Summer is here which means you'll probably have
started drawing up a long list of resolutions that you have
every determination of sticking to. There might be a certain place or
activity on there, mixed in with a few other things like be nicer or do a
good deed a day, but there is usually one that will crop up time and
time again - lose weight.
Whether you're looking to shed
the Christmas pounds, or you are just on a mission to eat better this
year then here are a few of the best dieting apps to help you.
MyFitnessPal
MyFitnessPal
is a free calorie counting app that features a food database of over 5
million foods. When you first set it up, you'll need to enter some
information about yourself including your date of birth, weight and
height, as well as your goal weight and how much you want to lose each
week.
The
app then creates a custom plan for you, providing you with a calorie
goal to work towards, which appears on the top of the diary page where
you add your food, exercise and water intake. As you add, you'll see the
food calories being deducted and the exercise calories added so it's
easy to keep track.
MyFitnessPal is great for those who don't want
to pay the monthly fees that services like Weight Watchers and Slimming
World charge, but it is also useful for those on diets such as the 5:2
where calorie counting is essential. One of the best things about
MyFitnessPal is that it links to a variety of fitness platforms like
Withings and Fitbit, allowing you to keep track of your exercise and food in one place.
Diet Assistant - Weight Loss
Diet
Assistant - Weight Loss is another free app that will deliver you a
range of meal options to suit the diet you are on, whether it be
vegetarian, pescatarian or high-protein, among others.
Like
MyFitnessPal, you need to enter some information about yourself,
including your target weight, and the Diet Assistant app will then
assist you in achieving your goal.
There are dedicated shopping
lists per diet plan, nutritional facts, meal and weight entry reminders
and a built-in BMI calculator, as well as a weight graph so you can see
your progress.
Diet Point - Weight Loss
Diet
Point - Weight Loss has over 130 diet plans to take the guesswork out
of losing weight. There are dedicated shopping lists for each plan like
Diet Assistant, but this app also reminds you when it's time to eat your
next meal.
The app sports
more than 500 tips to improve your weight loss plan and it will also
provide you with a weight loss estimate for each plan so you'll be able
to pick one that suits your goal.
A BMI calculator is included so
you can check how healthy your weight is in relation to your height and
there is a weight tracker and monitor on board too.
My Diet Coach
My Diet Coach offers
four main features in the free version comprising reminders,
motivational photos, perseverance tips and a diet diary, along with
three extra features in the pro version including a food craving panic
button, a weight chart and a points system.
The diet diary,
calorie counter and BMI calculator are more standard features but the My
Diet Coach app stands out is for its motivational arguments and
guidelines, along with the ability to customise the avatar to look
similar to yourself.
You can set reminders so you remember to
drink water and prepare vegetables for example, but you can also touch a
button with the challenge you are facing and the app will greet you
with relevant motivational tips and inspiring pictures.
Nutrino
The Nutrino app
claims to answer the ultimate question of what should you eat and
rather than just tracking your food, it will answer it based on your
medical profile, goals and culinary preferences.
You can get this
app to plan your next meal or you can take something off the menu and
Nutrino will log it and take it into consideration.
There is a
health coach on board to keep you on track and you can also keep up to
date with the latest nutritional research through this app. Nutrino will
also add meal summaries to the Health App, as well as sync your weight.
The Complete 5:2 Diet
The 5:2 diet
suggests that you eat what you like for five days of the week, up to
2000 calories for women and 2500 for men, while for the other two days,
women consume just 500 and men consume 600.
There are plenty of
apps that relate to this particular diet but the Complete 5:2 Diet app
brings you a four-week recipe and exercise plan that will track your
calorie intake and work outs.
It features over 140 recipes to try,
with a choice of six meal plans for the fasting days and the workout
plans link to exercise videos to make sure you are doing things right.
Complete 5:2 Diet also has calorie counter, BMI, BMR and target calorie
calculators, but it won't allow you to add your own exercise routine in.
Weight Watchers
Weight Watchers has been
around for a long time and rather than straight up calorie counting, it
uses a point system called PointsPlus to help you lose weight. The app
is free but it's worth knowing you'll need a subscription to use it
which starts at £1.88/week.
Once
subscribed, you can track your food, activity and weight through the
app or the website and there is a 24/7 chat function to get support from
a Weight Watchers coach if you need it. We haven't tried that feature
but we suspect they rarely tell you to eat a Mars bar.
If you're
out for dinner and want to see what the best things to eat on the menu
are, there are thousands of restaurants and meals in the database from
Zizzis to Wagamama and you'll also get access to recipes if you're
cooking at home. Weight Watchers will also sync with your Fitbit or Jawbone to deliver activity tracking too.
HealthyOut
For those in
the US, HealthyOut allows you to find and order healthy meals from
local restaurants in your area using filters such as low calorie, low
carb, low fat and high protein to narrow search results.
Great for
those with dietary restrictions like gluten or lactose sensitive, or
those following specific diets like Paleo or Atkins, this app will help
you find restaurants that cater for your needs.
You can filter by
cuisine, ingredients and type of dish, plus it will also show you
detailed nutrition information for dishes including calories and points.
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