Six calorie and carb counting apps

Gone are the days where, if you're watching your calories, you need to carry around a little notebook to keep track. Now your smartphone can keep track of all that tedious information for you, with just a few taps. Apps are useful whether you're trying to lose weight or just trying to find an easier way to keep track of food intake and exercise in order to lead a healthier lifestyle. Here are some of the top calorie counters for iOS and Android devices.

Calorie Counter & Diet Tracker by MyFitnessPal: This app is fast and easy to use with a huge database of more than two million foods. It has information for more than 350 exercises. You can quickly enter in your food and exercise to see how your day is stacking up health-wise. In addition to the usual nutrition apps, this one features a free barcode scanner to help you easily find the foods you've eaten. The app syncs with the web, making it accessible on all your devices. This app is free for iOS and Android devices.

Lose It!: This is one of my favorite apps because the interface is cleaner and simpler looking than many nutrition apps. Like most apps of this type, it has a comprehensive database of foods and exercises. In addition to calories, you can track carbohydrates, fat, proteins and more. It has a barcode scanner to quickly find foods and a recipe builder to calculate the nutritional information for complicated dishes. The app will send you a reminder if you forget to log your meal. Lose It! is free for iOS devices.

Nutrition Menu: This app eliminates the guesswork with dieting and eating healthfully. It calculates the nutritional information of more than 92,000 food items and also allows you to calculate your Food Score (for Weight Watchers). You can basically do Weight Watchers without paying for the official WW monthly service if you have this app. It's very user friendly, and logging exercise, notes and more is a snap (or a tap). The app is $2.99 for iOS devices.

Track3: Track3 is an excellent app for diabetics. It will help you track things that affect your blood glucose level. You can log your glucose levels and view charts of your glucose trends. The app has carb and calorie counts for more than 100,000 foods, including restaurants. Enter your own recipes to count carbs and calories for them. Although the app was designed for diabetics, it is still useful for those who are just counting their carbs. When looking at foods, you'll get a quick glance at the total carb count, but tapping the item gives a more detailed look, including fiber and sugars. It is $5.99 for iOS devices and $5.99 for Android devices. (It is 50% off at $2.99 for iOS for a limited time.) There's a Lite version that you can try for free with limited capabilities.

Carb Counting with Lenny: Counting carbs can be just as tedious as counting calories, but this app makes it fun. It is especially helpful for children who need to watch their carbs (those with diabetes, in particular). The app has the usual features of nutrition apps but also has carb games to test your knowledge about carbs and managing diabetes. It is free for Android devices.

Meal Snap: If you're feeling lucky and don't need your nutritional information to be precise, Meal Snap is a good choice to give you an idea of how many calories you're consuming. All you have to do is snap a picture of the food you're eating, add a description if you'd like and let the app work its magic. It will give you a nutritional breakdown of your food, and help you track your nutritional habits over time. I haven't personally tried this app, but if you've tried it, I'm curious to know if it's even remotely accurate. I'll venture a guess that if you add information in the description, the calculations will be more accurate. The app is $2.99 for iOS devices.

What are your favorite apps for counting calories, carbs or tracking exercise? Share your recommendations in the comments.

Photo of vegetables courtesy Martin Cathrae, via Flickr.

Photo of fruit plate courtesy mosespreciado, via Flickr.