Final Verdict
When it comes to weight loss apps, finding one that matches your lifestyle, habits, and goals is critical to losing weight and keeping it off. A great app to start with is Lose It!. It’s comprehensive, easy to use, and provides you with an accurate calorie and activity tracker. Plus, it comes with tons of helpful tools for sticking to your fitness routine. If you’re looking for an app with a fitness focus and tons of classes, consider Daily Burn. But if it’s support and assistance with adjusting lifestyle habits that you need, then check out Noom.
Guide to Choosing the Best Weight Loss App
Weight loss apps allow you to monitor your lifestyle habits and aid in your weight loss efforts. A common feature of weight loss apps is the ability to track and record your food and beverage intake, along with calories and nutritional information. Most also have other helpful tools like activity trackers, barcode scanners, meal planners, and support forums.
When deciding which weight loss app is best for you, it's important to have a clear idea of your goals. Are you working to shed pounds through both diet and exercise? If so, then it's important to understand that you will want to manage your diet so you have the right fuel to keep you energized for those workout sessions. If you want to lose weight by focusing on your eating habits, then you will want to choose an app that helps you hone in on the concerns you have, which may be curbing mid-day snacking (or all-day snacking), and finding the best substitutes for those sweet tooth moments. In this case, a diet-tracking app will suit you best. If your goal is to shed a few pounds but also to build strength or cardiovascular endurance, then you may want a more exercise-centered app.
As you can tell from our roundup, weight loss apps can cover just about every aspect of health and wellness, so matching your goals to apps that excel in addressing your needs and tracking your weight loss progress will be the best bet for you.
Frequently Asked Questions
What's the Difference Between a Weight Loss App and a Nutrition App?
Weight loss apps and nutrition apps may have some features in common, like fitness tracking and tips. Nutrition apps focus more on food and nutrients. They’re often designed to track calories, fat, protein, carbs, and micronutrients. With some nutrition apps, you can customize meal plans and input recipes.
Do Weight Loss Apps Work?
There’s evidence that using a calorie-tracking app can have a positive effect. A 2019 study found that people who regularly used a diet and fitness app lost more weight than those who didn’t use it as frequently.
Is a Weight Loss App Right For Me?
As is the case with many diet and exercise plans, the more you put into it, the better your results will be. If you’re committed to your weight loss approach and take advantage of a weight loss app’s tracking and other helpful features, it can be a powerful tool to help you reach your goals.
Are Weight Loss Apps Worth It?
The answer depends on your weight loss goals, budget, and how you hope to use the app. Free versions may offer limited features. A subscription fee can range from $3 up to $70 per month but more expensive apps offer customized options, personalized feedback, access to experts, and fitness workouts.
Methodology
We researched six different apps from reputable companies to curate this list of best weight loss apps. All apps are compatible with iOS or Android. They’re also relatively easy to use and provide adequate support for weight loss. Additionally, we looked at free versions vs. upgrades requiring a paid subscription. To make this list, the free version needed to offer enough tools to make the app helpful and worth using. Most importantly, all of the weight loss apps listed deliver a balanced message of overall health and wellness, not just diet and weight loss.