App-ilicous

Ok, so the name is a little cheesy- but "there's an App for that" is just over done. I will probably try out a few names over the next few months.

One new found love I have it trying to find the perfect app to try an lose weight. In my quest I have tried innumerable tracking apps for weight, calories, and exercise. I have very specific needs Ease of Use, Simple to Interpret, and FREE. Here are my top three!

3. Weight Watchers - This app is Free but really only usable if you are signed up for WW online. I should mention I tried and failed WW 3 times. It doesn't work for me, but the app meets the criteria for you WW members. It is easy to enter my daily food and exercise, and auto-magically calculates my points. And has lots of easy to use extras. My favorite being the little cocktail widget. If you have the WW app you know. The Cocktail widget is the best.





Bottom Line: App is great, diet doesn't work for me so it is in third place.

2. CalorieCounter by MyNetDiary: Easy to use, great display, love the little area for water and vitamins, but I found the calorie counts for exercise to be off and the weight loss graphs seems to change even when I did not change also while the entering my food intake was easy, but tedious because I had to search through member contributed foods in addition to the ones already in the database. They have a website you can become a member of too, but I like one stop shopping.



Bottom Line: Good if you are already on a plan and just need a basic counter, just beware searching for the right food can take a while.

1.Daily Burn- Tracks nutrition, and workouts more comprehensively than WW or MyNetDiary, you can choose a customized nutritional plan and then it will show you where you meet or fall short on those goals in your diet with easy to interpret graphics. You can also choose a workout plan or just log your own exercise. The weight loss chart is easy to interpret as well. On a side note: if you are willing to pay for the upgrades it has some cool features like a barcode scanner to enter you food values in quicker and online contact with a trainer. I only use the free version so I can't tell how well the additional features work. One thing I might try though and it's sister App called SnapMeal. Supposedly for $0.99 you can take a picture off you plate and it will magically tell you what is in it and how many calories it has. Let me know if anyone has tried it.




Bottom line: It has everything I need and can really help a beginner in choosing an exercise and diet regimen. Although I am sure the manufacturers suggest you seek a physician’s advice first.