In This Article
In This Article
Nowadays, hitting the gym isn’t your only option for losing weight. Neither are crash dieting or any fad diet that deprives you of food.
One other option is using a weight loss app to achieve your goal weight. Many of them help with overall fitness, it’s just a matter of finding one that matches your goals.
Dr. Rizza Mira, our in-house medical reviewer and expert in nutrition, says there’s no secret or magic to weight loss:
“Losing weight is always about calorie deficit — meaning, the amount of calories burned should be greater than the calories acquired from food intake.”
So how can weight loss apps help? According to Dr. Mira, they can help track your calories and activities, and keep you motivated.
“Even when you feel like you’re on the brink of failing, some weight loss apps could give you that hint of encouragement,” she explains.
Whether you’re trying to lose weight or have this uncomfortable feeling of being unhealthy, you are not alone. Many Americans share the same struggles.
Statista surveyed Americans and asked them what their 2022 New Year’s resolutions were. Here’s what they found:1
Unfortunately, about 62 percent of U.S. adults think their busy lifestyles make it more challenging to lose weight. Most believe they need a new weight loss approach — something that suits their modern lifestyle.2 If you think the same way, a weight loss app might be just the tool for you.
If you think the same way, a weight loss app might be just the tool for you. It can help you reduce your weight or achieve fitness goals.
While features vary with each app, most of them tend to offer the following:
Free with in-app purchases
Cost: Starts at $60 per month, $199 one-year subscription
Noom is your all-in-one solution to losing weight. It sets your daily calorie budget and tracks your meals, physical activity, and weight.
The app also provides healthy recipes and educational articles to assist your weight loss goals — but that’s not all.
Noom offers a comprehensive weight loss program designed by nutritionists and behavioral experts. It uses psychology to help you create healthy eating habits and make healthier choices.
“Noom uses a psychological approach called cognitive behavioral therapy. This is designed to change one’s mindset about food and lifestyle so that lifelong results can be achieved,” says Dr. Mira.
While it can help you lose weight, Noom’s goal is to establish eating patterns and behaviors that will keep you fit and healthy in the long run.
Here's our full review of Noom weight loss.
[Download for iOS] [Download for Android]
Noom has a unique way of looking at weight loss and food intake. There are no “good foods” or “bad foods.”
Instead, it categorizes food into three color groups based on nutrient and calorie density — green, yellow, and red.
You can practically eat anything you want. But to lose weight, Noom recommends sticking to the ideal calorie budget across the food groups, such as:
The app makes it easy to follow the Noom diet plan. Each time you log food, it updates your calorie budget with consumed, remaining, and excess calories for that day.
It also shows your calorie limit and actual calorie consumption for each food group.
When searching for foods and recipes, the diet app lets you know which food group it belongs to. It can help you decide which foods to eat and avoid.
Users get access to 5-minute courses on nutrition, exercise, weight loss, and behavior. It’s a great way to learn about Noom’s food groups, nutrition philosophy, and program.
Noom recommends spending at least 10 minutes a day on these courses. However, you can always do things at your own pace.
You can participate in interactive challenges to keep yourself motivated. Noom also has a guide that sends constant reminders and links to helpful resources.
Premium members get additional support from one-on-one coaching with a certified health trainer. They’ll set small weekly goals so you can reach your target weight in time.
You can also purchase a customized weight loss plan. Noom offers a custom exercise and diet plan which you can buy separately or as a bundle.
This personalized approach to losing weight sets it apart from other weight loss apps. But the primary reason why we love Noom so much is that it improves your overall health.
The Noom program teaches you to be more mindful of your eating habits. That way, you can sustain long-term weight loss and maintain a healthy lifestyle.
Nutrition-wise, Noom doesn’t provide much information on food. It focuses more on calorie counting and will show you how many calories a food has.
However, the color-coded food system doesn’t provide too much insight into how much nutrition you’re getting.
This simplified way of tracking calories can be great for beginners. But if you have specific nutritional needs, the lack of detail can be frustrating.
Cost: Starts at $39.99 per month
Perfect Body app has everything you need to do well in your weight loss journey, including tasty recipes, a helpful shopping list, and expert diet tips.
