A few weeks back I noticed I had hit 270lbs, 5'10". I had been 240lbs (with some exceptions) since I moved back to Portland Oregon in 1997. Most of that was muscle at that time, converting to less muscle over the years. We have never had a scale, so I never thought much of it. Over the years, i would get weighed at the docs office and I stayed the same. I hit 43/44 in the last year and things slowed way down. Intake went up to do the amount of traveling I do every day. Kids go to two different high schools 40 miles apart, 20 mile from my home. I do all the carting, shopping for cooking, cooking, yard work, laundry etc. Yet I had still gained 30lbs. My blood work form the doc last fall came in great, I just eat to much. That was my first clue to really cut back. I will go through the steps below.

I decided to make a drastic change, one that would teach me the lessons needed to eat properly with good nutrition. I have an S8 edge phone. It has this app called Samsung health. It allows me to track in fine or quasi-fine detail how much I eat. It has most prepared foods and generic ingredients that you can assemble to make a recipe. I started using it again 10 days ago. The first 3 days were just logging what i ate on my normal life going around. I inhaled about 3500-4k a day. I used its app, set my goal at 180lbs and it said i should be at 2900 calories a day with my exercise to get there. I also used a couple of online apps, they said 2k calories a day. I have gone with the 2k a day limit. Given the 2k limit, I have been able to keep it + - 75 calories. I have shed 13lbs. Down from 270 to 257.

I have done the low carb thing a few times over the years. My first go with it was in 2000, I dropped from 240 down to 200 in a few months. I kept with the low carb diet for as long as i could. It crept back into my life. I went back to 240. I had used it to lose weight in Seattle, around 2005, then in CT, around 2012, and finally 2015/16 where i went down to 210. While it works, I did not learn as much from the standpoint of nutrition, portion size, and in the end it was always temporary. I am looking at making a permanent change. Now I should mention that in 2015/16 I used this same app on my s7 edge. I used it primarily to track my carbs and sugars. It was not as good as it is now. It had fewer food types, both prepared and generic in it to track. Back then much of it is guesswork. While it is far better, there is still a tiny bit of guesswork when inputting the food. Sometimes you won't find and exact match. So, you have to improvise. IE last night was not Broiled pike, but broiled walleye.

What do I like about this calorie counter function in the app? It shows me what foods are vastly out of whack for caloric intake versus portion size and nutrition. IE one of my favorite snacks is Cheese, Crackers, Olives, pickles, lunch meat. Well, guess what 1 portion of 3 cracker types, 2 cheese types, 1 portion split between 3 lunch types of meat is 900 calories. 80% of the calories are from the crackers. Something i did not know.




One more benefit is that it uses the nutritional data including vitamins and minerals to compile how balanced each meal is, how balanced your meals were for the day. Low on a vitamin, this app helps give you an idea as to how close or far you are to be on track for that goal. It separates out Carbs, Fats, Proteins in a quick view format also.

Here is the nutritional info break down of what I ate.



This app also includes a pedometer, walking, running, biking, rollerskating, monitors along with Sleep, BP, BPM, spo2, Stress, caffine, and water intakes.


Here is the nutrient intake summary of what i ate for the day in percentages. (at the bottom of the screen)


What do I think so far. I like it, I am learning far more about nutrition as a whole. It has only been 10 days on this newer version of this app, 7 doing this life change. Besides the app, I have 3 things that have made this far easier.
1, I am using a water bottle constantly. The soda is long gone, but I now force myself to drink 10-12 servings (8oz) of water a day. Something I never did before.
2, A kitchen food scale that does Grams, ounces, fluid oz and pounds. This is invaluable in plating to make sure you can accurately asses how much is a serving and for recording in the app.
3, A good biometric bathroom scale. Use it twice daily. Once before bed, once after you get up. Take the time to record the data in the app. The one I purchased has an app of its own. It tracks its own trends. Like the samsung health app, it gets you pretty close. The readings may spike here and there, but they get you in the ball park.

Nice app, good luck with controlling your weight.

This app looks really useful. I currently have the opposite problem as you since having surgery for esophageal cancer. My problem now is keeping weight on. I would be interested if anyone knows of a similar app that works with iPhones.

I did a quick search, it does look like this app is available on Apple app store. I have 0 exp with apple so, don't take my word for it.

Good job! You probably didn't lose 13lbs of fat in 7 days though, a lot of that will be water weight and you will re-balance. Just don't get discouraged if some of that comes back.

