Tag Archives: diet apps

One-Click Dieting: The Best New Calorie Counting Apps and Gadgets

smart app

Our pals at Shape.com recently spotlighted an awesome, soon-to-be-released app that I am so excited about: Ceres, which should be on the market soon, is for people who like the idea of food journaling, but don’t necessarily like the idea of journaling. How does it work? Ceres will allow users who take a picture of their food to receive an approximate calorie count. No more scribbling in a pocket sized notebook , looking through online tables for calorie counts, or scanning a bar-code to find the exact protein bar you’re munching in. I don’t really understand how this will work—I doubt a room full of RDs analyzes each photo—but I love the simplicity!

Bonus: Ceres is being worked on by the same techs behind Siri—which I hope means the app will be sassy! (more…)

Apple’s Upcoming Health App Predicted to Break Boundaries

With the growing popularity of virtualized health tracking apps, Apple is sure to have something coming down the pipeline soon not only to compete, but to surpass.

9-to-5 Mac  released details on Monday regarding their new project, and is projected to be “a tipping point for mobile healthcare”. They’re calling it Apple Healthbook and it’s designed to track blood sugar (huge factor for those with diabetes!), heart rate, breathing rate, weight, hydration, sleep, nutrition,  physical movements, and health test results, among other stats.

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How will this app stand out from the rest? One company, for example, offers over 40 health and fitness iPhone apps alone. It is said that virtual health tracker and resource apps can significantly reduce healthcare costs and are predicted to one day be subsidized by healthcare providers to promote their usage. (more…)

New Mobile Apps Aren’t Replacing Weight Loss Companies

Despite what you may have read, mobile apps focused on weight loss aren’t eliminating weight loss companies as we know them. It has been reported that weight loss companies like Weight Watchers and Retrofit are losing business due to a rise in free apps like MyFitnessPal and technology like FitBit. While some individuals trying to lose weight may use those options before paying for a weight loss service, industry analyst John LaRosa believes they have little impact on the overall success of larger weight loss companies.

weight loss app

“I can think of about 10 things that have contributed to the diet companies’ poor showing so far this year,” LaRosa said. “It is not just about free apps like MyFitnessPal. It’s just that this app is now hot and it’s getting lots of attention and recent investor funding.” The activity-monitoring startup FitBit has also received a lot of funding lately and has seen its popularity grow  since its debut. Free apps and new devices may not be the sole cause of the diet companies’ downward trend, but something is definitely shifting.

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HealthTap Gives You 24/7 Access to Your Doctor and More Health Resources

Health Tap has just released a new line of apps for iPad, iPhone, Android, and the web in order to connect people with more than 12,000 U.S. licensed doctors at any time to answer health-related questions of all kinds. Health Tap is the first and the only company to provide a very specific selection of physicians to help the public find information on the health topics in which they care about most – all for free.

Their goal is to encourage the public to be more engaged in their own health by providing them with a free and easy-to-use service. Studies have shown that more than 80 percent of internet users seek their health information/questions online, and it’s now becoming a mobile trend.

Some of the most useful features include:

  • Up-to-date and Personalized Health Information: Follow doctors, topics, and questions to stay up-to-date on the issues that make a difference to you.
  • Doctor-to-Doctor Ratings: View each physician’s “DocScore,” a quality score for doctors that involves publicly available data and doctor-to-doctor peer review. (more…)

NutritionRank Assigns Nutrition Scores to Food to Make Healthy Eating Easy

In today’s world it’s very easy to obtain nutrition information about the food we eat. From websites to mobile apps or simply the package label, the calories, fat, and any nutrition data about a particular food is readily available. The issue is that the market is so saturated with sites, apps, and info that it’s hard to tell which is the best or even most accurate. How can you know if your food is actually healthy for you based on this information? The founders of iFood.tv believe they have the ultimate answer for those wanting to know if their food is healthy.

Alok Ranjan and Vikrant Mathur are the founders of the popular food and cooking video channel iFood.tv. The site is the most trafficked site in the food-video industry. The duo’s newest project is called NutritionRank. They have launched the nutritional database and search engine in hopes of making it the web’s number one resource for dietary health information. (more…)

Jennifer Andersen Lost 154 Pounds by Trading a Love for Food for a Love for Running

Most people who struggle with their weight have fought the number on the scale their entire lives. But it wasn’t so for Jennifer Andersen who was 20 years old and pregnant with her first child before weight ever became an issue.

Weighing 250 pounds on the day of her labor, Jennifer was convinced she’d never get her pre-baby body back. After her baby was born she saw a minor weight loss of about 30 pounds, but the weight started slowly creeping on until she eventually weighed more than 300 pounds.

While most people in her situation would struggle with self confidence and even depression, Jennifer was quite the opposite. “I was fat and happy,” she said. “I wasn’t a depressed person. And I was like that right up until 2024, when I got married.”