You'll never run out of healthy options with its 1,000+ delicious meals to choose from. Plus, you can whip up a nutritious meal in no time with easy-to-follow instructions for each recipe.
And if you're watching your calories, this app makes it easy to keep track of your calorie intake. Whether you're a working professional, a busy parent like me, or just someone with a hectic schedule, this app can help you shed those pounds without sacrificing much time.
Here's our full review of Perfect Body weight loss.
One of the best things about this app is that it's perfect for busy people who don't have the time to plan and prepare healthy meals.
For starters, it has a no-nonsense interface that shows everything you need at a glance, which includes:
The app shows you everything you need to stay on track, including a weight log to track your progress, a calorie counter to monitor your daily intake, and a macro counter to make sure you're getting the right balance of nutrients.
The built-in calorie counter automatically updates as you log your meals, making it easy to see how many calories you have left for the day.
The macro counter records how much fat, protein, and carbs you've eaten, so you can make sure you're getting the right balance of nutrients for your goals.
I appreciate the wide variety of meal options in the Perfect Body app. However, it's worth noting that the app doesn't allow you to add any meals or snacks outside of the pre-set meal plan.
Additionally, the app sets up five meals and a snack every day, which may not work for everyone, particularly for those following intermittent fasting (IF) plans.
Another limitation of this app is that it doesn't track the calories burned from exercise other than walking.
This could be a drawback for individuals who engage in other types of physical activity, such as running, weightlifting, or swimming.
Free with in-app purchases, includes a free 7-day trial
Cost: Starts at $19.99 per month or $189.99 for a life-time membership
Lose It! is an all-around calorie counter. The app lets you log food intake and physical activity. It also tracks the calories you consume and burn based on the information you provide.
[Download for iOS] [Download for Android]
Lose It! has an extensive food database. Each food comes with a nutritional profile so you can check if it’s healthy or not.
If a food is not on their list, you can manually update your food log. The app also has a huge range of exercises to choose from.
You can connect it to Apple Health and Google Fit to track your exercise easily. The app considers the amount of calories you burn with exercise.
It gives a weekly overview of your daily calorie consumption and highlights any excess calories you consume in a day.
You can record your weight on the app, and Lose It will help monitor your weight loss tell you how long it takes to reach your goal.
The information that comes with each food is helpful, but only if you know what they mean and what you should avoid.
This only works if you know your health status or receive dietary advice from a nutritionist or medical professional.
It’s not very beginner-friendly either. There are just too many graphs that take a lot of getting used to.
Free with in-app purchases
Cost: Starts at $3.99 per month or $89.99 for a lifetime subscription
Fooducate is a nutrition-focused app. Like many weight loss apps, it allows you to keep records of your food and exercise.
That said, its main goal is to help you eat better. Fooducate ranks food according to its degree of processing. The healthier the food, the higher the grade.
We recommend Fooducate for people with common food intolerances against gluten and GMO.
[Download for iOS] [Download for Android]
This nutrition app is pretty straightforward and puts everything you need at the forefront. The main screen shows how many calories you have left for the day.
You also have one-click access to essential features like:
The food database lets you choose from specific brands and products. To log your food intake, you can search them manually or scan their barcode.
It pulls up basic food information such as calories per serving and nutrients.
Fooducate also grades food based on its calorie quality, and suggests healthier alternatives to what you’re already eating.
Opting for a paid subscription will allow you to filter foods that lower blood pressure and help with other health conditions.
If you follow weight loss diets, the app can help you pick foods. It can filter food based on your dietary preferences, such as:
One cool feature of Fooducate is that it lets you log house chores like “doing laundry” and “dog walking” as calorie-burning exercises.
While it lets you record physical activities and exercises, the list is limited. You may also encounter missing food products on their database. In this case, you have to log food manually.
Another drawback of Fooducate is that it isn’t available to users outside the United States.
Free with in-app purchases, includes a 30-day trial of free version
Cost: Starts at $9.99 per month or $79.99 for a one-year subscription
MyFitnessPal combines a fitness app and calorie counter in one. Unlike most weight loss apps on our list, it offers a well-rounded approach.
