Weight Loss Apps for the New Year
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Weight Loss Apps for the New Year

 

If you feel like you’ve put on a few pounds this holiday season, you’re not alone.  Studies show that on average, adults gain two pounds from overindulgence, poor diet and decreased exercise between Black Friday and New Year’s.  Two pounds may not sound like much, but it’s only the average and adds up over time if you don’t work to take the weight back off in the new year.

Losing weight isn’t easy.  It takes motivation and will power to consistently adhere to diet and exercise regimens.  But here are some apps that may help:

MyFitnessPal

If you like basing your decisions on cold hard data, you’ll like MyFitnessPal.  MyFitnessPal that helps you track what you eat and the activity you do as studies have shown that achieving awareness of these factors helps with weight loss.  Recognizing that you’re less likely to log your meals if it’s burdensome to do so, has a huge food database of over 300 million items including meals from popular restaurants, a barcode scanner and a recipe importer.  Since most of us tend to eat the same thing over and over, the app also remembers what you’ve previously entered to make those items easy to find again.  While the premium version of MyFitnessPal costs will cost you, the basic version is free.

FatSecret

If you have trouble losing weight because you feel like you’re battling alone, the community components of FatSecret should provide you with the group support you need to succeed.  Studies have shown that people lose weight faster when doing it with friends.  At its base, FatSecret provides food and exercise diaries, a weight journal, healthy recipes and nutritional information.  Its extra value over other apps, however, is in how it helps connect its millions of users.  Members can read others’ journals, join groups based on geography and similar interests, and visit forum on a wide variety of topics.

Noom

If you’re tired of yo-yo dieting (losing weight only to gain it right back again), you should try Noom.  Noom takes a psychological approach to weight loss by changing how you think about nutrition and exercise.   It focusses on behaviour change for longer lasting results as well as long term reduction of preventative diseases.  After a quiz about your current eating habits, exercise regimen, goals and demographics Noom creates a personalized course for you to follow to “trick your body into building healthy habits faster.” To help keep you on track, the app generates a list of steps to check off each day, interactive articles and quizzes.  Best of all, you get access to an assigned human coach during weekday business hours.  Given this personal service, Noom requires a fairly hefty monthly subscription and will require several consecutive months to take effect.  You can trial it for free, however, for two weeks before taking the full plunge.

WW (formerly Weight Watchers)

If you’re familiar with the Weight Watchers program, you’ll be happy to learn that they’ve recently rebranded as WW and created an app so you can consult your program wherever you go.  Indeed, with the app and it’s 24/7 coaching chat function, you can forgo having to attend in-person WW meetings altogether.  Whether you follow their green, purple or blue ZeroPoint vs. SmartPoints program, the app will tell you how many points you’ve used and have left as the week progresses.  It also app lists more than 8,000 WW recipes filtered by meal time, dietary needs, SmartPoints value, prep time and popularity.

HealthyWage (instead of Pact)

If you’re a pragmatist or someone who gives up too easily, Pact would have provided the additional incentive you need to fulfill your weight loss goal.  It forced you pay up cold hard cash if you failed to meet your target by the challenge deadline.  On the flip side, however, you could make money if you stuck to your regimen and it’s reflected on your scale.  Unfortunately, Pact no longer seems to exist. But if this concept appeals to you, you should check out the website alternative HealthyWage, which operates on the same principle.

Whichever app you choose to help you in your weight loss journey, we wish you the best of luck in shedding those excess pounds and developing a healthier lifestyle.

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