Mobile Monday: Virtual Weight Loss Model Mobile App Review

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Virtual Weight Loss Model (for Women only)

Virtual Weight Loss for Men (for Men only)

Category: Healthcare & Fitness

Cost: $.99

Athletes do it all the time: visualize themselves succeeding. Many weight loss experts agree that visualization is a useful and powerful tool for weight loss too. The theory being that before you can experience actual weight loss, you must first experience it visually: you have to be able to see yourself at your ideal weight. Based on that concept, the Virtual Weight Loss apps were developed.

How it works:

You enter basic information like your height, age, current weight, goal weight and heaviest weight. You can also personalize your model by choosing skin and hair color as well as clothing and background appearance. After all your data is entered you can see how you see how your "image" appears at your current weight, heaviest weight as well as your ideal weight. There is a tracking mechanism as well as a social component where you can share your updates with friends via email.

Why we liked it:

It's fun to play with. I mean really, who wouldn't want to see how they look at 400lbs or 99lbs? It's easy to plug in your data, play around with the colors and change the settings.

We didn't:

It's not very realistic. The models are very cartoonish and it's hard to relate to the pictures or take it too seriously. Also, it shows the weight fluctuations as uniform meaning the model gains weight evenly throughout their body. That's not how we, as humans, tend to gain or lose weight. Typically we disproportionally gain or lose weight in our bellies, hips or backsides, not evenly throughout our body.

Recommendation:

The idea behind the app is inspired: with just a couple of clicks you can actually see how you'd look at your ideal weight. Talk about motivation! The problem is, the reality leaves much to be desired. We're hopeful future versions will include more realistic effects. In the meantime, try and find some actual photos of yourself at your ideal weight and post them in a prominent place for motivation.

Author: Sue Ridgeway

Apps & Mobile Tools

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