Author Bio:
Kurt Lao is the Editor of weight loss product reviews resource: WeightRater.com. He has written several product reviews to his credit and serves as a contributor to some of the top health and weight loss blogs online.
Description:
Losing weight is more fun when you’re not doing it alone. Fitocracy takes advantage of the competitive nature of each person and creates a venue for everyone to share or flaunt their weight loss progress while earning points and beating his or her friend to the top.
Body:
I was once a Facebook addict (not clinically-diagnosed, just a self-assessment). At the height of my “addiction,” there would be days when I would just sit in front of my computer and regularly update my wall with almost every single detail of the things happening in my day. It was also during this time that I gained a lot of weight from being practically immobile and living a sedentary lifestyle, only leaving my seat to eat unhealthy meals. Talk about adding insult to injury, right?
Yes, it’s really sad, but then things started to get better.
Ironically, from the same venue where I got my problem, I also found the solution. I received an invite from one of my friends to join Fitocracy, a fitness and exercise website tailor-made for fitness-conscious people who spend a lot of time in social networking websites (such as Facebook). It also comes in the form of an app for your smartphone which allows you to use it on the go.
Being the bored and curious person that I am, I didn’t hesitate to sign up after seeing the website and reading about why it has been such a buzz among fitness buffs. And golly, did it create a lot of buzz around the netiverse and among fitness buffs during its launch.
You must be thinking: “So it’s just for fitness buffs.” But no!
It is for everyone – from the ultra fit all the way to the ones who have just decided to start getting fit! And it is definitely for me! The way it got me off my seat and hitting the gym was something short of a miracle; and it was very easy for me.
You see, Fitocracy is just like Facebook, but instead of sharing photos with your friends and updating your wall with quotes, stories and whatnot, you share your fitness goals such as weight loss goals you want to accomplish, specific exercises you intend to try out, or certain classes you are going to participate in.
So how did Fitocracy motivate me to shed those excess pounds I gained by just sitting around?
Every time you workout, you earn points. Your friends see your achievements and the amount of points you have accumulated. Some people even post their ‘before’ and ‘after’ pictures. When you have racked up enough points to become a Fitocracy ‘Hero,’ you get exclusive privileges and unlimited access to the app’s features. Not only that, you get the ability to challenge any one of your friends to a one-on-one duel to see which of you can do a specific set of exercises better.
This unique element of Fitocracy awoke the competitive spirit in me (and I believe most people have that competitive drive within them as well). Before I knew it, I was downloading the app into my iPod and hitting the road for a quick jumpstart run. I got addicted to the app’s many features, such as tracking my exercises, the distances I ran, and the bench presses I did. Seeing that I was always way above my friends’ points, I just didn’t want them to overtake mine!
This is how Fitocracy guided me back to a fit and healthy lifestyle, and since it is linked to my Facebook account, I was still able to keep in touch with my “Facebook addict” side, but only on moderate levels. That’s because now I have my hands full and I’m always eager to rack up more health points! It’s keeping me occupied in a good way.
As an added note, maybe Fitocracy can be the solution to “Facebook addiction.” Maybe it can help others the way it motivated me to get up and work out. It’s really too early to say but it would really be interesting how far Fitocracy can go and how many people it can help get out of the computer chair and live healthier lives.