It’s 2022 and everyone is counting the days until the lockdowns end (and the calories they’ve consumed binge-watching TV shows). Needless to say, the demand for calorie counter apps has gone through the roof and you now see a new app crop up nearly every other month. With hundreds of calorie counter apps out there, how do you pick the best of the lot? I decided to take the guesswork out of guilt-free munching and picked the top 5 apps that rule the calorie counting roost. This list focuses on the top five calorie counters around and how they suit your individual requirements. For example, I’ve listed the best calorie counter for weight watchers, the best one for runners, and so on.
Why did I choose to write this blog?
Every workplace has a “go-to” person for something or the other. I am that guy for all fitness-focused and outdoorsy things. I usually get a message on the internal workplace chat if someone wants to figure out a weight-loss regimen, wants to know the calories in the food they consume, or if they wish to go on a hike or a cross-country trip. However, calorie counts topped the “frequently asked” list, so I would either give people the information they needed through a list I made or direct them to a calorie counter app.
So, I decided that the best way to go about this in the long term (and begin the new year) is to write a blog about calorie counters.
I kept the top 5 apps to give you a clear indicator of what I loved (or hated) about them. This blog is not a list of what I think is the best or the worst calorie counter out there. Instead, it focuses on the top five calorie counters around and how they suit your individual requirements. For example, I’ve listed the best calorie counter for weight watchers, the best one for runners, and so on.
What are calorie counter apps?
With over 13% of the world’s population being overweight and worldwide obesity being three times higher than in 1975, it is not unusual to see many people making healthier food choices today. Calorie counter apps help you know if you’re eating well and calculate the number of calories you ingest with each meal.
You measure calories in kcals (short for kilocalories), which you will see on most food nutritional value descriptions on packages. Most calorie counters also list the components of the meal you’re eating and can help you choose the most appropriate portion. This makes them immensely popular for fitness buffs and those trying to lose weight.
A little background about calorie counters
Calories have come a long way since Nicholas Clément coined the term in 1819. Counting calories became commonplace with Lulu Hunt Peters’ bestselling book titled “Diet & Health: With Key to the Calories”. The book brought calorie counting to the public and as a result, today you can find calorie counters everywhere. They’ve existed on the desks of nutritionists and dieticians as printed docs, but now they’ve gone digital in the form of websites and apps.
Who needs calorie counters?
Calorie counters are perfect for individuals who are concerned about their health and are trying to lead a healthier lifestyle. This includes the following:
- Individuals trying to lose weight
- Those trying to eliminate certain foods from their diet (specialized diets like Keto)
- Those trying to lead a healthier lifestyle and healthy food habits
- People who are generally inquisitive about the calorific value of foods
Calorie Counter App Statistics
Calorie counter apps are exceedingly popular today as more and more of us resolve to be healthier. Here are some statistics to put things into perspective:
- Nutrition–a consistently growing business: With a CAGR of over 16%, nutrition is high on every health-conscious individual and entrepreneur’s list.
- Health apps are constantly rising in popularity: These apps will hit a projected market volume of $44,594m by 2025.
- Many health apps have made their founders millionaires: MyFitnessPal raked in over $1.3m on Android alone.
- Emerging economies are increasingly focusing on their health: Indians appear to be the most health-conscious people globally as the revenue from digital fitness and well-being apps crosses $1.1B by the end of 2022.
Best Calorie Counter Apps of 2022
So, without further ado, which app is hot (or not)! Here’s what’s good and what’s not and some other pointers that will help you choose the best of the lot.
1.MyFitnessPal
Do you like switching between 3 different apps to get all the information you need? I don’t. I keep MyFitnessPal on my phone for this sole reason. It helps me count calories, record physical activity and has a massive database of over 11 million foods, along with a vibrant, ever-helpful community of over 200 million users.
Spending just $50 a year gets you a premium membership that adds the following bells and whistles:
- Macronutrients by gram or percentage
- Food analysis to see which foods are best and worst for you
- Adding micronutrients to calorie entries
- Setting custom calorie or macronutrient goals for each day
- Track exercises without impacting your calorie or nutrient goals
- Focus on your nutrition goal with dashboards
- Priority Customer Support
- Export nutrition data to other devices
- See a macronutrient-level breakdown of each meal you track
- Set meal-based calorie goals
- Set food timestamps
- Get coaching plans
- Bookmark and discover new recipes
- Get exclusive premium workout routines
- Net Carbs
- Replace total carbs with Net Carbs for convenience tracking (available only on iPhone and Android for US & Canada).
