FutureFive New Zealand - Consumer technology news & reviews from the future
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App of the week: My Fitness Pal
Thu, 2nd Aug 2012
FYI, this story is more than a year old

They should change the name to My Fitness and Food and Everything Else BFF. With a huge database of foods – including fast foods – and an exercise tracker, this calorie counter app really does help you keep track of what you’re eating, what you’re doing and what you need to be doing.

And with constant updates checking your stats on a computer via their website, it’s a great tool to keep you honest and change your eating and exercise behaviour, from wherever you are.

Not everyone may be aware that this app is just not for weight loss; you can use it for weight gain too. You enter in your goal weight, what kind of activity you generally do in a day, and it will tell you how many calories you should eat in a day to reach that goal, whether it’s more or less.

So each day you add what you’ve eaten, and make sure you include those Cokes, then you can work out how many calories you’re burning by adding what exercise you’ve done that day. Best thing is, it works it all out for you.

The great thing about a mobile calorie counter is that it allows you to track what you are eating throughout the day, on the go. Many people don’t realise how many calories they are actually eating, I sure didn’t. Rather than waiting until you get home to see if you’re allowed that extra snack, you can manage and balance your intake all of the time.

You can see how many calories you’ve got left and decide if that chocolate bar is really worth it. Adding what exercise you’ve done and seeing your count balance out is a great and actually a bit a fun.

The food database is huge and the barcode scanner is an excellent feature. I’ve only had trouble matching products a couple of times and it’s pretty easy to pick something close any way. Searching can sometimes take a while too.

If you stick to it, and you’re honest, it works. How? It is clear as day right in front of your eyes how much of a pig you are being or how much of a couch potato you are, and guilt will get you up and moving every time. Once you get started it’s quite surprising how much it becomes a big part of your life.

You’ll end up entering absolutely everything into it, and if you’re like me at all you’ll go a bit nuts with it. I think I’m addicted.

Download for iOS here, for Andriod here and Windows mobile.