Top smart phone weight loss apps

Weight loss apps can really help you stick to your plan.  I’m not a huge phone app fan, but many can be so fun and useful they’re addicting.  Weight loss apps may not be as fun as Zynga Poker, but if you spend even half as much time counting calories as I do playing Texas HoldEm you’re bound to see results.  Slim down with these choices for iPhone and Android phones.  Most are free, with some having an advanced paid version.

Lose It!

One of the most popular weight loss apps, Lose It! features a free barcode scanner, a recipe builder, and a comprehensive database of food and activities. Just input your current weight and your goal weight, and Lose it! will give you a fairly accurate estimate of how many calories to eat per day, and how long it should take to reach that goal.  There’s even an online support community you can join where people like you can encourage and hold each other accountable (love that!) With the barcode scanner, simply scan the barcodes of almost any item and automatically pull calorie and nutritional info from a huge online database.  Users can also add food to the database and track nutrients like protein, carbohydrates, and fat.  Free: Apple, Android

MyFitnessPal

Both a Calorie Counter and Fitness Tracker – once installed it takes your weight, height, goal weight and lifestyle into account before giving its recommendations. Right away it breaks up your big goal into a smaller goal 1 month away from now, which is a fantastic motivator.   It comes with a barcode scanner to see what’s lurking in your favorite packaged foods. You can also access calorie counts and nutritional information from local restaurants, taking the guesswork out of eating out.  Access to your calorie count is then available online from any computer, and you’re also able to share your progress with friends.  MyFitnessPal is very popular, and reviewed by more than 300,000 people on iTunes and nearly that many in the Android Market.  A database contains more than 750,000 foods.  Free: Apple, Android.

Fooducate

Perhaps the most educational of the weight loss apps, Fooducated helps you create healthy grocery lists by saving you a ton of time having to research foods.  Fooducate lets you scan the barcode on food products to get a quick health grade from A to F. Fooducate will give you a rating for the food scanned based on calorie counts per serving, processing techniques and amount of sugar.  So it tracks your weight, and counts calories, but also clues into the nutritional quality of the food you’re buying.   Fooducate is a great time saving app, and wonderful to go grocery shopping with.  Free. Availability: iPhone, Android.

iTrackBites

This app assigns food scores and points to each food, similar to Weight Watchers. Users can keep a food diary and select foods with an assigned point value from the food database, or enter foods not in the database and receive point values for them. iPhone and Android – $2.99.

Endomondo

Weight loss apps, are not just for counting calories either.  This app, can be used for a variety of sports, such as running, cycling, and walking, showing GPS tracking route, distance, duration, and calories burned. Endomondo will track your route via Google Maps, tracking your workout history to compare later. You can also create an account and get motivated by your friends every time you break a mile. On certain handsets, the app also supports integration with built-in music players and Bluetooth heart rate monitors from Polar and Zephyr. Free: Apple, Android, Blackberry.  Pro version is available for $3.

Fitocracy

Launched for iPhone in 2010 by two former out-of-shape video-game addicts, Fitocracy has become a hot ticket, with more than 1 million registered “Fitocrats” playing against each other to enhance their fitness and swap workouts, advice, and inspiration. In the game, users begin at level one, then depending on the frequency, duration, and difficulty of their workouts, they earn points and bump up to the next level. Free. Availability: iPhone and Android.

Locavore

To get the maximum amount of nutrients from food it’s recommended to eat fresh foods over packaged or processed. Timing is important as well; one study even showed that spinach harvested in-season had three times the Vitamin C as when it was harvested out of season! The basic rule is the farther it is from the vine, the fewer nutrients it has. Locavore tells you what’s in season and how many days you have left to enjoy it at its full flavor. It can also use your phone’s GPS to find the closest places to buy locally grown, in-season produce. This is a huge help for people who have claimed to hate vegetables, only to discover they never had a fresh one in their life. Buy in season, fresh and local whenever you can.  Free: Apple, Android

Nike Training Club

Nike lives up to their “Just Do It” mantra- this app is a free personal trainer in your pocket. It has 30-45 minute timed workouts for cardio, toning and strength, videos for each move and a voiceover talking you though the workout, AND it pulls music from your own playlists to keep you motivated. Just choose a workout based on the time you have and the results you want, and press play. You can also turn on autoshare, holding yourself accountable to all of your Facebook friends. One of the most unique parts of this app is the reward features, which make working out into a game where you can unlock new workouts curated by celebrities, trainers and athletes. The step-by-step videos and integration with your own music library make this a fantastic workout app. Free: Apple

Eat This, Not That! The Game

While I can’t condone picking one less-bad fast food over another (chili dogs over cheeseburgers? Really?), the knowledge you get from this little game may help you in your next “hot zone” situation, where there are no good choices. If you’re going to play a game on your commute or while you’re on hold on a conference call you can pick up a few quick facts. Free: Apple, Android