Guest post by Hadley
Remember the days of doodling in your diary and getting the thoughts of your most recent crush out of your head? Now that we have grown up our thoughts have likely moved from who gave you the evil eye in class to fitness, food and other healthy lifestyle related goals. Having a food diary is the adult version to managing your thoughts, feelings and weight management.
Recent studies have reported that the #1 thing you can do right now to lose weight and keep the weight off is to keep a journal of everything you eat and track your activity.
The Baltimore Sun says:
The researchers told women to be honest, complete and consistent in their journals by recording everything they ate, measuring portions, reading labels and including details about how food was prepared.
Those in the study who shared details about their dining habits lost 6 pounds more than those who didn’t. Writing your eats down brings to light the good and the bad habits you have with your foodie relationship. But a handheld journal is so 1990! There are tons of apps available for your smart phone to keep track of what you eat with simple add ins for the on-the-go person.
Here are the top 5 food journal apps. Best part…they’re all free!
1. Lose it!
According to the Lose It! the average user loses 12.3 pounds and 96% of those who have used the app for 4 weeks lose weight. When you first download the app it asks you your height, weight and how much you want to lose overall as well as the amount of weight you would like to lose per week (.5-2 lbs. per week). You log your food and exercise which deducts from your daily calorie count to lose weight. The app has thousands of recipe calculations and food brands already installed.
2. MyFitnessPal
MyFitnessPal is the ultimate database for calorie counting and food logging. MyFitnessPal has thousands of foods and restaurants so you can easily keep track of your eats without the extra effort of looking for dietary information online. There is also a community of MyFitnessPal users to correspond with throughout your journey and we all know that being a part of a healthy living community (wooo Fitfluential!) is beneficial.
3. Healthy Grocery Lists & Food Scanner
Healthy Grocery Lists & Food Scanner helps you shop healthier while at the grocery store by scanning or plugging in foods to find out if they fit your healthy eating goals (after you set your goals, allergies, and what is important in your diet) and gives you other, healthier food choices to buy instead. It is a great tool to help you understand food nutrition facts and match foods to your dietary needs. Plus having a healthy grocery list ready is one of the first steps to healthy dining.
4. Meal Planning by Food on the Table
Meal Planning by Food on the Table is the perfect app for those who struggle with planning daily meals. For those of us that scramble to figure out what is for dinner, the online budget meal planning service will help you create healthy grocery lists and create a meal plan for you and your family. Meal Planning gives recipes and takes the stress out of weekly grocery shopping while also taking into consideration saving opportunities at your local grocery store.
5. MyNetDiary
MyNetDiary has the king of all food databases that searches as you type and remembers your favorites so that you can enter your meals in with a few quick clicks or by scanning the barcode of a food item. We love that it provides water tracking which is a major component to a healthy diet. MyNetDiary also provides a daily analysis so that you have an opportunity to improve your healthy eating.
Technology and health…hand and hand again!
Do you have a use a food diary? What is your favorite app? Leave your comments below!
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I use My Fitness Pal and I love it!! Keeping a food journal really is a great way to learn your own eating habits and see where you need to make improvements.
Agree! Sometimes I am shocked to see what I actually consumed when it is all written down. Definitely a great tool for getting your eating habits on track.
I’ve been using LoseIt for about 6 months now and LOVE IT! I can keep track of what nutrients my body is taking in and can see what I’m burning in terms of calories. I can set calorie goals. I’ve lost just over 16 pounds and I really accredit this success to tracking my food choices. LOVE IT!
Congrats Katie! That is a huge accomplishment. I love how lose it lets you adjust your calorie intake from week to week depending on what your weight loss goals are. I’m glad LoseIt is working for you!
I am so OLD FASHIONED! I will have to check these apps out. I use a Moleskine Passions journal to long all my weight loss and workout goals, intake and progress. I love it but I really do need to try some weight loss journal apps. Thanks for giving me some things to peruse. Jana
Whatever works for you Jana! Putting pen to paper has plenty of health benefits as well. I personally love that my phone is always with me so therefore my journal app is too. Glad to hear you write down your goals and progress…you are steps ahead of some of us!