LoseIt! started out as a Food Journal iPhone application.  The benefit of the application for iPhone OS is that it’s always with you, you can enter you meals as you eat them, or look up choices for many convenient restaurants while you’re waiting in line.  The application has been upgraded a few times and is what I use for my food journal and exercise log.

A few months back LoseIt upgraded their website so that users can enter their food and exercise entries through the website, and it has been a wonderful add-on to the iDevice based method of keeping track of things.  Good charting and reports on the web site (see my past posts for screen caps of the reports) helps geeks like me to number crunch and over-analyze as much as they want.

Yesterday, LoseIt! added a Social Networking layer to their website, which is going to be awesome!.  In the past LoseIt! could automatically post your progress to Twitter and Facebook, but there wasn’t really a good way to connect to other LoseIt-ers unless you knew their email address.  With this new social networking layer, it’s much easier to connect to people that are somewhere in their own journey.

Once you’ve added friend’s you can change your privacy settings to decide how much you want to share with others, either LoseIt! friends, LoseIt! members or anybody that browses the site.  It has a wall-like Activity list where you can see how your friends are progressing, and even write on your own Activity list to record your thoughts for a day.  Commenting on activities is also enabled so you can motivate and encourage your friends.

The accounts are linked to the LoseIt! forums as well, so there is a way to discuss tips, techniques, recipes, exercise programs.  The forums also make or a good way to discover more friends that are interested in similar things.

Also to add to the encouragement factor you can earn badges, which are also shown on your profile.  Badges are earned or regularly logging your information, making friends, exercising and notable weight-loss milestones.  What a fun way to document your challenges, and successes.

If you are interested in losing a few pounds, or a lot of pounds (as is my case).  I’d encourage you to check it out, and join up (even if you don’t have an iDevice).  For me and my journey, the discipline of daily logging has been crucial to my successes.  It’s easy to get LOST in the day to day minutiae of logging calories and weight, and lose focus of the longer view.  I’ve continually averaged about a pound lost a week for over 8 months, and that’s something to celebrate.  These new features at the LoseIt! site have helped me to re-recognize my achievements, and realize that I’m making a difference in my life, and the years yet to come.