We love apps because they can be an easy and very affordable tool to help us improve our health and organize our healthcare lives, and apparently, you all love apps, too! We got such a great response to our blog last week on healthcare apps for your phone that when we say an article today in The New York Times on apps to help you diet and lose weight, we knew we’d have to point our readers in that direction.
Whether we like it or not, our weight can play a big part in how much we have to pay for healthcare. Forget about the vanity pounds. For far too many of us, losing the extra poundage can be the difference between being able to get affordable health insurance and health insurance Siberia, so if there’s an easy affordable tool like an app that can help you with it, we are on board. Whether it’s fair or not, fitting into underwriting weight guidelines can make it that much easier to be quoted an affordable monthly health insurance premium, and in some cases, whether you can get health insurance at all.
Why can apps be effective in helping you lose weight?
When you track calories closely, you lose more weight, said Dr. Lawrence Cheskin, associate professor of health, behavior and society at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. But dieters who simply write down their intake at the end of each day tend to underestimate the calories they have consumed (call it wishful thinking).
The beauty of mobile apps is that they work in real time. You eat lunch and immediately log in your meal on your phone. The apps rely on databases to record the calorie counts of thousands of foods, whether a single item like an apple or a prepared meal like a sub sandwich, which takes the guesswork out of totaling calories.
Weight-loss experts are hopeful that apps will help turn chronic dieters into healthy eaters. If you’re looking at a menu wondering whether to order pasta primavera or a Caesar salad, an app can tell you on the spot which option has fewer calories.
Over time, this information becomes part of your own internal database and, the thought is, dieters begin to make healthier choices.
Losing Weight the Smartphone Way, With a Nutritionist in Your Pocket
We haven’t tried all of these apps out yet, but The New York Times has also helpfully reviewed some to give you a start: Four Recommended Apps for Losing Weight
Have any of these apps helped you lose weight? Tell us about it at the MyHealthCafe.com Forums.
Related posts:
- Healthcare On Your Phone? Yes, There’s Probably an App for That…
- Reminder: Latest COBRA Health Insurance Subsidy Extension Has Expired and What to Do If You Lose Your Job Now
- Follow-Up: LA Times Column on Impact of Anthem Blue Cross Health Insurance Rate Increases
- When Your Dependent Isn’t a Dependent on Your Health Insurance, the Healthcare Reform Follow-Up
- Can New Technology Save You Money on Your Medical Bills?
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