Smartphones and apps are here to stay. Our smartphones have taken our lives to greater heights and while some may dislike them, I find ways to weave them into my life and make it easier. Apps have taken on an important role in our lives and you’d be hard-pressed to find someone who doesn’t use any sort of smart phone. It only makes sense to incorporate your smartphone into your weight loss and/or healthier.
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If you’re someone who has struggled to weight loss and/or keep it off, seriously consider checking out some free or inexpensive weight loss apps that may help facilitate this process. Obviously, while an app can’t be the entity that will lose the weight and keep it off for you — the onus is on you to do the work and make the choices, day in and day out — apps can be helpful to you as you go through the process every day.
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Below, I’ll describe some weight loss apps that can not only help you lose weight but help keep it off. Remember, apps are not mere panaceas to weight-loss or weight maintenance-related goals, but if used properly, they can be helpful to you as you work on realizing those hard goals.
MyFitnessPal
MyFitnessPal is like the grand-daddy of weight loss apps. MFP is most known for its utterly in-depth catalog of caloric information of a ton of different foods, ranging from stuff you’d pick up in the grocery store to stuff that you can order out at your favorite restaurant or diner. For a lot of people trying to lose weight, they find immense help in tracking their calories each day, and having access to a veritable index of reliable, up-to-date information can be instrumental. Plus, if you’re using MFP and following a recipe online, you can input the information to find the exact caloric breakdown of the food you’re preparing, too. One of the best weight loss apps that you will find many of your friends already on and loving.
Instagram? yea, Instagram. IG is a social media platform rich in photography and videography and is one of the most popular social media apps out there. While most people wouldn’t think of IG as a weight loss app, per se, IG users can connect to each other pretty effortlessly by hash-tagging their pictures accordingly.
If you’re comfortable documenting your weight loss or weight maintenance journeys, consider posting photos or videos each day and hash-tagging your entries with labels like #weightlossjourney, #fitnessgoals, #inspiration, and the like. Doing so will allow you to connect with other users who self-identify as being on the same (or similar) journey as you. Plus, once you begin to follow these types of users, the Instagram algorithm will recommend other similar users to you to follow. Many people attribute their weight loss or weight maintenance success by surrounding themselves with a community of like-minded, like-goal individuals, and Instagram is an excellent way of finding a (virtual) community.
Strava
Strava is yet another social media app but differs from most out there in that it focuses exclusively on athletics. It primarily began as an app for cyclists and runners to track their bike rides/runs. Over time, Strava has become more inclusive of other types of exercise, and like Instagram, it can be an excellent way to build community within and among other like-minded individuals. Users can give each other “kudos” with each exercise entry they post, and sometimes even virtual conversations ensue with each entry, much like Instagram.
Strava can help aid in your weight loss or weight maintenance efforts because, as science has repeatedly shown, it’s both diet and exercise that can make a huge difference in whether a major lifestyle change — such as a significant weight loss — becomes a permanent or impermanent thing. One of the best weight loss apps of the mover and shakers.
Fitbit
Wearable activity trackers have become incredibly mainstream and popular within the past few years, and many people now aim each day to walk 10,000 steps, partially to remain active all day long, avoiding long sedentary periods, and partially to aid in their weight loss or weight maintenance efforts. Wearables like Fitbits come with apps that wirelessly synch to your devices and that track your steps each day. Users can set up profiles and hold friendly competitions with peers they “friend” or “follow” on Fitbit, which can be encouraging and motivating to you to get up and get moving all day long.
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Again, both diet and exercise play important roles in weight loss and weight maintenance, so having and using an app like Fitbit that focuses on the latter side of the equation may be instrumental to you achieving your goals.
Nike+ Training Club
If you’re new to regular exercise and thus have no idea where (or how) to begin, the Nike+ training club app may quickly become your new best friend. It’s a veritable cornucopia of workouts from which you can choose. It doesn’t matter your fitness level, fortunately, since the app features 100+ workouts that are tailored for beginners through advanced users, and if you feel so inclined, you can even choose one-off programs or several weeks-long programs to follow. As previously mentioned, both diet and exercise are important for weight loss and weight maintenance goals, so please be sure to do yourself a solid and get (and use!) both types of apps.
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These are but a few of the many health and diet-focused apps out there that are available to both iPhone and Android users. Fortunately, many apps are free or otherwise quite inexpensive, so if you download one and aren’t impressed with it, don’t like the user interface, or whatever, it’s no sweat because you can simply find another one to use! Weight loss apps can help facilitate weight loss and weight maintenance, so if that’s your goal this year (or this month), give these weight loss apps a go and see how they work for you.
Jane Grates
AUTHOR’S BIO
A Denmark based writer who surfs and hikes a lot. She also runs some popular blog sites such as Runnerclick, ThatSweetGift, GearWeAre and Nicershoes.
