Losing weight is a common goal for many of us. Whether you are getting ready to hit the beach, or want to improve your fitness level, we all want to get rid of that stubborn fat. A few months ago I decided to start hitting the gym, and the results paid off. I noticed that my muscles were more defined and I started to lose a little bit of weight. However, I soon hit a plateau and realized I wasn’t going to break it unless I started working on my eating habits. After some extensive research, I learned that it all comes down to making sure you meet all your daily macronutrient requirements, but most importantly, by keeping those nasty calories in check!

Vegetables

Since I don’t plan on counting calories, I decided to find the best apps with a calorie counter, so I don’t have to! After a quick Google search, I came across a site called AppGrooves that has a top 10 list of supposedly the best apps for counting calories. However, you can also use a calorie counting journal to keep track of what you eat.

I tested some of the apps and found a couple that were instant keepers. I selected my top 3 favorites and reviewed them in hopes they might help you as well.

Lose It! – Track food with practically zero effort

For a food tracker to be practical, it needs to have an easy way to log what you eat. This is the reason I chose Lose It! as one of my favorite calorie counting apps. Whether you are eating a homemade meal or buying a quick snack on the way home, you can easily keep track of what you eat. I was particularly impressed with the fact that you can take a picture of a meal and the food is logged instantly. I also found the barcode scanner feature very useful. I scanned a couple of items on a grocery store run just for the kicks and Lose It! recognized them instantly.

I took pictures of several meals to see if Lose It! would recognize them. In only a few cases, I couldn’t find the exact meal I was looking for. However, you can easily input calories for your meals too, so you will never miss logging a meal!

My Diet Coach – Lose weight and have fun at the same time

Another great app I found is My Diet Coach. You don’t have to worry about calculating your daily calorie goal. Just select your fitness goal, and My Diet Coach prepares a personalized diet plan to help you reach it. Not only did I find the calorie counting features I was looking for, but I realized that this app is so much more than that. You can track your weight loss with charts, and you can set reminders to do exercise, drink water or get to bed early too. Another plus I found is the excellent reward system. Every time you reach a goal or improve on an eating habit, you get points!

Points you earn can be exchanged for awesome outfits for your avatar. Who knew losing weight could be turned into a game? Hopefully, you like the game approach too, and it helps you reach your fitness goals in no time! If you are looking for something more traditional, then you might prefer one of my other two picks.

Calorie Counter & Diet Tracker – Largest food database & meal planner

Finally, I could not complete my list without including Calorie Counter & Diet Tracker. For starters, the food library supposedly has over 3.5 million foods, making it the most complete database of any calorie tracker app. I also really like that you can look up meal recipes that fit in with your food preferences. So, if you are on a vegan diet or Paleo diet, you can find lots of ideas for your next meal. On top of that, you can also log your workouts, which is great for keeping track of all your fitness progress in one place!

With so many great features in Calorie Counter & Diet Tracker, it is hard to find something to criticize. The only thing I wasn’t a fan of is that you do have ads. However, that is a small price to pay for a massive food database and the variety of great tools. I didn’t find the ads intrusive at all, but you can always pay to remove them if you want.

These are my top 3 apps for keeping track of calories. I know it can be a challenge to lose weight, but with these great apps hopefully, the journey will become much easier. Whether you are looking for a recipe calorie calculator or a calories burned calculator, these will have you covered. No need to overthink the food you eat. Let the apps do the math and start dropping those pounds!