These 5 Apps Helped Me Lose Weight and Keep It Off

Losing weight often requires a big change in your lifestyle and routine. However, technology made things easier for me, as actual data helped me track my food intake and daily energy expenditure. These are the apps I used to lose 32 pounds in three months.

1 TDEE Calculator

I started my weight loss journey in January 2024, when I weighed 207 pounds. According to Mayo Clinic, losing weight is the act of burning more calories than you eat. So, if I wanted to lose weight, I needed to know how many calories I needed to get through a day and then eat less than that.

To do that, I calculated my total daily energy expenditure (TDEE), or the calories my body needed to function optimally. I used the TDEE Calculator app, which is available for free. You need to enter your age, height, weight, goals, and activity level to estimate your energy expenditure.

If you work from home and rarely go out, you should put Sedentary in the activity level. This was my activity level (which is one of the drawbacks of working from home) before I started my weight-loss journey. Since then, I started walking around 10,000 to 12,000 steps daily, increasing my activity level to Moderate Activity.

After entering all the required data, tap Calculate, and the app will give you the daily and weekly calories you need to maintain your weight, plus your calorie deficit goals for losing weight.

Download: TDEE Calculator for Android | iOS (Free)

2 MyFitnessPal

I consider MyFitnessPal to be the most important app for my weight loss target. That’s because it helps me keep track of the food I eat more accurately, helping me stay mindful of my food intake.

As the TDEE Calculator suggested that I stay below 2,200 calories per day, I use MyFitnessPal to record every meal I eat. I also bring a portable weighing scale to ensure I accurately enter data into the app.

You can use MyFitnessPal for free, but you need a subscription if you want to use its extra features, like Meal Scan and Barcode Scanner, that make tracking easier.

Although the premium subscription is an additional expense, it’s worth it for me, especially since I can keep track of how much I eat per meal and in a day. By keeping my food intake at around 600 calories per meal, I can hit my 1,800-calorie daily goal without feeling hungry before bedtime.

Download: MyFitnessPal for Android | iOS (Free, subscription available)

3 Zepp Life

Smartwatches and smart scales are great for monitoring your daily activity level. They’re beneficial if you often change your activity level to hit your calorie targets. I used the Xiaomi Smart Band 7 daily even before I started my fitness journey, which connected to the Zepp Life app. So, I just continued using it to ensure I hit at least 10,000 steps daily.

I also bought a Xiaomi Mi Body Composition Scale to ensure my results are on track, especially as I could use the Zepp Life app to track my weight. However, if you can’t find Xiaomi’s smart scale where you live, you can check out the Withings Body Smart Scale we reviewed.

You also don’t have to buy a smart scale, as many fitness apps let you enter your weight manually, or you could even use Google Sheets to create your personal tracker as well.

Weigh yourself in the morning (or after waking up, if you’re a night owl like me) after having a bowel movement or urinating to ensure that you only measure your body weight. Also, don’t eat or drink anything so they don’t get counted by the weighing scale, too.

Download: Zepp Life for Android | iOS (Free, subscription available)

4 Samsung Health

My wife received a free Samsung Galaxy Watch6 after she upgraded to the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold5 we reviewed, so I inherited her Samsung Galaxy Watch 4. I used it with the Samsung Health app on my Note10+. Although Samsung Health is available for iOS, you’ll need a Galaxy Watch3, Galaxy Fit2, or older wearable to use it with an iPhone.

I love Samsung Health’s features that you use in conjunction with Samsung’s smartwatches. For example, I use the watch to monitor my daily stress levels and sleep quality. Poor sleep and high stress levels could make you gain weight, so keeping them in check is crucial.

Since I suffered from high blood pressure and took maintenance medicine before I started losing weight, I also track my blood pressure levels using Samsung Health when I’m away from my automatic blood pressure monitor.

However, you should only use the app and smartwatch as an indication of your blood pressure levels, as they’re not medical devices. Also, don’t stop taking medication without the advice of your physician.

Download: Samsung Health for Android | iOS (Free)

5 Strong

Finally, I use the Strong app to monitor my workouts. While calorie deficit and a slight increase in activity are enough for weight loss, I also wanted to look a bit better physically, so I started working out.

I already have a chosen routine, but my trainer said progressive overload is crucial to build muscle. Progressive overload is when you increase the weights you use or the amount of reps while working out, ensuring that you grow stronger (and thus get bigger muscles) over time.

The Strong app lets me track my exercises, and I can see which routines I ran in a week, the number of reps and sets I did, and the weights I used. Although the Strong app also offers a paid subscription that costs $4.99 per month or $29.99 annually, I use the free version as I find that enough for my needs.

However, if you’re an enthusiast bodybuilder, consider getting the premium subscription, as it will give you analytics and insights that will help you take your form and fitness to the next level.

Download: Strong for Android | iOS (Free, subscription available)

All of the above apps (and the devices I own) have collectively helped me lose my body weight and keep it off since I started my journey. I hope you now have an idea of the apps you need to use with the devices you own to achieve your weight loss goals.