4 (Free) Calorie Counter Apps Every Bodybuilder Should Know
- Reading time: 9 min.
Building muscle mass doesn’t happen solely in the gym. What you consume in terms of nutrition also plays a key role in your journey to achieving a strong, muscular body. No matter how hard you train, without paying attention to your diet, you won't get far. Truly great results come from a combination of training and nutrition. We’ve previously explained how to calculate your energy needs and macros. In this article, we’ll show you several handy calorie counting apps that can help you track everything you consume. This way, it becomes easier and clearer to ensure you're getting the right amount of calories, and the appropriate grams of carbohydrates, fats, and proteins. Additionally, we’ve developed a convenient calculator to help you quickly and easily calculate your daily calorie needs. This allows you to know exactly how much you need to eat to reach your goals. Using an app is especially useful because it lets you instantly log what you've eaten, anytime and anywhere.
4 Good Free Calorie Counter Apps
The following apps are all free to download for iPhone and Android. Some may require a paid version for additional features, but with each app, you can at least easily track your calories. If you only want to calculate your body fat percentage, do that here!
1. MyFitnessPal
This is a calorie counter and diet tracker. Your goal may not be to lose weight directly, but you might just want to keep an eye on your calorie intake. This app is suitable for that as well. During the sign-up process, you will be asked what you want: to lose weight, maintain your weight, or gain weight. If you often calculate your macros yourself, you probably know what it takes to achieve your goal. In this case, choose to maintain your weight. You can later specify your daily calorie needs in the app. Once you've signed up, you can set your daily calorie requirement within the app. Additionally, you can also specify your macros and indicate in percentages how many of the calories should come from carbohydrates, fats, or proteins. When you enter what you eat in a day, the app tracks not only the calories but also how they are distributed. You can log what you have eaten by choosing from over 5 million different food items in the MyFitnessPal database. You can also add your own foods and recipes. If you eat something frequently, you don’t need to enter it repeatedly.
Advantages
- You can fill in your daily calorie requirements yourself.
- You can specify what percentage of calories should come from carbohydrates, fats, and proteins.
- Other nutrients, such as vitamins and types of fats, are also indicated.
- There is both a daily overview and a weekly overview.
Disadvantages
- If you want to specify your macros in grams, you will need to purchase the premium version.
- The app is not always very user-friendly.
- The app is free to download, but if you want to pay, you can keep a better track of your macros.
Download this app:
2. MyNetDiary
When you sign up for MyNetDiary, the app immediately calculates how many calories you need to consume to maintain your weight. This is convenient if you find this sufficient, but otherwise, the option to input your own calorie needs is a better idea. In addition to tracking the number of calories, this app also keeps track of how many carbohydrates, fats, and proteins you consume in a day. If you want to specify these quantities yourself, just like in MyFitnessPal, you'll need to download the MyNetDiary Maximum version (for a fee). Most foods can be found in the MyNetDiary database; however, not everything is searchable in Dutch. If you can't find something, you’ll need to look for the English variant or add the product yourself. You can also link the app to your Apple Watch, which will track how much you move in a day.
Advantages
- You can keep a clear overview of your calorie intake.
- The overview immediately distinguishes between carbohydrates, fats, and proteins.
- The app is well-designed, and everything is easy to find.
- You can track everything in detail, from your calories to your glasses of water and waist circumference.
Disadvantages
- To specify your own needs for carbohydrates, fats, and proteins, you will have to pay.
- Not all foods are available in Dutch, and this also applies to sports exercises.
- The app is free to download and offers a lot of features in return.
Download this app:
3. Fitocracy Macros
Are you a bit further along and generally know exactly what you’re consuming, but want to have an overview of it? Then Fitocracy Macros might be something for you. This app is much simpler than the two previous apps, but it does what it needs to do. In a clear main screen, you can easily see your calorie intake for the day and how many grams of carbohydrates, fats, and proteins you have consumed. One downside is that you have to enter this data yourself. You’ll need to check the packaging and calculate how much cheese you’ve eaten and what the nutritional values are.
Advantages
- Easy-to-use app.
- Does what it needs to do, with everything in a neat and clear overview.
- Helps you calculate your macros on rest days and training days.
Disadvantages
- You will still have to do the work of calculating the nutritional values for each meal yourself.
- Perhaps a bit too simple and clean for some.
- Only suitable for those who know exactly what they’re doing and how to calculate everything.
This free app is good but somewhat less complete than the others. Download this app:
4. YAZIO
YAZIO is an app designed to help people lose weight. As a bodybuilder, you might not use the app for this purpose, but it can be very useful for tracking your calories in a clear and organized manner. A handy feature is that, in addition to tracking your calorie intake, you can also monitor how many calories you burn. With a simple calculation, the app might even recommend that you eat a bit more after intense physical activity. YAZIO also allows you to input your daily calorie needs, though it can take some time to find this option. Furthermore, the menu at the bottom is displayed with somewhat unclear symbols. However, you will get used to this over time. An additional advantage is that this app shows you how many carbohydrates, fats, and proteins you are consuming. Moreover, it is the only app in this category that includes Dutch products that you can scan using a barcode. If your product isn't listed, you can easily add it yourself.
Advantages
- Clear and organized app.
- You can input your own calorie needs, which also applies to carbohydrates, fats, and proteins.
- You can scan Dutch products or easily add them yourself.
Disadvantages
- The app's calculations for calories are not always accurate. It is recommended to calculate your macros manually and enter them yourself.
- A complete analysis over a longer period is only available for calories. For carbohydrates, fats, and proteins, you will need to download the paid version.
YAZIO is a very handy and organized app that works well and is also highly suitable for the Dutch market. Download this app:
It varies from person to person which app you like to work with. Where some like simple, others like to have an array of features and extra functions. Please note that with the app Fitocracy Macros you have to count your own carbs, fats and proteins. With the other apps, this is done for you. We hope one of these apps will make it a little easier for you to reach your goals! How do you count your calories and keep track of your macros? Do you use one of these apps or another?