Category: Health and Fitness

The Lose It App at the One Year Mark

I did it! Well, more or less.

As of yesterday, I have officially been using the Lose It App for one year. In that time, I’ve lost and kept off 42 lbs. I’ve also wanted to throw my phone into Lake Pontchartrain 27 times, not because the app has done something wrong or malfunctioned, but because I get tired of being disciplined.

Weight loss is hard work and I’m not talking about entering the foods I eat. I mean the decision after decision to not eat something when I really want it. I mean the decision to exercise at least three times each week. I mean the extra steps I take when I really want to veg out in front of the tv. I mean the decisions to skip dinner when I’ve already used up my calories for the day.

It’s been a long year of hard work (with a little bit of cheating) but all in all, I’m glad I decided to use Lose It. It’s been a disciplined route to weight loss without pills, without shots, without surgery, and without anything weird. Just tracking diet and exercise with a longterm goal in mind.

It works, so I renewed it yesterday for another year.

Thanks Lose It.

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Lose It App After 6 Months

Six months ago, I started using the paid version of the Lose It App.

As of this month (December 2022), I’ve lost 34 lbs with no surgery, no medication, and no supplements.

Here’s how it works: 

  • First – I track my food intake. I type in my food or scan its barcode. If the food is not included in the app, I can add it using its real, or estimated, caloric information. 
  • Second – I stick to my calorie budget (mostly). When I started my account, I entered my height, age, current weight, and goal weight. The app shared how long it will take for me to reach my goal weight IF I follow my personalized daily calorie budget. Currently, I’m scheduled to reach my goal weight by mid-March 2023. (We’ll see)
  • Third – I enter my daily exercise. When I exercise, not only am I raising my metabolism, but I earn extra calories which are added to my daily budget. My steps app is connected to my Lose It App. After 7500 steps, I can earn extra calories. 

With the Lose It App, I can eat whatever I want as long as I enter my calories. I’ve discovered that when I track my calories that I tend to eat rather than drink my calories, drink more water, and make healthier choices simply because I have to enter what I eat. Also, when I make healthier choices, I get to eat more (which I like). Fortunately for my weight loss and unfortunately for my taste buds, as I lose more weight, my daily caloric allowance lessens. At first, I was upset about this, but now I understand because I’ve continued to lose weight.

I usually weigh once a week on Friday morning. Then, sometime during that day, I give myself a weekly treat (but I still keep track of its caloric information). 

Have you had success using Lose It or another weight loss system?

If so, good for you. Let me know about your journey in the comments section.

*Photo courtesy of Samuel Ramos

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The Day Before Black Friday

Sometimes I feel sorry for Thanksgiving. 

Some have called it the most neglected of the major holidays. Although it gets more attention than Ground Hog Day (sorry Bill Murray), it’s slowly getting squeezed out by the Christmas, the king of the hill as far as holidays are concerned. Even Black Friday, which has taken over Thanksgiving Friday and is making its moves on Thursday, gets more respect than it deserves. 

Thanksgiving does lack the pageantry and presents of Christmas. It’s meant to be simple, but so much has changed. It’s now become a day that’s more about overeating (gorging might be a better word), football watching (the original binge watching), dish washing (somebody has to do it), and Christmas shopping (sigh). 

But it doesn’t have to be that way.

We can choose for Thanksgiving to be more of what it was meant to be. (It’s actually more of what Christmas should be as well) – a day when family and friends cease from their labor, thank God for his blessings, and enjoy some of his blessings, all the while growing closer together and closer to him.  

Sorry, Thanksgiving, for the way I’ve treated you over the years. This year, help me remember to be truly thankful. 

*Image Courtesy of Priscilla Du Prees

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Lose It App at the 16 Week Mark

For 16 weeks, I’ve been trying my best to find a way to cheat the Lose It App. 

Finally, I’ve figured it out. You cheat by not entering everything you consume into the App.

However, the results are like cheating on an eye exam. I can cheat for the day by not entering everything I eat, but it doesn’t translate to my bathroom scale at the end of the week. I guess the proof is always in the pudding (as long as you enter it into the app).

After 16 weeks, I have begun to embrace the intermittent fasting feature as well. At first it seems silly to think of fasting for a 12 hour period. I mean, what good will that do? I probably come close to that several times a week anyway. However, when I begin the fasting time (which I now do about twice a week) I’ve come to see how often I do reach for food late in the evening or even when I wake up in the middle of the night. This feature helps me keep myself accountable and helps me leave it alone.

So, here’s the moment of truth. After 16 weeks, I’ve lost a total of 28.6 lbs. Not bad. It’s kind of exciting when I realize that I could be at the 30 lb mark in another week or so. 

