LoseIt and other Calorie Counting Apps

Tyler Robinson

In an attempt to try and maintain the weight loss I achieved over the last couple of months of my IM training (wife: "holy crap, you've got a 6-pack!"), I've decided to try to carefully monitor my caloric intake on a go-forward basis using a combo of the Lose it website and the Livestrong (Daily Plate) app for my BB.  I'm only one day into this and am already shaking my head a bit at the enormity of it all.  I recognize that these apps are really aimed at improving awareness and accountability, rather than providing precise, scientific calorie guidelines since they are based on averages, everyone's metabolism is different, etc.  But for those of you who have used them (the Lose it website, in particular), I would really be curious to hear your thoughts on the following:

1.  have you found the calorie budget calculated based on your inputs to be relatively accurate?  That is, if you followed it and managed to get within the ballpark over a period of time, did you actually lose the expected amount of weight?

2.  how in the heck do you deal with foods and meals that aren't pre-packaged with the calorie count neatly provided?  Not everything I eat falls neatly into "one peach - medium" and sadly there doesn't seem to be "roast beef dinner at mom & dad's house with green beans, garlic bread and a slice of apple pie" anywhere in the menus...  Do you just guesstimate in these kind of situations? Cuz it would take me an hour to try to dissect all the ingredients and even after I was done likely would only be somewhere in the +/- 100% range.

Thanks,

Tyler 

kurshing

There is a Livestrong Calorie Counting app I use during the OS a lot to maintain weight and monitor a rough calorie count. It has TONS of foods, and you won't have a problem recreating many foods in there for calorie counting purposes. I was amazed by all the foods I found in there!

carls10

Tyler- you might try searching the forums as there has been a lot of chatter about these 2 programs. 

I used LoseIt on my iPhone for most of the OS and early season.  Yes, I did find it to be relatively accurate for allotment of calories, even to the point of my Garmin and the LoseIt # of calories burned within 1-2%.  I did lose the amount of weight I wanted within the alloted time frame, following the calorie recommendations.

As far as inputting the food, I find that I really do eat a lot of the same foods over and over.  So using the "My Foods" section is easy.  There is some initial investment time.  I would just guesstimate those other meals (mom's homemade something or other). 

I did have gool results in the end using it and plan on using it again this OS.

Bshannon

Tyler,

Coach Rich got me on the LoseIt! app for the last 8 weeks heading into IM Canada and I shed 5 lbs with relative ease and got below 150lbs for the first time ever.  The main takeaway, which is hard, is that you quickly realize its impossible to eat out and not drop 2k calories.  The "you have 100 calories left to eat today" at noon puts things into perspective and you learn to take your own lunch to work, find that sandwich place where you know its 350 cal, etc.  I found that it also makes you actually measure out a portion size as well.  For example, I would eat really good at work all day, and then come home and have "a bowl" of cereal which I estimated to be 300 cal. However, when I measured out "a bowl" it was closer to 900 cal!".  Making that one switch was dramatic and you will likely find instances where you can easily cut out some serious empty calories.

As for eating at the parents and having a nice meal, just make educated guesses and throw an additional 1k for SWAG and figure youll make it up during the week.

Hope this helps.