I recently restarted my fitness journey, and with that came a radical shift to my diet. For years, I thought that if I ate less (or not at all), I would lose the weight I gained since injuring my knee a few years ago. I was wrong. Changes needed to happen, and I was forced to make conscious decisions to upend my terrible dietary habits.
So here are the best food tracking apps for Android, which can help you gain some perspective on your diet, just like they did for me. When you've taken a gander through our list, be sure to head over to our best Android apps roundup for some more great app ideas.
What are the best food tracking apps for Android?
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I'm glad you asked. As you might have guessed, there are a lot of food tracking apps on the Play Store. You have your big names, some of which are featured here on our list, but it's hard to dig through all the chaff to find the good stuff. So we've done the leg work for you. Here are the best food tracking apps for Android.
Our top pick is Food Diary because of its simplicity, and it doesn't have an account or subscription model. It's just a food diary, as the name suggests, and it perfectly fits most people's needs.
Following that is See How You Eat, a wonderful app that shakes up how you view your dietary changes. It seems to follow more of the Intuitive Eating approach, helping you heal your relationship with food.
Our final top pick is FatSecret Calorie Counter. If Food Diary was too simplistic and minimalist, but you still want to keep things low-key, then FatSecret Calorie Counter is for you. It has additional features like a barcode scanner, as well.
1. Food Diary
When I was looking for a calorie tracker and trying to figure out what exactly I was consuming on a typical day (Hint: not nearly enough whole foods), I found Food Diary. My criteria included an app that didn't require an account or a subscription to unlock the full suite of features. Food Diary met those criteria.
It's extremely basic, letting you enter your calorie counts for each meal. Since it lacks a database for you to search, you need to either read the label on your food or do your research. I'd say that's its biggest downside for most people, but I didn't mind since the data stays local to my phone.
There are ads, but you can remove them to support the developer. Food Diary is an unobtrusive, minimal app that gets the job done very well and without fanfare. For example, you can backup your data to a local file to restore later. There's a calendar for a bird's eye view of your meals. It lets you add additional facets to your diary (like supplements, medications, and exercise). And it's become a new staple on my phone alongside my favorite workout log app.
Track your meals without a hassle
Food Diary is a minimalist calorie/food tracker app that doesn't get in your way with accounts, subscriptions, or anything else superfluous. Despite its minimalist philosophy, it has a lot of great features.
2. See How You Eat
See How You Eat is a different kind of food tracking app. Instead of being focused on counting calories, it tries to make you more aware of what you're eating at the moment. It reminds me of the Intuitive Eating movement, which opposes what we typically think of when we want to lose weight (aka restriction diets).
It's actually a system I quite like since it asks you to think critically about what you're eating versus what your body needs. There's a focus on whole foods, eating when hungry, and stopping when full. See How You Eat wants you to take photos of your meals for your logs, which helps you make better choices for the next one.
It's easy to fall off the bandwagon because of one bad meal or choice, but See How You Eat wants to keep you encouraged to do better the next time around instead of giving up. It's a really neat app and one I recommend if you want something completely different than the usual calorie counting routine.
See what you're eating
See How You Eat takes a different approach to food tracking. Instead of being focused on counting calories, you take photos of your meals. In so doing, you can hopefully build better habits without getting discouraged.
3. FatSecret Calorie Counter
For those who want a more traditional calorie tracker, look no further than FatSecret. It's a full-featured app that does its best to be as minimal as possible. Whereas other apps, some of which are on this list, bombard you with options and features, FatSecret keeps things simple yet powerful.
FatSecret lets you keep track of your meals, exercise, and weight. Not only is there an extensive database of items to slot into your meal logs, but there's also a barcode scanner to go in tandem with that database. You even get Google Fit integration.
Finally, FatSecret boasts a community element to keep you motivated and engaged. When you do things alone, it's easy to feel overwhelmed, so having a community of people going through the same thing can be really helpful for your success. FatSecret syncs with an account and is free, with a subscription unlocking more features.
Counting calories efficiently
FatSecret is our final Top 3 pick, and for a good reason. Though it accomplishes much of the same things as Food Diary, with the addition of an account and subscription model, FatSecret takes things a step further. It's packed with features but isn't overwhelming.
Other great options
Though they didn't quite make the top 3, here are several more food tracking options for you to check out!
MyFitnessPal
And here we have the one that everyone knows, MyFitnessPal. It's a robust app full of conveniences like a barcode scanner, a massive database of food items, and a recipe importer, to name a few!
