New IPhone Weight Loss App, ‘Progress,’ Motivates Through Visualization

Weight loss can be difficult, and over the years, psychological study has mentioned that visualization is the key to success. Progress, a new application, takes that philosophy to another level by allowing users to visualize their weight loss journey by taking selfies. Here’s how the clever new application works.

It all begins with a trip to the gym, in front of your television for a workout or an outdoor activity. To begin using Progress, users should take a “before photo,” to document how their body looked before they began their weight loss journey. Next, users can continue to take photos on daily basis. Once the user is active on Progress for 15 days, Progress with make a time-lapse video of the person from day one until present. This is believed to motivate users to continue their weight loss journey. Why?

Studies show that most people cannot tell when they have lost weight. The selfies taken on the Progress app help users to be aware of their weight loss as it happens, thus motivating them to finish the job. But there are other components of the Progress application that make it a successful tool for weight loss beyond visualization.

The follow-up steps to visualizing your dream body are, having will power, and making your efforts public, according to expert advice. The Progress app, just like other mobile applications, allows you to share on social media and bring on friends to join you on your weight loss journey. A statement in the advertisement for Progress proves that “progress” is the true aim of the application.

“Getting fit takes time, and progress can be hard to notice. Progress app makes it easy to see the small changes as they happen, helping you stay motivated and share your progress with your friends.”

Just like any weight loss program, tracking development with the Progress app requires users to follow certain rules. First, the key to success with Progress is for photos to be aligned. In other words, users must take photos face the exact same direction in the exact same pose as their very first photo. Recently, Tech Crunch has revealed that straying away for these basic rules can make the user’s progression appear stunted and destroy the visualization process.

“People change poses, their posture is different, the lighting is harsher or softer, and other factors may come into play as well. These variations between photos can make you look better or worse, over time, but hide the true changes underway.”

Progress heightens success in weight loss with the additional features it has available. Similar to fitness apps like MyFitnessPal and Selffit, users can track their health improvement and track their actual body mass as it decreases. This is all part of visualization as well and can, therefore, help users to be successful in their weight-loss journey.

The iPhone application Progress has yet to be rated by most technology publications. As users begin to discover the app, it’s expected that it will fall in line with other apps of its class, but it probably will not become the most popular. Tech Crunch still considers it a competitor because, unlike other apps of its class, Progress is all about the visualization of transformation, as opposed to mere weight loss or weightlifting.

“…Unlike some in the space, which are focused on the weightlifting community or users’ broader health, Progress is only about being able to visualize a body’s transformation. And it does so in a well-designed, but also super quick and easy way.”

Progress is available for free download in the iPhone app store and is also available for other Apple products like iPad and Apple Watch.

[Feature image via ullstein bild/Getty Images]