I know the ‘New Year New Me’ thing is kind of cliche, but I did embark on such a mission at the start of 2016 and had lost around 15kg since, in a period of about 3 months.

How did I do it? 

Basically, a lot of discipline in keeping to a healthy diet and exercising regularly. A typical week for me will include at least 30 minutes of exercise daily, with longer sessions clocked in the weekend.

For instance, here’s what I did last week: Mon, Wed, Fri – jog 30 mins; Tues, Thurs – swim 30 mins; Sat – swim + jog + cycle 1 hour; Sun – cycle 4 hours.

For food, I reduced my carbs intake and substitute it with lots of vegetables. I also cut off all tidbits, sugary drinks, supper and night snacks. Ample sleep is important too and I try to get at least 8 hours of rest every night.

No special workout program or rigid diet to follow. The key is repetition and making sure that what ever exercise or diet routine you are embarking on is sustainable in the long run.

The key is to just get started and keep it going.

What helps? 

Discipline and… technology!

The latter helps to power the former.

I downloaded the Fitbit app and synced it with the new, slim Fitbit Alta wrist band. It tracks my exercise activities and sleep time automatically. I also logged in my food intake to count calories, ensuring I am always in calories deficit to lose weight. Typically, I consume about 1,200 calories a day and burn around 2,000+ calories with an average of around 15,000+ steps a day. That works out to knocking off around 0.5 to 1kg each week.

I wear my Fitbit Alta everywhere I go now and the Fitbit app is one of the most used app in my smartphone. My target is to go down to 68kg for my height of 1.73m. I am currently at 75kg and would need to lose another 8kg.

My current set goals on the Fitbit app is to achieve at least 10,000 steps a day and to drop my weight.

I found some other friends who are also using the Fitbit app and the exercise goal leaderboard in the app is useful for motivation. A little friendly competition with friends make exercising more fun.

Wearing the Fitbit Alta during exercises is much better than wearing a smartwatch due to the slim, light design. When I jog or cycle, it is good to not feel something heavy round the the wrist.

My only qualm is that it cannot log my swim at the moment as it is not waterproof. Otherwise, it is one of the best gadget I have gotten in 2016 so far.

The Fitbit Alba will be launched in Singapore in mid-April. Do watch out for it!

If you are serious about your ‘New Year New Me’ resolution, this is a must-have gadget. 🙂

Why is the Fitbit Alta so awesome?

Fitbit Alta is a slim, sleek fitness wristband that’s as versatile as your personal style. The device is designed with a satin finish, stainless steel body and features a line of stylish interchangeable bands in multiple colors and premium materials so you can find the right style for every occasion.

Alta has advanced health and fitness features that make tracking workouts effortless and deliver positive motivation to keep you moving. It also provides visual feedback on your progress and keeps you connected with the smart notifications you need most on a slender display.

Key Features

• More Motivation to Reach Your Goals: Alta delivers the most important activity stats you expect from Fitbit right on your wrist, along with new features designed to make health and fitness tracking easier and more motivating.
• Reminders to Move – Using short, positive prompts, Alta will encourage you to meet a mini-step goal of 250 steps each hour (approx 2-3 min. of walking), and will congratulate you when you achieve the goal.
• Automatic exercise recognition– SmartTrack automatically recognises and records continuous movement activities in the Fitbit app, like walking, running, outdoor biking, elliptical, as well as general categories of aerobic workouts (i.e., dance classes and cardio-kickboxing) and sports (including basketball, soccer and tennis); makes it easy to see how exercise fits into your daily activity and contributes toward your weekly exercise goals.
• Weekly exercise goals– Encourages you to maintain a consistent fitness routine by tracking your progress toward a weekly exercise goal in the Fitbit app. Your goal is defaulted to 5 days a week, but you can personalise it and the activities that count toward your goal in the Fitbit app.
• All-day activity tracking – Gives you the real-time fitness stats you need to stay accountable; track your progress, stay motivated and keep informed to reach your goals. View your step count, distance, calories burned, active minutes and the time on the display.
• Automatic sleep tracking – Wear the device to bed and automatically track how long and how well you sleep; review your night’s rest and how you’re doing against your sleep goal in the Fitbit app. Alta can also wake you with a silent, vibrating alarm, set in the Fitbit app.
• Versatile to fit your style – The Alta tracker comes in a satin finish, stainless steel silver at launch and shiny gold coming later this year. Features a custom, quick-release band that allows you to change your look any occasion. Wear a leather band at work then swap it out for a workout with a classic fitness wristband or with a silver bracelet for a night out.
• Sleek customisable display – Easy-to-read OLED tap display can be personalised using portrait or landscape clock face options, giving you easy access to your all day stats and notifications.
• Stay connected – Delivers the smart notifications you need; Bluetooth Smart connectivity to keep you connected with call, text and calendar notifications on your wrist when your phone is nearby.
• Long battery life – Get up to 5 days on a single charge to track your exercise and sleep all day and night, with the confidence you won’t lose a step.
• Multi-platform support – Broad compatibility with 200+ mobile devices across deliver access to stats and motivational interactive tools via the Fitbit app and online dashboard, which help motivate millions to achieve their goals within the community of Fitbit users they choose.

Pricing & Availability

Fitbit Alta is available for S$198 with global availability starting in mid-April 2016. At launch, Alta will be available in a black, blue, teal or plum high-performance fitness band with a satin finish, silver stainless steel tracker; shiny gold stainless steel tracker option coming soon. The following accessories will also be available at launch:

• Classic fitness bands available in black, blue, teal and plum (S$49.95)
• Luxe soft, premium hide leather bands available in graphite and blush pink (S$99.95); camel coming soon
• Luxe hand-polished stainless steel silver bangle (S$149.00) coming soon and shiny gold bangle coming later this year

GIVEAWAY

We are giving away not one, but TWO Fitbit Alta, to two lucky readers! For a chance to win, simply:

1. ‘Like’ the Alvinology Facebook page and the Fitbit Facebook page.

2. ‘Like’ and share this post on Facebook and tag at least three friends on your post whom you think will like the Fitbit Alta. Make your post public so we can find it.

3. Tell us why you wish to win the Fitbit Alta by commenting below or on our Facebook post.

Contest ends at 11.59 pm on 30 April 2016. The winner will be notified via Facebook, and must be able to collect the prize in Singapore.