Thursday, May 24, 2012

SlimKicker

Back in September we got an email from Christine about this new weight loss app, Slim Kicker. I’ve done a few food diary/weigh loss apps before, but this one is different. Christine, who developed the app, put it perfectly when she told me that the app “plays into people's intrinsic desires for achievement and competition - the emotional side of us.”

Play into my competitive nature to help me lose weight and stay on track?! Genius. I’ve used Slim Kicker for a few weeks now, and I really like it. I even talked my sister into joining with me because, of course, I’m competitive with her! I don’t have an iPhone, so I remember to log in a few times a week, versus everyday. I’m hoping they come out with an Android app soon… But doing it online or via iPad is just as easy.

Here are some of my favorite features:

When you log your food, if it’s not a particularly healthy option, a little window pops up with a healthier alternative. For my coffee, some alternative sweeteners are pure maple syrup or raw honey. Awesome!
healthier alts


After you input your information when you first sign up – height, weight, goals, etc. – it calculates what your recommended intake is. Based on those numbers, it keeps a nice graph of where you’re at for the day. After I input my breakfast of Lucky Charms and coffee on my 2nd day, my graphs looked like this:

bfast loggedThis is going to sound dumb, but it was a real eye opener. Obviously Lucky Charms isn’t the best breakfast option and it’s loaded with sugar, but this really puts it into perspective. I’m usually within my caloric intake. This shows that cholesterol, carbs, and sugars are my problems. Duh! So even though Lucky Charms & coffee are low in calories, they are high in other things which probably explains my weight loss plateau for the last few months.

Here’s a quick look at my dashboard:
rewardsEverything is right there on one quick glance page. I like that the more you log in, log your food, do the challenges, log your exercise, the more points you get. The more points you get, the more you level up. With every level up, you can choose what your reward is. Mine is a cheat day, right now. Keeping my eye on the cupcake, I mean, prize…

The challenges are great too:
challengesThe challenges basically help keep you accountable for your goals. You pick your challenge. And you can find a challenge based on your weakness, which is probably something that’s holding you back on the weight loss train, right? One of my problems is Willpower. I have none. If I want to eat chips & cheese for lunch, I’ll eat it. If I want a donut for breakfast with my mocha, I’m going to eat it. I don’t do those things everyday, but they snowball into poor choices later that day and that week. I also like that they can be as easy or aggressive as you like, because you picked it.

Some of my favorite challenges:
The Green Meal Challenge - Eat something green in every meal, no matter how small the portion size is.
Replace Soda Challenge - Replace all soda with tea, water, or coffee (unsweetened) for the next 7 days.
Put on Your Sneakers Challenge - Just put on your sneakers for 10 mins everyday this week.
Play with your Kids Challenge - Play with your kids for at least 10 minutes everyday this week.

Some of these things I already do, like playing with my kid, so why not get rewarded & earn points for it? Some of them help push you to do other things, like putting your sneakers on for 10 minutes a day. I whine in my head a lot. I don’t want to change my clothes after I’m already showered and dressed for the day. But if you put your sneakers on, guess what? You’re probably more apt to take your kids for a walk to the park, than feel silly sitting on the sofa watching tv while wearing your sneakers.
I try not to drink soda a lot, but replacing soda with a healthier alternative is that extra voice in my head to grab the water sitting next to the soda in the fridge. And the green meal challenge has been another little voice in my head while making dinner. (Don’t worry, Slim Kicker doesn’t cause schizophrenia.) We’ve had salad as a side at dinner more than ever in the last couple weeks because it’s healthier & easier. Can’t argue with that! I’ve even hidden some pureed greens in sauces & stuff unbeknownst to my family. [insert evil laugh here]

If your join Slim Kicker, add me as a friend so we can brawl challenge each other to get to our goals! Winking smile We’re deathly close to swim suit season. Who doesn’t need that extra shove to look better with less clothes on?!

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3 comments:

  1. I just joined and sent you a request.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I've been doing Myfitnesspal.com...but I think I am going to switch over to this and we can duel...I mean, get healthier! :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. I am loving this app! This week, one of the challenges I'm doing is 100 planks in 7 days. They are about 30-40 seconds a rep so you can get 10 done pretty easily! And I love that it's a total body workout as well. So awesOme!

    ReplyDelete

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