Switching Aps

I’m one of those people who must keep a food diary. I’ve used Weight Watchers Online for a couple of years. I know a lot of people who poo poo Weight Watchers along with all other commercial weight loss programs. To some degree I understand their point. I stopped going to WW meetings years ago. Once I learned I was addicted to sugar, I could no longer sit through a meeting and hear the leader say, “If you want ice cream, go to Baskin Robbins and buy one scoop instead of buying a half gallon at the store. Yea, right. But for me WW Online is different. I have the phone ap, and it’s simply a way for me to keep tally of my food choices. And I believe the WW food plan can be the healthiest out there, as long as I make wise choices.

Over time I’ve become a disciple of the “Eat Clean” movement popularized by Tosca Reno. It’s so simple: eat unprocessed foods. I like that Tosca agrees sugar is horrible for us.

So, I’ve been using the WW ap to track my “eat clean” eating. Lately I’ve been hit or miss about tracking and I don’t like that. I’m starting to resent the $18/mo I’m spending just to use the ap. Last year I tried the free Spark People, but for some reason I couldn’t figure it out. So I’ve continued to pay $18 each month for an ap I haven’t used as often as I should. I know that’s not a lot of money, but I’ve been thinking about what else $18 will buy:

• 60% of a pedicure
• 37% of a one-hour massage at Massage Envy
• one and a half of my favorite gourmet salads

You get the drift.

So I poked around on line and found My Fitness Pal. I signed up and downloaded the phone ap. I’ve used it all weekend and it’s been EASY to figure out. And it’s actually sort of fun. Once I finish tracking that day’s food intake and exercise expenditure, the ap calculates how many pounds I might lose in five weeks if I continued to eat and exercise similarly. That’s pretty cool.

I won’t be able to book the cruise with the whopping $216 I’ll save in a year’s time, but I do have the satisfaction of knowing I’m taking advantage of the free stuff that’s out there.

What about you? Do you track your food choices? Got an ap to recommend? Enlighten us in the comments section.

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