Calorie Counting App for Nutrition and Weight Loss

Like a lot of folks who spend more time than they should behind a computer, I’ve long had a goal of losing 20 lbs. or so. Seven weeks after buying my iPhone, I can report that I am about halfway to my goal. Owning the iPhone isn’t a happy coincidence; the iPhone (together with a free calorie counting app) is the main reason I’ve finally had some weight loss success.

One of the very first iPhone apps I downloaded was MyFitnessPal, a very easy-to-use calorie counting app. With MyFitnessPal, you set a weight loss goal (e.g. lose 1lb per week), and begin to record the foods you eat. The app has huge database of food products (over 750,000) that you can easily search and enter. Since, like a lot of people, I tend to eat many of the same things each day, MyFitnessPal helpfully lists your most frequently used food items first.

Best iPhone Calorie counting App

To start with MyFitnessPal, you simply enter your current height/weight, your goal weight and how much you aim to lose each week. The calorie counting app sets a daily calorie goal for you.

I’ve tried tracking food and calorie intake using paper & pencil, computer programs and web-based apps over the years without much success. After a few days, the hassle factor The portability and ease of use that the iPhone – MyFitnessPal tandem offer is the only system I’ve been able to stick with – it’s that easy.

In addition to counting calories, MyFitnessPal also monitors nutrition.

Another benefit: in addition to counting calories, MyFitnessPal tracks nutritional values and compares them to daily recommended levels. This makes it easy to monitor your intake of things like fats, cholesterol and sodium. I found out, for example, that my daily diet was woefully lacking in potassium. I’ve started eating a daily banana or two to compensate!

The Payoff – First, losing weight has obvious psychological and intangible benefits. Second, according to CBS News, Americans spend more than $35 billion each year on weight loss products. Achieving some weight loss success with a free iPhone app instead of paying for diet pills or fad diet systems is a significant savings by itself.

But most important are the direct savings. An overweight person spends more each day on food, gas, life insurance, clothes, health insurance, time off from work, etc. I’ve seen estimates that place the yearly cost/penalty as high as $170 per pound of being overweight. Even if the savings are just $100 per pound, I can comfortably say my iPhone has thus far saved me $900 in seven weeks.

You can visit the website for myfitnesspal to learn more about their free program. To download the myfitnesspal calorie counting app for the iPhone, go to the App Store icon on your iPhone and search for myfitnesspal.

Filed under: iPhone

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