KnowYourDNA is reader-supported. This means we may receive a commission when you buy something from one of the links on this page.
In This Article
In This Article
Food tracking used to be difficult. Even if you had access to a food database or an online food calculator, you still had to look up foods and do the math.
You had to record every food intake, including their serving size, calories, and macronutrients. Thankfully, we now have food trackers to make things easier.
Food trackers monitor your food, calories, and macronutrients. They can also provide insights on the foods you eat, such as their nutrition and ingredients.
This can be useful if you follow weight loss diets, or if you have food intolerances and special dietary needs — like a diabetic diet or low-salt diet.
You can download them on your phone, and they’ll do the math for you. They’d calculate your daily calorie budget and the calories you eat per day.
Elise Harlow, a registered dietitian, suggests checking with a dietitian or health professional to determine your calorie needs.
Many calorie-tracking apps calculate your calories but will give you the wrong suggestions. You can change your calorie limit on these apps based on what your dietitian or doctor tells you.
Meet the Expert
Elise Harlow is a registered dietitian with a Master of Science in Nutritional Sciences. She is the founder of an online nutrition consulting and coaching business.
Elise helps people use the power of food to lead healthier lives. She works with various clients, including those who want to achieve a healthier weight, improve their gut health, lower cholesterol, manage their blood sugar, or balance their hormones.
Is Tracking Food Good for Weight Loss?
Yes. And science can prove it. According to a study published by Duke University, overweight people who used a food tracker app lost significant weight.1
Researchers concluded that food-tracking apps are a low-cost alternative to professional weight loss interventions.
Food tracking helps you lose weight by:
Identifying your unhealthy eating habits
Making sure you stay within your daily caloric limit
Assisting you in making healthier food choices
You can pair your favorite food tracker with the best weight loss diets. In the meantime, here are the best food tracker apps we recommend:
Recommended for: Beginners and experienced dieters who want to count calories, macros, and other nutrients; People with dietary restrictions
Fat Secret is the best food tracking app for weight loss. It tracks everything you need to know about food down to their macros and micros.
If you’re on a balanced diet, the app can make it easier for you to stick to it. It customizes your daily calories and macro limit based on your meal plan.
Some meal plans you can choose from include:
Mediterranean diet
High protein diet
Intermittent fasting diet
Keto diet
Fat Secret also provides food suggestions for its premium members. These are great if you have allergies and common food intolerances.
You can use the app to lose, gain, or maintain your current weight.
Automatically calculates your calorie budget based on your measurements, activity level, and weight goals.
Estimates the date you will reach your ideal weight.
Track your food across 3 meals and 1 snack per day.
Monitor the calories you burn through exercise and sleep.
Has 3 ways to log food: manually, with a barcode scanner, or by searching their database.
Track your calories, macros, and nutrients daily for up to 2 weeks.
Get basic nutrition facts on the foods you eat. These include calories, macronutrients, and a variety of essential and non-essential nutrients.
Compares your actual macronutrient intake with your daily limit for each macro.
Identify unhealthy eating habits. See the number of times you eat certain foods throughout the day and how many calories you get from them.
Create your recipes or log meals by adding recipes from their database.
In the premium version, members can access unlimited recipes. These recipes will include their nutrition breakdown so that you can make healthy decisions.
Food suggestions are also available if the food has limited availability due to seasonal changes, geography, and budget restrictions.
Instagram-like community lets you show off your food journal. You can take photos of your food and support members by liking their posts or commenting.
Has a dedicated app for Apple Watch.
Fat Secret Cons
Doesn’t add burned calories to your daily calorie limit.
Only premium members can track more meals than what is allotted.
Free recipes do not provide nutritional information. They only describe what makes them a healthy choice (e.g., low gluten and low calorie).
Short tracking period of 2 weeks compared to other food trackers
Recommended for: Beginners who want to count calories and macronutrients and people with diet-related health problems
MyPlate from Livestrong is a simple calorie tracking app. It tracks the most important things to weight loss — your calories and macronutrient intake.
The app also tracks the sugar, fiber, sodium, and cholesterol in food. So if you have diabetes, hypertension, or high cholesterol, you may find these helpful.
Keep in mind: Livestrong’s MyPlate is not the same as the MyPlate app by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Food & Nutrition Service.
Choose your daily calorie goal based on how quickly you would like to lose weight
3 ways of food logging — manually, using a barcode scanner, or by searching their database.
You can log exercise manually or sync the app with Google Fit to instantly track your burned calories.
Shows the calories you eat and burn and how much you have left for the day.
See a breakdown of your daily macros (e.g., proteins, fats, and carbohydrates).
Find out how many macros and micronutrients you get from every meal.
Easily track your progress. A graph shows your measurements and nutritional intake for the past week, month, or year.
Learn which foods have the highest calories and nutrients, so you know what to avoid and include in your meals.
