When it comes to starting a healthy lifestyle and starting the process of counting macronutrients and calories…it can be overwhelming. Not sure what macronutrients are? Check out our previous article here. There are many programs like Beachbody, Weight Watchers, and so on that offer different alternatives to calorie counting as well. However, what apps are out right now that can help us stay on track during the winter months? On the East Coast, the temperatures are starting to drop and winter is officially on its way. So as we approach the more sedentary months, let us take the time to focus on nutrition and indoor workouts. Here are our top three calorie counting apps and what we like about them.
1. Lose It!
Available on IOS and Samsung App Store, Lose It is a calorie and macronutrient counting app that has been around since 2008 and has helped thousands of people. Lose It helps you set goals, track your water and food, and exercise calories that you burned throughout the day. You can add foods by using a barcode, looking up the restaurant or searching it in the search bar. You can also add recipes that you meal prep and save it as a serving to accurately count your calories. You can also add other health data like your weight, blood pressure and glucose, sleep, and BMI. There are also support groups readily available to talk with you about your weight loss or maintenance journey. What is great about this app is the encouraging push notifications. It does not cost a lot if you want to upgrade the app, and it is very user friendly. The premium membership is at a low cost of only $30 a year!
2. MyFitnessPal
Very similar to LoseIt, MyFitnessPal is a calorie counting app that works with Under Armour. This app features a food diary, a personalized diet profile, a database full of food, and an online support system. The main difference between MyFitnessPal and LoseIt is you are able to sync a lot more apps to your account so you obtain a more appropriate count of calories. Coaching and a more in depth look at your nutrition is available at a yearly cost of $50. Again, MyFitnessPal is very similar to LoseIt; however, I find it more difficult and less smooth to use over the LoseIt app.
3. MyNetDiary
This is a simple, free app to use if you are just starting out counting calories and have no idea where to start. MyNetDiary is able to provide recipes along with the calories in the app as well. Although they do offer a premium subscription, users say that the free one is just enough for beginners. If you want to add the extra amenities, the premium subscription for being able to link your exercise, blood glucose, and more you have to pay $5 a month or $60 a year.
More Programs
Like mentioned before, these are only 3 out of the hundreds of apps that you can find on the App Store and on the internet in general. There are programs like Nutrisystem, Jenny Craig, Beachbody, Noom, and Weight Watchers. It is important to do research if you decide to do one of these since they can be extremely costly. However, there are a lot of success stories. Do not worry about it if you are just starting off in your journey. You can start off small and work your way up! Stay healthy, stay well.
