Lifesum App, a personalized health and lifestyle guide with calorie and activity tracker

Being and staying healthy depends a lot on how active you are, and of course what you're eating. Nutrients, fiber, sugar, fat, calories - everything counts.  But counting all that calories you consume and burn daily isn't easy, especially if you're leading busy life. 

Keeping track of what you eat is one of the essential strategies, whether you want to lose, gain or maintain weight, as well as stay fit and healthy. Counting calories and tracking nutritional information manually can be a real pain, so you need a plan and a good tracker.

Fortunately, there are a lot of calorie counter and activity tracker apps available for smartphones, moving us closer to our goals.
Some of these apps work primarily as fitness trackers with the extra nutrition part, such as FitBit mobile app we reviewed recently. Other apps rather focus on counting calories such as Calorie Counter app by MyFitnessPal we also reviewed on SteadyHealth.

Another useful way of tracking your calories in and out, as well as how steady you walk on your path to better health, is Lifesum mobile app made by Scandinavian company of the same name. This app, available for both iOS and Android, is designed to help people get fit, achieve their weight goals, and improve their overall health.

It should be noted that Lifesum app doesn't use the standard strict approach to weight loss. Losing weight isn't the main goal of this app, but rather helping people develop healthy habits that work for them and incorporate them in their lives.

Of course, it's possible to lose weight with Lifesum app, but since its primary goal is addressing eating imbalances, it might be more suitable for people who are looking for the best diet plans that complement their habits and lifestyle, whether its crash diet or slow dietary change.

Lifesum app is free to download and use, although with a standard diet features. A lot of advanced features are available only you subscribe to one of the Premium plans. Lifesum offers 3-month ($21.99), six-month ($29.99), or 1-year ($44.99) subscription model.

Upon downloading the app, you'll be asked to choose your goal from three available options. They include "Be Healthier" that balances diet and fitness activities, "Lose Weight" for those who want to get leaner, and "Gain Weight" if you want to build your muscle strength.

You'll also be asked to register an account, after providing some basic information such as your sex, birthday, height, and weight (current and goal), depending on which plan you've chosen.

Based on your choices, Lifesum app will create a customized plan for the specific period of time. That period can be extended, but not shortened, because the app won't allow you to lose more than one pound per week, for example, if the goal you've chosen is to lose weight.

The first step after registering an account will be adding the food you've eaten for your breakfast. Of course, you can skip this step for now and add the food later. If you choose to complete this step, start typing the name of the food in the search field. The auto-complete feature will start listing results with calorie count and serving size as you type.

Another way to add food is by using built-in barcode scanner that utilizes your phone camera to scan code from the food packages.

Once you're set up, you'll be taken to the main screen where you can start tracking your activity and food. You'll see your remaining daily recommended calories that change depending on whether you are adding or burning calories. Tapping on Details gives you more information about individual nutrients and helps you keep track of your progress over time.

To track what you eat, you should add food after every meal either by scanning the bar code on the food package or searching for it in the database. Just tap on the meal in the list or plus symbol and then choose one of the four meals, i.e. breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snack. Users can also add exercises with type and duration, and also can optionally track their water intake.

Lifesum app also allows users to create a personal eating plan by taking the quick test. The app would determine the best diet for each user based on how they respond to various questions, for example about their cravings, if they want to lose weight, what are their main struggles and do they do their own grocery shopping and cooking.

Lifesum app uses your answers to recommend which one of the several eating plans is best for you. These plans range from strict plans, such as the ketogenic diet, to the more relaxed eating plans, such as standard diet based on recommendations from international food and nutrition organisations such as the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the UK Food Standards Agency, or 5:2 fasting diet, and the specific diets, such as high protein diet. Each of these diet plans has its own target caloric suggestions, nutritional breakdowns, as well as suggested recipes.

However, if you're using free version you won't be able to see much details until you subscribe to one of the Premium options. For example, you'll see the suggested recipes, but you won't be able to see ingredients or the preparation instructions.

This is not a big deal if you plan to use Lifesum as a simple activity and nutrition tracker with calorie counter. The app also has strong social component, which means you can connect with friends to challenge, motivate and inspire each other, or you can join growing Lifesum community.

Lifesum app is also very easy to use with intuitive interface and one of the most beautiful designs I've seen in mobile apps.

So, if you're looking for a simple way to track your nutrition and exercise, you may find Lifesum app very useful. However, if you want more feedback or additional features, you will have to pay for a subscription, which, although a bit pricey, might be worthwhile.

Benefit: Everyone looking to achieve a healthier lifestyle without making drastic changes