Best Diet Apps 2023
Whether you’re looking to lose some winter weight, prepare for warmer weather, or are just on a mission to eat better this year, here are some of the best diet apps to help you.
MyFitnessPal
– Download for iOS, Android and Windows Phone
MyFitnessPal is a free calorie counting app that has a database of millions of foods. When you first set it up, you’ll need to enter some information about yourself, including your date of birth, weight, and height, as well as your goal weight and how much you want to lose each week.
The app then creates a personalized plan for you, giving you a calorie goal to work towards, which appears at the top of the diary page where you add your food, exercise, and water intake. As you add, you’ll see food calories deducted and exercise calories added, so it’s easy to keep track.
MyFitnessPal is great for those who don’t want to pay the monthly fees charged by services like Weight Watchers and Slimming World, but it’s also useful for those following diets like 5:2, where calorie counting is essential. One of the best things about MyFitnessPal is that it links to a variety of fitness platforms like Withings and Fitbit, allowing you to track your exercise and food in one place and there’s also a Premium offer for those who want to count. macros.
WW (formerly Weight Watchers)
– Download for iOS and Android
Weight Watchers has been around for a long time, and instead of counting calories directly, it uses a point system called SmartPoints to help you lose weight. The app is free, but it’s worth knowing that you’ll need a subscription to use it fully.
Once signed up, you can track your food, activity and weight via the app or website and there’s a 24/7 chat feature to get support from a WW coach if you need it. We haven’t tested that feature, but we suspect that they rarely tell you to eat a Mars bar.
If you’re dining out and want to see what the best things to eat are on the menu, there are thousands of restaurants and foods in the database from Zizzis to Wagamama and you’ll also have access to recipes if you’re cooking. at home. WW will also sync with your Fitbit to offer activity tracking as well.
Noom
– Download for iOS and Android
Like WW, the Noom app requires a subscription for full use, but it does offer a 14-day trial for just £1, so it’s nice and cheap if you want to try it out and see how it works.
Noom takes a different approach to most diet apps and uses cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) techniques to try to change the way you think about food. This includes things like teaching her to recognize triggers that can lead to poor food choices, such as stress and tiredness.
Noom offers access to a personal trainer and a community of dieters when you need help. There’s a My Fitness Pal-style calorie tracker built in, and Noom employs a traffic light system to easily see which foods are healthier choices than others.
The Complete 5:2 Diet
– Download for iOS
The 5:2 diet suggests that you eat whatever you want for five days a week, up to 2,000 calories for women and 2,500 for men, while for the other two days, women only consume 500 and men 600.
There are many apps that relate to this particular diet, but the Complete 5:2 Diet app gives you a four-week recipe and exercise plan that will track your calorie intake and workouts.
It has over 140 recipes to try, with a choice of six meal plans for fasting days and linking workout plans to exercise videos to make sure you’re doing it right. The Complete 5:2 Diet also has a calorie counter, BMI, BMR, and target calorie calculators, but it won’t let you add your own exercise routine.