Additionally, you can scan nutrient barcodes, remember your usual or most-eaten foods, set calorie goals and be a part of a massive community of passionate users for support. What’s fantastic is that the app connects to my Apple watch and nearly every other wearable around. The UX is fantastic, though, and overall I think it was the “best looking” app of them all! Funnily, one research linked this fitness app to eating disorders. MyFitnessPal launched in 2005, and Francisco Partners acquired the app in 2020 for $345m.
What did I love about this app:
- A massive food database – pick the foods that suit your calorie count
- Manual entry for recipes with auto calculation – Add the foods you love
- Progress reports keeping your calorie (or weight and fitness) goals in check
- Integrated interface for fitness and calorie tracking – no need to switch between apps for info
What did I not like about this app:
- The best features need a premium subscription
- No recipe suggestion until you pay
- The weight prediction was grossly inaccurate
- User-submitted food values may be incorrect
Revenue:
MyFitnessPal is a freemium app that generates revenue through premium memberships and ads. Getting a premium membership will remove ads, allow you to get recipe suggestions, workout routines, health and fitness goals and much more.
2.Lose it!
I downloaded this one because it sounded interesting, and it was on the top charts consistently. Lose It! gives you personalized recommendations for calorie intake depending on your weight, age, height and goals. The app has a health tracker, an easy to use food diary and an exercise log. The food database is pretty comprehensive, and the app is user-friendly. You see your weight changes on a graph, and you can even partake in challenges. Lose It! was founded in 2008 and is privately held. They’ve raised $5M in 2 funding rounds.
The Premium version adds the following features:
- Personalized weight loss plans
- Intuitive logging
- Smart camera
- Sync health apps & track exercise
- Community support
- Sync devices
- Advanced tracking
- Meal & exercise planning
What did I love about this app:
- Clean, extremely user-friendly interface
- Large food database
- Reminders to log snacks
What did I not like about this app:
- It took me longer to add a home-cooked meal and calculate its nutritional value than cooking the meal itself. Bah!
- If you’re into micronutrients, look elsewhere
- My favorite restaurants were missing
Revenue:
Lose It! is a freemium app that earns money through ads and premium, ad-free subscription plans. These premium plans offer ad removal, personalized weight loss plans, a smart camera, exercise tracking, meal and exercise planning, patterns and celebrations.
3.Carb Manager
This app came up on a carb-bashing, protein loving forum, and I thought that the logo was tacky, which is why I downloaded it. Healthline named Carb Manager as one of the best tracking apps for those on Keto diets in 2020. They gave it 4.8 stars, which is pretty high. It has a keto calculator if you’re into that, a highly accurate nutrient calculator, and shows you the total food consumption for the day. However, you need a premium version to unlock all the “cool” features.
Here’s a list of what you miss from the premium version if you do not wish to pay:
- Keto Academy Jumpstart Course
- Access to 360,000+ premium recipes and curated meal plans
- Import recipes from websites
- Smart meal planner
- Full nutrient tracking
- View macros per meal
- Smart Macros: auto-adjust goals as you lose weight.
- Track blood pressure
- Track ketones
- Track intermittent fasting
- Track sleep
- Track body measurements
- Advanced reports
- Voice logging
- Snap: Log Food with your Camera
- Natural language logging
- Create meals
- Create meal plans
- Meals analysis reports
- Streaks report
- Comparisons report
- Benchmarks report
- Projections report
- Macros report
- Sync with Fitbit
- Sync with Garmin
- Sync with fitness trackers
- Rename meals
- Re-order meals
- Set per-meals goals
- Set goals by day of the week
- Create public groups
- Create private groups
- Print and export daily logs
- Priority support
What did I love about this app:
Carb Manager is privately held and keeps its financial information private.
- Loads of low-carb meal recipes
- BMI tracking
- Easiest-to-use macro calculator
What I did not like about this app:
- Focuses on Keto
- Hardly any of the nice features included in the free version
- Tacky UI, just like their logo
Revenue:
Carb Manager earns revenue through its premium edition with which users can log food they eat, customize daily goals, join an exclusive keto jumpstart course, integrate fitness devices with Carb Manager and access premium recipes.