Thanks for following my Lose It App journey. I plan to make an update every 4 weeks or so. See you at the 20 Week Mark.

*Image courtesy of Drew Beamer

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Fighting For Survival

Today, I found myself in the midst of a battle. 

I was minding my own business, trying my best to provide for my family, 

When my adversary felt it was time to hinder my progress. 

At first, I was gentle and friendly, communicating with him that I wanted the best for both of us.

But he didn’t go for it.

Instead, his stubbornness grew.

I tried moving him to the left but he wouldn’t budge.

I tried moving him to the right to no avail. 

Suddenly, a crowd formed around us to watch the struggle.

Embarrassed by the attention, I redoubled my efforts to win the skirmish.

But it didn’t work and my frustration grew with every passing moment.

My fists soon developed minds of their own and they pounded the sides of my opponent.

When I could take it no longer, I grabbed my enemy and raised him over my head.

My strength multiplied as I yanked at his layers and finally ripped him in two. 

I dropped my foe to the ground and held on to the portion I had snatched away.

And then, following my neighbor’s example, I licked my thumb and rubbed it across the plastic bag I held in my hand as I stood in the produce aisle of the grocery store.

To my amazement, it finally opened.

Celebrating my victory, I placed my zucchini inside and continued my battle for food.

I repeated the process in the broccoli section.

I never learned this skill as a child. 

It wasn’t taught at home, at church, or at school, 

Yet, be forewarned good people,

For it is necessary for survival.

*Image courtesy of attentie-attentie.

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Lose It App at the 12 week mark

I’ve been using the Lose It App for 12 weeks now. 

And…(Drumroll please)…

I’ve lost 22.2 lbs. 

I’m still pretty impressed with the process.

The app doesn’t judge me on what I eat, it simply tracks my caloric intake, my water consumption, my steps, other exercise (if I enter it), and my weight loss. It also encourages me to complete a 12 hour fast once a week. I typically do it from either 6pm to 6am or from 7pm to 7am.

I know, it sounds like a wimpy fast to just do it overnight. However, it’s been beneficial to me because I’ve found myself following that practice on at least half if not most of my nights now. 

And because fresh vegetables are lower in calories than most everything else I consume, I can eat more of them. This process has drawn me toward them in a subtle way.

Touche’ Lose It App people. Pretty clever of you.

I’ve got a long way to go, but this slow process of dropping weight has been good for me. I’m making a real lifestyle change and it feels good. 

Be watching for another update at 16 weeks.

*Image courtesy of Lose It

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I Got The Tofu

Recently, I took my first bite of what I thought was a steamy plate of sliced chicken and vegetables in a savory Asian sauce. Suddenly, my gag reflexes began to engage. Something was incredibly wrong.

“Dear,” I said to my wife. “I think there may be something wrong with my chicken.”

“That’s not chicken,” she replied.

“What is it?” I asked.

“It’s tofu.” she answered with a smile. 

“Tofu!” I exclaimed. “Oh no! I’m not sure I’m ready for us to start eating tofu.”

For those of you who are unaware, tofu is a semi-food substance prepared by coagulating soy milk, then pressing the resulting curds into solid white blocks of varying softness, and finally marinating it overnight in liquid sadness.

“The secret to eating tofu,” my wife explained, “Is to eat it with something else on your plate. You see, on its own, it has no taste.”

“That’s the truth!” I said.

“Try some more,” she said. “You might even start to like it.”

Instead, I shook my head and said, “I’m not sure I can eat tofu. It sounds like a condition you get from an old pair of sneakers.”

“Eat your dinner,” she replied.

“I’m not sure about this,” I said. “What if I get sick and people ask me what I have? I’ll have to say, ‘I’ve got the tofu.’ Then people are going to start saying, ‘There goes John. He never washes his feet and now he has tofu.’”

“Eat your dinner,” she said once again.  

“I’m expected to finish this?” I exclaimed.

The expression on her face indicated that I had no choice.

So, I carefully partnered every bite of tofu with vegetables and wiped the plate clean of the sauce which also masked the absence of taste and personal freedom.

So far, we haven’t eaten tofu again. But there’s a block of it in our refrigerator. I discovered it after thinking it was cream cheese for my bagel. 

Sigh…

*Image courtesy of Sherman Kwan.

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Lose It App at the Eight Week Mark

Eight weeks ago, I realized I was fat. I’m not sure what happened. All I did was eat way too much consistently over several years and then boom, suddenly I’m fat. I knew I needed a lifestyle change with a directed plan. So I visited my friendly App store and downloaded the paid version of the Lose It App.  