Community lets you post and interact with other users in the comments.
Harlow reminds people to be careful when deciding on their daily calorie goals:
"It can be harmful to your metabolism to eat too few calories. It's best to work with a health professional to get personalized calorie recommendations."
Elise Harlow, M.S., R.D.N.
My Plate Cons
The free version has ads. (But you can get rid of them for $0.99)
Only Gold Members can track their macros more easily.
Doesn’t track vitamins and minerals.
Doesn’t separate bad cholesterol (saturated fats) from good cholesterol (unsaturated fats).
The “Clean Eating Guide” that comes with a premium membership has limited recipes and health tips.2
Lack of features is a dealbreaker for more experienced dieters.
Lets you choose more than 1 health goal — lose weight, build muscle, increase energy, improve sleep, manage blood sugar, and be healthier.
Automatically sets your daily calorie limit based on your measurements, physical activity, and weight goals (e.g., gain muscle and lose or maintain weight).
Customize your calorie budget based on your target calorie deficit.
Set your macronutrient goals. Carb Manager lets you choose from 10 keto diets, but you can also create your own ratio of carbs, proteins, and fats.
Shows you the estimated date of when you will reach your goals.
Gives you 5 ways to log food — manually, using a barcode scanner, voice recognition, by searching their database, or by taking a picture of the food.
Syncs with fitness devices like Fitbit, Garmin, and Apple Watch to track your physical activity and exercise.
Highlights your daily macro intake, including your calorie consumption.
Tells you if you’ve been sticking to your macro limit.
Provides long-term tracking of your nutrition, weight, body measurements, and lifestyle — including sleep, water intake, steps, and exercise minutes.
Join groups or make your own, and connect with people through comments.
Earn points and stay motivated by participating in group challenges. Talk to other participants via group chat.
Premium members can access keto recipes, create a shopping list of keto-friendly ingredients, and plan keto meals.
Can be used as an intermittent fasting tracker.
Carb Manager Cons
Doesn’t indicate the calories you burn through physical activity and exercise.
Micronutrient tracking is only available for premium members.
Free members won’t be able to access recipes and meal planning features.
Cost: Starts at $1.99 per month, $49.99 for a lifetime subscription
Recommended for: Experienced dieters who want to count calories and macros
Macros Calorie Tracker is the best food tracker app for counting macros. It’s an excellent choice for people who follow macro diets, such as Keto and Atkins.
However, it’s not something we’d recommend to inexperienced dieters. You need a target weight and a clear idea of how you plan to achieve that goal.
Macros can help you, but only if you know what you’re doing.
Macros Calorie Counter Pros
Pick your weight loss goal — lose, maintain, or gain weight slowly or steadily.
Choose from pre-designed diet plans. Each diet splits macros in different ratios. Examples include the low-fat diet and high-protein diet.
Alternatively, you can set your own macronutrient ratio.
Log foods in 3 ways — manually, using a barcode scanner, or through searching their database.
Log up to 10 meals per day, including snacks. (Tip: You can limit your calories by decreasing the number of meals you can log daily).
Calculates your daily caloric budget and water requirements based on your measurements and target weight.
Tracks your calories and macronutrients for every meal and the entire day.
You can split your daily calorie limit across meals and snacks.
Shows the nutritional information of food before you log them.
You can track your exercise and burned calories.
Plus members can set nutrient goals.
Offers lifetime subscriptions at an affordable price.
Macros Calorie Counter Cons
There is no option to use the app as both a calorie tracker and meal planner. You have to switch between these features.
Meal planning is too basic. Since you can’t import recipes, you must manually record everything from the ingredients to servings.
Tracks a limited number of essential micronutrients.
You can lose weight without counting calories. All you have to do is practice healthier habits. Some of these include healthy eating and exercising.
"Typically, when you start eating more fruits and vegetables, you will inevitably reduce your calorie intake. This can help you begin to lose weight." Harlow, M.S., R.D.N.
There's also a weight loss app that can help you learn these habits. It’s called Noom, and uses a psychology-based approach to teach you a healthy lifestyle.
I love Noom because of its own diet plan (called the Noom Diet). It’s based on volumetrics and encourages you to eat more foods with low-calorie density.
Low-calorie dense foods contain few calories but are highly nutritious. They can help you lose weight without depriving your body of its much-needed nutrients.
Noom also provides healthy recipes, health coaching, and community-based support, so you can stay on track with your goals.
"Typically, when you start eating more fruits and vegetables, you will inevitably reduce your calorie intake. This can help you begin to lose weight."
Elise Harlow is a registered dietitian with a Master of Science in Nutritional Sciences. She is the founder of an online nutrition consulting and coaching business.
Elise helps people use the power of food to lead healthier lives. She works with various clients, including those who want to achieve a healthier weight, improve their gut health, lower cholesterol, manage their blood sugar, or balance their hormones.
