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Meal planning is one of the best ways to kickstart and stay on top of your weight loss goals.
In a world focused on to-do lists and productivity, finding the time and energy to plan healthy meals tailored to your tastes and nutritional needs can be a daunting task.
Meal planning free download - Meal Planning, Meal Planning and Grocery List, LaLa Lunchbox: meal planning for kids, and many more programs. Educational Software Business Software Entertainment. Meal planning is one of the best ways to kickstart and stay on top of your weight loss goals, and new technology can make this task easier. Here are 11 of the best meal planning apps available today. Plan to Eat helps busy households get healthy dinners on the table. Collect and organize your recipes, add those recipes to your meal planning calendar and Plan to Eat will make your organized grocery list for you. Create meal plans with the software’s organizer and use the cost-analysis tool to estimate roughly how much you might spend on groceries. Read the full review. Why Trust Us? In coming up with our 10 favorite programs, we searched for the features most home cooks want, including software that manages and organizes recipes, and permits searches.
Fortunately, a multitude of apps can make meal planning — and maybe weight loss — a lot more attainable. Gone are the days of fishing for recipes from a cookbook while you scribble a grocery list on a post-it note!
Here are 11 of the best meal planning apps available today.
Mealime offers user-friendly, customizable meal plans that you can tailor to your diet while excluding specific foods you don’t like.
It’s available on both iOS and Android platforms and the basic version is free.
After you’ve entered your preferences, you’re presented with a variety of recipe choices, complete with full-color photos, simple instructions and an organized grocery list. An additional bonus is that the recipes all take under 45 minutes to prepare.
However, one of the major drawbacks is that you’re limited to the recipes available on the app as there is no way to import your own.
What’s more, you cannot save previously used meal plans, customize calorie preferences or view nutrition information unless you upgrade to the pro version, which will set you back $5.99/month or $49.99/year.
Download for iPhone | Download for Android | Online version
Paprika is marketed primarily as a recipe manager, but it also includes menu planning features. It’s available on both Android and iOS platforms for a one-time fee of $5.99.
With Paprika, you’re in charge of saving and entering recipes to build meal plans. It does not have its own preset recipes and menus. Therefore, it’s probably best for people who can structure a meal plan with minimal support.
This app provides customized grocery lists and allows you to save recipes directly from the web. Additionally, Paprika detects when more than one recipe needs the same ingredient and consolidates the relevant grocery lists for you.
The app will keep your screen turned on while you’re working from a recipe. It can also detect timer directions within a recipe so that you can set cooking timers directly from the app.
One drawback to this app is that it won’t detect if you’ve entered a recipe from the same URL more than once. If you accidentally enter the same recipe, you’ll end up with duplicates.
Additionally, Paprika doesn’t always include nutrition information. It will only draw nutrition data from the original recipe webpage or information you enter manually.
If you know what types of food meet your calorie goals, this deficiency may not be problematic. However, if you need the extra support, a different app may be more appropriate.
Download for iPhone | Download for Android | Online version
PlateJoy creates customized meal plans for you and your household according to your dietary preferences and weight loss goals. It’s available on both Android and iOS platforms.
PlateJoy is a user-friendly app with beautiful, full-color photos and a high level of customization. Full nutrition information is available for each recipe, and you can sync it with your Fitbit or Jawbone to better track your health goals.
It creates customized grocery lists and helps prevent food waste by allowing you to log the food already in your fridge or pantry. That way, you don’t repurchase items you already have.
Another feature lets you send your grocery list to Instacart for grocery delivery depending on where you live.
The biggest drawbacks to Platejoy are that you cannot enter your own recipes and that it’s somewhat costly compared to other meal planning apps. It’ll set you back $69 for six months or $99 for a 12-month subscription.
Download for iPhone | Download for Android | Online version
Plan to Eat lets you organize all of your favorite recipes and create meal plans in one easy-to-use app. It’s available on both iOS and Android platforms.
You can enter recipes manually or input a URL from any recipe online. Full nutrition information is provided for each recipe, and you can edit or add notes as you please.
Adding recipes to the weekly calendar-style planner will automatically create an organized grocery list.
A unique feature of this app is that you can share your recipes or meal plans with friends and family, making it easier to stay on top of your health goals as a team.
