Need a calorie tracker app ahead of summer? Try MyFitnessPal

March is apparently National Nutrition Month across the pond, so we’ve been talking a lot about nutrition, calorie obsession and what apps we use to track our daily intake of food to achieve the ultimate goal: weight loss (hey bikini season is approaching fast!)

There are a lot of apps on the market – and more to come I’m sure – but so far the best one of the bunch that I’ve tried is the free MyFitnessPal app.

Anyone who’s interested in shedding a few pounds know that the solution is: calories + exercise = weight loss. But carrying around a diary to jot everything down throughout the day can be a bit of a pain and we end up forgetting that sneaky little chocolate bar while rushing between meetings. Not anymore. As we all (well most of us) are proud owners of smartphones, having an app that lets you log everything you eat as and when you’re eating it.

The app is simple to use: pick whatever you meal you want to track – breakfast, lunch, dinner or snacks – and search the food database of over 1,557,000 items to find the thing your ate. You can either type in and search or use the integrated barcode scanner to find the food item. Alternatively, quick log it by only adding the calories of the food. But note, this will have an impact on your nutrition charts – oh yes there are charts!

When you first start using the app, you specify your height, weight, age, and any weight goals you have. This way you are told how many calories you should have each day, along with the total protein, carbohydrate, fat and vitamin/mineral intake you have left after each meal. As long as you log your meals correct, the app will calculate all of the nutritional values for you and break them down into bite sized charts.

Add exercise to this – using the same search functionality – and it’s like having your own personal trainer in your pocket!

MyFitnessPal is also particularly good for those on a strict diet, e.g. vegetarians, to ensure that you get a balanced nutrition intake each day.

Available now on iOS, Android, BlackBerry, Windows Phone, as well as a web interface.

By Elisabeth