Fit Phone

You’ve created your new healthier eating plan and you’re using our getting in shape tips to get you started on your weight-loss journey, but you are looking for some extra help. U.S. News & World Report  tested health, fitness and nutrition applications at The App Store (the application store for iPhones and the iPod Touch) and found the best apps to help you along the way (to the grocery store, the movies, to work, and wherever else your day takes you!).
 
Absolute Fitness ($14.99)
This application is a little pricey, but the magazine deemed it the “most impressive health app” they tested. This easy-to-use program will help you track with food and exercise diaries, set target nutrition and weight goals and even graphs data like calorie, saturated fat and sodium intake and even cholesterol levels. The application will let you know if you’re on the track to meeting your goals by calculating calories in minus calories burned (you enter what you eat at each meal and what exercises you do). The program also has nutritional information on specific brand-name products as well as on a wide-range of foods.
 
Quitter (free)
This motivational and free application is for former smokers and those trying to quit. The application calculates how much money you are saving based on how much you used to smoke and how long it’s been since your last cig. Whenever you open the program, it congratulates you, lets you know how long you’ve been smoke free and graphs your savings so far.
 
ICE ($.99)
This application stands for In Case of Emergency and acts like the digital version of the medical card in your wallet. You enter your allergies to food and medication (and latex, etc.), any medications you are currently taking and you can even record any medical conditions you may have. There is no section for blood type and information on organ donation and emergency personnel might not think to check your iPhone for medical info. (We’re sure that at some point, that will be the first place they check. Oh, technology.)
 
Kenkou ($4.99)
The name of this program means “health” in Japanese and lets you track personal health and wellness data. Particularly of good use for people with diabetes, the application has you enter blood sugar levels, blood pressure, cholesterol and weight, all with a date stamp, enabling you to track trends over time. You can also record the amount of time you exercise and what foods you eat.
 
iScale ($4.99)
Less expensive than the Absolute Fitness app, it's similar in concept with fewer features. This program allows users to enter the nutritional and caloric information for everything eaten. It also features an FDA food database with nutritional information on a wide-variety of foods, including fresh fruits and vegetables and calculates your total calories consumed, while keeping a shopping list of foods you need to restock.  
 
Have you used any of these applications? Let us know how you keep track of your health and fitness goals!