Because it doesn’t come with a preset recipe database, this app is definitely a better choice for those who have a good recipe collection already or who enjoy searching the web for new recipes.
Though Plan to Eat requires a $4.95/month or $39/year fee, you can try it out for free for 30 days.
Download for iPhone | Download for Android | Online version
Yummly is both an app and a website, in which you can browse and save recipes tailored to your personal tastes from all over the web.
It’s available on both iOS and Android platforms and free of charge.
Yummly can filter recipes based on dietary preferences, allergies and skill level. You can even filter for recipes that have videos, which is handy for those looking to develop their cooking skills or learn new techniques.
Full nutrition information is available for each recipe.
When you save recipes, you can organize them into separate meal categories, such as breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks. You can also enter and save your own recipes manually.
One of the major drawbacks of Yummly is its overall usability. While it’s visually appealing, it's complicated and more difficult to use compared to similar apps. If you’re not technologically savvy, it may not be the best choice.
Additionally, Yummly doesn’t have a calendar-style meal plan, which may or may not be an issue depending on the features you desire in a meal planning app.
Download for iPhone | Download for Android | Online version
Make My Plate offers both free and paid customizable meal plans. It’s available on iOS and Android.
The free version offers 1,200-, 1,500- or 1,800-calorie meal plans and comes with templates for breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks. You can also filter based on allergies and food preferences.
After you select your meals for the week, an organized grocery list is automatically created.
One of the most unique features of this app is that each meal is represented in photographic form on a virtual plate. This plate is particularly useful if you’re working on portion control or learning what portions of certain foods look like.
The major drawbacks to this app are the food selections and recipes, which are extremely basic and don’t supply as many choices as competitor apps.
If you’re new to cooking and meal planning, Make My Plate’s simplicity may actually help you get started. But if you easily tire of eating similar entrees week after week, this app may not work for you.
Download for iPhone | Download for Android | Online Version
Pepperplate organizes recipes you know and love while simultaneously adding new recipes you want to try.
It’s available on both Android and iOS platforms and free of charge.
You start by importing recipes manually or copying recipe URLs from supported websites. You are then able to organize your recipes into customizable categories.
After you’ve added your recipes, you can incorporate personalized menus and meal plans into a calendar-style planner complete with grocery lists.
Pepperplate is ideal for the experienced cook who has a solid recipe collection and knows their nutritional needs — especially if that person is trying to lose weight.
Keep in mind that this app doesn’t have a calorie tracking component and doesn’t draw from its own database of foods. Another drawback is that you have to enter recipes and menus via the web, not directly through the app.
Download for iPhone | Download for Android | Online version
Prepear offers the convenience of a pre-set recipe database alongside manual or online input options.
It’s free of charge for the basic version, but you can upgrade to the pro version to unlock additional features for $9.99/month. It’s available on both iOS and Android platforms.
This app is user-friendly and allows you to filter recipes based on taste preferences, allergies and global cuisine options. Each recipe has a full nutrition breakdown. Customizable shopping lists are available upon completion of your meal plan.
The social media component of this app allows you to post photos of your culinary successes (and failures) to friends and family.
Many of the available recipes in the app’s database are kid-friendly, which is ideal if you’re planning meals for your family.
The main drawback of Prepear is the monotony of meal choices within its recipe database — if you add more than one or two filters, you end up with very few menu options. However, this downside is offset if you add your own recipes.
Download for iPhone | Download for Android | Online version
Eat This Much is the perfect marriage between a calorie counter and a meal planner.
It’s free to download and easy to begin using, but many of the features are locked until you upgrade to a paid version, which costs $5/month with an annual subscription. The app is available on iOS and Android.
After you sign up, you enter personal data including your height, weight and health goals. The app then calculates a macronutrient range that you are free to adjust as you desire.
It includes a database of recipes, basic foods and popular restaurant menu items, complete with full nutrition information. You have the added option of entering your own recipes and foods manually if you can’t find them in the preset index.
What’s more, you can create a full meal plan yourself or let the app generate one for you based on your previously entered meal preferences.
A unique feature of this app is its barcode scanner, which scans food items directly into your account.
