GeekSugar

Healthy App: Lose It

FitSugar — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 07:00:49 PST

Have you started keeping a food journal yet for this week's Get Fit For 2010 weekly challenge? We've got a cool food journal that you can print out, but if you're a tech geek like me you might be scratching your head at the idea of putting pen to paper. Try Lose It instead - a free iPhone app that helps users manage their weight by tracking their calorie intake.

To start, you enter in your current weight, age, height, gender, goal weight, and how many pounds you want to lose each week to reach your goal (up to two pounds). Based on this information, Lose It creates a weight loss plan for you. For example: a 146-pound, 5-foot-2, 30-year-old woman wants to drop down to 130 lbs. by losing one pound each week. If she starts today, Lose It estimates that she can reach her goal by May 17, 2010, with a daily calorie budget of 1,439.

To see how easy it is to use,

From here, all you have to do is enter in what you eat throughout the day and Lose It pretty much does the rest. The app has a huge database of fresh, store-bought, and restaurant foods, and records the calories of the food items you've eaten into a daily journal for you. Calories eaten are subtracted from your daily calorie budget, giving you a running tab of how many calories you have left in the day. What's cool is that you can also input physical activity - any calories you burn will be subtracted from calories you consume, leaving you with an accurate reflection of your calorie intake for the day.

Although it's a daily food journal, you have the option to look at your goals over the course of the week too. This graph is really helpful because it gives you a visual representation of days when you might have gone over or under your balance. If you forget to log in any food or exercise, don't worry. It's really easy to add in items you might have forgotten from previous days. Also, if there are any foods or exercises that are not in the Lose It database, you can input the information into your account so it is reflected into your calorie counts.

I love how straightforward and simple the app is - it's a great option if you don't always have a paper food journal or you live on your iPhone. The only drawback is that it doesn't focus on overall healthiness. When it boils down to it, Lose It is a calorie counter. You can enter an unrealistic weight goal into the menu and no alarms go off, or if all your calories are from fat, you won't get any stern warnings either. There is, at least, a daily nutritional breakdown of your day, which helps you become more aware of what amounts of fat, protein, fiber, etc. you are taking in. Despite this flaw, I think Lose It is a great tool for someone looking for a food journal or a calorie counter tool.

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Geek Tip: Avoid Extra Holiday Pounds With Lose It

GeekSugar — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 13:50:45 PST

For me, part of gearing up for the holiday season is the realization that I'm going to overindulge in holiday goodies from time to time. While this time of year isn't the best for trying to shed extra pounds, there's still benefit in watching what I'm eating - even if I allow myself a few "cheat" days here and there. Lose It! is an iPhone app that tracks caloric and nutritional intake as well as calories burned by exercise, giving you a calorie budget for the day.

First, enter your starting weight, your goal weight (if you want to lose, that is), height, and birth date, and the app figures how many calories you need to lose a few pounds or maintain your current weight. Then, enter exactly what you've eaten that day (you can search by meal, favorite foods, previous meals, even brand name foods from supermarkets and restaurants) and any exercise you've done. The app tracks your daily, weekly, and monthly caloric intake, factoring any exercise into the equation.

I'm certainly not shooting for any serious weight loss before January (hello pumpkin pie!), but it will be nice to know how many calories I'm consuming during non"cheat" days.

5 Techie Ways to Track Workouts and Calories

GeekSugar — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 06:05:26 PDT

Squeezing a workout into your busy schedule is challenging enough that most people don't take the time to reflect on a job well done afterward. Luckily, there are plenty of simple techie tools that can keep count of your efforts, whether you're working on your fitness, carefully tracking your calorie intake or just curious about how much ground you are covering in your new favorite run.

Just like your fitness regime, most of the popular workout and calorie counting apps and websites require a little setup, but minimal daily effort once you get started. Ready? Set? Go geek out after your workout!

