
How I lost 50 pounds designing a mobile app
As a Senior Designer at Microsoft, it was easy to fall into a sedentary lifestyle: sitting at a desk, cruising the design studio for treats brought in by co-workers, eating 1200 calorie lunches and drinking free sodas 24/7. Occasionally, I would be unhappy about a photo of myself on social media, but I wasn’t unhappy enough to make changes or lose the pounds. I weighed in at 245 pounds, give or take a doughnut.
I could not have predicted how that was about to change.
A few months ago, my role at work changed to focus exclusively on projects that apply new technologies to new user experiences. One of these new technologies can locate a face within any photo and replace it with the user’s. This is not a new idea: Face swapping has been around for a few years, and frankly, I voiced some doubts about pursuing something that seemed trivial. But, I’m a team player, so I simply got to work creating Face Swap.
Throughout the early stages of the design, the app had no effect on my weight. I was designing stories, scenarios, wireframes, and flow diagrams. However, when I started designing detailed pictures of the user interface that the project took on a new “second life” that I did not expect.

Every day, I would put my face on the bodies of fashion models
Every day, I would put my face on the bodies of fashion models to create pictures of the interface to share with programmers who transposed my designs into a working mobile app. I realized that I looked good on these bodies. While I joked that everyone looked good on David Beckham, subconsciously I was thinking, “I look good on David Beckham’s body.”

Athletes and performers commonly use visualization to attain their goals. You see them on ESPN, at the top of a ski run with their eyes closed and their body and arms swaying as if they are actually in the race. In a way, I think that was happening to me, except I wasn’t consciously doing it — it snuck up on me. And it worked.
Most people visualize weight loss by hanging a picture on their fridge of what they DON’T want to look like.
Without serious Photoshop skills, most people are limited to a disappointing, and perhaps humiliating, picture of their past. With this face swap technology, I was essentially hanging a picture of my ideal FUTURE self instead.
Weeks went by, and the constant visual exposure to myself as a thin person started to affect my health choices. I started boxing one half of my lunch and eating it over two days. I stopped roaming the halls for sweets. I would still visit the studio for doughnuts, but I would only take a bite, not a whole maple bar. I was motivated to exercise and became diligent about maintaining a calorie deficit with healthy foods.

The images from Face Swap gave me hope and inspiration that the changes in my routines would pay off. I never really said to myself, “I’m going to look like this guy, and here is my plan to do that.” Instead, I just made decisions in real time as if I was the “Future Phil” I wanted to be.
I continued to use the app for several weeks, iterating on the design, and the pounds starting coming off. I could maintain a healthy calorie deficit by visualizing the payoff. When I realized it was working, my attitude about trivial face swapping was flipped upside down in the most delightful and surprising way. I found a more noble purpose for the app, and was excited to get Face Swap into the hands of others who might also benefit as I have.

I never would have guessed the process of designing our Face Swap app would be so life transforming. Seeing the app every day helped me lose 50 pounds — over one fifth of my body weight. I am as surprised as anyone.
Now before you go download this app and start rubbing it on your problem fat areas, this is not a quick-fix fat reducer or effective by itself. I didn’t starve myself or take supplements. I simply got up from my desk and was mindful of my eating habits.
My advice? Replace that picture on your fridge (or your phone) of what you don’t want to be with a new one of what you DO want to be.
Today I have a new set of inspirational face swaps under the search “runners abs”. I can’t wait to look like that.
Face Swap is available on the App Store for iOS and Google Play Store for Android. More about Face Swap here: https://faceswap.ms
Phil Rogan with Dawn Hollingsworth and Kate Rogan
Model image credits:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/svenjajan/13390507844/
https://flickr.com/photos/cherosales/14923554721
https://ligwascurvyworld.wordpress.com/2011/10/28/men-weekend-look-a-boyfriend-look/
