Top 10 (FREE) iPhone Apps for a Healthy Lifestyle

Many times I get asked, ‘What are a few good iPhone apps for weight loss?’  And unfortunately, because I am still part of the Blackberry crowd, I have no idea what to tell them.  And after reading this article, I am starting to think it’s time for me to jump ship.

 

There are lots of new gadgets for you to help track, motivate and educate you about fitness and nutrition – but here are the top 10 (FREE) apps for the iPhone to help you manage your diet, weight, and fitness goals.

 

1. Calorie Tracker

Users can look up and track daily caloric, fat, carbohydrate, and protein intake.  The app pulls from LIVESTRONG.com’s Daily Plate nutritional database with over 450,000 food and restaurant items.  If you want to also track physical activity, you can also use the app to calculate burned calories for various exercises.

 

2. Lose It!

Set goals, create a daily calorie budget, record food and exercise, and view graphs of progress.  After you enter your stats, you can create a custom plan, with an end date in mind, based on how much weight you want to lose per week.

 

3. 40 – 30 – 30

Calorie trackers are great, but how do you make sure that you’re getting the right nutritional balance? The 40·30·30 app allows you to calculate the percentage of carbs, protein, and fats in your meal.

Just scroll through the weight (in grams) options for each nutritional element to view your ratio.

 

4. iPump Free Workout

Created by an Exercise Physiologist, this free alternative to iPump, has two full body workouts targeting major muscle groups, as well as sample exercises from each of the other iPump apps.

Each workout is designed specifically for maximum results, and lets users listen to music, watch video demonstrations for each exercise, and record activity to a workout log as they go.

 

5. StepTrackLite

When logging activity just doesn’t cut it, use StepTrackLite as a simple pedometer to measure and track physical activity while strolling, walking, or running.

The app works whether your iPhone is in your pocket, on your belt, or even in your backpack, and you can listen to music as you workout.



6. iMapMyRun

See my past blog on this app.

 

7. iSPINNING

Love to bike?  This app is for you!  iSPINNING is powerful app that lets you design workouts to see and track heart rate, time in target zones, calories burned, cadence, speed, distance, and power.

The app is compatible with a variety of fitness sensors, and lets you customize your workout dashboard metrics for each ride. You will need additional hardware, like the SMHEART LINK, for creating a wireless bridge between your iPhone and your fitness sensor.

 

8. Pret-a-Yoga Lite

Pret-a-Yoga Lite is the perfect app for yoga beginners who might be threatened by the gym environment, or advanced yogis looking to take their routine on the go.

Pret-a-Yoga Lite is like having your own personal yoga instructor to guide you through each breathe and pose with both images and audio instructions.

 

9. 2Fat

If all you need is to calculate your body fat percentage and BMI, then the 2Fat app might be just the right fit.

The scroll wheels make it incredibly simple and fast to use. All you need to do is select your sex, weight, and waist measurement and see where you stand.

 

10. Heartbeat 

If you need to take a quick heart rate census during or after a tough workout, use Heartbeat to help you manually track your heart beats per minute (bpm).

To calculate your heart’s bpm, just tap the heart on the screen every time your heart beats — it’s that easy. The app would be incredibly cool if it could automatically calculate your heart rate, but it still is a handy tool for heart rate monitoring on the run.