Lose It is an app that is available free on iTunes and can be used with iPhone, iPod Touch or an iPad. It is located in the Health and Nutrition category and is designed to help people lose weight. While it is set up for the general population, it lends itself to easy adaptation for any individual with a disability. Prior to my accident I was 6'4" tall and weighed 215 pounds. Now, 13 years later, even with major dietary adjustments, I weigh close to 260 pounds. Being a quadriplegic, weighing oneself is difficult, and using a scale designed to weigh individuals in a sling, can be costly.  I have found an inexpensive solution to this problem. I use a Big Buck scale that can be purchased at Cabela’s for $45. It is intended for weighing deer but still is surprisingly accurate.

The following description of Lose It is taken from iTunes:

“Succeed at weight loss with Lose It! Set goals and establish a daily calorie budget that enables you to meet them. Stay on track each day by recording your food and exercise and staying within your budget. The average active Lose It user has lost more than 12 pounds and more than 85% of our active users have lost weight. Lose It is completely free -- get started losing weight with Lose It today.”


Lose It is simple and easy to use. It has a large database of food and exercise which can be easily added to. After entering a food or exercise once, it becomes part of your personal database and can be selected the next time with a simple click. What lends itself so nicely to adaptation is the fact that you can add both foods and exercises to the program. In the exercise category I was able to add Hand cycling and several other modified activities with the amount of time I do them and the number of calories I burn. Existing categories within the exercise section can be manipulated to reflect your level of participation.

For those of us who have specialized dietary considerations in addition to keeping track of calories, Lose It can be set up to monitor Fat, Cholesterol, Sodium, Carbohydrates, Sugar, Fiber and Protein in our daily diets. It also has a bar code scanner for packaged products to make entering specific nutritional information easier. Lose It has an extensive menu of foods from both the supermarket and many well-known food chains. Simple, user-friendly, adaptable and free: what more could you ask for? Give it a try; you have nothing to lose but weight!!