I didn’t start the year intending to drop twenty percent of my bodyweight. It was already summer when I decided to undo the damage caused by several years of largely sedentary home working. Though I’d reviewed a decent selection of smartwatches, wearables and other fitness gear for Stuff, my office being a mere set of stairs away from the fridge had been catastrophic for my waistline.
My birthday in early August seemed as good a time to start as any, and Christmas Day was my arbitrary deadline. I didn’t have a set goal in mind, but losing two stone would move me into the Healthy BMI range; this morning’s weigh-in puts me at twelve stone exactly (that’s 168lbs or 76.6kg, if you’re so inclined), for a total loss of 40lbs. I’m now the lightest I’ve been in about a decade, have reduced my waistline by six inches, and for the first time am more fit dad than fat dad.
I’ve not made a transformation worthy of a men’s fitness mag – there’s still plenty of paunch left to tackle in 2026. But those results were done at home, without a gym membership, and are largely thanks to tech. Here’s how I did it.
The tech I used to lose 40lbs/18kg
Smartwatches: Early 2025 saw the OnePlus Watch 3 on my wrist. It’s a battery life star as far as WearOS smartwatches go, general health tracking is excellent, and the 60 second health check-in was a great way to run a bunch of tests in one go. But the companion app didn’t have the depth I was looking for.
The Samsung Galaxy Watch 8 Classic took its place in July. I was taken with its squircular design and rotating bezel, appreciated the more in-depth sleep insights, and loved how the Health app had pretty much everything I was looking for in one place, including a food diary. Having to charge the watch every other day was a pain, though, and a few features (like the antioxidant score) were of questionable value. The body composition tracking wasn’t nearly as accurate as my smart scale, either – but as a baseline for getting started, I found it invaluable.
By November I’d replaced it with the Garmin Fenix 8 Pro. Its satellite communication skills are overkill for my needs, seeing as I’m never out of cellular range, but having ANT+ on board for sharing heart rate with workout equipment and a battery that can comfortably last two weeks between refuels are big wins. The companion app has its quirks, but is about as fully-featured as it gets. I can’t see it leaving my wrist any time soon.
Cycling tech: The big one. Indoor rides on a smart trainer was my number one form of exercise this year, with outdoor rides a close second. Admittedly until the summer I’d only used my Zwift Ride sporadically since reviewing it back in December of 2024, but since August I’ve ticked over 1000 miles in the saddle, virtually ascended over 50,000ft, and burned nearly 30,000 calories.
I’ve found riding around Zwift’s virtual worlds far more motivating than staring at numbers on an exercise bike screen, and the structured workouts proved a great way to get started. Now my fitness levels have improved I’ve started joining more group rides, and love how it integrates with social sports apps like Strava. Gamified workouts aren’t for everyone, but I’m a big fan.
Having the bike permanently positioned in my garage certainly helped me make lunchtime rides a habit: with no need to set up before each ride or tear down afterwards, I could get a 45 minute ride in and still have time for a shower before returning to work.
I’ve since swapped the Kickr Core smart trainer the Ride frame originally shipped with for a Kickr Core 2. Its built-in sensor bridge automatically picks up a Coros Heart Rate Monitor armband and Cycplus smart fan as soon as I start pedalling. The latter was my only 2025 Black Friday purchase, at a price that made it a steal compared to Wahoo’s Kickr Headwind. The whole lot is connected to the mains through a smart plug, so I can get Alexa or Google home to turn it on while I’m putting on my cycling shoes, and switch it off when I’m done.
I’m absolutely a fair weather cyclist, but still managed enough outdoor rides before winter set in to earn Strava local legend status on a nearby countryside loop. My road bike is a decade-old Facebook Marketplace find with an aluminium frame, rim brakes and awful thumb-operated shifters, but has served me well.
I’ve equipped it with Garmin Rally RS110 power meter pedals, but am otherwise all-in on Wahoo with an Elemnt Ace head unit and Trackr Radar rear light. I can’t recommend the latter enough if you ride on the road; it’s fast to recognise approaching cars, doesn’t really do false positives, and lasts a decent stretch between charges.
Food diary apps: It doesn’t take a sports science degree to know you can’t exercise away a bad diet. I personally found that seeing my meals broken down by calorie count onscreen was a great motivation to eat better. As mentioned above, I started with Samsung Galaxy Health. It has a decent (if not extensive) database and if you’re using a Galaxy Watch there’s no need to download an additional app. No adverts or subscriptions to think about, either.
