THE PANDEMIC has seen almost half of adults put on weight.
So if you’re looking for something to motivate you to shift some pounds, you’re not alone.
There are a variety of NHS endorsed apps that can help people introduce small changes that will help them eat better and get active – and all of them are free.
It includes the newly updated NHS Weight Loss Plan app that has shown to help people lose a stone in three months.
Public Health England has launched its new Better Health campaign to try and get Britons to slim down after Covid.
The pandemic not only closed gyms, forced people into their homes and led to an epidemic of comfort eating, but it also shone a light on an already existing obesity problem in the UK.
Obesity was shown to raise the risk of Covid death, on top of being linked to diabetes, heart disease and other health conditions.
But those struggling to lose weight can change, as Dr Alison Tedstone, Chief Nutritionist, Public Health England said: “The past sixteen months have caused many to change their habits, so it is not a surprise to see so many people reporting weight gain.
“We know how hard it can be to lose weight and keep it off – so, we are providing a range of support options to help motivate people and help them maintain a healthy weight.
“It’s never too late to make changes to help improve your health. Visit the Better Health website for ideas and support that is right for you and you can seek support from your local weight management service.”
These five apps from Public Health England are a good place to start:
1. NHS Weight Loss Plan
People who used and followed the NHS Weight Loss Plan app over 12 weeks reported a loss on average of almost a stone (5.8kg), according to research due to be published shortly by Public Health England (PHE).
The app, which also comes in downloadable PDFs, has targets each week to keep you motivated.
Daily, you’ll have to total how many calories you’ve eaten, how much exercise you’ve done and whether you’ve eaten your five portions of frit and veg.
In the new updated version, you can turn on the “calorie mode switch” that allows you to record food choices without the numbers.
The NHS says to lose weight in a safe way, the average person should reduce their daily calorie intake by 600. Women should aim for 1,400 calories each day, and men 1,900.
But everyone is different; you can change this to a person amount using the BMI calculator.
Rating on App Store: 4.5/10
2. Easy Meals
If counting calories sounds like far too much fuss for you, then Easy Meals may be the way to go.
It offers more than 150 calorie-counted recipes so you don’t need to calculate it yourself.
Each nutritious meal has the calorie total included to make it easier for people to stick to a gaol, as well as learn portion control.
All you need to do is select a meal and the app will tell you how much of each food to weigh out, and steps for how to cook.
Rating on App Store: 4.7/5
3. NHS Active 10 Walking Tracker
You don’t need a gym to start exercising more.
This app is focused on getting people walking more often and is ideal for those starting from a low or zero level of activity.
It says: “Just ten minutes of brisk walking every day can get your heart pumping and can make you feel more energetic, as well as lowering your risk of serious illnesses like heart disease and type 2 diabetes.
“Going for a brisk walk is a great way to clear your head and improve your mood.”
The app tracks every time you walk throughout the day, including how many minutes were brisk, so you can set goals to help you progress.
It also prompts you with questions about why you want to get healthier to keep you focused.
Rating on App Store: 4.7/5
4. Change4Life Food Scanner
This simple app reveals just how high in salt and sugar some of your favourite foods are.
And it can come as a shock when some of the foods you thought were healthy turn out not to be.
All you need to do is scan the barcode of a product, such as a can of soup, cereal, jam or pasta, and the app shows in visual form how many sugar cubes of sachets of salt are inside a serving.
It clearly displays each item's “traffic lights” for sugar, saturated fat and salt, with low, medium and high.
Over the following months it plans to show alternatives for the items you scan, making better choices even easier to make as you shop.
For now it's a useful tool to see what items in your cupboard are silently adding to your waistline.
Rating on App Store: 4.7/5
5. NHS Couch to 5K
Running is known to be one of the best exercises for blitzing body fat – and this app gets people who have never run before off the sofa and burning calories.
It incorporates a mixture of running and walking, and if followed properly, should allow beginners to run a 5K in just nine weeks.
Users of Couch to 5K have a choice of five trainers to support them – including and BBC presenter Jo Whiley, Olympian Michael Johnson and comedic Sarah Millican.
As you complete the workouts, the app will track and award your progress and give you tips for future workouts.
And on top of this, it's free to download.
Rating on App Store: 4.8/5
Other weight loss and fitness apps loved by millions
Lose It!
Lose It! Is a user-friendly weight-loss app focused on calorie counting and weight tracking.
It generates your daily calorie needs and a personalised weight loss plan through an analysis of your weight, age and health goals.
Once your plan is established you can easily log your food intake, which pulls from a huge database of over seven million foods, restaurant items and brands.
What makes Lose It! different from other weight loss apps is that it has a “Snap It” feature, which allows you to track your food intake and portion sizes simply by taking pictures of your meals.
It also has a community aspect, where you can join challenges with other users and share information in a forum.
See How You Eat
The See How You Eat app aims to help you to maintain a balanced diet and prevent overeating.
It used food photos to monitor meals and snacks and stops you from munching on any excess food.
A premium version of See How You Eat provides feedback directly from a nutrition coach.
MyFitnessPal
This calorie counting app has been popular for years as a no-frills way of tracking how many calories you eat.
It has a database of millions of foods, including meals at restaurants and takeaways, while also allowing you to input your own recipe numbers. The barcode function also makes it easy to enter foods you buy in the shop.
After you enter your food intake, MyFitnessPal provides a breakdown of the calories and nutrients that you ate over the day so you can easily see where you go wrong.
One disadvantage of this app is it takes some dedication to weigh and find all the foods you eat.
WW App
WW App comes from the wel known Weight Watchers company, which runs face-to-face weight loss groups.
But the app has shown in research to help people budge at least 2.6 per cent more weight over a year compared to those who don't use it.
The app helps people on the diet to stick to their calorie intake, using the SmartPoints system.
Each person is assigned a specific amount of “points” to aim for in their diet.
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