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.
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 knowabout your journey in the comments section.
The Advent Hymn, Lo, How A Rose E’er Blooming was originally a German Catholic hymn titled Gebetbuchlein des Frater Conradus (Say that 3 times fast). The manuscript containing the song was found in St. Alban’s Carthusian monastery in Trier, Germany, so its original authorship is anonymous. The song was focused on Mary, the mother of Jesus, who is compared to the rose mentioned in Song of Solomon 2:1 – “I am a rose of Sharon, a lily of the valleys.” The story is told that one Christmas Eve, a monk found a rose blooming in the woods. He placed the rose in a vase and placed it before the altar of Mary. Whether that is true or not, the song was published somewhere around 1582. This first version had 19 verses.
By 1609, Protestants had adopted the song and changed its focus from Mary to Jesus citing Isaiah 11:1 – “Out of the stump of David’s family will grow a shoot, yes, a new branch bearing fruit from the old root.” Not to be outdone by the Catholics, the 1599 Cologne, Germany Protestant version of the song was published with 23 verses in Alte Katholische Geistliche Kirchengesang,which is a hymnal of sorts. I can just see the preacher now saying, “Ok, we’re going to sing all 23 verses unless someone makes a decision before the second verse.”
The version most known today was given a new tune by Michael Praetorius in 1609. Most collections today ironically contain only 2-3 verses.
Click here to hear a version of Lo, How A Rose E’er Blooming by Reawaken Hymns
Adeste Fideles, is a Latin hymn which is translated O Come, All Ye Faithful. The official authorship has been given to John Francis Wade (1711-1786), whose name is included on most if not all of the earliest manuscripts. Even so, the lyrics and tune appear to be the result of a collaboration of several people over hundreds of years, although what we sing today is a 19th century version of an 18th century compilation.
Some believe that Adeste Fideles is not actually about Christ, but is instead about Bonnie Prince Charlie, grandson of James II, England’s last Catholic king. In 1745, Bonnie Prince Charlie led a rebellion to restore the Catholic House of Stuart to the English throne. Fideles is believed to mean Faithful Catholic Jacobites. Bethlehem is also believed to be a term for England. If this is true, the song is actually a war cry shouting out, “Come and Behold Him, Born the King of the English.”
More recently, others believe that the 1980’s rock band Twisted Sister sampled the melody of their biggest hit, We’re Not Gonna Take It from O Come, All Ye Faithful. The melodies of the songs are very similar, but it’s purely coincidental. Jay Jay French, lead guitarist of Twisted Sister stated in a radio interview that the band discovered the similarities and recorded a version of O Come, All Ye Faithful for their Christmas album A Twisted Christmas.
I suppose I can ignore the possibility of O Come, All Ye Faithful having its origins with Bonnie Prince Charlie if it results in a song that God can use to get a rock group like Twisted Sister to sing “O Come, Let Us Adore Him, Christ the Lord!”
Click hereto hear Adeste Fideles by Andrea Bocelli
Click here to hear O Come, All Ye Faithful by Tasha Cobbs
Click here to hear O Come, All Ye Faithful by Twisted Sister
*Image courtesy of Tim Mossholder **This post and others like it can be found at www.johnjfrady.com
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.
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,
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.
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.
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
If my graying hair and the mail I receive from AARP wondering why I haven’t taken advantage of their offer isn’t enough, I’m now adding fuel to the fire in my conversations.
So, I’m in Walmart and two young representatives from a tv and internet provider approach me. I don’t want to start anything so we’ll just call them GrAyT & T.
Our dialogue went something like what you’re about to read with only slight exaggeration:
Rep 1 – Hello, Sir.
Me – Hello, twelve year olds (Ok, so I didn’t really say how old I thought they were).
Rep 2 – May we ask which company currently provides your tv and internet service?
Me – Ok, sure. Cox. (I understand for some of you that automatically puts me in the old person category.
Rep 1 – That’s perfect.
Me – (Continues shopping) Great. See you later.
Rep 1 – Well, we actually were curious if you know how much your monthly payment is for these services.
Me – Yes, I do know.
(awkward pause)
Rep 2 – Would you mind telling us how much you pay?
Me – Yes, I would.
Rep 1 – Ok, well. Where do you live? I can look it up.
Me – (Heavy sigh) Fine. (I tell them my address. I’d write out my address here but I’m not prepared for all the fan mail I might receive. Just kidding).
Rep 2 – Sir, what would you say if I told you that our company can save you around 50% and can improve your service?
Me – I’d say that I’m upset because your company is about to dig up the front of my yard to put in their fancy smancy fiberoptics lines.
Rep 1 – Well, that is true, Sir. But the teams are repairing the damage by replanting the grass.
Me – I have Asian Jasmine growing in that section of my yard. Do you know how much work my wife and I had to do to get it growing right again after all the debris from Hurricane ida was stacked on it. And now you want me to go through all that again?
Rep 2 – But the service is so much better and cheaper. Wouldn’t you like to try it out?
Me – How can I try it? They haven’t even run the lines yet.
Rep 1 – Didn’t you just say you didn’t want them to run the lines?
Me – Yes, I did. If they can’t run the lines then I can’t try your service!
My Wife – (Interrupts) – Now, Honey, you need to leave these nice young people alone. You’re overexciting yourself. Goodbye, 12 years olds… (Ok, so she didn’t call them 12 year olds either).
I guess I am getting older. Who knows, maybe I should try that new grAy T & T service. To do so I’d have to cancel my front yard Asian Jasmine guarding stake out. I was going to build a bonfire and roast my food over all my AARP junk mail letters.
Maybe I’ll look into it after my nap…
*Image courtesy of Yerling Villalobos and Unsplash
JohnJFrady.com 