Calorie Counter +

I am using this app alongside loosely following Slimming World (using an old membership pack, not attending meeting or paying their fees). It’s been really helpful in helping me understand exactly what I am eating, and tempering the free foods allowed by SW by providing a reality check as to how many calories I am consuming each day. The exercise diary is good, I should probably use it more! The motivation emails and rosettes are keeping me on track. Adding in my own recipes has really simplified my diarising efforts. Adding a new scanned food, which I have had to do twice, is straight forward enough. The nutrition interfaces with the health app on my iPhone, but the weigh in’s and measurements do not- I think this is something that could be improved but as I am only doing waist measurement and weigh in, it hasn’t beeen too much of a burden. The addition of a notes area each day would be an excellent addition as well and would help us to recall why we might’ve eaten what on which day. I do find that, nearly five weeks into using the app, I am relying on it more than the SW philosophy as I’ve lost a stone during that time by sticking to the calorie levels prescribed by the app and not looking so much at free foods and Syns.

We have lost 2 stone using this app and there is no way we would have done that without it! It is so comprehensive and at the same time realistic. It doesn’t judge you it just tells you what’s in what you are eating, and tbh, I put the meals in first, when I see what’s in some of the food, it comes straight back off again and I don’t eat it. There is so much hidden sugar and salt in our food these days it’s horrific really. Also food we have traditionally thought good really not so much. We have reached our targets, but we enjoy the new food we have found so much we are still eating it! We have got very creative with vegetables and flavour and it’s been something of an enjoyable experience, which is bizarre seeing as we were on a diet!! These guys have got everything covered, all the big stores fare and a vast number of eating out places. I have recommended to a number of friends who are amazed at what they didn’t know about what they eat, and are finding it very beneficial and helpful. I have never felt better, because although I halved what I was eating I still eat correctly and could monitor my nutrition, with the amazing information this app gives you. Thoroughly recommend it.

A most accurate and efficient dieting reference. It can be laborious to measure each item separately so the “my meal” option is an excellent one for including all the ingredients in one go. However it’s those little snacks that we love to sneak into our day that can be added and gives an excellent and true record of our calorie intake. If a diet is being taken seriously this tool is an excellent one as it’s very easy to use and also, most importantly, gives an accurate analysis of the nutritional values of the food eaten. The profile is set for each person individually based on age, weight, height, exercise etc and so the nutritional values are extremely useful to follow. I started using the app 3 months ago and have regulated my diet during that time and have gradually lost 11lbs in weight which I’m really pleased about. Slow but sure I’ll reach my goal having educated myself about the food I’m eating with the help of nutracheck.

This really is a great app. We are using it to track our daughter’s diet (age 5) as she needs a strictly controlled protein and calorie intake because of a medical condition. The app makes working out the amount of protein and calories she is consuming so much easier and is a godsend. The big problem is that we cannot set the protein and calorie targets as we would like as the app prevents us from doing this because they are outside of the normal ranges. I think you should be able to set targets to however you need them. I don’t see it as a problem as long as you are shown a disclaimer if outside the normal range. A parent being able to set up a profile for a child would be a big plus, setting the app apart from competition and making it appeal to mums and dads wishing to track their child’s diet—I am sure there are many out there. One other slight niggle I noticed is that there is no confirmation when deleting a meal and so this is quite easy to do by mistake. Overall though I must say that for us this app is the best on the market for our needs.

I’m trialling this for gaining weight, and it’s really hard for those of us who want or need to gain weight healthily to get good advice and tools as everything is geared towards weight loss. I really like this app; it’s easy to use and seems handily customisable. I also like that it is UK based. But although I have set a weight gain target, the feedback mechanisms in the app are still set to support weight loss. If Ian below my calorie target I am in the green, and as soon as I go over this I am in the red. This is subtly demotivating and also means that I have to remember that for me, red is good. I have a suggestion. If, instead of a precise calorie target, the app gave a target range of a small percentage either side of this, then this would solve the issue. I also think it would be more motivating for everyone - you’re in the green if you’re within a certain distance of your target, rather than having ‘failed’ for the day if you go even one calorie over. Calorie counting is not an exact science in any case, so it would also be more realistic.