Sometime after her wedding day on November, 19, 2024, Jennifer looked through the photos that were taken and was shocked at what she saw. “I was mortified. I couldn’t believe that I looked that way. I didn’t see that person in the mirror,” she said. “I saw the girl who was 16 and thin, so I decided to do something about it.” (more…)

Eat Well Everywhere Travel Map Allows for Healthy Summer Road Trips

If you’ve been reading your Facebook or Twitter feed recently, you’ve surely been watching on as the the world prepares for their coveted summer vacations. And if you’re one of those lucky ducks who’s getting ready to set off for some carefree time in the sun, be sure to include the Eat Well Guide when you’re packing for your trip.

The Eat Well Guide is a free, online dictionary that contains more than 250,000 healthy eating options including fresh, locally grown, and even sustainably-produced food in the United States and Canada. Instead of succumbing to a drive-thru while you’re out of town, you can search the best cafes, stores, and even farmers markets near you to find healthy eats where you may be. This little tool will help you avoid making your vacation from work and school a vacation from your healthy eating habits as well.

Beyond the fantastic database of eateries, the Eat Well Guide also offers the Eat Well Everywhere Travel Map, which is available in app-form. This versatile function allows travelers to find healthy options near their driving route wherever they may land. (more…)

Why Technology Does and Does Not Work for Weight Loss

Anyone can start a weight loss program. All it takes is a modicum of willpower and a loose plan. There are even mainstream services, such as Weight Watchers, that can provide a guide. The difficult part, and the part where most people fail, is following through. Willpower can take us only so far. We need something extra in order to stick with our plans for the long haul.

The intersection of two recent ideas can perhaps provide a solution. Both feedback loops and the quantified self involve recording data, and then viewing that data from multiple angles. It makes us aware of our behaviors and habits, and awareness is the first step to change.

Using technology to our advantage

Perhaps the biggest issue in creating feedback loops and achieving the quantified self is the actual recording of the data. After all, feedback loops only work if we can place our habits and behaviors in front of us. Thankfully, smartphones — devices we have with us at almost all times — can play a large role in data recording. There are apps specifically designed with feedback loops and the quantified self in mind for dieters. (more…)

SlimKicker App Offers Prizes as Users Meet Fitness Goals

I like being fit and healthy. I also like winning prizes. This list of likes can be hard to make a reality, but SlimKicker – a new smart phone app – might make winning prizes and getting fit a little bit easier for all of us.

SlimKicker may seem like just another weight loss app, especially since there are plenty of fitness apps out there. But app market experts are saying that, “SlimKicker turns your diet and weight loss goals into a winnable, level-up game.”

At first, even the tagline seems similar to other game strategy weight loss tools on the market. But after reading a little deeper, SlimKicker may truly have a different and highly effective concept for its users.

Here’s a brief rundown of SlimKicker’s four main functions, as described by the company. (more…)

MyNetDiary and Withings Join Forces for a Highly Effective Health App

Two popular mobile health brands have partnered to create a completely new and unique “do-it-yourself” health monitoring system. MyNetDiary just announced its integration with Withings Devices. Together these two applications are giving users an experience like no other. “This integration with Withings makes it even easier for people to keep track of their diet, weight changes and health,” says Sergey Oreshko, CEO of MyNetDiary.

MyNetDiary is a popular calorie counter that was launched in 2024. Today more than two million members use the application to track calories and lose weight safely. Withings has been a worldwide force in bringing health care into the people’s hands. Withings introduced the Wi-Fi Body Scale in 2024. The scale was the first ever internet connected body scale. Now the two are combining to offer weight loss and diet help along with a Wi-Fi scale and blood pressure monitor.

This integration will now allow users to automatically send data from both the blood pressure monitor and the scale to their MyNetDiary account and receive support in monitoring their diet and health.

Oreshko explains how the two devices will combine to be a highly effective tool. (more…)

“What’s for Dinner” Never Answered so Easily than with FoodOnTheTable.com

For years I’ve espoused the many benefits of weekly meal planning. I rave to anyone (and even brag a little) about how it ensures we have home cooked meals most nights, how it keeps our grocery budget in check, eliminates a lot of food waste, and leaves little room for excuses about time. I can’t remember the last time I heard “What’s for dinner;” if I do, I point to the calendar on the refrigerator door.

From pen and paper to iPhone apps, there are numerous ways to adopt a meal planning habit in your house. Food On The Table is one digital tool that helps families plan meals almost effortlessly. The cooking, well, that will require a bit more muscle. I spent some time this week “playing” with the app and site, and asked Josie Maurer at YumYucky.com to take a look with me as well. She’s an equally health-conscious and busy mom who hasn’t quite adopted the meal planning strategy that I have. However, I think FoodOnTheTable.com changed her mind.


At FoodOnTheTable.com, or through their Android or iPhone app, you can make a weekly meal plan that is family-friendly (read: the kids will like it), keeps you organized, and reduces strain on your grocery bill. The app is free, as is a base subscription on the site; however, for more bells and whistles a monthly subscription is offered.

The site and app are both designed well. In fact, Josie and I agreed on her note that “It’s very interactive and highly visual, which encourages easy to understand navigation.” (more…)