A lb of fat has about 3200 cals, so your average daily deficit of ~1750 cals would result in a 3-4lb loss in 7 days. On a total fast, about a lb of fat per day is to be expected.

quote:

Originally posted by Strambo:
Good job! You probably didn't lose 13lbs of fat in 7 days though, a lot of that will be water weight and you will re-balance. Just don't get discouraged if some of that comes back.

A lb of fat has about 3200 cals, so your average daily deficit of ~1750 cals would result in a 3-4lb loss in 7 days. On a total fast, about a lb of fat per day is to be expected.

Excellent point. There will be a balancing point, and an adjustment to how much i exercise as things move forward.

quote:

Originally posted by Censored:
Nice app, good luck with controlling your weight.

This app looks really useful. I currently have the opposite problem as you since having surgery for esophageal cancer. My problem now is keeping weight on. I would be interested if anyone knows of a similar app that works with iPhones.

Thanks for finding the similiar app. Make sure that you keep your protein intake adequate. During my chemo/radiation, I lost about 16 lbs and I think it was all muscle. My upper chest just faded away. I had trouble with whey protein and finally found a plant-based protein that I could tolerate. I am starting to put some mass back onto my chest.

quote:

Originally posted by DSgrouse:
I did a quick search, it does look like this app is available on Apple app store. I have 0 exp with apple so, don't take my word for it.

There are a gazillion health apps for Apple. Do you remember the name of the one that you're referring to, in the Apple App Store?

Muscle mass loss is typically due to being inactive as opposed to lack of protein. For example, studies have shown over 3lbs per week muscle loss in bedridden hospital patients.

I did a 5 day fast (0 protein intake) and lost no muscle that I could measure (measured body fat before/after). I kept up with strength training during the fast though.

Resistance training is key.

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Originally posted by V-Tail:

quote:

Originally posted by DSgrouse:
I did a quick search, it does look like this app is available on Apple app store. I have 0 exp with apple so, don't take my word for it.

There are a gazillion health apps for Apple. Do you remember the name of the one that you're referring to, in the Apple App Store?

Same one I am using S-health.

Well, broke the 250 barrier today, 249.2 I started this out with about very low 30% water. I have slowly brought that up to 45.6% this morning. My progress has been slower the last 11 days, much of that I think is the water going up. But I am still down 10lbs. So, not to much to complain. besides getting good sleep, I certainly feel better shedding weight. Back to the program. If you are working at the waistline, Keep it up.

Thanks for posting your progress/results. It's always encouraging to see other people having success in their weight-loss or fitness goals.

quote:

Originally posted by DSgrouse:
Well, broke the 250 barrier today, 249.2 I started this out with about very low 30% water. I have slowly brought that up to 45.6% this morning. My progress has been slower the last 11 days, much of that I think is the water going up. But I am still down 10lbs. So, not to much to complain. besides getting good sleep, I certainly feel better shedding weight. Back to the program. If you are working at the waistline, Keep it up.

Ultimately, the scale is irrelevant. It is about body composition and fat loss as opposed to weight. Keep track of your measurements. If you are losing inches, you are losing fat even if the scale stays the same.

Op:

appreciate your comments on the S app as I recently bought a model that should well function with that program.

Your images in my screen are merely 'broke link' symbols, would like to view them.


Thanks for your informative post.

Keep on trucking. I'm down nearly 45 pounds (some from the cancer) since Jan 1. I love wearing size 36 pants instead of 42 or 44. I gave all my old pants to Goodwill.

According to the scale, i have dropped from 40% BF, to 36 in the last 20 days. So, it is coming off. Slowly.

Signewt. I don't keep most photos around anymore. They were up during the original post. I no longer have them. I will try and come up with a way for you to see the future ones.

I dropped 9 lbs in 8 days. Jaw surgery.

Suprep. I think I lost 13 lbs in one night.

And it turned my brown eyes bluuuuuuuuue

I lost 125 pounds in 3 months, but it cost me a small fortune. You know why divorces are so expensive? Because they are worth it!

quote:

Originally posted by DSgrouse:

quote:

Originally posted by V-Tail:

quote:

Originally posted by DSgrouse:
I did a quick search, it does look like this app is available on Apple app store. I have 0 exp with apple so, don't take my word for it.

There are a gazillion health apps for Apple. Do you remember the name of the one that you're referring to, in the Apple App Store?

Same one I am using S-health.

I can’t find an app called “S-Health” in the App Store.