Five apps for weight loss

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There is an app for everything and weight loss and fitness is no exception. Having some of the tools you'll need to achieve your fitness goals in your pocket will help keep you on track. There is even research proving that your cell phone can help. You most likely already have a useful app installed. For iOS there is the Health app, this includes a step tracker, body measurement tracker and much more. Android products have an app called Google Fit which has the same features as the iOS Health app. Although these apps are already helpful, there are many more apps that can be even more useful and help reach your fitness goals.

MyFitnessPal

The app advertises itself as an app that can help you lose weight, tone up, get healthy, change your habits and keep on track of a new diet. This free to use app allows you to track your food and exercise. The app allows you to scan your food's barcodes to get accurate tracking. The app also gives and takes information from both iOS Health and Google Fit. The app is free to use, however, you can pay a subscription fee to get the premium.

FitBit

Although the app itself is free the product that pairs with it is not. Fitbits range from $79.99 to $300 depending on the type you want. However, the app and the product are extremely useful especially when it comes to tracking your fitness and reaching your goals. The app pairs to your fitbit via Bluetooth where it tracks your steps, sleep patterns, heart rate, and minutes spent active. The app allows you to see your average and track your progress. It also allows you to set goals and even offers you reminders as well as rewards. There even is a community of users where you can discuss any questions you have or just show others how far you've come.

Lose It!

Lose It! is similar to MyFitnessPal in the sense that you track what you eat and the exercise you have done in a day. The key difference between these two apps is that Lose It! tells you how many calories you should consume and how often you should workout to achieve your goal. The app warns you if you are not eating enough or eating too much.

8Fit

8fit is an app that has exercises to follow and offers meal plans based off of your goals and body fat percentage. There are hundreds of healthy recipes that are easy to follow, some of which you do have to pay for. There is also a variety in workout videos that include: endurance building, bodyweight exercises, Highintensity- interval- training (HIIT), and much more. This app is free, but has an option for a subscription based program where it is more personalized and offers more support.

Couch to 5k

If you have little to no exercise experience and consider yourself lazy and/or too out of shape, Couch to 5k is a great starting point. As the name suggests, it's an app that helps you build your body to be able to run 5k even if you have no running experience. The app offers an eight week program where you run 30 minutes three times a week. The app shows you running outdoor routes, works for treadmills, offers an in app coach to voice you through the program, as well as many more features. This app is 100 per cent free and has no ads.