The 3 Best Nutrition Apps for Beginners
...Simplify Eating Healthy with These Easy-to-Use Apps
Written by: Dr. Marc Morris Ph.D CSCS
If you’re looking to lose weight or have healthier eating habits, you’re probably searching for an app to help you along the way.
Today I’m breaking down the 3 best nutrition apps for beginners that will make creating better eating habits simple, accurate, and fast.
#1: Welling
Welling is an AI-powered food-tracking app that simplifies nutrition tracking while helping you achieve your health and fitness goals. Unlike other nutrition apps, Welling uses an AI Chat Bot and eliminates the hassle of manually logging what you eat, since all you have to do is either type what you ate, or take a picture, and enter it into the app.
App features:
- Calorie and Macronutrient Summaries: Get a breakdown of your calorie and macronutrient intake based on your meals.
- Tips to Improve your Meals: Get tips that are tailored to your goals, whether you're aiming to cut calories, increase protein, or add fiber.
- Motivational Insights: Watch your progress to stay motivated.
- Meal Photo Analysis: Upload a picture of your meal, and Welling's AI will analyze it to log your nutrition information.
- Actionable Suggestions: Get recommendations to improve your eating habits.
- Analyze Menu Links: Add a menu link to a restaurant, and Welling will suggest meal options that fit your goals.
- Custom Meal Plans and Workouts: Personalized meal plans and workout routines to fit your lifestyle and goals.
- Answers to Nutrition Questions: Use the AI chatbot to answer any questions you may have.
Pricing:
For $15/month (or discounted 3- and 12-month plans), Welling offers unmatched convenience and features. Try it for free for 7 days and see if it fits your needs.
#2: MacrosFirst
If you're looking for more control and accuracy in your food tracking, or if your coach has you targeting specific daily nutrition goals, MacrosFirst might be the perfect app for you.
App Features:
- User-Friendly Design: The app's sleek design makes tracking easier.
- Flexible Food Logging: Log your food using the database, barcode scanning, or the smart label scanner.
- A Large, Verified Food Database: Log your food through the database.
- Copy Meals: Copy meals from previous days to save time.
- Create and Save Recipes: Build your own recipes in-app by combining ingredients.
- Portion Calculator: Adjust portions to see how these changes will impact your nutritional intake.
Premium Features: MacrosFirst offers a premium version for $6.67 per month, unlocking advanced tools like:
- AI Search for faster food logging
- Macro Math, gives you more control over how calories and macros are calculated
That said, the free version is incredible and offers all the essentials for effective tracking, especially for beginners.
If you’re serious about your nutrition and want a reliable, intuitive app with a focus on macros, MacrosFirst is an excellent choice.
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#3: Eat This Much
Eat This Much is a meal-planning app that generates recipes and meal plans tailored to your calories and macros, making it an excellent choice for anyone looking to take the guesswork out of their nutrition.
App Features:
- Generated Recipes and Meal Plans: Create meal plans based on your calories and macros
- Customizable Goals and Preferences: Allows input of goals, dietary preferences, and specific requirements
- Organized Meal Plans: Stores and organizes daily or weekly meal plans within the app
- Recipes: Provides step-by-step recipes with detailed ingredient lists.
- Customizable meals: based on prep time, cost, difficulty, and preferred ingredients.
- Save Favorite Recipes: Save your favorite recipes to make in the future.
- Meal preparation guides: Access meal prep guides to help you plan ahead for the week.
Eat This Much also has a premium version, which costs $15/month or $50/year.
Premium Features:
- Weekly meal planning
- Automatic grocery lists
- Leftover planning
I often recommend Eat This Much to beginners because it simplifies nutrition in a way that few other tools can. Instead of guessing what to eat, you’re given a clear plan to follow.
Even for my own nutrition clients who prefer a tracking-based approach with apps like MacrosFirst or MyFitnessPal, I still recommend checking out Eat This Much as a resource for recipe inspiration and meal ideas.
Honorable Mention: MyFitnessPal
While it’s not one of my top choices, MyFitnessPal deserves an honorable mention. Many of you have probably heard of it since it’s been around for years and remains a widely recognized nutrition-tracking app.
App Features:
- Massive food database
- Online tutorials, hacks, and community tips to help beginners learn the app quickly. This level of support is unmatched by most newer tracking apps.
- Apple Watch, Garmin, and Fitbit integrations
- Compatible with many professional training software platforms.
Why It’s Not My Top Pick
While MyFitnessPal has its strengths, there are a few downsides:
- Ads and Paywalls: The free version is cluttered with ads, and essential features like the barcode scanner are now locked behind a subscription.
- Clunky User Experience: Compared to newer apps, its interface can feel outdated and less intuitive.
If the integrations and massive database align with your needs, or if your coach recommends it, MyFitnessPal can still be a solid choice. However, for those looking for a more streamlined, beginner-friendly experience, there are better options available.
When it comes to reaching your health and fitness goals, finding the right nutrition app can make all the difference. Each app we’ve discussed offers unique strengths tailored to different needs.
The best app for you ultimately depends on your personal goals, lifestyle, and level of experience.
Remember, the key to success is consistency, and choosing a tool that fits your preferences will help you build habits that last.
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