Thursday, April 28, 2011

Lose the Pounds with "Lose It!": A Practical Weight and Nutritional Tool

http://www.loseit.com (For non-iPhone/iPod Touch users)

About two years ago, a friend of mine introduced me to an iPhone/iPod Touch application (also available for usage as a web site for those without an iPhone, see the address above) called "Lose It!" which helped him count his daily calories on his way to losing about 40 lbs over the course of several months.  The app, which is FREE, by the way, helps users enter everything they eat each day into a simple system which tracks both the nutritional and caloric content of each food item, then stores the information in the app to track the daily, weekly and monthly averages.

The program is designed to help users determine a caloric limit based on their gender, age, height and weight (basically the BMI scale), which in turn provide a basic metabolic rate (BMR).  The Lose It formula gives each user the option, whether they want to set up their caloric limit to maintain their weight, or lose anywhere from 1/2 pound to 2 pounds per week.  The formula then determines how much of a caloric deficit each user need to run per day to lose however much the user specifies.  The caloric limit will adjust based on weigh-in figures, which will lower or raise the caloric limit according to the weight trend.  Users can also enter any variety of exercises they might do, which will be figured into each daily log.

I've had several friends do very well using this application, the one I mentioned earlier used this program exclusively and lost about 40-50 lbs, and another good friend of mine has been using the program for about 4-5 weeks and has lost nearly 20 lbs.  

It's been helpful for me too, and I'll post some updates about how things come along as I continue to use the program.  Laurelin decided to start an account too, to track her food intake (though she needs far less help than I do!).

If you create an account, feel free to add me as a "friend" by searching using my name or email, ddnesbitt (at) gmail.com.

Check it out!

- Dan -

The Ups and Downs of Weight Loss

THE STATS: 6’6” (78 inches), 274.6 lbs (Goal: 240 lbs), BMI 31.6, Current month’s weight loss (March 2011): +4.8 lbs, 2011 weight loss: -15.2 lbs, total weight loss: 109.2 lbs.

Hello friends!

Sorry I've been away; if I said I had been busy, it would be the understatement of the year.  Let's just say it's been a pretty hectic month, and I'm glad to be back on to share and update and some thoughts with you all.  First of all, it's time to come clean.  If you check out my update chart above, you see that, yes (*GASP*), in fact, this month I've gained almost five pounds.  In fairness, the weight I posted on March 26 was only one day, and I was really probably around 270-271 instead of 269.  Nevertheless, yeah, I've gotten lazy.  No excuses.  Let me share some thoughts about it.

In my last post, I mentioned that I was on a roll due to the stringency required of me in order to pass a military physical for which I needed to measure at 26% body fat.  Well, long story short, the day of the MEPS (Military Entrance Processing Station), I tested at 27%, which failed my physical, and was disqualified from the audition for which I was preparing.  Needless to say, it was a huge blow, and for a few days I was very bitter after all my hard work and deprivation seemed to be for nothing.  Projections for my physical (unofficial measurements by other military personnel working with me) showed that I would pass, and I was shocked and quite upset that things came out the way they did.

I won't try to work around the idea that failing that physical didn't stop my progress dead in its tracks.  The MEPS process seems to have the vibe of being rather cold and uber-official, and no one there understood my situation or how far I'd come (not that I could expect them to), and in the moment, it's a helpless feeling.  Making the final round of an audition in the professional music world is a major achievement, and to be denied the opportunity to showcase my musical skills because I was 1% body fat over the military limit on the day they measured me was a very upsetting result.

So yeah, I lost a lot of steam due to that experience.  It's hard not to, I think...when you've had a disappointing experience such as what I went through, it's hard to get yourself to say "It's just a temporary setback, you need to keep hitting the gym hard and eating nothing but vegetables and lean protein," without having a reason for doing so other than just getting healthier.

Not that it makes getting lazy excusable, I don't think there's ever a time for that for someone like me.  I've been reminded through my experiences time and time again that my body can't support diet relaxation.  I have to be very careful 90-95% of the time.  I fell to about 60-70% for a while, and I've paid the price.  Thankfully, yeah, it's only a couple of pounds, but it's time to get back on the proverbial horse.  Laurelin and I went on a good run today, and that was great for both of us.  Time to keep it up!

Several years ago, when I was at my heaviest, I set out to lose almost 150 lbs.  I've knocked off 110 of that, almost a THIRD of my original body weight, and now it's time to finish the job.  No excuses, no more relaxation.  From now on, I stick to my plan and I'm going to get there.

As Charlie Sheen would say, "Failure is not an option."  Thanks, Charlie.

- Dan -