Free App, LOSE IT by fitnow.
Download onto your smart phone. Goes beyond food journaling to really
tracking your food intake, your nutrient distribution and factors in your
activity.
Now I've never been a big fan of
tracking calories because it can be a pain, but I decided to give this App a try.
Oh, they have a web site you can use
also… in case you don't have a smart phone.
1. First off it's a FREE App (enough said).
2. I always have my cell phone with me so tracking what I eat is easier
than using a food journal or computer.
3. It's very simple to use-and even fun like a game.
4. After you punch in your stats (like current weight, goal weight and
how much you want to lose each week) it tells you exactly how many calories you
can eat each day…
5. As you enter in the food you eat, it keeps track and tells you how
many calories you have left for the day… (so it's like a game to not go over
your limit).
6. It also has a bar code reader so you can scan a food item for its complete
nutrition profile. I did this with my protein powder, cottage cheese, almond
milk, salsa, cheese, etc. Very cool!
7. It has a built-in database of almost every kind of food you can
imagine-even fast food. Just search and it's there.
8. When you exercise… you choose what you did and for how long and it
tells you how many calories you burned… and these extra calories get added to
your daily calorie allotment so you can eat more. (A great motivator to
exercise.)
9. You can add friends and encourage one another.
10. You get readouts about how much (and what %) of protein, carbs and
fats you're eating each day so you can make adjustments.
And the real benefit to tracking what you eat is that you learn a LOT about
what's in the foods you're consuming. Example… I can stuff myself on two cups of broccoli for about 62
calories… but when I eat an English muffin (sprouted grain) I see it has 160
calories. So it helps me make wiser decisions and keep my portions in check.
You also learn how it takes a lot of exercise effort to burn 250 calories… and
how easy it is to eat 250 calories of high-calorie foods in a matter of a few
bites. Example… some fast food salads have 700 calories!
Important: Remember that it's not all about calories… you don't want to eat two
pieces of cheesecake and starve yourself for the rest of the day. The key is to
eat a well balanced program with lots of healthy food choices. I shoot for 30%
of my calories to come from protein, 40% from healthy carbs, and 30% from
healthy fats. (Lose It tracks all of this for you.)
A balanced approach is going to help you get the fastest results.
Now here's the kicker… don't use this app if you secretly don't want results
and would prefer to complain about not being able to drop flab. If you're
honest and track everything you eat (not just the good stuff) you'll see in
black and white why you aren't successful.
The reality is… it takes a lot more than just trying to eat healthy foods… you
do have to take in less calories then you burn to see results… and apps like
this really help the cause!