Can an app really help you lose weight?
'Tis the season for overeating, right? So is there an app to prevent that?
Maybe.
The KATU Problem Solvers enlisted two volunteers to test new weight loss applications that can not only help you during the holidays but all year round.
Our testers, Linda Wilson and Dianne Seymour, have a lot in common. Both women are diabetic and struggle with weight.
"I have tried different things here and there, but nothing seems to help keep it off," says Wilson.
"Every time I go in (to the doctor)," says Seymour, "I know she's going to say you need to lose weight.”
For the past month, Seymour has been using www.myfitnesspal.com on her computer. Wilson has been using www.caloriecount.com on her tablet.
For even more convenience, you can use these apps on your smartphone. Both programs are digital food diaries. You can easily enter everything you eat. The nutritional information - including calories, carbohydrates, protein and fats - is already in the system.
Calorie Count then gives you a grade for the day.
"Most of mine seem to be a C or D," admits Wilson, "because I eat so badly."
Seymour has found My Fitness Pal to be a little more encouraging.
"It comes up with this little sentence: if every day were like today, you'd be this weight in 5 weeks," explains Seymour.
Both apps give you bonus calories for any exercise you do.
The big advantage with My Fitness Pal is that the program calculates your daily calorie target using your age, weight loss goal and lifestyle. Seymour's daily calorie goal: 1370.
With Calorie Count, Wilson chose the calorie total herself, 2500 calories.
"What really counts is what you do long term," says Dr. Bart Duell, an endocrinologist and director of the Metabolic Disorders Clinic at OHSU.
He says that studies show people who log what they eat are more likely to stay on track. He believes these apps can be part accountant, part teacher, and part coach, but participants shouldn't go it alone.
"Whatever program or application people want to use, I think it's important for patients to check in with their physician and get their blessing as well, just to ensure that it's nothing too crazy or too weird," cautions Duell.
That's especially true when it comes to your daily calorie goal.
While neither Wilson nor Seymour has lost any weight in the last month, both feel empowered to continue their fights.
"That's really the motivation, the grandkids," says Seymour. "I want to be here (for them)."
In addition to My Fitness Pal and Calorie Count, you can also check out:
www.loseit.com
www.mynetdiary.com
www.sparkpeople.com
All the apps are recommended by Consumer Reports' Shopsmart magazine.
If you want to loose weight, exercise and stop eating crap and junk food (same thing)
Ditch your computer and get off your ass! Keep moving and stopping eating like it is your last supper.
Ive been eating apps for about three weeks and hav lost about 20 lbs
@oodathunked Huh....and how do you prepare those? Roast or pan fry?
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As the only skinny one in a close family of 20+ very over weight people it is easy for me to see why they are over weight and I am not. I eat 1/3 of what they do and exercise regularly. When we go out to dinner with them the wife and I split a dinner and skip desert or share that too and usually are still to full.
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They eat an entire large meal and desert which is about enough calories for 2 days in one meal.
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It is pretty simple calories in and calories out. Yes some people have a genetic advantage over others but it still is a fairly simple equation and if I look around me my genetics can't be helping me stay skinny...
 @FreedomRocks At least as far as dining out is concerned, you're absolutely right. We have a problem with portion control and the restaurants don't help that. I've had to actually slap my hand over my mouth when I've seen some of the plates that come out of the kitchen loaded with food. I'm even more in shock when I realize people (even little children) not only finish these huge portions (which, in turn affect how much food they eat at home) but get desserts, appetizers, and wash them down with calorie laden beverages.
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I remind my little niece and nephew (morbid obesity runs in our family) to hold out their hands and to make a fist. I tell them this is the size of their stomach and they need to compare it to the food on their plate. They're old enough now to know the stomach can stretch but they still use this rule to determine if they're full or not. My sister (their mom) was even surprised when I taught her that. As soon as she thought about it, though, she realized it was true.
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So, to everyone out there wanting to do a quick portion check of your food, make a fist and hold it over the plate of food. That's how much you should eat -- with portions going to lean proteins, fruits and veggies, and healthy carbs.
I started using Calorie Count at the end of March and by August, I had lost 30 lbs. Â It is so easy and convenient. Â It's not a diet fad, it helps you change the way you eat and track how healthy you are being! Â Great stuff.
I have used myfitnesspal app and web page for about three years. When I first used it, I logged my food every day and lost 30 pounds in about 9 months. I learned not only what foods to eat, but how much. I had always eaten home cooked, healthy meals. I was cycling 2,000 miles a year. I was just eating too much food on non-exercise days and about right on exercise days, and was still gaining weight. The app helped. I have kept it off for over two years. Now, I check in now and then. When a few pounds go on, I become more regular at recording my food intake.Â
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Three years later, I am still 30 pounds lighter. I am going to take another 20 off in the new year, and will log daily. My BMI is overweight. It used to be obese. I think it worked for me.Â
You can't rely on computers and diet fads. Nor can you follow what others on here say to do. I'm also diabetic Type2 with lots of weight to lose. I've lost 62 lbs so far and have much more to go, although I've maintained this loss for almost a year now. It's slow going. But after learning how to do it thru the doctor and his dietician, it's really easy...it's just a learning technique you need. Portion control is the main thing. What types of foods you eat is another. Mornings are high protein, and watch the carbs thru the rest of the day. No kidding....it comes right off...some weeks more than others. I make sure to eat lots of fiber, lots of fresh veggies, and although I love fruit, I watch that intake also. And yes...I get to splurge some, but get right back into my routine. I have to munch on a 100 calorie snack every two hours thru out the day (almonds, a cup of lite yogurt, a string cheese, etc) and then a lunch. The two biggest things I had to learn was to eat a breakfast and to do those snacks ( especially after being raised to think that snacks were EVIL! LOL ) I find the prepacked items that are already portioned out to equal 100 calories are a godsend...zero fat, zero sugars, good amount of protein and carbs...perfect. I adore Better Oats Fit Oats...so delicious!!! Many great oatmeal flavors, and all only 100 calories. So use the apps if you have too....but you have got to rely on yourself :) Only YOU can do this.