Here’s how it works: 

  • First, I track my food intake. The app database has over 33 million foods. I either type in my food or scan its UPC barcode. If the food is not included in the app, I can add it using its real, or at least estimated, caloric information. 
  • Second, I stick to my calorie budget (For the most part). When I started my account, I entered my height, age, current weight, and goal weight. The app shared how long it will take for me to reach my goal weight IF I follow my personalized daily calorie budget. Currently, I’m scheduled to reach my goal weight by mid-March 2023. 
  • Third, I have the option to enter my daily exercise. When I exercise, not only am I helping myself raise my metabolism, but I earn extra calories which are added to my daily budget. Currently, my exercise of choice is walking. I’ve connected my steps app to my Lose It App. After 7500 steps during the day, I begin to earn extra calories. 

After 8 weeks using the Lose It App, I’ve lost 15 lbs. Not too shabby. 

The Lose It App’s biggest weakness is probably what I like about it. I can eat whatever I want as long as I enter my calories. As you can imagine, my wife is thrilled about that (Yeah, right). Even so, I’ve found that I tend to eat rather than drink my calories, drink more water, and make healthier choices simply because I have to enter what I eat. Also, if I make healthier choices, I can eat more (which I like).

Have you had success using Lose It or another weight loss program app? Let me know.

*Image courtesy of Volodomyr Hryshchenko and Unsplash

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I Guess I Really Am What I Eat

It was drilled into me as a child.

At school. At home. At church. On tv. Even in Comic books.

No matter where I went, someone was proclaiming, “You are what you eat” like they were the one who coined the phrase.

I’ll tell you a secret.

I never believed it. 

But you probably already knew that. You can look at me and tell.

So now, decades later, I hear it from my wife, health care professionals, and other mean people. Only now, they often follow the phrase with a question, “So, if you believe that phrase, then what does that make you?”

It drives me crazy when my wife asks me that question. I hold my head high, stick out my chest, and say, “Listen here, woman! I’ll be the one asking the questions around here! Now go and fix me something filled with sugar and gluten.”

I don’t really say that. I’m not stupid.

Instead, I smile sweetly and quote the food pyramid from the 1970’s: “Well Honey, I’m 4 servings of fruits and vegetables, 4 servings of grains, 3 servings of dairy, and 2 servings of meats.”

Ok, that doesn’t happen either.

Honestly, my head immediately hangs in shame, tears well up in my eyes, and I answer, “I’m a large pizza, a half gallon of ice cream, a bag of microwave popcorn, a gallon of soda, and one serving of broccoli.”

She shakes her head, takes a deep breath, and says, “John…”

“I’m sorry,” I interrupt with a smile. “Was that your broccoli?”

She has never laughed at that. 

Never.

So I’m going back to the truth of the lesson I learned as a child. 

I am what I eat.

My body will be made up of the foods I put into it. 

If I consume healthy foods and water, I will see the benefits of eating healthy foods and drinking water.

If I eat a lot of fat, greasy food, I will become a fat, greasy dude.

*Image Courtesy of Justus Menke

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The Return of Kale

So, after reading my gripe about kale a couple of days ago, my wife made a kale salad for us for dinner. Maybe I’ve been too hard on kale. I did learn from a friend that if you pour just a little bit of olive oil into a skillet filled with kale, then heat it on low for five minutes, it makes it easier to scrape the kale into the trash.

And yet, I didn’t dare do that with my wife’s kale salad. She set it before me and I cried just a little. Somewhere in my head I heard Prince singing, “This is what it sounds like when doves cry…” However, I must admit, it wasn’t that bad. I especially enjoyed the pieces of grilled chicken that had nothing to do with the salad. 

So why do people make such a big deal about kale? I did some research and learned that it contains fiber, antioxidants, vitamins C and K, bitterness, animosity, and wrath. The antioxidants help the body remove unwanted toxins that result from natural processes and environmental pressures (like eating kale in the first place).

I enjoyed the kale so much that two hours later, I drove my wife and I to McDonald’s for a hot fudge sundae. But, as usual, they were out of ice cream, as was the second and third McDonald’s we visited. 

It was then that my wife suggested we just go home. But I’m not a quitter, especially when it comes to ice cream. So, I drove us to Wendy’s for a Frosty. Would you believe they were out of ice cream as well. I did get the hook up at the second Wendy’s. I was halfway through it when I realized I had spent the last hour driving to five different fast food restaurants looking for a small cup of frozen refreshment.

I have so very far to go (and I can’t afford the gas).

By the way, thanks for the advice and the encouragement. Keep it coming.

*image courtesy of Laura Johnston and Unsplash

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