My iPhone is like a member of my family. Veronica, as I call her, goes everywhere with me. She knows all about me. She helps me stay in touch with friends and family. She lets me play silly games to kill time. She lets me update my blog on the go. Besides recording video, I can't think of one thing she can't do for me.
The greatest thing that has come out of my relationship with Veronica is a 10 pound weight loss. When I purchased my iPhone in December, one of the first apps I downloaded was Lose It, a calorie and exercise tracking application from FitNow Inc. I'll have to admit that I was pretty skeptical when I downloaded the app. Reviewers claimed that it was "extrordinary" and "amazing" but I really wondered how "awesome" this little program would really be, especially since it's free. I've downloaded plaenty of free apps that either caused my phone to crash, were lame, or were useless after 5 minutes. But not Lose It.
I started religiously using Lose it the first week in January. I began tracking every single food, candy, gum, drink, or condiment that crossed my lips. I meticulously documented every exercise I completed at the gym and any other physical activities I completed throughout the day. It's so easy - how could I not? Most common foods along with calorie counts can be easily added to your daily log by using the "search" feature. Otherwise, it's easy to add custom items using nutritional information found on packaging, or by finding a similar item through a Google search.
I set a goal for myself to lose a pound a week. The app told me how many calories I could eat in a day and graphically displayed how I was doing in relationship to my goal each day. Once I started tracking my calorie intake, I was amazed to see how many calories are in certain items - like salad dressing, sauces, cheeses...before my tracking started, i was really putting a lot of horrible, fatty garbage into my body. I feel like I have a heightened awareness now - I actually think before I eat anything - no matter how small it is. In my mind, I always know what my daily calorie goal is and I can mentally compute (or use my phone if I need to) how eating one particular item will impact the rest of my day. It's incredible.
And here I sit, 17-ish weeks later and 11 pounds lighter. Did I lose a pound a week like the app told me I would? No? Is that the app's fault? No. have I ever lost over 10 pounds in such a short amount of time? No. So overall, I can't complain. Between watching what I eat and working out a whole heck of a lot more, I've been able to successfully get to a weight where I feel good about myself. My clothes fit, I feel healthy, and I know that I continue on this path, I'll continue to see great results. I highly recommend this app to anyone who owns an iPhone. It will really change your life. You'll never look at food in the same way again.
I use LiveStrong (www.livestrong.com) - I've heard you can get it on the I-phone, but since I don't have one, I just track on line. Also highly recommended and very customizable, even if your goal is to maintain your current weight. And congrats on the weight loss - but more importantly I'm glad you feel good :)
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