Now that the New Year is here, many Americans have plans to get in shape. 45 percent of New Years resolutions are based around fitness goals according to Healthline. Many Americans use various apps to help improve their health. The top three apps used by consumers are, MyFitnessPal, Lifesum, and WW. I tested out and reviewed to see which apps are truly the best to get users to their goals according to, Men’s Health.

MyFitnessPal

The first app I tried out was MyFitnessPal. This is the number one downloaded app for Diet and Nutrition apps of 2018 and is used daily by over 40 million users. (Healthline)

MyFitnessPal has a vast database of 3.2 million food items, this app is robust and user-friendly, and it’s a great tool to figure out where you’re at nutritionally. Users can even scan the barcodes of most food packages and it’ll automatically load those foods into the app.

This app can create and save your precise recipes to use later, so you don’t have to input each ingredient separately whenever you eat that meal. You can also copy and paste entire meals or, look up an online recipe and it will generate the ingredients and calories for you. In MyFitnessPal, you can also track your daily water intake for the day as well as your exercise.

I recommend MyFitnessPal simply only for tracking the foods you eat with your micronutrients, like, essential vitamins and macronutrients, like, carbs, fat, and protein, because it is the most accurate. I would not listen to the recommendations that this app is making, because it is just an app and has no clue on how the human body is, they are solely poor recommendations.

MyFitnessPal calculates the amount of calories you “should” be eating but, it extremely underestimates its users’ calorie requirements. It doesn’t take nearly enough variables into account. It doesn’t take exercise into account, and there are countless other important variables like, body composition, genetics, current fitness level, metabolism that the app doesn’t consider.

This could cause distortion and mixed thoughts in users mind on what they should actually be eating.

MyFitnessPal in my opinion, is the most accurate, because it has different variables of measurement including measurements like cups, but also in ounces and grams to be more exact with a scale.

Lifesum

The next app is Lifesum. All nutrition apps have very similar features like, the ability to track calories, macros, and micros, the ability to track water intake, a barcode to track specific foods, tracking exercise, creating and finding healthy recipes, and keeping a record of current weight and weight lost or gained depending on how you decide to choose the app.

The unique thing about Lifesum that is provides multiple current popular diet plans and trends including, ketogenic easy diet, classic, food for strength, scandinavian, mediterranean clean eating, and 5:2 diet.

In the classic plan, Lifesum does not suggest low calorie plans, they provide sustainable diet plans for users that will help them succeed. Many apps promote, “crash diets,” a weight-loss diet undertaken with the aim of achieving very rapid results, that limit their calories but Lifesum helps users live a healthier more positive lifestyle.

In Lifesum, even if you don’t want to follow any specific diet plan, the app is 100% easy to use and accessible to just tracking food, macros, and micros.

Although these different plans and rules offer vastly different dieting styles and methods, the user must sign up for a premium subscription to access these features, as the content is individualized.

Lifesum doesn’t just have settings to gain or lose weight, but it has settings to improve overall health and wellness. On Lifesum, users are able to talk to the Lifesum community and post pictures of recipes and healthy tips and tricks. Premium users can also view their overall daily rating based on how well they stick to their calorie budget.

Although this app has many Lifesum doesn’t have as vast database of foods as MyFitnessPal. Overall, I would recommend this app to users who want to make a lifestyle change.

Weight Watchers

The last app is Weight Watchers (WW). This app is used for members, who specifically plan on losing weight or maintaining their current weight. Unfortunately to use the WW app, you have to pay for a membership.

WW focuses more on the micros and nutrition in the foods, and less so on the calories. WW encourages their members to eat more nutritionally dense foods by creating a “freestyle points system.”

Foods that have more micronutrients have zero smart points or very low. Foods like fruits, vegetables, most meats, eggs, and beans have Zero smart points, so WW encourages you to eat more of those foods instead of getting caught up in calories. Members are given a number of points a day based on their current lifestyle, age, weight, and height.

This app is perfect for people who want a little more freedom in their meals, while wanting to maintain a healthy lifestyle and not worrying about numbers.

WW also includes recipes that the company has created, and a community of members to share their photos and recipes. This app also has an extensive list of restaurants to receive the points (and calories if you are wanting to watch them), but you can choose the amount of points you would like to have for that meal, and it will bring up restaurants with that many amounts of points and options.

WW is a little less structured, but a useful tool to use if you’re wanting to improve the overall health and choose the best options.

In conclusion, all of these different apps have their benefits and downsides. If you are looking for a more structured plan to really view your daily nutrition, I would try tracking with MyFitnessPal. If you are trying to maximize your overall health while tracking, I would suggest Lifesum. Lastly, if you are wanting to make mealtime less stressful, more fun while choosing the best foods for your body, Weight Watchers is the fit for you.