App[licable] Food Tracking

By: Nikki Nies

Being aware of what you’re eating on a regular basis is a great way to become more aware of nutritional issues and hone in on what strengths are currently in place.  In such a high tech access world, utilizing pre existing tools on hand, such as one’s phone.

While, I don’t want to assume every one has a smart phone, more people do have smart phones than don’t.  It’s unrealistic to think people want to carry around a food journal and write down how much they’re eating, but with many having their phones on them regularly, it’s so much easier to plug information into phone and have a quick analysis provided.

After some research on what other user’s rave about, here’s an overview of some of the more highly rated, recommended apps:

App	Description and Features	Apple Store Average Rating	Additional In App Purchases
My Fitness Pal	Recipe calculator—enter own recipes and calculate nutrient contents Includes over 3 million foods; Barcode scanner Can save and reuse entire meals Adds multiple items simulatenously Create custom foods and exercise Fully syncs with internet Track with friends!—support each other’s progress Track all major nutrients	4.5 stars
Calorie Counter and Food Diary by MyNetDiary	Multiple servings—i.e. cups, oz, grams Daily Improvement Plan Food Check—check and compare foods while shopping and in restaurants Water tracking Built in bar code scanner Includes 530,000 foods entered by staff and 300,000 popular foods contributed by members Calculates based on age, height, weight, gender and activity level Calculates target calories, weight maintenance calories, BMI and BMR	4.5 stars	i.e. 1 month subscription $8.99; 3 month subscription $23.99; 6 month subscription $41.99; 12 month subscription $59.99
Fooducate—Healthy Weight loss, Diet Tracker and Food Scanner	Tracks quality of calories, not just quantity Scans product barcode to see food’s nutrition guide (A,B, C or D) Add own foods to track Learn about pro’s and cons Ability to share feedback with community Teaches about excessive sugar, trans fat, MSG, artificial sweeteners, GMO, controversial food colorings, HFCS, additives and preservatives Able to personalize with carb control, health conditions (i.e. pregnancy, low cholesterol), avoid MSG, HCFS, GMOs	4.5 stars	i.e. Pro–$9.99, Gluten & Allergies $14.99; Personal Weight Loss Coach $19.99; 10 Day Weight Loss Kickstart $1.99
GoMeals	Includes food tracker, activity tracker, glucose tracker, restaurant tracker and cloud sync Able to manage nutrition and exercise Calculates # of calories burned Includes over 20,000 restaurant items Ability to back up history/favorites with cloud network	4 stars
CalorieKing Food Search	Contain over 70,000 foods and 260 fast food restaurants and chains Provides information on protein, fiber, trans fat, cholesterol, sodium and alcohol	5	Remove Adds $1.99
Tap & Track—Calorie Counter	Contains large offline food database—over 500,000 foods, 700 restaurants, 2000 food brands Has 40:30:30 “pie charts” of reports Full screen graphs BMI calculator Tracker calories and food score; daily info on calories, fat, saturated fat, protein, carbs, sugar, sodium and fiber Free sync with backup and restore Can set diet plan and goal weight	4.5 stars

Previously, I’ve only had experience using MyFitness Pal, but I’ve just downloaded Tap & Track and Fooducate.  I’ll let you know these apps go! What apps have you had the most success with?  What type of tracker do you use?

Sources: http://www.forbes.com/sites/jennifercohen/2012/08/21/the-8-best-smart-phone-apps-for-weight-loss/

http://www.redbookmag.com/health-wellness/advice/my-food-diary#slide-6

http://lifehacker.com/five-best-food-and-nutrition-tracking-tools-1084103754http://www.topapps.net/apple-ios/top-iphone-apps-for-losing-weight.html/