11 Diet Apps For Women That Can Help You Healthily Reach Your Goal Weight
From tracking calories to sending motivation, these diet apps are the best out there.
Finding a way to create and enjoy healthy meals that help you stay on track toward your goal weight can be difficult for most women. Add in finding time for a quick workout when you’re busy with balancing your work, home, and a social life (if that even exists), and reaching your ideal weight can feel next to impossible. The good news is, however, there are plenty of diet apps for women that can help you reach your goal weight and provide motivation, too. And what’s even better is that the majority of them are free!
If you’re not sure which app will work best for you or your needs (or even if your needs tend to change frequently) try downloading a few of these to test out whether or not they can help you hit the goal that you’ve set for yourself. And don’t worry, there’s an app for everyone — from beginner to expert — to try on this list.
MyFitnessPal
Free
MyFitnessPal is a popular app that calculates your daily calorie needs and logs what you eat throughout the day. According to Lisa Moskovitz, registered dietitian and CEO of NY Nutrition Group, it’s one of the best apps to use.
“It will count calories, macronutrients like carbs and protein, and micronutrients like fiber and sodium,” Moskovitz tells Woman’s Day. “This could be particularly helpful if just calorie-counting has not worked for you in the past.”
In addition to tracking your calories more thoroughly, MyFitness pal makes tracking food a lot easier thanks to a barcode scanner that helps you input food. The only downside, as Moskovitz says, “is anyone can add foods to the database so some of the calculations in there are not entirely accurate.”
Calorie Counter by FatSecret
Free
Looking for a support system while on your weight loss or weight gain journey? Calorie Counter by FatSecret can give you just that. In addition to logging food and monitoring weight, the app allows you to interact with others who are on the same journey as you. Through this virtual support, you increase the odds of you being successful at reaching your goal weight.
Lose It!
Free
If you’re in need of an app that gets straight to the point, then this will probably be the one for you. All you have to do is input your goal and track your food and exercise, and the app will track your progress. Simple as that. You’ll also be able to find amazing alternatives for foods that will be better for you. And yes, the app absolutely syncs with Apple Health and Google Fit apps.
MyPlate Calorie Tracker
Free
Though this app is known for tracking your calories and exercise, it also tracks how many calories you burn throughout the day. MyPlate also offers charts so that users can see if they need to consume more of one thing or less of another. That way, you’re able to ensure that you’re consuming a balanced diet — even if you’re on the go. You’re also able to add in your own recipes, too.
Noom
Free 14-Day Trial
Equipped with a proven psychology-based approach, Noom builds a custom game plan to help users create and stick to healthy habits quicker. Through the app, you will be able to track your weight, food, exercise routine, blood pressure, and blood sugar. Although there is a cost for this app, Moskovitz told Woman’s Day that it’s definitely worth the spend if you can afford it. “Noom takes a more behavioral approach towards achieving your health goals,” she said. “It comes with a built-in coach, accountability, and advice on what to eat along the way. In addition, it can be customized to fit your needs, which is important for women who come with all different body types and obstacles. If you're someone who struggles with emotional or stress-eating, this can also help you work through your relationship with food, and hopefully come out the other side.”
Happy Scale
Free
Stepping on a scale and noticing that the number hasn’t changed much can be discouraging. With Happy Scale though, you’ll look at weigh-ins a little differently. Helping users understand why the number on the scale may fluctuate a little more than they would like, monitoring weight gain and/or loss, tracking both long and short term goals, and offering predictions on when your weight goal could be reached, the app is a great tool to help you get to where you’re going.
The Complete 5:2 Diet
Free
Most diet apps focus on helping you cut down on the types of foods that you enjoy eating, but The Complete 5:2 Diet does things a little differently. The app, which is reflective of the 5:2 diet, offers a four-week recipe and exercise plan to help you track your calorie intake as well as your workouts. The concept behind the diet is that you spend five days eating what you want — up to 2000 calories for women and 2500 calories for men — and two days substantially scaling it back by 500 calories for women and 600 for men. The app also allows you to track your calories, over 140 recipes, and much more.
Ate App
Free
An app designed to make you “feel great about what you ate,” the Ate app is a food journaling app that will help you develop and maintain healthy eating habits. And, it’s one of the easiest journals to use as it only takes you three taps to save a meal.
“This app is all about the visual, and not about the fine details,” Moskovitz said. “You can literally just snap a picture and upload. It appears as your own private, personal instagram. Just like social media, you can decide who you want to follow you and vice versa. If you're someone that gets sucked down the rabbit hole of entering data into your phone, or hates spending too long with food tracking, this could be the app for you. Much less tedious than calorie-counting.”
Daily Burn
Free
No matter your weight loss or nutrition goals, Daily Burn can help. The app offers quick workouts, personalized plans, access to healthy recipes and personal trainers, and so much more. And according to nutritionist Dr. Cynthia Barrett, PT, DPT, CSCS, CNS, Founder and CEO of Wellness Couture, LLC, it’s a great option if you’re looking to lose weight.
“You can get great guided workouts,” she said. “It’s like Richard Simmons on steroids equipped with full group workouts you can do at home no matter if you’re running on treadmill, performing yoga, or partaking in a HIIT workout.”
Fooducate Nutrition Tracker
Free
A nutrition and health tracker, Fooducate Nutrition Tracker offers free diet and health tips, and monitors the quality of your calories. You also have the ability to scan barcodes to find ingredients that are easily recognizable like GMOs, added sugars, artificial sweeteners, and more.
UnCraveRx
Free
If you’re tired of fighting off cravings on your own and need a little help getting past them, UnCraveRX is here to assist. The app, which offers a three month comprehensive program, will help your brain ignore the urges that cravings bring about. It uses a sustained-release anti-craving medicine that works with an app that offers a series of other tools such as behavioral therapy and certified nutrition counseling. Additionally, you’ll get on-demand cardio, strength training, and endurance fitness classes. You’ll also be able to track your calories and daily activity.
Ni'Kesia Pannell is an entrepreneur, multi-hyphenate freelance writer, and self-proclaimed Slurpee connoisseur that covers news and culture for The Kitchn. She's the former Weekend Editor for Delish who also writes about faith, health and wellness, travel, beauty, lifestyle, and music for a range of additional outlets.
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