Can an App Help You Lose Weight?

Would having to write down what you eat make you think twice before grabbing that extra cookie? Probably. But what if it was IN YOUR FACE that the cookie had 300 calories? Bet that would really make you think before eating it! That’s what these weight loss apps for your smart phone do. They provide real time support in helping you lose weight by giving you IMMEDIATE data on the calories you are consuming. My clients have been having great success with them and I wanted to share my thoughts.  I was also on national TV talking about weight loss apps – check out my video on the bottom on this post!

Studies have shown that food records can double your weight loss.  While I have always been a fan of keeping food records, I find these apps to be an even more powerful tool. Lately many of my clients have been using them. And the best part for me – I can peek in and see what they are eating at any given time! Even if your goal isn’t to lose weight, these apps can be a great way to find out about the nutritional content of your diet.

Pros of using an app:
1. They are convenient. Who doesn’t have their phone attached to their hand? (I even take mine to bed with me … scary) You hopefully won’t lose your phone
 like you might with a paper food record. Convenience is key!  Pic credit

2. They provide real time support. Let’s say you are in the Chipotle and enter in your Chicken Burrito. You see it’s 1110 calories. Yikes! So you order the Burrito Bowl instead as you see you can get it down to 500 calories. Hmm … should you really have that second of pizza? Nope – now that you see it is  500 calories!

3  Most of us tend to be goal driven (especially the type A New Yorkers) – so how about meeting a calorie goal?  You can mix and match your food (and drinks) to meet your 1800 calorie goal. Omit the bread at dinner so you can have that second glass of wine!

4. Support. You can have your friends (and nutritionist!) use the same app so you can provide support for each other.

5. You can have access to great data like a weight loss graph. Seeing that line go down in a good thing.

Cons of using an app
1. The calories in these apps aren’t always accurate. For example, I recently had a client who entered in tuna sandwich. It came up as 300 calories. Umm … not in a NYC deli. It would be more like 600 calories or more! So you have to use your judgement.

2. While exercise burns calories, I find it can overestimate what you actually burn. Be careful not to have the mentality “I just burned 600 calories in my 45 minutes spin class so I can eat this extra slice of pizza”.

3. The app only works if you enter the food as soon after eating it as possible – otherwise you tend to forget what you eat. Studies have shown that sometimes people forget what they ate 2 hours ago!

My favorites apps
My favorite weight loss app is myfitnesspal. This was actually rated as the #1 weight loss app. It is easy to navigate and has a large data base of foods. I like the way friends can see the food/exercise diaries of other friends. Other goods ones include: mynetdiary, sparkpeople, livestrong, loseit,

What is your favorite weight loss app?  Do you find they help you lose weight?