Using the Lose It!  iPhone app

What have I lost so far?
Adult Jack Russell Terrier
weighs in at 18 pounds

Starting weight:  236.6 lbs. (Feb 18)

Goal Weight:  200

Plan:  Lose one-and-a-half pounds a week

Daily Calorie Budget:  1909 per day  (Started at 2020/day)

Projected Goal Achievement (Adjusted):  December 2 12  January 12

Weight on September 6:  220.8 lbs.

Weight today:  218.8 lbs. (down 17.8 lbs.)

Finally!

We broke the 220 mark this week!

The first time I have been below the 2-2-0 in at least a decade.  It’s been a lot of bouncing back a forth between 221 and 223, but I finally broke through with a little help from a sinus infection that made everything I ate taste like Nothing.

Confession Time 1:

Years ago – probably somewhere in the mid-1990s – I tried to lose a lot of weight fast because I was really concerned about my suddenly skin-tight pants.  Decided to try the Slim Fast route – the powdered drink of Dieting Champions! 

Worked well for a while, but the hunger never really subsides, which is predictable when you go from no-holds-barred eating to next-to-nothing.  But for roughly 10-14 days I was a faithful powdered drink dieter.

That is until one day my wife finds me sitting out in the yard, unable to get to my feet due to dizziness.  I had also noticed that day that my “droppings” had an unusual white color to them.  (This can indicate more serious health problems; but in my case it went away once I got back to a normal diet.) 

Carol – as wife, nurse and defacto protector of the family income stream – ordered me off the powder and into the kitchen for a load of high carb inputs.  She was dead on right; and I realized Quick and Sudden wasn’t the best route to a slimmer me.  

Confession Time  2:

I haven’t been as faithful to my good friend, the Lose It! app, lately. 

The app has helped me out a lot.  But by now – after 8 months of slow, semi-steady progress – I have sufficiently changed most of my bad eating habits, and can pretty accurately calculate where I am – calorie wise – without falling back on the app as a crutch.

I tend to use it more in the beginning of the day through lunchtime because it keeps me honest and allows me to plan my programmed calorie intake for the remainder of the day.  It also helps me keep track of my trade-offs on those days when I’m at the gym or will be burning big calories working around the house or playing golf (1000 calories for a typical 4-and-a-half-hour round in a cart according to Lose It!).