A new app that can help people meet their weight loss goals.
One of the major concerns for many Americans, and those who work in the healthcare industry, is weight loss. As we grow larger, our nation's health outlook gets bleaker. The problem is that making a commitment to losing weight and eating healthy is really tough. The challenge is staying motivated over the long haul.
In an effort to help, a new company called The Eatery has come up with a plan that just might help.
If you talk to nutritionist, they will tell you that the best ways to stay focused and reach your weight loss goals are to keep track of everything you eat and ask your friends and family to help you stay on track. Combining that wisdom with the widespread use of smartphones, the company has introduced a new app that helps do all of this.
The Eatery's weight loss plan is to stop thinking about calories or carb-counting and instead use the app to take a photo of each thing before you eat it. Once you upload the photo, you are asked to rate the meal on it's healthiness. It keeps track of things like the time of day and how often you eat as well. This allows the dieter to see trends that may not have been apparent on their own. For example, if you eat a candy bar most days between 3 and 4, the app will be able to track just how often it happens. Or, if you eat more unhealthy foods on days you don't eat breakfast, you'll be able to see that as well.
The other interesting feature of the app is that it allows you to connect with others and offer feedback on their food choices. Your friends, family and even people you don't know can comment on your lunch. This sort of accountability sounds a little uncomfortable to me, because I don't think I would want people to be judging my meal. On the other hand, it certainly helps keep the lies we all tell ourselves to a minimum. For example, I might have a salad for lunch and think that I am eating healthy, but the photo of my salad drenched in ranch dressing and covered with bacon bits will tell a completely different story. Having people point this out to me will keep me from deluding myself.
It remains to be seen how successful this app will be. It is designed as part of an overall approach to healthcare by Massive Health, who plans to design other tools that will help us change the way we think about our bodies and our health.
Would you use this type of app? Do you think that it could be helpful when trying to lose weight? Please share your thoughts in the comments.
By Melissa Kennedy- Melissa is a 9 year blog veteran and a freelance writer for HealthcareJobsiteBlog and Beyond.com.. Along with helping others find the job of their dreams, she enjoys computer geekery, raising a teenager, supporting her local library, writing about herself in the third person and working on her next novel.
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