The data feedback that Fitdigits provides helps me track my progress. I get to see my heart rate during my workouts. Not only that but the information from those workouts is share with NewLeaf, Facebook and friends. I can see that I am making progress and I can quantify that against my program. I am not on a diet, but I have made significant changes to my lifestyle that have improved my overall health and fitness. I am still enjoying the occasional beer, but I am more conscious of the effects it has on my fitness program

Working Hard Using Fitdigits

I added a FitBit to my program on January 30th, 2012. This tracks all of my movement throughout the day. The wonderful thing about the Fitbit system is that the website awards you badges for your level of daily activity. When I look at my total activity for the day I am always motivated to do just a little more activity in order to get the next badge. At first I was reaching 50 floors in a day, but then I wanted to see if I could get to 100 floors in a day. Then I tried for 150 floors. Then 200 floors. When we had our first warm day of the spring in Minneapolis I wanted to go reach another achievement level for the paces per day. I was able to get to 40,209, which allowed me to receive highest badge you can receive in a single day, the 40,000 pace badge. The trail system in the Minneapolis/St. Paul is excellent. I have been making use of it and will be continuing the use of the trails throughout the spring and summer.

I started in August 2011. As of March 8, 2012, I have lost 30 lbs and have 35 more to go.

*CardioPoint is a cardiovascular fitness test available at Lifetime Fitness that determines key cardiovascular training markers including anaerobic threshold, aerobic base and V02. It identifies optimal heart rate zones and the best zone for the most effective exercise. It also provides a more accurate caloric burn formula.