Weight Watchers Mobile review: Best diet plan app for iPhone

Weight Watchers Mobile is currently the best way to plan and monitor your diet on the iPhone. It gives you the ability to manage your entire Weight Watchers diet plan including tracking your points and weight, searching for restaurants and recipes, calculating point values, reading success stories to stay motivated, and more. If you're committed to not only eating better but living a healthier lifestyle, Weight Watchers not only provides excellent online tools but a great iPhone app that's with you wherever you go.

Since it's Mobile Nations Fitness Month, I've decided to take a more practical approach to dieting than just counting calories with something like MyFitnessPal. I want to make a lifestyle change that will hopefully stick with me even after I'm done counting points. I've found Weight Watchers to be the best solution for developing better eating habits that you can actually live with.

I followed the plan for 3 months last year and lost almost 25 pounds which I've managed to keep off for the most part. This time around I've decided I'd like to get down to my goal weight. At the end of the day, Weight Watchers is about changing bad habits and putting good ones in their place.

Gone are the days of counting and tracking points in a paper tracker. If you've got an iPhone (or iPad), it's never been easier to stick with Weight Watchers. Once you've signed up online and entered in some personal information you'll be able to sign into the Weight Watchers apps and start tracking from there.

The main thing you'll be using the app for is tracking points and managing your weight loss. You can select from a large list of restaurants and recipes that have point values pre-calculated for you already or you can calculate points and portion sizes yourself.

For those of you not familiar with Weight Watchers, they take fats, carbs, fiber, and protein into consideration. Enter those 4 things into the built-in points calculator and it will give you the PointsPlus value. Those of you familiar with Weight Watchers from years ago probably remember the point sliders you had to use. You can throw those away now.

You can also track your weight loss progress through the app. You weigh in once a week, always on the same day, and input your weight into the app. It will then track your progress and milestones for you. Healthy checks are also built in to the app so you can make sure you're consuming the right kinds of foods such as water, oils, vegetables, and fruits.

If you don't want to subscribe to Weight Watchers or pay a subscription fee you can still benefit from the app. Maybe you don't need to track points but just want to make it a point to eat healthier. You can view many featured recipes as well as access cheat sheets. Cheat sheets are great for estimating portion sizes for common proteins and the value for alcohol mixed drinks.

I've found cheat sheets to be useful when I'm eating somewhere that may not have nutritional information readily available or I eat at someone's house and I'm not quite sure of point values. I can estimate by using built-in cheat sheets. I've also found it helpful to store nutritional PDF sheets in apps like iBooks or Dropbox for quick reference when it's a restaurant that Weight Watchers doesn't have information on. This is great for smaller local places and chains that may not be national.

The good

• The built-in points calculator makes it easier than ever to get points values on the go
• Huge database of recipes gives you great new meal choices with reasonable point values
• Cheat sheets are a great help when nutritional information isn't available

The bad

• Really requires a Weight Watchers subscription for full benefit
• Local restaurants most likely won't be listed so you'll still have to calculate
• Friends can't be added via the app

Conclusion

Weight Watchers is one of the best diet plans around because it encourages you to make a lifestyle change instead of just counting calories. Weight Watchers Mobile for iPhone makes it easier than ever to track your diet plan and make healthier decisions about food choices.

If you're trying to decide what diet plan is right for you but know you don't want to count only calories, Weight Watchers is a great middle ground that's easy to follow and stay on track with. When paired with their iPhone app, it's never been easier to stay on track.