When Weight Watchers held its second quarter meeting, Chief Financial Officer Nicholas Hotchkin addressed the company's declining earnings, accrediting some of the loss to the "sudden explosion of interest in free apps and activity monitors". While there are countless free apps that track diet and exercise, where are dieters turning to watch their weight?
Weight Watchers claims it built its business and helped "millions of people around the world lose weight through sensible and sustainable food plans, exercise, behavior modification and group support." We compiled a list of diet apps from Apple App Store and Google Play store, most of which offer some of Weight Watchers' listed offerings. Weight Watchers' two apps made both the Apple and Google lists, but many of the other nutrition apps beat them to a top spot. All the apps listed are in the Apple App Store and Google Play store, but indications at the top of each subhead show which stores include the app in their top 50 list.
Calorie Counter & Diet Tracker by MyFitnessPal (Apple, Google)
Calorie Counter & Diet Tracker allows the user to enter a daily diet history from the over 3,000,000 items listed in the app's database. The news feed shows which of the user's connected friends are reaching their goals as well as how close the user is to his or her goals. MyFitnessPal, which recently raised $18 million from investors, also integrates with other fitness apps such as Endomondo Sports Tracker, EveryMove, RunKeeper, Runtastic, Rhythm Pulse Monitor, Striiv Smart Play Pedometer and Digifit.
Run with Map My Run (Apple, Google)
While exercise is the prominent feature in this app, it also includes a nutrition section for runners to budget caloric intake, track weight and enter food and drinks into the log. The app offers the chance to post workouts of Facebook and Twitter as a "Bragging (optional!)" feature, or keep the data private. All the info syncs with MapMyRun.com so users can log in to see more results or connect with the MapMyFitness community. MapMyRun also integrates with many wearables and fitness apps, like Nike+ FuelBand and Fitbit.
Lose It! (Apple, Google)
This app offers several prominent features in its App Store description. It connects the user to "people, devices and food information" that he or she needs to achieve weight loss goals, customizes the app to the user's individual needs and schedule, and offers food tracking from a database that has thousands of restaurants, grocery stores and brand-name foods. Goals on the app are available in weight, body fat, hydration, sleep, steps, exercise, nutrients and body measurements.
MyPlate Calorie Tracker Lite (Apple, Google)
The only difference between Livestrong's Calorie Tracker Lite and paid versions is the user's ability to sync with other devices and with the Livestrong.com website. Besides that, this app helps users track diet, weight loss and fitness goals by watching calories and exercise. Categories listed in the app include breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks, exercise and water. Entering exercise subtracts the amount of calories from the daily total. The app also displays daily fat, carbohydrate and protein intake.
Diet and Weight Loss Tracker by Calorie Count (Apple, Google)
Self-described as the "leading calorie counting service with logging-by-voice," this app touts 5 million members, offline functionality and a barcode scanner that help the user accurately add his or her daily consumption to the app. This app also offers daily blog articles featuring success stories and stories on effective dieting methods. New features include the ability to take photos of meals and share them in end of the day reports for others to see.
Fooducate (Apple, Google)
Instead of just offering the nutrition facts, Fooducate aims to explain what's inside each food item, offer healthier alternatives, and grade the food with either an A, B, C, or D. The app lists pros and cons for different foods, offers a social network to share findings with your community and creates a healthy shopping list. Facts Fooducate points out include excessive sugar, trans fats, high fructose corn syrups, controversial food colorings, additives and preservatives. Unlike the other apps on this list, Fooducate doesn't incorporate a fitness component.
Noom Weight Loss Coach (Google)
This app features a personalized weight loss plan that offers a color-coded food logging system, exercise tracker, daily food and exercise tasks, programmable reminds and educational articles. The app also integrates with Facebook and Twitter, but doesn't cite any other integration features. Earlier this year, the app also raised money for expansion into the Korean market.
Calorie Counter and Food Diary by MyNetDiary (Apple)
Backed by MyNetDiary.com, this app allows the user to create a plan with a target weight and desired weight loss rate. From there, the app offers food tracking, exercise input and recipe suggestions. The online community is supported by a registered dietitian and the user can also create private groups for family and friends. To input food, the app offers a barcode scanner, food database, internet search access and water tracking.
Calorie Counter by FatSecret (Google)
This app emphasizes its simplicity. From finding nutritional information for food to easily keeping track of meals, exercise and weight, Calorie Counter promises a simple process and simple results. It also has a journal to record progress, ideas for recipes and meals and a diet calendar to look back at calories consumed and burned.
My Diet Coach (Google)
"Half of the road to fat loss is sticking to your diet, but the other half is mental," according to My Diet Coach. The app aims to help users resist destructive thoughts by sending reminders, perseverance tips and motivational assistants, like a food cravings timer. For motivation from other people, the tips section also includes a shared tips category. In the pro version, users can view a calorie counter and BMI calculator.
My Diet Diary Calorie Counter (Google)
My Diet Diary tracks food in calories and nutrients and exercise. The app lets users view progress reports, customize weight goals and access a recipe calculator. It also offers a built-in BMI, the ability to set weight goals, view weight charts and personalize the app with an avatar.
