Pic Spocket

Sometimes, networking technologies are reaching into unexpected places. This is especially true with the explosion of the internet. I remember reading over 10 years ago about MIT students that connected on of the campus’ vending machine to their local area network so that they could verify online the availability and temperature of their favorite pop drink from their desk before heading down to avoid going all the way there to find that their drink was sold out. Makes you wonder what will be connected (or rather ‘what won’t be connected to the internet’) in 20 or 30 years.

In the mean time, I got one of these unexpected ‘connected’ device for my birthday last June from Corinne, and thought I would write a few words about it. I am referring to the Withings Wi-Fi connected scale. (Of course, I did make that suggestion… after reading Ray Maker’s review of it.) One might think: ‘Who want to have their bathroom scale connected to the internet?’ Well… I guess neardy-weirdos-living-by-numbers like me hehe! Seriously, it’s actually an effortless and useful tool to monitor your body composition over time.

Here is the scale in all its glory. It’s actually pretty neat looking: low profile, blue-tinted glass top and digital screen.

The scale functions are pretty advanced by themselves. The scale not only measures your weight, but also your body composition (% of body fat). It also computes and displays your BMI (Body Mass Index), but I do not agree much with these. According to the tables, I would show as borderline ‘overweight’ when in fact I am decently lean.

I also own one of these advanced body-fat-measuring scale made by Tanita, and find the information quite useful to monitor your weight and composition. Weight alone is not a good indicator to see progression when dieting or training. Body composition is quite important. For instance, people training and dieting may feel like they reached a ‘plateau’ when the scale does not show weight loss anymore, while in fact muscle mass can be increasing while fat loss is still underway. While the absolute fat percentage measured (evaluating the electric impedance of your body and comparing it to some tables) is not extremely accurate, it is good to monitor changes over time. The numbers below include me holding the heavy camera…

If you have been following this blog for a while and seen the ‘weight loss’ serie, you have seen that I used to record and chart the progression of my weight loss. While it was not terribly time-consuming to do, I still had to commit to the task and update the graph daily and manually. Since my original goal has been reached and free time is quite limited with the current volume of triathlon training, I simply stopped recording this data even if I weight myself daily.

Where this scales separates itself from the competition, is by its internet connectivity. After a small and very simple initial setup operation involving your home computer and a USB cable, the scale connects to your home wireless network. My scale is actually on a different floor of the house than the home office where the wireless modem is located. Then, after each weight-in, the scale connects to the internet and sends your measurements to your account on the Withings web site. Then, charts are automatically created and updated without any user intervention. Measurements can be edited, added or deleted manually from their online user interface.

note: The peak in weight is real.. it’s what I get after a week of vacation without training while eating junk (pizza, ice cream, etc)… Back to diet and training now!

The thing is actually pretty smart too: based on user profile (created online) and the last weight-in of each user, it will automatically assign the measurement to the correct person. In other words, there is no button to push or anything to select a user before weighting yourself… Simply stand on the scale, and it automatically detects if it’s me or Corinne. In the case where several users are in the same weight range in the house, then it would offer a choice on the screen and you would have to shift your weight on the left or right to specify who you are.

Another cool feature is that your account can be setup to automatically update other online fitness and health tracking websites that you may be using. For example, I am using ‘Training Peaks‘ (TP) to log all my workouts and communicate with my coach. My Withings account is setup to automatically update my Training Peaks account every time I step on the scale. Here is the graph in the dashboard view of TP. I never asked him, but I guess my coach has access to that information as well. I just hope he does not get an email notice every time I step on the scale hehe!

Withings also offers all kinds of optional online sharing tools (stand-alone web page, widgets, Facebook updates, etc). Here is my up-to-date online chart.

After several weeks of use, I have to say that I really like it! It’s effortless and quite reliable. Neat gadget! Larger pictures are available here.

Saturday morning was the perfect day to ride my bike. I left bright and early at 7h15 am, the sun was out and there was no wind. I started with my now usual route to Amherstburg, but then decided to go further. I went for Harrow, using a small detour to get more distance in my ride. I was aiming for 100 km, not a small goal considering it’s only my 3rd ride! The scenery was simply awesome, in warm morning light, with waterscapes completely mirror-like.

Map of the route followed

(click on the map for INTERACTIVE version)

Stats of the ride.

Because of the lack of wind, I was able to keep a good and constant pace throughout.  

 Speed Graphic :

(click on the graph for larger version)

I am pretty proud of my achievement (I did 104 km in only 3h30 moving time), but I have to say I was not a pretty sight when I made it home. I was completely dead, and my legs could not hold my weight anymore. I felt violated ;). I think I pushed a little too hard for such a long distance, given my experience. I have to learn to pace myself I guess. I couldn’t walk until my wonderful wife gave me a leg massage to get the lactic acid out of that area.

I think it’s going to be a few days (more like a week) before I touch that bike again… I still managed to find enough energy to go for a 10 km rollerblade ride the evening of the same day (see Fitness Log).

I was due for an update on my weight loss program for a while, but simply lacked the time to do so. I am glad to report that since the end of April, I have reached my goal and lost 55 lbs (25 Kg). Yay for me

Here’s the updated graph.

Click on chart for larger version

Granted I could not weight myself as often as I usually did before in similar programs, this must be the smoothest gradual loss I have ever done. I am especially happy with this considering the amount of travelling in Europe at the beginning of the year. I have been very good at watching my diet and staying active.

I am an engineer.. I like numbers Here’s a few statistics:

The new challenge is now to keep the weight off. I can now relax the diet a bit and allow myself for a nice restaurant meal and cheating a bit, maybe once a week.

As for activities, it will be easier with the summer beginning. I have started swimming at the gym. I really like it. Most cardio exercises are focusing on the legs. With swimming, I can shift it to the arms. Also, I have just started biking again and intend to do several medium/long distance rides this summer. Finally, I still love rollerblading. The diversity of exercise should help me to stick to my plan for the coming months.

My weight loss program is still on track. I was really careful in France with what I ate. I think I never had so much fish in my life. Somehow, that seemed to always be the safest choice. It was hard to resist to all the tasty looking desserts, but I did. Result after my 2 weeks trip: 7 lbs down again.

 In summary: I am now at 197 lbs which is a 30 lbs loss, about 50% of my ultimate target.

Quick update on my weight loss program. The diet and training regimen started well! I did not cheat yet and the results are coming. Out of the 50 or 60 lbs I need to lose, I have lost over 20 lbs already, 12 lbs since starting training.

The rate is always much quicker at the beginning. I currently loose 2.7 lbs/week. This will drop down over time. One reason for that is the gain in muscle mass. 

As mentioned before, there is no better motivation than seeing results! Here’s the updated graph.

Click on chart for larger version

I am however unexpectedly leaving for a business trip to France this Sunday for 2 weeks. The 3-4 weeks trip for March is still on. While this is good for business and photography, the weight loss program will probably take a toll… No access to the gym (and when possible, very expensive), eating in restaurants all the time, long working hours, stress, etc. We’ll try to not deviate too much.