14 Weight Loss Apps That Actually Help You Lose Weight

If you find yourself obsessing about numbers (or just hate counting them), download the Calorific app. It divides food into three categories (red, yellow, and green—like a stoplight) and then into portion sizes for easy two-click tracking. Don't worry about writing down every detail of what you eat: The app generates pie charts showing the healthy-to-unhealthy ratio of what you've been eating, plus the time of day when you make the best choices. (Free; iPhone and Android)

Lose It! is like your personal health coach who gives you exercise challenges, healthy recipes, and charts your progress as you work towards your goals. Fans of the buddy system will love being able to share their weight loss triumphs and crowd-source food choices. (Free; Android, iOS, Nook, and Kindle)

Need a little extra motivation when it comes to eating healthy or hitting the gym? Earn cash for every healthy move you make with Pact, which has you set weekly goals and then decide on an amount you'll be willing to pay if you don't reach those goals (your money then goes to users who did accomplish their tasks). Even if you don't score major money, the motivation to not lose money should be enough to get you into gear. (Free; iPhone, Android)

Enter some basic info like your current weight, height, age, and goal weight, and My Fitness Pal will generate a weekly plan to help you get there. Log your meals and how much water you drink every day, get motivation from other users, and keep track of your workouts. The app's pro loaded with a food database of more than two million items, and remembers your choices as you log them. (Free; iPhone, iPad, Android, Windows Phone, BlackBerry)

This note-taking app is a godsend for list-makers, and there are no frills attached. Just write down what you eat and when, and use optional tags like "breakfast" to see specific meal history at a glance (the app also lets you upload images if you prefer visual references). Notes are shareable, too, so your friends can help you stay on track. (Free; available on mobile and desktop.)

Feeling indecisive? My Food Diary offers seven different ways to






reach your weight loss goals, from daily color-coded reports that show what types of nutrients you're getting, to a digital "refrigerator" of the foods you eat most often. Log your choices in an expert-compiled database and calculate calories burned for more than 700 activities. ($9/month with a free 7-day trial; iPhone (not in the app store).)

Just plug in your weight goal and MyNetDiary will keep track of your food intake and remind you when you make less-than-healthy choices, like skipping breakfast. A notes section maps out your progress in easy-to-read charts which you can look at whenever you need daily reminders, or share with your social networks when you want to share a major milestone. ($3.99; iPhone, iPad, iPod, Blackberry, Android)

No Wifi? No problem. Nutrition Menu doesn't require an internet connection, so you can access its database of 92,000 foods (including a lot of restaurant items)and 149 built-in exercises from anywhere. We're not saying you should use it on vacation, but it might help you say "no" to






that third piña colada. ($1.99; iPhone)

Rise is like dieting for dummies; you can't mess it up, because you'll be paired with a certified nutrition coach that you can send snaps of your eats to all day. The nutritionist will analyze them and dish out easy, personalized tips to help you adjust your habits. For $48/month, that breaks down to about $2 per day for one-on-one time that usually costs way more. (Free to download; iPhone)

Rather than awarding you actual money for reaching your goals, Wellcoin operates on the world's first health currency—wellcoins. You report all the healthy activities you do daily (even something small like drinking a glass of water counts), and once it's verified, you get wellcoins in return. Rack up enough of 'em and you can exchange for gear in their online marketplace, filled with goodies from Sketchers, DICK'S Sporting Goods, Whole Foods, and more. (Free; iPhone and Android)

If you don't want a full-blown food delivery service but still want the guesswork taken out of menu planning, PlateJoy meets you in the middle. After a quickie personalization quiz, the experts behind the app design a customized meal plan, grocery list, and recipes for the week. There's an even a digital pantry built into the app, which keeps track of the ingredients in your kitchen so you never buy groceries that are already at home. ($59/six months, $89/year; iPhone and Android)

When you're following a specific diet plan, figuring out where to eat out can be a major pain in the ass. So HealthyOut does it for you—simply plug in your dietary restrictions and location, then filter by cuisine or type of dish (even the kind you don't want, like salad), and it'll churn out nearby options—along with detailed nutrition info for any dish you're interested in. (Free; iPhone and Android)

Take the mystery out of confusing AF nutrition labels. Use ShopWell to create a personal profile of your health goals (and all the deets that come with them), then head to the store and start scanning barcodes. The app will score each item — the ones with low scores aren't so great (and you'll get similar product recs to replace 'em with); the ones close to 100 belong in your cart. (Free; iPhone and Android)

You know #TFW you've got a mish-mash of ingredients in your pantry, and have no idea what to do with them? That's what Kitchology specializes in. Tell the app what you have (and any allergy info it should know) and you'll get step-by-step cooking instructions for tons of healthy recipes that require those ingredients—and those ingredients only. (Free; iPhone)