The main drawbacks are related to the limitations of the free version. Unless you upgrade to the premium version, you can only create a meal plan one day at a time and can’t access automatic grocery lists.
Download for iPhone | Download for Android | Online version
Lose It! is really more of a calorie and macronutrient tracker than a meal planner, though the premium version includes meal planning features.
It’s available for both iOS and Android devices and free to start using. For maximum features, the premium version will set you back $3.33/month. Compared to the cost of similar apps, this is a reasonable price.
You begin by entering your personal anthropometric data and activity level to calculate a target calorie range, after which the app estimates the time it’ll take to reach your weight goal based on the calorie level you choose.
This feature may be helpful for those who are motivated by timelines.
The free version allows you to input your own recipes to create meal plans. You can also scan barcodes of foods to have them added to the database. However, if you want automatic meal planning, you have to upgrade to premium.
While this app excels at monitoring your eating behaviors and weight loss, its main focus is on tracking. One of its major downsides is the lack of automatic, customizable grocery lists to pair with your meal plan.
Download for iPhone | Download for Android | Online version
DietWiz is a meal-planning tool combined with a calorie tracker. It’s available on iOS and Android and free of charge if you want to use the calorie tracker alone. However, the meal planning features require a $79.99 annual fee.
The app claims to work like a personal dietitian by creating meal plans with simple recipes while also tracking calories and macronutrients to help you lose weight. In addition, it has an automatic grocery list feature to couple with your weekly meal plan.
After entering your height, weight and activity level, you’re able to personalize your meal plan according to food preferences, allergies and specific dietary patterns. You can also upload your own recipes if you don’t want to use the ones provided.
One thing to note is that this app addresses scale-based weight loss in particular, and doesn’t seem to be tailored to those who have other health goals such as weight gain or a change in body composition.
One of its major drawbacks is that it gives calorie recommendations according to your ideal weight and doesn’t allow much room for adjusting that goal. Ideal body weight may not always be the most appropriate goal for every individual.
Download for iPhone | Download for Android | Online version
Sticking to your diet and achieving your weight loss goal is a difficult task, but it can be made much easier with a little technological help.
There are numerous options for meal planning apps to support you in your weight loss journey — all of which have different features and options.
Choosing the one that best fits your personality and specific health goals is your best bet for success.
When all is said and done, the best meal planning app — or weight loss strategy in general — is the one you can actually stick to.
There’s a lot to be gained by planning your meals. You eat better, healthier food, do more cooking for yourself and put more thought into what you eat, try new recipes, and save at the grocery store at the same time. However, it can be a little daunting; sifting through recipes and making lists. That’s why there are apps that help. This week, we’re looking at five of the best.
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Earlier in the week we asked you which meal planning apps you thought were the best to help you save money, eat better, and keep making awesome food. You nominated way more than we can highlight here, but these are your top five, in no particular order:
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Cook Smarts isn’t so much a meal planning app as it is an entire meal planning service. In addition to helping you plan out your weekly meals, the service aims to help its users learn to cook, explore new recipes, get familiar with and comfortable in the kitchen, and eat more healthy, homemade food. The site’s blog and newsletter are free, but to make use of their meal planning tools, you’ll have to sign up for an account. You can get three sample plans for free, but the service will really cost you $6/mo (if you pay by the year, it goes up to $8/mo if you want to pay monthly.) The meal plans themselves are incredibly robust though—you tell the service how you want to eat—vegetarian, high protein, low-carb, paleo, or just a plain balanced diet, and you’ll get four new and interesting recipes every week along with ingredients, a downloadable and printable grocery list, and even step-by-step instructions and cooking videos to help you make everything.
Those of you who nominated and praised Cook Smarts explained that for the money you spend, it makes meal planning about as hands-off as you can get, and the results are worth it. Sure, the service isn’t anything you couldn’t do on your own with the right amount of time, but the reason you’re paying for it is so you don’t have to—and Cook Smarts delivers on the quality of recipes, interesting foods, and tutorials. The service also has a robust and active community around it of home cooks and food lovers eager to explore new foods, try new things, and eat well. You can read more in the nomination thread here.