Of course, the biggest downside is the subscription model pushed in your face. Under Armour really wants you to sign up for the premium version. There's a ton to like about MyFitnessPal, especially all of the integrations it supports, including physical devices for workout tracking. Goal tracking is also a well-loved feature.
Everyone knows about this one
MyFitnessPal is kind of the default calorie tracker for a lot of people. It has a ton of features, but Under Armour really pushes the subscription model on you. It's kind of pricey, but you get a lot for your money.
Fooducate
Fooducate has the usual stuff that you'd expect in a food tracker app, but the reason why it's on our list is because of the steps it takes to go beyond that. It will keep a record of things you eat and when you exercise, but its primary goal is to help you understand what you ate.
That means you can morph your eating habits over time to consume more whole foods and live a better life. In changing your diet slowly and building better habits, you'll find that the weight loss will come in due course. That's what makes Fooducate special, in that it hopes to help you change your relationship with food, much like See How You Eat does.
Learn what you're eating
Fooducate is all about educating you about the food you're eating by helping you analyze the calories you've consumed. Contrast this with a simple calorie counter like FatSecret or MyFitnessPal. It's a hefty price to unlock, though.
Protein Tracker
Protein Tracker does just what the name says. It helps you make sure that you're feeding your muscles enough protein, which is especially important for people working out and looking to pack on lean mass. You start by telling the app how many grams of protein you want a day, and it will calculate what you've consumed based on the meals you input.
The kicker is that you need to know how much protein your meal contains, which may require a bit of research to find out. But you can look at your history to see where you need to improve, maybe by adding another chicken breast throughout the day or more quinoa with lunch. It's a neat app for visualizing your protein consumption, and for that reason, it earns a spot on our list.
Fuel your muscles properly
Protein is key to building and maintaining muscle, so having an app that can help you track how much you're eating is a good one. Add in your protein goals and what you eat in a day, and Protein Tracker will log it for you and let you know how far from your goal you are. The only bummer is the annoying ads.
Stupid Simple Macros Tracker
There's a diet technique called If It Fits Your Macros (IIFYM) in the fitness world, which boils down to eating what you want within the bounds of your daily needs for fats, protein, and carbs. It's a good starting point for understanding nutrition, for sure, and Stupid Simple Macros Tracker can help you visualize your macros.
Simply tell the app your macro goals and what you've eaten that day. You can "save" macros for later, in case of special events and the like, and you can also tag foods with cute icons to help you categorize what you've eaten. There's a great database for searching for and adding foods, too.
Stupid simple indeed
Stupid Simple Macros Tracker does precisely as the name suggests. It's a simple app to track your macros. It allows you to bank macros for special events and tags each food item with an icon for more accessible analysis.
Lose It!
Lose It! is another calorie tracking app, but it does so exceptionally well. It also can track calories based on the pictures you take of your food, though it seems a bit inconsistent. Beyond just calories and macros, Lose It! lets you track workouts, water, sugar, and sleep cycles to give you a holistic view of your diet and fitness.
Lose It! is free with a subscription for extra features. It's got a huge list of things it can do, so be sure to check out this app if you're looking for something new. It even has workout guides to get you started on getting in shape!
Robust and powerful
Lose It! is another excellent calorie counter. It also comes standard with additional diet plans, a barcode scanner, and a vast food database. The subscription unlocks other premium-only features.
Lifesum
Another popular option out there is Lifesum, a calorie-tracking extraordinaire. It just does everything so well, like meal plans, macro counting, multiple supported diets (keto, low-carb, etc.), and a lot more. There's also Google Fit integration to boot.
It's also one of the prettiest apps on our list, with a gorgeous implementation of Material Design. However, the app focuses on improving yourself over time by building better habits, not just looking pretty.
Counting calories can be beautiful
LIfesum is another popular option for counting calories and tracking meals. It has support for multiple diets, meal plans, and macro counting. Plus, you can link it to Google Fit for a better, more holistic view of your health and nutrition.
MyNetDiary
MyNetDiary boasts some of the best features on this list. It sports a massive food database, regular food tracking amenities, and impressive hardware support. In so doing, it aids in keeping you aware of your diet and fitness, letting you track the finer details like glucose levels, heart rate, and more.
You can set goals and timeframes for those goals (like an upcoming vacation, a holiday with family, etc.), and the app will spit out a customized calorie plan built for your needs. From then on, just log your meals and exercise, and you'll be on your way toward meeting your goal. You can also track a ton of different macro- and micronutrients to make sure your diet is as whole as possible.
Track everything
MyNetDiary is more than just a calorie counter. Using additional connected hardware, you can track almost everything about your body while staying on track with your goals. It's a full-featured app, for sure.
