Can smartphone apps help you lose weight?

Vincent Rahming
Sports & Health Editor
When dining out, it can be difficult to keep track of calories. Lose It! is an app to help you manage calories while on the go, and ultimately lose weight.
The app, which is available free on iTunes and works on iOS products such as the iPod Touch, iPhone, and iPad, calculates a daily calorie budget based on your height, weight, and weight-loss goals. You enter the foods that you eat and any exercise you do throughout the day, and it tells you how many calories you’ve consumed (or burned) and how close you are to your daily quota. You can update your weight to track your real-world results. You can also automatically share your results with friends.

Both the Lose It! phone app and the online version are free. About seven million people have already downloaded Lose It!, although not all of them have stuck with it. About 25 per cent of people who sign up use it regularly for at least a month.
For another take on weight loss, you can buy the Thin-Cam app on iTunes for 99 cents. With this app, you can snap pictures of your meals and snacks, and the app keeps a record of your dietary habits. You can also type notes to yourself in case you want to remember anything about a meal. The latest version lets you share these pictures with friends, operating on the theory that your friends want to see your food.