Lose Weight and Eat Better With the 8 Best Diet Apps

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Staying accountable and keeping track of what you eat when you diet are two things that contribute to a successful weight loss program. With an increasing number of people carrying a smartphone with them everywhere they go, dieting apps make it possible to remain accountable to your goals and keep track of what you eat no matter where you are. Here are eight great dieting apps for reaching your weight loss and fitness goals. (See also: 10 Self-Improvement Apps to Make You Smarter, Stronger, and Happier)

1. Lose It!

Create individualized goals for weight loss, nutrient consumption, exercise, sleep, and more with the free Lose It! App for iPhone. There is a searchable database where you can find and keep a log of the foods you eat, or you can use the included barcode scanner to scan barcodes of packaged foods you consume for quick tracking. You can even keep track of calories and other nutritional facts in complete recipes that you make yourself.

You can get started by entering your goal weight — and let the Lose It! app calculate a daily budget for number of calories to consume based on your current weight and height in relation to your goal weight. The Lose It! app will integrate with many wireless scales, other workout apps, and pedometers, and there are options to turning it into a social experience as you can connect with friends who also use the app.

2. Noom Weight Loss

Similar to Lose It!, Noom Weight Loss app is available free on Android. Each day, "The Coach" gives you tasks to help you make positive lifestyle changes to encourage long-term results. Noom will help you create your weight loss goal, keep track of what you eat and how much exercise you get, and guide you toward healthier choices for eating and physical activity. The Noom Weight Loss app even has a built-in pedometer to track how many steps you take each day.

3. Weight Watchers Mobile

If you are following the Weight Watchers diet plan, the Weight Watchers Mobile app is the ideal way to keep track of your points each day. The app is free to people who subscribe to the Weight Watchers plan, and it offers a database with more than 30,000 foods and their corresponding Weight Watchers point values. As you use the app to track what you eat, it will let you know how many points you have available each day.  Available for iOS and Android.

4. MyFitnessPal

Designed for just about every smartphone on the market (iPhone, Android, Windows Phone 7, and Blackberry), MyFitnessPal lets you track your exercise and calories burned as well as your calories consumed. There is a huge database containing the nutrition information for restaurant menu items and over two million foods. You can use MyFitnessPal Mobile with your online account to synchronize things you enter via your phone or your computer, so you can always have an up to date account to keep you on track no matter where you are.

5. Eat This, Not That!

If you get tired of simply tracking what you eat and what physical activities you participate in, you might want to use the Eat This, Not That! game for your iPhone. The app will show you two different meals or food products, and you get to guess which one is healthier for you. While the app will not immediately contribute to your ability to lose weight by tracking calories or exercise, the knowledge you gain from learning which foods are healthier can guide you toward making better decisions when choosing what to eat in the future.

6. The Eatery

You can use The Eatery app for the iPhone to keep track of what you eat by taking a photo of it. Over time, this will help you see trouble areas and find ways to improve what you eat to lose weight. But then the Eatery also takes things to a social level, allowing other members to rate your meals based on whether they feel it is healthy or not. Instead of counting calories, you aim to eat healthier.

7. Calorie Counter PRO MyNetDiary

Android users can buy the Calorie Counter PRO MyNetDiary app ($3.99) to help keep track of calories consumed and burned. There are over 416,000 foods in the MyNetDiary database to help you quickly keep track of the nutrients in the foods you eat, and your purchase also includes access to the website for additional food entry and backing up of your data. The app includes a barcode scanner and an analysis tool to help you find ways to improve what you're eating. There are over 500 activities in the exercise section, so you can quickly choose your daily exercise and see how many calories were burned, or you can enter custom exercises and calories burned.

8. Fooducate

With the Fooducate app, you can scan the barcode on products you eat to get a health grade between "A" and "F". Try to eat healthier foods based on the health grade to reach your health and fitness goals. You can use the app to keep track of your weight and to create healthy grocery lists. The app is free and available for both Android and iPhone users.

Did I miss your favorite dieting and weight loss app? Please share in comments!

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Guest's picture
Debi

Ooh, you missed Sparkpeople.com! They are mostly web based, but have apps to supplement the site while you're away from the computer. Their food and fitness trackers are easy to use and most fitness monitors can be set to sync to their trackers. They also have tons of articles, recipes, meal plans, message boards and groups to find support and advice on nearly anything you might want. The web site and some apps are free, others have nominal fees associated.

Guest's picture
Carmen

I have to agree. I've tried several but I love SparkPeople. I have my Fitbit One sync'd up so my exercise is automatically added and I'm able to add the foods I eat and track weight, the water I drink, etc. They even have specialized diet plans such as Heart-healthy and Diabetic, and will even give you meal plans. They recently changed their food tracking so your "allowed" calories can now be based on your lifestyle (active vs sedentary) and on your daily activity. The more you move, the more you're allowed to eat. The website is free but the apps have a small charge