5 Of The Best Android Apps For Calorie Counting
If you're thinking of losing weight, gaining some, or maintaining your current one, then you might have come across the calorie-tracking technique. This practice essentially involves counting the calories from all the foods you consume in a day, all while sticking to a daily calorie limit. The limit changes depending on what you want to achieve. For instance, if you're trying to lose weight, the calories you consume should be less than the calories you burn through natural bodily functions or exercise. If you're trying to gain weight, on the other hand, you have to consume more than what you use up in a day.
While this sounds complicated and hard, there are dozens of calorie-counting apps you can use to make the process a whole lot easier and more convenient. Most of these apps feature food databases with predefined calories, so you won't have to guess how many calories there are in your meals. Some also recommend a daily limit based on your health goals. If you're on an Android device and are on the hunt for the best calorie trackers, check out these apps.
MyFitnessPal
With over 100 million downloads on Google Play Store, MyFitnessPal proves to be one of the top wellness apps on Android, and it's for good reason. It boasts a database with a whopping 14 million foods, helping you log your meals with more accuracy. If you still can't find a specific dish in the database, you can simply create a personal database with your own recipes and foods. Logging your meals with MyFitnessPal is also easy. There are four different ways to do so: search for the meal in the database, scan the food package's barcode, add the calorie and macronutrient details of your meal manually, and use your camera to automatically identify your meal.
Besides the expansive database and convenient meal-logging methods, another great thing about MyFitnessPal is its Plans feature. Here, you can choose a meal or workout plan to start. Depending on the type you pick, you'll get a certain number of tasks to accomplish each day. Some of the free meal plans include the 14-day Eat Green, 28-day Low Carb, and 28-day High Protein. If you're new to MyFitnessPal and food tracking in general, there's also a free MyFitnessPal 101 plan that will teach you more about the app's features and how you can efficiently track food.
MyFitnessPal features free and premium versions. If you decide to upgrade, you'll get access to the intermittent fasting tracker, a detailed macronutrient breakdown of your meals, and more workout and meal plans, among many others.
YAZIO Fasting & Food Tracker
Featuring an organized and visually appealing interface, YAZIO Fasting & Food Tracker is the calorie counter for people who prefer using apps with a bit of aesthetics. Inside the app, you'll find four main tabs. First, there's the Diary which provides you with a comprehensive overview of your day. It displays your total calories with macronutrient information, the foods you've consumed for each meal, your water intake, the type of exercises you did, and your current weight. There's also a Notes section here to hold your thoughts, reflections, and mood. You can readily go to past diary entries by simply tapping the calendar icon at the top and selecting the date you want to review. This helps you get better insight into your progress.
Next, there's the Intermittent Fasting (IF) tracker tab. While most of the IF plans here are only available in the Pro version, you can still use the 16:8 tracker for free. This is where you eat for eight hours and fast for the next 16. If you're new to intermittent fasting, you can find infographics about the practice in this tab.
Then, you have the Recipes tab, packed with at least 1000 meal ideas. The recipes are categorized not only by meal type but also by calorie count to make it easier for you to choose what to make. Finally, there's the Me tab, where you can check your progress, goals, and challenges you can start (no chocolate, no sugar, etc.).
HealthifyMe
Packed with handy and practical tools, HealthifyMe makes it convenient for you to take into account almost every aspect of your health. One of its key tools is the Calorie Tracker which divides your daily calorie limit into five predefined meals: breakfast, morning snack, lunch, evening snack, and dinner. You can easily check the maximum calorie allowance for each meal, helping you to stay within the daily limit. The calorie tracker also comes with meal suggestions in case you're having trouble deciding what to eat. If you subscribe to the app's premium version, you can even get a full-day diet plan as your personalized guide.
Apart from the Calorie Tracker, HealthifyMe also features a Workout Tracker that recommends how many calories you need to burn for the day. You simply have to add the type of workout (e.g. walking, swimming, jumping rope) and how many minutes, repetitions, or kilometers you did, and it will automatically calculate the calories you've burned. Some workout types include a YouTube video if you need instructions on how to perform the exercise. HealthifyMe also comes with a separate Steps Tracker that you can connect to a supported app or device (Fitbit, Health Connect, Google Fit, Samsung Health, Rist, and Garmin). Other featured trackers you can find in HealthifyMe includes Sleep Tracker, Medicine Tracker, Hand Wash Tracker, and Water Tracker.
On top of the trackers, what makes the app stand out is its AI-based nutrition coach called Ria, providing you with support 24/7.
FatSecret Calorie Counter
FatSecret Calorie Counter works like other calorie trackers. It comes with a diary tab that lets you conveniently record the foods you've consumed for each predefined meal (breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks). To add your food entries, you can either search for the food from the app's database, scan the barcode on its packaging, upload a photo of it, or take a picture of it directly. If you chose to upload or take a photo of your meals, you can see all of your pictures in a dedicated album in the diary tab.
Aside from the multiple options for food entry, what makes FatSecret one of the best calorie-counting apps is that it provides detailed nutrient information about your food for free. Unlike other calorie trackers that hide this valuable data behind a premium subscription, FatSecret lets you access and view the comprehensive breakdown without any cost. The breakdown includes not only the three macronutrients (fat, protein, and carb) but also other relevant nutrients like cholesterol, sodium, dietary fiber, sugars, and potassium, among others. You can even export this detailed report into a PDF for offline viewing.
The best thing about FatSecret, however, is its community. It's like having a social media platform right within the app, where you can share a journal entry, your weight for the day, and a photo of your meal. You can also like and comment on other people's journals and follow them to see their journey.
Lifesum
Lifesum makes calorie tracking simple and straightforward. On the home page of the app is a clear and concise snapshot of the calories you've consumed and burned for the day, including your remaining calorie limit, the total calories and macronutrients (carbs, protein, and fat) you've consumed so far, and the total calories you've burned through exercise. Under the calorie snapshot, you'll find your meal tracker,s water tracker, and exercise tracker. The meal trackers are conveniently categorized into Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner, and Snacks, with each displaying the recommended calorie count for that particular meal. Every time you add foods to a meal tracker, the others will automatically adjust their recommended calorie count to keep you within your daily limit. The exercise tracker, on the other hand, can be connected to Google Fit, Health Connect, Withings, Runkeeper, Samsung Health, or Fitbit for automatic tracking.
Lifesum also includes a comparison tool that can compare two products, provide the nutritional information of both, and tell you which is healthier between the two. This is an easier way to pick the best foods while walking down the grocery aisle. Another top feature of Lifesum is its Lifescore which gives you insight into the status of your health in the past week. The score is calculated based on the kinds of food you ate and the exercises you did. If you have a premium subscription, you'll also get recommendations on what to do next week to get a higher Lifescore.