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.
Image Gallery: Lose It! – Weight Loss Program and Calorie Counter
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