Get in Shape With the Lose It iPhone App

GeekSugar — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 07:33:05 PDT

Are you on a diet and exercise regimen and trying to lose weight? If you also have an iPhone, you can track what you're eating and your workouts with the free Lose It! iPhone app.

The app tracks what's going in your body, calculates the calorie intake, and compares it with the calories you're burning.

Let's face it, it is about to be bathing suit season. Don't face it without your iPhone!

How long before you lose it?

FitSugar — Fri, 20 Apr 2007 04:00:00 PDT

Sometimes things get in the way of our exercise routine: rain, allergies, a cold, even a vacation. Do you know how long you can take off from your cardio routine before you notice a difference in your fitness level?

7 Weekend Movies That Motivate

SavvySugar — Fri, 25 May 2012 15:41:41 PDT

After a rough week at the office, you deserve your downtime. I'm usually begrudging Friday traffic as I make my way home to climb into bed and a pair of cozy sweats. But, just so I don't lose all motivation come Monday, I'm setting my sights on a movie marathon that packs some career-minded motivation this week. Read on to get my movie suggestions - then, grab a snack, kick back, and kick off your weekend with a little career-inspiring entertainment.

10 Powerful Pet Hair Vacuums (Even on Hardwoods)!

Sara Yoo — Fri, 25 May 2012 11:24:11 PDT

Will the fight against pet hair ever end!? Short of shaving your furry pal, the solution to the problem seems like a losing battle. Never fear: we've found 10 vacuum cleaners with powerful suction to suck up this hairy situation.

See one you love or hate? Share your opinions or reviews on the corresponding slide!

Source: Thinkstock

Nighttime Fasting: A New Way to Lose Weight?

Shape — Thu, 24 May 2012 04:09:52 PDT

We are excited to share one of our fave stories from Shape here on FitSugar. This week Shape turns to Cynthia Sass, a registered dietitian with master's degrees in both nutrition science and public health.

If you couldn’t let anything cross your lips from 5:00 p.m. to 9:00 a.m., but you were allowed to eat anything you wanted for eight hours a day and still lose weight, would you try it? That’s the apparent bottom line of a rat study published in the journal Cell Metabolism, which recently stirred up the weight loss pot.

Top 50 Summer Diet Foods for Weight Loss

Scientists put groups of mice on different diet regimens for 100 days. One group of rodents ate healthy food while animals in two of the groups chowed down on high-fat, high-calorie feed. Half of the junk food eaters were allowed to munch whenever they wanted to while the others only had access to feed for the eight hours they were most active. The conclusion: even though they ate a fatty diet, the mice who were forced to fast for 16 hours were almost as lean as those who ate the healthy fare. Interestingly, the round the clock junk food eaters became obese and developed health problems, even though they consumed about the same amount of fat and calories as the time-restricted junk food fed mice.

See if a nutritionist thinks nighttime fasting works after the break!

Healthy Dose Link Time: Weight-Loss Success Stories From Women Like You

Michele Foley — Wed, 23 May 2012 11:54:38 PDT

Real-life stories from women who lost 10 pounds in two months - Self
Office water? Think twice. The germiest places in the workplace - HuffPost Healthy Living
CrossFit fanatic Bob Harper helps get your upper arms ripped - Fitness
Tonight's easy (vegan) dinner: spinach hummus pitas - Healthy Happy Life
Road trippin' this Summer? Steer clear of these fast-food sandwiches - The Daily Beast
Want to save $4.6 billion? Uh, yeah you do! Just another reason to bike . . . - Blisstree
Just in time for Summer: five ways to become a better swimmer - Shape

Must-Have Products to Keep Portions Under Control

Jenny Sugar — Wed, 23 May 2012 13:25:19 PDT

Whether you're trying to lose those last stubborn pounds for bikini season or you want to maintain your current weight, keeping a close eye on portion sizes is critical. You could always eyeball amounts, but let's face it, our eyes tend to be bigger than what our stomachs should be eating. Keep yourself honest and prevent overeating with these portion-control products.