The X Factor Story

There are over 1 billion overweight adults on the planet; I used to be one of them.  I was 40 years old, 40 pounds overweight, and gaining a few pounds every year.  If something didn’t change, I would be obese before I reached fifty.

The common approach to weight management is calorie restriction.  Countless diets promise weight loss.  They all have one thing in common: they don’t work for most people.

For years I tried to live by calorie restriction.  My level of activity allowed me to eat 2000 calories a day.  I stayed close to that limit most of the time, but that wasn’t good enough. Averaging only 20 extra calories a day over 20 years resulted in a 40 pound weight gain.

After finally accepting that calorie restriction wasn’t working, I focused on burning more calories.  I began exercising more, concentrating on the number of calories burned.

My results have been so far beyond my expectations, that I can’t believe I didn’t figure this out sooner (but then I remember the 1 billion other people who haven’t figured it out yet.)  I now maintain a healthy weight, while eating 2500 calories a day.

And unlike calorie restriction, exercise does more than just help manage weight.  It increases lean muscle, boosts ‘good’ cholesterol, fights bone loss, improves mood and helps manage stress; the list goes on.  Exercise is the silver bullet, the x factor.

The only problem was that there wasn’t an easy and motivating way to track my results.  Then Apple announced the iTunes App Store for the iPhone, and X Factor was born.