This story comes from our archives, from a time when FunTastyQ Fit was still called Geneto Elustiil. We keep our older stories on file—our product has a long history.
Lembit is a 56-year-old man from Väike-Maarja who has spent most of his life working in agriculture and running a mill. As the business expanded, Lembit no longer had to do as much physical labor himself, and as a manager spending most of his time sitting at a computer, he gradually gained excess weight over the years. Last fall, a major change took place in Lembit’s life, which gave him the impetus to start taking care of himself. In just under a year, he lost 15 kilograms, and thanks to a healthier diet and exercise—which have now become part of his lifestyle—he likes himself again.
The pandemic has been a stressful time for everyone around the world, including Lembitu’s family, and unfortunately, his family broke up. However, this was an eye-opening moment, because while his life had been very routine up until then—and Lembitu hadn’t even realized that he might be overweight—now that he was on his own, he found that he didn’t like the way he looked. “I weighed 95 kg at the time, but given my height (178 cm), my normal weight is 80–82 kg. I set a goal for myself to get down to 80 kilograms.
I wanted to start liking myself again
,” Lembit explains his motivation for starting his weight-loss journey.
Lembit found the Elustiil app on Facebook. “
When I started using the Elustiil app, I was really enthusiastic about it—I logged all my meals into the app.”
Previously, Lembit had a big appetite and indulged in everything the world had to offer; blue cheese and wine were among his favorites. However, after starting to use the Elustiili app, Lembit made several changes to his diet; the first thing he cut from his menu was butter. “I gave up butter because I saw on the app that it’s completely pointless. I also stopped drinking coffee. I started drinking juice instead, and I really came to like orange juice. Whereas I used to have a couple of beers in the evening, I immediately stopped drinking alcohol every night. My diet changed so much that while I used to eat whatever my mother prepared, from then on I started cooking for myself,” Lembit describes the major changes he made to his eating habits.
One great food option that’s always quick to make and comes with nutritional information is canned soup.
The lifestyle app lets you generate a healthy meal plan from the recipes it offers. Lembit also partially followed the meals suggested in the meal plan, but since he had become a bachelor, he mostly tried to keep things simple. He started preparing simpler meals on his own and logging them in the app. “The first thing I tried was switching to foods that could be scanned with a barcode reader.
One great food that’s always quick to make and has nutritional information on the label is canned soup. It gives you all the necessary fats, calories, vitamins
, and other essentials. I’d definitely recommend that others in my situation try a ‘canned soup diet’—even if just for a short while!” Of course, Lembit wasn’t strictly on a canned soup diet, and when the Lifestyle app reminded him, he went out and bought some fresh produce as well. He also started eating more fruits and vegetables; carrots and oranges became some of his favorites.
Lembit doesn’t plan his meals too far in advance.
His favorite feature in the Lifestyle app is the very first page, where you can enter your meals and see how much protein, carbohydrates, and fat you’ve consumed.
“I liked that the most, because it let me think about what I’d eat for my next meal. You can see exactly how much you’ve consumed throughout the week, and based on that, you can decide what to eat when you go out to a restaurant on the weekend,” he explains, describing how he’s integrated the Lifestyle app into his busy life.
The first four months were easy, then my weight plateaued.
“Over the course of about four months, I lost 10 kg. After that, losing weight became harder and more problematic—my weight plateaued for a while, and I wondered what to do. I felt constantly hungry, but you can’t really live like that. Then I realized that in order to keep losing weight, I had to start exercising, and thanks to the exercise, I was able to increase the proportion of fats and proteins in my diet,” says Lembit, explaining how he found a solution to his weight loss plateau. He hadn’t exercised at all before; the only sufficient physical activity he got was related to his work at the mill.
Now he started working out every morning.
His stomach turned out to be the most problematic area, and he found a solution in a workout app called “Six Pack.” “With its help, I started doing exercises every morning—15 minutes at first, then 20 minutes, and as of today, it’s up to 30 minutes. We’ll see how far I end up getting with this,” the man says.
At some point, Lembit hit a plateau in his weight loss. He realized he’d lost his consistency and wasn’t logging anything into the app.
“Actually, you have to constantly remind yourself what your goal in life is. The goal isn’t to die overweight. I still want to live a full life for as long as possible.
That should be ticking away in the back of your mind. Why make life hard and carry that weight around with you—up the stairs, down the stairs!” This healthy mindset helps you remember what’s most important in life and motivates you to stay on track.
Why make life hard and carry that weight around with you—up the stairs, down the stairs!
As of today, Lembit has achieved his goal. He started out weighing 95 kg, and his goal was set at 80 kg. He hit his lowest weight a week ago—78 kg. Currently, his weight fluctuates between 78 and 81 kg, and Lembit is satisfied with that. He is 178 cm tall. By now, Lembit has his diet under control and no longer logs his meals in the Elustiil app every day, but he keeps an eye on his weight, and if it starts to creep up, he’ll cut back a bit again if necessary.
Lembit has two main pieces of advice for those who are also thinking about making a lifestyle change and losing weight:
- “Good luck! I wish you self-confidence and inner strength so that you’ll keep the motivation to stick with it. It’s exactly the same kind of workout as any other athletic training—you have to put in the effort. Anyone who cares about their life and quality of life should definitely keep an eye on what they put in their mouth.”
- “If you don’t have time, you can always get up a little earlier in the morning and do a short workout. Ten minutes is more than enough to burn a few calories, and it helps a lot—first, you feel good, and second, you’re energized for the day’s activities. Morning exercise is the best way to start the day.”
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