Despite living in an era where new, groundbreaking technologies are being developed on a weekly level, we haven’t been able to win the war on obesity just yet. Many people have a weight problem and this problem seems to be even more pronounced amongst the high-tech gadget enthusiasts. It might just be that I am getting old, but I still remember a time where science nerds like me used to be a bunch of skinny people, usually in glasses. You would spend so much time laser-focused on your hobby/ technology addiction that you didn’t have time for such trivial matters as eating.

Let’s use technology for good!

Nowadays things have changed quite a bit. We just have too many things readily available to us that we can afford to chow-down on snacks all day as we throw money at the screen until the gods of E-bay are appeased and bestow upon us their plentiful, high-tech bounty. There is a way for the modern geek to start losing weight on his/her own terms.

What you need for weight loss is exercise, sleep and diet, diet, diet. Keeping track of how much you eat and knowing what goes into the food you eat is very important. That’s why I put more emphasis on diet related apps. It’s easy enough to get some good exercises, choose a nice weekly workout plan, set the timer when you’re ready and have your progress presented to you in graph form.

What is not easy is remembering how much you’re supposed to eat, saying no to a bunch of readily available snacks and not getting tricked by the companies that put all sorts of hidden gems in their products and mask them in weird-sounding nutrition jargon. So here are what I consider to be some of the best weight loss apps that you can use to get some great results.

You Are Your Own Gym

First of all here’s a little something to get your exercise on. A good thing about this one is that it is perfect for beginners, as the instructions are straightforward and the workouts are designed so you can do them almost anywhere with no additional equipment needed.  The exercises in the app are based on Mark Lauren’s book of the same title and features 120 different body weight exercises (more than you’ll ever need) and some 320 variations to keep things interesting as you progress and become stronger.

The versatility, varying levels of difficulty, and sheer number of exercises leaves you very little room for finding excuses why you can’t work out right now. Sitting around the house, having a little stroll in the park, there is always an opportunity for a quick workout and you can choose your favorite exercises and make a unique workout schedule that fits your needs. Recording your workouts and racking progress is made easy, so you can leave that pen and paper where they belong – the past.

MyNetDiary

Let’s face it, we are human: we forget stuff, make mistakes and we lose interest and motivation very quickly. We just need a little something to help us keep track of things, not just as a reminder, but as a source of motivation as well. Also, keeping a diary makes it seem more official. I couldn’t help but giggle and call it my Captain’s Log.

The diary helps you keep track of the food you eat and what goes in it – with up to 45 different nutrients, the amount of exercise you do, all your measurements, notes and a bunch of other stuff. The food database truly is amazing, 475.000 different foods so you can always get an estimate of how much calories you are eating.

You won’t believe how useful this app is until you take a look at the nutrition facts in some of the food you thought was pretty healthy, or at the very least diet-friendly. It’s really amazing how companies try to shove corn syrup into basically everything they can get their hands on. It’s like they have the Midas touch, only everything they touch turns into a fat and dextrose filled, super calorie mess. You can finally find out what food was keeping you from losing those last few stubborn pounds.

Restaurants Weight Loss Diet

You know what? I like to go out for lunch sometimes, weight loss diet or not. My biggest problem with this is that I simply don’t know how many calories are in the food or the nutrition facts. What you usually have is people telling you about calories in a pound of meat or a glass of wine, but when it comes to fast food menus, the dietitians just naturally assume that you have the iron will and eating habits of a Triathlon winner and that is not usually the case.

This useful little app has a list of over 300 restaurant, buffet and fast-food joint menus which are constantly being update to provide you information on what they currently offer. All the information about the food is stored in the phone so you can access it even if you don’t have internet connection, and the food scores are automatically calculated for you. There is a GPS function that will show restaurants near you (within 30 miles).

The best part about the Restaurants Weight Loss Diet app and the reason I chose it over a bunch of similar apps is that it has information on the calories in popcorn, snacks and drinks found in all major movie theaters. I also found that a lot of apps simply don’t list Starbucks, but this app has you covered. Interestingly enough, you wouldn’t believe how many calories there can be in a cup of coffee. Overall this is a great app that you will find quite useful.

Nutrisystem

Nutrisystem provides weight loss meal plans with a wide variety of food options that are designed to provide all the necessary nutrients while limiting your calorie intake to facilitate a weight loss of about a pound or two a week. You can download the app and register on their website for free. It’s a great way to lose weight without having to overthink it. Stack up on their food and just have regular meals as you normally would.

The app itself is quite good, they don’t try to market themselves or make you buy their meal plans. The app includes a meal planner for tracking the food you’ve eaten throughout the day, a water tracker so you can make sure you are staying properly hydrated and an exercise log. You can also track your weight and measurements to see how much progress you’re making. You are provided with a person journal which is another thing I like – it really does help to motivate you.

The app also provides you with a look into the Nutrisystem menu, should you ever feel like you want to give their weight loss meal plan a go. One thing I don’t like is that although they will give you a preview of some tasty looking food you can’t order any of it through the app.

So if you want to get yourself a months’ worth of food and do away with cooking altogether, you will have to browse their site. And just when it was beginning to look like a high-tech restaurant menu. I was really stoked about the idea that I might click a picture and have a meal materialize at my doorstep, like something out of Star Trek, but I will just have to learn to live without instantly materializing food. For now.

There you have it, some really nice apps to help you burn off a few pounds while playing around with your smartphone. Who says you have to go to the gym with a bunch of sweaty guys and eat raw eggs Rocky style to get in decent shape. With a little bit of information and sound advice under your belt you’ll be able to lose weight from the comfort of your own home.