I used to use the My Fitness Pal app to count calories, but it seems that since I’ve last used it they put more things in the paid tier, including barcode scanning which I always found super useful. But I think I’ll go back to CICO tracking because my weight has crawled back up to where it was before.
Is there a good alternative app with as powerful logging and calorie counting features or should I just pay the money?
LoseIt! is the app I use. The free version has very good functionality. I pay for premium currently because I wanted to put food in future days and track protein, but you really don’t need to. I didn’t for several months. It’s a very intuitive interface and the way it does streaks and cutesy motivation things works really well for me. I also like the big calendar that the iOS version has because it helps me visualize my weekly calories, not just the daily version.
I agree with the other commenter about the database being somewhat questionable, you have to be a little discerning. Typically I look for entries that have other nutrition facts listed besides the calories. You can also filter for verified only. But it’s quite good for individual ingredients, so as long as you’re logging 1 tortilla, 2 eggs, etc rather than just “breakfast burrito” it shouldn’t be a problem, and that’s a more accurate method anyway. But I also have heard great things about chronometer.