The app encourages users to exercise and practice healthy eating habits. In addition to food tracking, it syncs with other health apps and devices to track your physical activity.
[Download for iOS] [Download for Android]
MyFitnessPlan lets you choose a meal plan or a workout plan. Each plan has actionable steps that you can follow to lose weight.
Choosing a weight loss program is made easy. You can see its difficulty level, how long it will take to complete, and what you need to do.
There are other options if you're not ready to commit. MyFitnessPlan encourages you to lose weight using the method that works best for you.
You can stick to your food choices and plug them into the diet app to see how good (or bad) they are for your health. MyFitnessPlan provides nutritional information on the food you eat, including its calories.
Alternatively, you can start with the recommended healthy recipes without committing to a weight loss plan. This is great if you have free time and know how to cook.
If you are physically active, you can continue with your usual exercises. But you can start a new one without a workout plan.
Just make sure that you record your workout sessions or sync your data from a compatible device or fitness app.
Unfortunately, the app tries to be everything all at once and it ends up confusing.
For example, here’s what a search on spaghetti looks like. At first glance, it looks like the same food has multiple entries on their database.
The pre-set serving size listed under each food further adds to the confusion.
Logging exercise isn’t any easier. There are too many details for each entry.
You also need to determine if you're doing a cardio workout, a strength-based, or a standard workout. Otherwise, the activity you’re searching for won’t come up.
Finally, the ads can be intrusive. The only way to get rid of them is with a paid subscription.
Logging exercise isn’t any easier. There are too many details included in each entry. To make things worse, you have to know if you're doing a cardio workout, a strength-based exercise, or a standard workout. Otherwise, the activity you’re searching for won’t come up.
Finally, there are the intrusive ads. The only way to get rid of them is with a paid subscription.
Free with in-app purchases, includes a free 7-day trial
Cost: Starts at $9.99 per month or $69.99 for a one-year subscription
Zero is a simple weight loss app for intermittent fasting.
“Intermittent fasting is type of diet control that cycles between fasting for extended periods and regularly eating,” Dr. Mira explains.
It doesn’t have any food log or calorie counting feature like the other free weight loss apps on our list. Instead, it helps you plan and schedule fasts.
We recommend Zero to people who follow an intermittent fasting diet.
[Download for iOS] [Download for Android]
Zero is the perfect companion for dieters who use intermittent fasting. You can create your own fast or choose from pre-planned fasts, such as:
Zero is a simple weight loss app for intermittent fasting.
“Intermittent fasting is type of diet control that cycles between fasting for extended periods and regularly eating,” Dr. Mira explains.
It doesn’t have any food log or calorie counting feature like the other free weight loss apps on our list. Instead, it helps you plan and schedule fasts.
We recommend Zero to people who follow an intermittent fasting diet.
[Download for iOS] [Download for Android]
Zero is the perfect companion for dieters who use intermittent fasting. You can create your own fast or choose from pre-planned fasts, such as:
Still, it’s one of the best weight loss apps for intermediate and advanced dieters who are familiar with fasting diets.
Free with in-app purchases
Cost: Starts at $6.99 per month or $39.99 for a one-year subscription
JEFIT is a workout app that takes your weight loss journey to the next level. It has exercises you can do at home or at the gym.
According to Dr. Mira, the best exercises for burning a lot of calories are cardio exercises:
“Current guidelines for Americans recommend a total of 150 hours of moderate intensity cardio exercises per week,” she says.
[Download for iOS] [Download for Android]
You can choose from hundreds of exercises with different intensities and difficulty levels. Each routine includes pre-set workouts with details such as:
You can add or remove exercises as you please before starting your workout. JEFIT provides written instruction and a video tutorial for each exercise.
You can also search for exercises that target specific areas of the body. These are excellent for targeted weight loss and other fitness goals.
Most workout routines on JEFIT are exclusive to premium members.
But the available options in the free version are good enough for beginners who have only recently started exercising.
While the app can guide you through a workout, transitions between exercises aren’t smooth. You have to click a button to stop and proceed to the next exercise.
Still, if you want to include exercise habits in your daily routine, it’s one of the best weight loss apps we can recommend.
