Five popular free apps to help you slim down for the summer
Thanks to retail and advertising, we're used to thinking one season ahead. Here we are just a week into the summer and we're conditioned to start thinking about the fall.
Forget that. There's plenty of summer left, and that means you'll likely be hitting the pool, the beach, or some other place where you'll be more scantily clad than during other parts of the year. Is there still time to drop a few pounds before you don a swimsuit?
Sure there is. And like most things in life, there's an app for that. More than one app, in fact, which is why we're going to dig down and find you five popular free fitness apps with a focus on weight loss and slimming down.
MyFitnessPal: Calorie Counter
FREE!
If sticking to a healthier diet is part of your summer slimdown plan, it's hard to beat the functionality that Calorie Counter & Diet Tracker by MyFitnessPal brings to the party. Its main calling card is a huge food database with calorie information for millions of foods. The app also links up with many other popular fitness apps and devices, a step tracker, and more.
Lose It! – Calorie Counter
FREE!
It's hard to imagine that there's another app with a name that would inspire more confidence than this one. Lose it, because it's right there in the name. Jokes aside, this app focuses on developing custom weight loss plans for each user. Input a little information, state your goals, and off you go. Not only does it help you drop pounds, but Lose It can assist with watching your blood pressure, sleep, hydration, and more.
Running Slimkit - Lose Weight
FREE!
Diet is only one part of the weight loss equation for most people. Exercise is the other, and for many, that means running. Despite my feeling that you should only run when being chased, this app helps you follow one of six different training programs specifically tailored to weight loss. Workout three times a week for two months, and you should be fitter. As in, before the end of the summer.
SparkPeople Calorie Tracker
FREE!
Like one of the previous entires on our list, this app does a combination of things but hangs its virtual hat on counting calories in a large number of things you might eat. It's also got a bar scanner to automatically enter information from packaged foods and videos that display the proper way to do some common exercises. Best of all, it turns fitness and weight loss into a game with SparkPoints, providing that extra bit of motivation we can all use on occasion.
FitPlan
FREE!
While Fitplan requires a paid subscription to take advantage of everything it has to offer, it still serves up free single-day workouts even if you don't spend a dime. What sets it apart from the other apps on our list is that it has help from athletes and fitness professionals who actually perform the exercises so you can see how they're done correctly. Several different fitness options are available, but losing weight is one of them, and that's what we're looking for here.