Once I started wearing the Garmin Fenix I moved to MyFitnessPal, because it’s the only food diary that properly integrates with Garmin Connect. It has a much bigger food database, and I found its new weekly report feature quite motivating. The near-constant prompts to upgrade to a paid premium tier are annoying, though, and I hate that barcode scanning is now kept behind the paywall. Negative calorie adjustments continue to be a head-scratcher too…
Smart Scales: There’s been a basic Renpho smart scale in my bathroom for a few years now, but in September I swapped it for the firm’s more advanced MorphoScan. Electrodes built into the retractable handle use Bioelectrical Impedance Analysis (BIA) to more accurately measure body composition, and I like how the basic LCD display shows a bunch of useful metrics like BMI, body fat percentage and muscle mass without having to reach for the companion app on my phone. The app goes into more detail and tracks trends, but I hate that it can’t easily export weigh-ins to my other fitness apps. I was manually plugging readings into a website and exporting them as a file Garmin Connect can read instead.
I’ve recently switched to a Withings Body Scan, which adds ECG heart monitoring into the mix. The companion app also pulls other health data like sleep and exercise, even though I’m not using a Withings smartwatch, and presents data in meaningful ways. “Gaining muscle” and “stable weight” are much more useful than raw numbers to someone who’s very much not an athlete. I don’t like how the app is constantly trying to sell you a premium membership though, with certain features are locked behind the paywall. Exporting weigh-ins isn’t flawless here either.
The gadgets that didn’t work for me
Polar loop – With no monthly subscription fee, Polar’s screen-free Loop smart band should’ve been a slam dunk. It was supposed to bring distraction-free tracking and most of the fitness smarts of a Whoop, just for a single upfront amount. Unfortunately the firm’s app – arguably the most critical aspect of a wearable that doesn’t have a display – was messy and I didn’t find activity tracking to be consistent enough. I’m planning to give it another try in 2026 once Polar pushes out a major app update, which promises to make things a lot more user-friendly.
Hypershell exoskeleton – A set of strap-on robot legs that promise to take the strain out of hiking sounded like an ideal way to boost my step count (which can be pitifully low on busy work days where I barely leave my desk) and mix up my outdoor activities. It absolutely worked as advertised, using tiny motors to lower my physical exertion compared to walking unassisted, but it couldn’t change my scenery. There just aren’t that many exciting trails near me, and using it on my bike felt like I was cheating myself out of 20% of a workout.
Virtual reality exercise – There are loads of fitness apps and games in the Meta Quest store, but my Quest 3S review unit didn’t feel designed for strenuous activity: the fabric strap wouldn’t stay in place no matter how much I tightened it. Battery life wasn’t a dealbreaker at least, and the built-in speakers meant I didn’t have to use earphones that threatened to out at any moment while bouncing around to Beat Saber. Adding Kiwi Design’s K4 Duo headband solved the fit issue, its thick pleather cushion better balancing weight and keeping the headset steady, but it couldn’t do anything about the headset face cushion getting sweaty after a session. If VR exercise works for you, I’d absolutely recommend buying several spare cushions and swapping between them.
A few non-tech fitness tips
Two instant wins – which admittedly rely on having good self-control – were abstaining from alcohol and stopping all snacking between meals. While I rarely drink at home, work events and trips can get quite boozy; switching from beers to diet soda saved upwards of 1000 calories per evening. And that’s not even counting any post-pub grub. Seeing how much closer I was to a calorie deficit simply by saying goodbye to Crisps/potato chips (which have always been my undoing) was an eye-opener, too.
Meal replacement drinks aren’t for everyone and I wouldn’t suggest them as a long-term weight management solution – they can be pretty pricey – but they worked well for me. I would have a bottle of Huel, roughly 400 calories, around 1-2PM, which would keep me full until dinner at 6PM. It also meant I spent less time in front of the fridge or cupboard door at lunch wondering what to have, cutting down on bad food choices.
I never got obsessive over meals at home, making the same things I usually would so as not to inflict an endless succession of chicken and broccoli on my wife and son, but put more thought into what I was eating when travelling for work. Turns out you don’t have to eat the bread rolls served with dinner, or load up a plate with sausages and hash browns at breakfast – it’s now become habit to pick the healthier options, and generally have smaller portions.
Finally, don’t get discouraged. Losing weight is tough – you have to make significant lifestyle changes, and results don’t happen overnight. Don’t beat yourself up if you fall short of a goal or aren’t seeing changes as soon as you’d hoped. Stick with it and you’ll get there in the end – and feel a whole lot better about yourself when you do.
- Related: 19 best fitness apps for gym-free workouts