This is not complicated. Eat less. Exercise more. Or at least some. Within limits, if you exercise, you can eat what you want whenver you want. Second dish of ice cream? OK! Well, hey, I ran ten miles yesterday and today I'll do 60 on the bike.
 @Mechanic Sadly, the eat less, exercise more equation doesn't work for some of us. I've even managed to puzzle doctors who have that same mentality. Right now I'm at 410 pounds. I eat about 800 - 1,200 calories a day (regimented and have used apps or online food diaries for quite a while). My resting metabolic rate (if these calculations are correct) is somewhere around 2,500 calories a day -- just to "live". Add on top of that the exercise I get (add on another 500 to 1,000 calories burned) and I should be DROPPING weight like crazy. But I'm not. I'm actually gaining.
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I have several endocrinologists shaking their heads in puzzlement, others who don't believe me, my family who is practically in tears watching how little I eat and how much I work out but see no measurable positive outcome, and, in the past year, on that diet and exercise regime, I've gained almost 70 pounds.
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I will say that I do take some medications that affect my weight but, no, this is just plain crazy. I'd love for it to simply be the mathematical equations that everyone knows and loves. To gain that kind of weight (and not do any measurable exercise), I *should* have to be eating at least 3,100 calories and there is no way I'm eating (or drinking) that many calories. Ever. Even if I were "starving" and had a pig out meal (a la Thanksgiving for a lot of people -- which, by the way, I couldn't eat seconds of anything) once or twice a year I might get close to that on a very calorie rich day but that's it.
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Now, for the bulk of the general population I do believe the mathematical equation holds true. But there are at least a few of us that this simply doesn't work for.
 @CTWU  @Mechanic Have your physicians heard about the concept whereby a person doesn't eat enough and he/she gains weight because the body goes into a starvation condition?
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When I first joined Weight Watchers, they told me I had a daily point value of x points. I asked "How much of that do I actually have to eat?" Taken aback, she told me, "All of it!" The idea was that, if I didn't eat that much, the body would (could) go into a starvation condition. I ate my points every day and I started losing weight.
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800 - 1200 calories sounds way, waaaaay drastic. I'm no physician myself but I would wonder if that was in any way a factor in your inability to lose weight.
I always log what I eat, but it usually takes a few hours for the log to form.
"Can an app really help you lose weight"............. NO. But, courage, will power and discipline will !
 @Rob C 503 It can be used as a tool to assist. It cannot do the work for you, but it can be an effective tool. Much as a day planner helps organize time -- a day planner won't stop you from overscheduling your day, or not using your time efficiently, but if used correctly it can assist your time organization. Such is the same with these apps.
If you put the phone in your mouth instead of food, it will work. Â Â
I use MyFitnessPal. There is nothing wrong with using a food diary and studies show they help people pay attention to what they eat. The nice thing about the online ones is you don't have to look up the foods to know what calories, carbs, protein etc that you ate. This has been a great help to me since I'm diabetic and count carbs. It give me a place to check what I ate when my blood glucose is high. Not all carbs are created equally and some cause higher spikes than others. Before you tell me to lose weight so my diabetes will be cured I will tell you that I run about 20 miles a week, walk an unknown amount, lift weights, wear size 1 jeans and have 25% body fat. I don't think I'm in very bad shape for being on the high side of 40. And yes, it is type 2.Â
No app will help. I think of my girlfriend. When she goes to Weight Watchers, she watches what she eats and loses weight. But when she DOESN'T watch what she eats, the weight goes right back on. There's only one sure way to lose, and it's called "will power". There's no app for that.
I have a app built into my brain.Its called the "self control app" I stop eating before I even feel closed to full.Not to mention that I steer clear of junk food and processed crap disguised as actual food.And the app was free!
 @noneofyourbizzness That's great for you. I'm glad it works. Some people (like myself) like the ability to go back previous days and see what we ate. For me, it helps for planning meals and determining why I felt the need to eat more one day vs another. Yes, I do go to Weight Watchers. Yes, I've lost 50 pounds and have more to go.
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But regardless of what you do, eating cannot just be a passive activity. If you're not paying attention to what you're putting in your body or how much you're putting in, it is very likely you're going to end up fat. If you're paying attention and eating in a well-balanced fashion and in right quantities, you should be okay.
Correction "close"
Can an app really help you lose weight?
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If you need a eletronic toy to keep track of what you are eating...... you are eating way too much.