Dietary apps for iphone

[daker13]

I've packed on a good ten pounds over the past two months, and it's time to shed it off. Thought I'd try one of the calorie-counting apps for the iPhone.

Anyone have any luck with these? Any of them to recommend in particular?

[JAGI410]

myfitnesspal has the best database of food, and the barcode scanner feature is pretty handy.

[malcolm]

I think the best thing they do if you actually use it and are honest is make you thing about what you eat. They are easy to lie to.

I use lose it, the free version is really all you need if you just want to track calories. I've used it for a couple years and it's improved a good deal. It'll give you the nutrient breakdown and you can add and track exercise.

If you want it to communicate with other fitness apps, various bands, strava etc you have to spring for the premium version. I think it's either 20 or 30 bucks, can't recall for sure.

My wife uses my fitness pal. I think it probably does more, but for me it was just to cumbersome, maybe because I was already used to lose it.

Lose it also has a barcode scanner, I agree with the above that the database isn't a all encompassing as my fitness pal, but it's getting better and it remembers your choices.

[Dead Man]

myfitnesspal has a great database of food and a good interface. It does seem to pretty grossly over-estimate caloric expenditures, though... I would watch that and edit as necessary.

It is very easy to lie to yourself on those things... but it's also easy to remember that you're only lying to yourself, and therefor defeating yourself. It's very hard to be accurate sometimes, so just always go for a middle-of-the-road estimate, and your estimates will average out, even if you're off by a hundred or more calories for one food/meal.

[carpediemracing]

+1 myfitnesspal although I don't have an iPhone (Android phone, Mac laptops).

The cycling caloric numbers are pretty high in MyFitnessPal. I put in whatever I need to make the kJ from my SRM equal calories in MyFitnessPal, assuming approx 1:1 ratio of kJ:calories. I think the range is 0.95-1.2 to 1.

A random ride (Jan 12), 2:00 at 13.8 mph. 138w avg, 1002 kJ. In MyFitnessPal I chose "12-14 mph" for 101 minutes to get 1001 calories so it was 20 min short and I was at the high side of the average speed.

I looked for a slower ride, closer to mid-Nov when I started dieting. Dec 3, 2:00, 12.8 mph, 118w, 858kJ. I chose "10-12 mph" for 110 minutes to get 861 calories. I was over that 10-12 mph and I rode longer.

Generally speaking when I start guessing I select the next lower avg speed group (so if going 13 mph I select 10-12 mph) and take 10 minutes off the time.

[malcolm]

+1 myfitnesspal although I don't have an iPhone (Android phone, Mac laptops).

The cycling caloric numbers are pretty high in MyFitnessPal. I put in whatever I need to make the kJ from my SRM equal calories in MyFitnessPal, assuming approx 1:1 ratio of kJ:calories. I think the range is 0.95-1.2 to 1.

A random ride (Jan 12), 2:00 at 13.8 mph. 138w avg, 1002 kJ. In MyFitnessPal I chose "12-14 mph" for 101 minutes to get 1001 calories so it was 20 min short and I was at the high side of the average speed.

I looked for a slower ride, closer to mid-Nov when I started dieting. Dec 3, 2:00, 12.8 mph, 118w, 858kJ. I chose "10-12 mph" for 110 minutes to get 861 calories. I was over that 10-12 mph and I rode longer.

Generally speaking when I start guessing I select the next lower avg speed group (so if going 13 mph I select 10-12 mph) and take 10 minutes off the time.

I usually do the same for most exercises, I tend to go down a grouping because the estimates seem high. Weight lifting I'll do moderate instead of vigorous and round down 5 minutes or so.
I think the apps work/help you just have to be honest with it/yourself and be careful of the just a bite here are there, they add up just enough to undermine you.

[SoCalSteve]

Myfitnesspal is pretty amazing at how deep it's food database is.

Also, I found just giving up red meat and eating more veggies is a great way to lose weight.

Good luck!

[JAGI410]

You'll find tons of threads on the MFP forums about TDEE, which if you like that method of calorie tracking, it will eliminate MFP's generous/inaccurate exercise expenditure calculations.

So figure out your TDEE, subtract 20%, and set your MFP goals for that. This includes your exercise so there won't be a need to track those activities and you'll be able to just watch your intake calories.

http://iifym.com/tdee-calculator/

[Dead Man]

Myfitnesspal is pretty amazing at how deep it's food database is.

Also, I found just giving up red meat and eating more veggies is a great way to lose weight.

Good luck!

Agreed. You have to be careful with a lot of it, though- most of it is user submitted entries, and not all of it is accurate.

[Clydesdale]

I have had good luck with the loseit app. It has a lot of foods and brands, includes most restaurants, and you can add custom foods. It overestimates calories for excercise in my experience, but you can adjust. Pretty simple interface and no ads in the free version.

[msl819]

myfitnesspal has a great database of food and a good interface. It does seem to pretty grossly over-estimate caloric expenditures, though... I would watch that and edit as necessary.

It is very easy to lie to yourself on those things... but it's also easy to remember that you're only lying to yourself, and therefor defeating yourself. It's very hard to be accurate sometimes, so just always go for a middle-of-the-road estimate, and your estimates will average out, even if you're off by a hundred or more calories for one food/meal.

How much would you estimated it over-estimates on daily caloric needs? It shows I have a caloric base of 3100 calorie per day given my info. That seems high.

[Dead Man]

How much would you estimated it over-estimates on daily caloric needs? It shows I have a caloric base of 3100 calorie per day given my info. That seems high.

Not sure... I haven't really looked at how it does basal (if that's what you're talking about)... I just kind of assume it can figure that out. The over-estimates I have observed come in the form of activity - specifically, cycling. I ride at a 21-22mph pace, and it calls that "Race pace, very hard," and gives me astronomical caloric expenditures I know are way too high. Strava, on the other hand, seems to think a 21mph pace is amateur hour and usually gives me something closer to HALF what myfitnesspal gives. I've edited mine to give me something about in the middle.

And don't forget sex... especially if you do long, hard sessions. That counts. I've earned whole meals, by remembering to log sex seshes.

[msl819]

Makes sense... I will have to relay that to my wife. I am sure she will be thrilled to know I am counting calories in the sack.

[Nooch]

whether or not it's the best idea, I re-re-re-registered for weight watchers today. Their app is similar to MFP, but of course, at $20/month... Thing is, points are easier for me to keep track of than calories, for whatever reason -- it got me down from pushing 300lbs to just under 200lbs, so I know it works as long as I hold myself completely accountable.

That said, I do like how MFP will link into trainingpeaks so you can see everything, and garmin connect talks to it as well so it'll push your workouts there.

[sillverchevy]

On instagram (if you've got it), "healthyfood advice" is a great addition for quick, easy, and healthy meals. I'm talking less than 10 ingredients, less than 20 mins, good nutritional /glycemic values. I've used it sporadically for the past 2 months with decent results.
Good Luck