Lose It!
Lose It! is one of the first user-friendly calorie-counting apps for the iPhone, and it is free. The Lose It app from FitNow utilizes the Mifflin equation to determine what your daily calorie intake should be. You input your age, height, gender and current weight then choose your goal weight; Lose It tells you how many calories you can eat each day to meet this weight loss goal. Then your work begins.
Lose It has a large database of foods, way better than previous calorie counting apps Absolute Fitness and Daily Count, plus Lose It includes brand name foods like Chef Boyardee and Coca-Cola. You search the database for the foods you ate, choose your portion size and add it to your breakfast, lunch, dinner or snack log. The menu also contains popular foods from some chain restaurants like Olive Garden and McDonald’s. Did you know that a Bruegger’s plain bagel has 296 calories before you even add the cream cheese? If you make meals from scratch, you must enter the dishes one ingredient at a time into the app. Luckily you can save the recipe so you do not have to enter it again later.
Exercise is also factored into your Lose It daily caloric allowance. Lose It’s list of exercises is quite creative, with activities such as curling, frisbee, lawn mowing, yoga and even vacuuming. You can adjust the intensity on many of the activities as well as the length of time you exercised. The amount of calories burned is added onto your daily calorie maximum. If Lose It added a pedometer function for the iPhone like Step Trak Lite, it would be a great addition.
If you have an obsessive or compulsive side to your personality, Lose It might actually be a bit fun. One drawback is that it can take a long time to add recipes or dishes with multiple ingredients. This could interfere with a person’s commitment to use the app regularly. The ability to have more than one profile would be nice if you aim to improve your body with a buddy or two.
The app does not focus on overall healthiness; though there is optional nutrient tracking, no red flags appear when you input potentially unhealthy goals. When I told the app that I wanted my goal weight to be 80 lbs, the response was that I needed to eat 757 calories a day to achieve this weight loss. Hmmm. Lose It’s license agreement reminds the user to consult a doctor before starting any dieting or exercise regime.
I cannot offer you a testimonial to Lose It’s effectiveness at actual weight loss; I had my fill of calorie counting and aerobics classes in the 1980’s. I can tell you that if you have the time and determination, Lose It is a way you can keep track of the foods you eat while you are on the go, and increase your awareness of exactly what you are putting into your body.
![[Post to Twitter]](http://www.appcraver.com/wp-content/plugins/tweet-this/icons/tt-twitter-micro3.png){kind=icon}
![[Post to Yahoo Buzz]](http://www.appcraver.com/wp-content/plugins/tweet-this/icons/tt-buzz-micro3.png){kind=icon}
![[Post to Digg]](http://www.appcraver.com/wp-content/plugins/tweet-this/icons/tt-digg-micro3.png){kind=icon}
![[Post to Reddit]](http://www.appcraver.com/wp-content/plugins/tweet-this/icons/tt-reddit-micro3.png){kind=icon}
![[Post to StumbleUpon]](http://www.appcraver.com/wp-content/plugins/tweet-this/icons/tt-su-micro3.png){kind=icon}
For more articles like this, subscribe to the AppCraver RSS feed.
category: Best Free Apps, Calorie Counters, Editor's Picks, Healthcare & Fitness
14 Responses
Leave a Reply
Read More "Best Free Apps" App Reviews
- iCaption Mobile Harnesses the Power (and Pain) of Community
- Friend Mapper is a Cool Concept for the Right Audience
- MyNewPlace Helps Apartment Hunters Organize Their Search
- Shift Is a Fine Puzzler
- Hello Vino Associates Wine with Food
- Little Runner Keeps on Going and Going
- It’s Not A Stick Up, Wild West Pinball is Free
- You Might Need iWrecked – Auto Accident Assistant
- MapQuest 4 Mobile Makes It Easy for You to Find Your Way
- Whole Foods Market Recipes is a “Tasteful” Recipe App
February 9th, 2009 at 1:34 pm
I use iShape and I like that better. I think it has more overall and is a more well rounded application. To each their own.
March 23rd, 2009 at 11:50 am
Not a bad app… a bit too time consuming to fill in your foods, but very detailed if that is what you are looking for.
April 14th, 2009 at 2:48 pm
This application has absolutely changed my life. I’ve lost close to 15 pounds at this point, it’s been almost three months. I love the way it works and would highly recommend it to anyone looking to live healthier.
April 21st, 2009 at 2:53 pm
I absolutely LOVE this app. I too have benefited with weight loss just by using it and counting my daily calories exercise. It has given me an outlet to stay focused. I agree that it can be time consuming to add all of your custom foods, but once you get them in there, you find that it’s a lot easier because we tend to eat a lot of the same foods if we maintain a healthy lifestyle. With that being said, I am wondering if anyone knows if there will be a way to upload all of your data, specifically previous meals and custom foods for those iphone users who will be upgrading in June to the next gen iphone?? I just dont want to have to re-input all of my custom foods when I get the new iphone. Any info would be great!
May 12th, 2009 at 1:09 pm
Not available in the UK store
May 20th, 2009 at 12:30 pm
Love this app. I’ve tried on and off thinking calorie counting doesn’t work, but I wasn’t to organized. This tool is the solution: I entered my age, height, weight and goal weight and how much I wanted to lose per week. Then I started entering each day what I weighted and all the food I ate and exercises (Garden work, walking, running, mowing lawn, plenty to choose from), saw my total calorie limit and net intake (which was less). I actually have lost 1.6 pounds in 4 days and I am not killing myself doing so. Very easy to have it all in one place and analyze. Nice at end of day to know if you can eat more calories and exactly how much. Plus if you decide to change how quickly you want to get to your goal (in case too difficult or too easy), it is very easy to do as well. You get a very good overall understanding of the calories you consume and use and how to make adjustments. It’s awesome.
May 22nd, 2009 at 10:41 am
It blows that you can’t download it from the Mexican iTunes Store.
I wrote FitNow and they never got back to me.
May 31st, 2009 at 3:50 pm
Can you use this on the computer or on a Blackberry?
July 18th, 2009 at 9:11 am
Tambien quisiera saber si existe una aplicacion similar para pc
August 19th, 2009 at 2:07 am
Does the database include alcoholic drinks?
August 19th, 2009 at 8:44 am
Yes, the database does include alcoholic drinks.
November 3rd, 2009 at 10:59 am
I have lost 48 pounds so far using this app, eating right and exercise. It is a pain to enter in custom foods but they next time you eat that food very easy to search and select. Try it out what do you have to loose. Me it was 48 pounds. I expect to loose another 20 then maintain.
November 6th, 2009 at 1:28 pm
[...] Lose It – is a calorie tracking/activity tracking program that tracks your activities as well as what you eat on a day to day basis, it shows you how many calories you have available and there is a nutrition tracker as well. [...]
November 18th, 2009 at 7:06 pm
I started using Lose it! In combination with exercise and have lost 17lbs in 4 weeks. I think it makes you more aware of what you are eating and how it will affect your overall goal. If you have the time and dedication, give it a try. I highly recommend this app.