Calorie counting apps - what have you used ?

[Bill]

In an attempt to better understand the Calories in versus the calories out I started using a calorie tracking app a few days ago.

What you get for free is amazing, I think there are several apps available.

Has anybody compared them and sorted out the best ones - Which ones have you tried ? I have only tried the free version of one called Cronometer, - seems to do a good job of tracking calories consumed vs. calories burned using a huge database of different foods and estimated calories for various exercises, but I use my HR monitor to estimate the calories.

I am close to target weight and suddenly the weight loss slowed down a lot, didn't know why, have read that this is quite common, so for starters I want to compare calories in vs calories out to see what the deficit is.

Bill

[Erik A]

my fitness pal is a good one been using it off and on for about 4 years now

[ShaunHF]

+1 for MyFitnessPal

I’ve been using this since last October, and has helped me in losing over 60 lbs in weight.The database is pretty extensive, and you have the option to add your own foods, compile recipes and create meals which allow you to log multiple foods under a single entry.

[lsufan1972]

my fitness pal is a good one been using it off and on for about 4 years now

I actually stared on the WW (weight Watchers) App, because my wife was doing it and wanted me to get on board with her.
It really helped to show me just how horrible my diet had been.
Pretty much everything I ate was really high in points.
After realizing that the points were mainly coming from sugars, I was able to make some relatively easy changes.

From there, I switched over to MyFitnessPal as well.
The database is HUGE and it's pretty easy to use.

Like anything, the more you weigh and measure, the more accurate the numbers will be.
Now that I've been at it for a while, I feel like I'm in a good "zone" for me, and I eat based on how I feel.
If I start to hit a plateau on my weight loss, I adjust my numbers and/or foods slightly or up my rowing a bit as well.

I'm sure there are others out there that work, but MyFitnessPal seems to be the best one I've seen.

[Gammmmo]

None*...I just have a running total of calories each day in my head. This is pretty easy once you get to know off by heart how many calories are in X amount of something, and most people including myself tend to eat similar things. A good test of this is how quickly you get round the supermarket knowing exactly where everything is because you tend to eat THOSE foods. I have found that if I want to gradually gain weight (build muscle) at a rate of ~1kg every 2-3 weeks I need to eat ~3000c/day. When I want to "cut" I just aim for 2500c/day and eat a bit more protein than the ~0.8g/lb bodyweight each day I would typically.

I vary things a little from day to day so as to "trick" the body i.e. if I fall short of ~3000 on one day I will ensure the following day I compensate.

I also skip my very early morning breakfast on days when I feel completely recovered from weights so as to help with insulin sensitivity to create a slight fast.

What I would also like to do but am simply not organised enough is to get my calories/protein from bigger distinct meals rather than on a more continuous supply of food as I think this would further assist with insulin sensitivity.

Interestingly, I have noticed a marked reduction in lower belly fat since starting weight training and knocking back the cardio AND trying to eat a little cleaner compared with when I was far more cardio biased on the rower. It would seem the cardio did not help with insulin sensitivity to the extent where it offset the worse diet.

* I am sure if I used MyFitnessPal I could have even greater control but I can be a bit of Luddite and don't want to get overly pedantic about all this (it may well be that MFP app is REALLY easy to use and that I'm just ignorant!)

[Robert31987]

+1 for MyFitnessPal (MFP) as well.

One huge benefit is how integrated the application/website is. You've mentioned using a HR monitor. If it has an app/service, it is very likely to integrate already with MFP. You can either import calories burned into MFP from the HR monitor, or calories eaten into the HR monitor application.

Right now, I use an Apple Watch for basic HR monitoring and calories burned, MFP for calories eaten, and FitBit for a wireless scale. All three pass data back and forth really well.

[Alan_Schenk]

I would seriously consider MyNetDiary. I have been using it on and off for the last 5 years and began at 147kg in January of 2016 and am now down to 92kg. I row 8000m six days a week and am shortly to complete my first million metres. Should be down to low 70's by Christmas, which will be a healthy BMI and then onto maintenance.

The interface works equally well on iPad, iPhone or Mac and they all sync with each other. Track net carbs, calories, fibre, whatever you like, with custom foods, recipes and a large and extensive food database. I am on a modified low carb diet, around 1500 calories per day, 40 net carbs, which I have found to be more successful than a lower calories (<1100 calorie) no carb restriction diet. Of course, energy expenditure of over 430 calories per row, certainly helps with the weight loss and fitness, as well as the overall toning of muscle groups.

[ukaserex]

For me, Cronometer is the go-to. Why? Because it lets me see what micronutrients I'm missing on a given day. Which is fine to miss out on a few of them on a given day - but I want to shore up those mineral & vitamin deficits at some point during the week.

Some time ago, I made a donation to Foundmyfitness.com, backed by the brains of Dr. Rhonda Patrick, and having uploaded my 23andMe data, I got back a concise report on various things I should be ensuring are part of my diet, and other things that may be a bad choice, from a genetics perspective. Armed with that report, I was able to ensure that my diet consisted of plenty of eggs, plenty of cruciferous vegetables (broccoli, brussel sprouts) and fish, or if not fish, fish oil. I also added Kombucha - which doesn't taste that good to me, but I just choke down a few sips throughout the day to promote gut health - which hopefully will promote better health overall.