I was 53 pounds overweight with a BMI of 32 (in the obese category). To address this, I began going to the gym and realized the need to track my calories. Given my familiarity with software development, I decided to create an app for this purpose.
Over the following months, I used an iterative design process to develop the app, focusing on supporting my weight loss journey. I added buttons to track food and workout calories, and included settings to calculate my basal metabolic rate (BMR) to monitor my total daily calorie expenditure.
The addition of BMR settings allowed me to understand the significant impact of activity level on daily calorie needs. While calories burned during a workout contribute to weight loss, the increase in metabolism from higher activity levels, as shown in the BMR calculations, played a substantial role in my overall weight loss.
Initially developed for personal use, the app underwent multiple design iterations to assist me in my weight loss efforts. As a result, I am no longer obese or even overweight, but at a normal optimal weight according to BMI calculations (BMI is calculated in the app in the passive view).
Although my primary goal was personal, I am now publishing RetroFit in the hope that it will help others interested in weight loss and calorie management to better understand their calorie consumption.
Notes:
In addition to calorie tracking, I followed a whole foods plant-based diet.
My favorite music genre to listen to while working out is 80s rock and roll, which inspired the apps 80s-style design, resembling a calculator from that time period, but for calories.