There's An App For That

BySteve Stark

The importance of tracking your fitness progress is well documented and proven to increase success. In an age of ever-growing (and ever-changing) technology trends, the "app" is now king. Need to find a place to eat? . Need to estimate a car repair? . Need to track your fitness progress? There are a bunch of apps for that.

So how do we choose the right app? Let's look at several of the most popular fitness tracking apps available today. The three I have chosen are Lose It! by FitNow, Inc., Calorie Counter & Diet Tracker by MyFitnessPal.com and Calorie Tracker by LiveStrong.com. I should preface this review by stating that all three of these apps are free. That was the one requirement for this review. There are too many good free apps out there to spend money on one.

All three of the apps are very similar with subtle differences. Below is a list of the features that are basically the same in each of the three apps.

Set goalsGraphs for weightOnline interfaceLarge food databaseCreate recipes and auto saves previous mealsMy foods section making it easy to choose regular foodsLarge exercise database and customizableSet motivators and reminders to log and exerciseNutrient breakout to track fat, carbs, protein, etc.

All three apps have easy to use interfaces and the set up for each is very simple. They all walk you through your goals and take information such as age, height, and weight when you first download the app. You can then go in and modify all your profile information whenever needed.

My favorite features present in all three apps are the My Foods section, the nutrient breakouts, and the set reminders feature. The My Foods section allows you to quickly recall foods or meals that you have previously entered or looked up. This makes log entries much faster as most of us are creatures of habit when it comes to meals.

The nutrient breakouts take your entered foods and show you the amounts of protein, fat, carbs, sodium, etc. This gives you a great detailed look at the types of foods you are eating and helps to identify foods you should avoid or at least limit.

The set reminders feature allows you to set up notifications on your phone. The notifications can be set to remind you to log in your meals or workouts. This is a very useful feature that helps ensure you are diligent about your daily logging.

You really can't go wrong with any of these apps. The FitNow and MyFitnessPal apps have two features that I think set them apart from the Livestrong app. These two features are the bar code scanner and the friends section.

The bar code scanner is a really cool feature. The scanner uses the camera on your phone and is very easy to use. Also, I have yet to find a food it doesn't recognize with the scanner. This feature makes it extremely simple for log entries and creating recipes. You also know you are getting the right product. Without the scanner you will occasionally have to pick an item that matches as closely as possible. With the scanner, its exact.

The friends section is a fun way to interact with others who are trying to get or stay fit. You can't see actual numbers for each other, but it will say what exercise you performed, give an up or down indicator when you check in your weight and allows you to comment back and forth on the status updates. This can be a great motivator for you and your friends. A little healthy competition is always good.

To be fair the Livestrong app does have a community section, however it is not quite as interactive and is open to anyone, not just friends.

Of the FitNow and MyFitnessPal apps I personally like the interface of the FitNow app the best. I think it flows a little better from screen to screen and is also a little easier to look at. Again these are all good tracking apps.

With all the fitness technology available today, getting and staying fit still requires discipline and will. There is no designer drug, fancy engineered drink, or high-tech workout that will magically melt away the pounds without hard work and sacrifice. Technology can however help. Try out one of these apps and see yourself transform... and maybe have a little fun in the process.

Steve Stark
Get Fit & Stay Fit!

Steve is a NFPT Certified Personal Trainer with over 15 years of experience training athletes as well as private clients. For expert fitness advice, instructional exercise videos, printable workout routines and 4 or 8 week workout programs visit www.workoutvillage.com.

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Health and Fitness: Weight-Loss
Steve Stark

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Stark, Steve".".26 Jan. 2012EzineArticles.com.26 Jan. 2012 .APA Style Citation:
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