Best Apps for Weight Loss

With technology being such a prevalent aspect of our lives now a days, it comes with both positives and negatives. We are very well aware of the negatives thanks to the shared Facebook posts with sentimental videos showing just how much of your life is passing by as you scroll through the latest Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook posts. While I completely agree that screen time can be reduced among Americans, I will proudly say that technology through my iPhone changed my life for the better. 

 When I say my iPhone changed my life, I don't mean that it now entertains me whenever I have 5 free minutes, or I can send "snaps" to anyone, anywhere, and any given time, but I mean the apps that are now offered that can assist you in losing those 5, 20, maybe even 50 pounds. I got an iPhone my junior year of high school, ____ when I started living more of a healthy lifestyle. The most ironic part about that time in my life is that for once I wasn't even trying to lose weight, I was just playing with these fun apps seeing if I could actually learn a thing or two about what I was putting into my body. The apps that I will share with you helped me begin to lose 10-15 pounds, allowing me to come to terms with the reality of healthy living.

I hope these help you as much as they have helped me!

1. MyFitnessPal

 This meal tracking app brought me back to reality when it came to realizing how much sugar I was eating each day. I mean, I was shocked at how much sugar I was eating compared to how much my recommended daily value was. With this app, you enter your goal (lose weight, maintain weight, gain weight), activity level, age/sex, height, weight, and goal weight. MyFitnessPal then comes up with how many calories, grams of fat, carbohydrates, sugar, protein, etc. you should be eating per day. Then each day, you log your meals and the app will add it into your plan for you. The food database on this app is truly incredible with over 1,000,000 items, and around 200,000 restaurant items as well!  

"So you're telling me I have to log everything I eat, every day?" This is the common response I get when I recommend this app to people. Personally, I enjoyed entering all of my meals because I felt like I finally had control. However, you can only scrutinize every little calorie that goes into your body for so long, so I tapered off of the app when I realized that I did not need it anymore; I finally had control without the app. If you're not one to log your food long term, at least try it religiously for a few days, you'll be amazed at what you are truly putting into your body.

 **Bonus: Get a scale to properly measure your food. When I first found out how many grams of almonds is a serving- YIKES

2. Fooducate

This app has had many updates since I used it 4 years ago, and they are amazing I just re-downloaded it because I had deleted it over the years, and I am obsessed. I used this app to rate the different kinds of foods I was eating. With the "Food Finder" function of this app, you can scan any barcode, and it gives you a grade on how this food fits your dietary needs. For example, I just scanned a barcode for gummy bears, and it gave it a "D+", rightfully so. When I scanned the barcode for a bag of carrots, it gave me an "A", along with an explanation of why that grade was given. You can learn a lot from this app. This app now has a "healthy recipes" section which is basically a live feed with real people posting their latest healthy recipes, I mean how convenient is that!?  Fooducate also now serves the same purpose at MyFitnessPal, but I never used it to track my food. 

3. Nike Training App

So you made it to the gym, pat yourself on the back. Now what? I would pay money to see myself pretending like I knew what I was doing in the gym the first few times I decided to give it a go. Some curls here, couple squats there, plank, done. Nike Training App saved my life when it came to finding a gym routine. With this app, under the section "all workouts", you will specify what you want to accomplish during your workout. Do you want to "Get Lean" (HIIT cardio training), "Get Toned" (weights + cardio), "Get Strong" (mostly weights), or "Get Focused" (15-minute workouts). If you are familiar with Kayla Itsines' workouts, these are very similar. You can choose the music to go along with your workout, then Nike will walk you through exactly what you should do. These workouts are perfect for when you're on the go or even an everyday workout. 

4. Full Fitness

 This app is very much like Nike Training App; however, instead of creating a workout for you, you can create one for yourself. Full Fitness is a personal trainer type app that offers over 300 exercises all explained in detail with pictures, videos, and written instructions. The exercises are sorted by body region, muscle target and the equipment needed. MEN, you'll love this one. If you've wanted to try and hit the weights harder but have no idea what you're doing, this app is the one for you. You can either create your own program using the lifts listed or choose from one of the 20 built-in programs given to you (I like creating my own). 

So if you're like 99% of the public and your New Year's resolution is to get fit, happy, and healthy, put some faith in these apps and see how they can change your life. Also, don't be afraid to explore the iTunes "health" apps; there are some new, great ones on the market now! Happy Friday friends and have a FIT, not skinny weekend :) 

Author- Grace Burning (www.fitnotskinny.net)