4.Noom
If you’re counting calories because you’re trying to lose weight, then I don’t think there’s a better app than Noom. Noom helps you to lose weight and keep it that way (unless you remove the app from your phone, haha!). So what the app does is that it creates a calorie budget using your age, weight, height, gender and lifestyle.
What is great about this app is that it limits your portion size but lets you eat what you want to, basically focusing on calories and nutrients to promote weight loss. This is more of a psychological approach to losing weight, but it works for many people. The app is paid but has a free trial to test the features. Although, 45 million users cannot be wrong, eh? Noom was founded in 2008 and has raised $650m in 10 rounds.
Noom is a paid app. Features of the app include:
- Personalized diet plans
- Goal-based diets
- Psychological approach to weight loss and health
- Focus on long-term weight loss management
- caloric density (CD)-based food segregation
- Ability to eat what you want (in moderation)
What did I love about this app:
- Personalized lessons
- Loads of support groups
- No food is off-limits
- Promotes lifestyle changes and not a sham calorie-driven weight loss regimen
What I did not like about the app:
- No free version! What? In 2022?
- Not for those who are “window shopping” for calorie counters
- A little “pushy” in its weight-loss approach
Revenue:
Noom earns money by charging a fee to access its platform and selling add-on weight management plans.
5.MyNetDiary
My friend swears by MyNetDiary and claims that it is the best app in the world—which is why I gave it a whirl. The app is extremely simple to use, has a great and clean UI, and provides many options, even in the free version. You can either use the barcode scanner to get data off a pack, or you can view nutrient breakdowns in the app. You can also choose the food type you wish to eat with their extensive diet plans.
The app includes many recipes from registered dieticians, which gives you a great starting point on your weight loss journey. It works like other calorie counters – it has a focus section to choose your regimen, and lets you choose your weekly weight loss rate. It is loaded with tips, advice sections, and has a lot of diet options to choose from.
What is best about this app is that the free version is excellent for the value it offers. The app has over 14 million users and is pretty popular worldwide. Founded in 2005, MyNetDiary keeps its financial information private.
Here are some top features of the MyNetDiary Pro
- Editable recipes
- Tracking food time
- Extra charts to visualize calorie
- Customized macronutrient balance
- Exercise planning
- Multiple body measurements (currently 20)
- Nutrient planning
- Weekly analysis and updates
- Insights and meal guidance
What I loved about the app:
- Very easy to use
- Lets you choose a focus area like keto, vegan etc.
- Connects with most trackers
- Has a weekly target and a tracker that I liked a lot
What I did not like about the app:
- Some nutrient info was missing
- Cannot be used as the only fitness app you want
- Advanced tracking options need a paid version
- Hardly any activity options
Revenue:
Although MyNetDiary has a host of features in the free version, the paid version adds guidance, premium diets including keto, low carb, high-protein, vegetarian and more. The premium version also includes diet plans and feedback.
That’s the end of my list. Have a good day.
OK, wait! There’s more.
I’ve segregated my verdict into sections to help you understand which app might work best for you. So, without further ado:
The Verdict
Best overall calorie counter app:
Are you surprised? I’m not. I love it! The app helps me stay fit, log calories, and has tons of community support. Plus, the UX is just great, and I did not get lost while using the app.
Best app for focused diets like Keto:
This app focuses on Keto and gives you all you need—from shopping lists to meal plans to ideas! It is awesome!
Best calorie counter app for those looking to lose weight:
If you’re trying to lose weight, Noom is possibly the best app available today. Th It is focused, targeted, has a clean UI and helps you lose weight, with no extras. The only downside is that it’s paid, but if you’re planning to get fitter, then spending a few $$ on an app won’t hurt, right?
Easiest app to use:
MyNetDiary had an extremely intuitive interface and gave me a lot of information at a glance, which I loved. I also liked the number of recipes it included from verified dieticians—which is better than some apps that have random recipes by self-styled experts.
Final thoughts
We see new calorie counter apps crop up every now and then, but some always grab our attention. No matter what app you choose for your fitness journey, what matters the most is sticking to your health routine, eating better and staying in shape. Counting calories is good, but eating a balanced diet, working out and ensuring that you do not overindulge is better. Oh, and keeping those new year resolutions helps a lot too!
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