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Pepperplate
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Pepperplate is a mobile app and meal planning tool that excels at organizing your recipe collection, planning your meals based on those recipes, building out shopping lists, and helping you cook the recipes you want to try. It’s available for free on the web, on iOS, Android, Windows Phone/Windows RT, Nook, and Kindle devices. Once you’re signed up, you can import recipes from the web by pasting in the URL for them, or you can enter them manually from your favorite cookbooks or that stash of index cards you have. Once you have a good collection of recipes, you can build menus for your regular meals, for special events, or any night of the week. From there, Pepperplate will generate a shopping list based on your meal plan that you can take with you and cross off at the grocery store. You can share your recipes, meal plans, or shopping lists with others if you need to. When you’re ready to cook, Pepperplate will walk you through the recipes, complete with cooking timers to help you stay on top of simmering or baking food.
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The nomination thread for Pepperplate was full of praise for the fact that the app is free, cross-platform, and easy to use. Many of you highlighted Pepperplate’s bookmarklet that makes adding recipes to your account super-easy (and does a great job of scrubbing recipes from various websites.) Pepperplate isn’t perfect though—it may be free, but some of you noted that it hasn’t seen updates in a while, and the developers may have abandoned it. That’s not a problem as long as the app is good, but it is something to remember if you want support or you’re looking for new features. Read more in the nomination thread here.
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Ziplist
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Ziplist started off as a simple grocery shopping list organizer, but it’s evolved over the years to be a richly featured shopping tool, recipe organizer, and meal planner. The focus of the app is clearly on grocery lists and organizing your weekly shopping, but don’t count out its meal planning features. It’s free, cross platform (available for iOS/Android/web), and even sports a clipping bookmarklet to save all of your favorite recipes (if it’s not already in their database.) When you’re ready to build your meal plan, you get a weekly overview that lets you add specific recipes and dishes to each day, and then generate a grocery list based on those recipes. Then you can sync your meal plan with your calendar outside of the app so you get notifications on what to make, and can share your weekly menu with others. Ziplist can also notify you to sales, coupons, and other discounts available in the stores you shop, so you can save money and eat well at the same time.
Those of you who nominated ZipList praised its department-sorted shopping lists, built-in store circulars and coupons, and the fact that unlike many apps that generate grocery lists based on recipes, it gives you the option to cross items off that you already have before it adds the item to the list. Plus, it doesn’t just add everything blindly, so if you have two recipes that require salt, your shopping list isn’t cluttered with entries for salt. You can read more about it its nomination thread here.
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Plan to Eat
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Plan to Eat is a menu planning and grocery list organizer that is as elegant as it is simple to use. It’s great for organizing your recipes, makes meal-planning a drag-and-drop affair from your recipe list onto a calendar, and will automatically generate your shopping list week by week. We’ve mentioned it before, and while it’s web-only (there are mobile apps on the way, according to the folks behind it) it’s still easy to use, powerful, and it gets the job done. Once you have a meal plan all set, just tell Plan to Eat to build your meal plan, and they’ll send it to you when its done, no hassle. Plan to Eat also plays nice with special diets, which is great if you have to cook for people with different tastes, or you’re trying something new with your own diet. The only downside is its price—a subscription will set you back $5/mo, or $40/yr. If you’re willing to pay the price for that level of ease-of-use, it’s a worthwhile investment so you can spend your time doing other things. There’s a free trial available if you want to give it a whirl before you decide to spend your money.
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Those of you who nominated Plan to Eat highlighted its drag-and-drop menu planner, its exceptional customer service for those people who may need it, and its ease of use. It’s probably one of the easiest menu planning tools in the lineup, and even though it’s not free, many of you noted that you’re busy people with busy lives, and it helps to have Plan to Eat take care of the grocery list and recipe search for you. You can read tons more in its lengthy nominations thread here.
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Paprika
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Paprika is a recipe manager for iPhone, iPad, OS X, Android, Kindle, and Windows devices. There’s no web interface, so you’ll have to use the apps, but it is great at keeping your recipes neatly organized and collected. Importing recipes from the web is easy enough, you just need the URL of the recipe you want to add. Paprika’s focus is on recipe management, but it also includes smart grocery lists and a menu planner that lets you add recipes to your plan, rate them once you’ve prepared them, and generate a grocery list for the week based on the things you want to make. Paprika will also help you when you’re in the kitchen, walking you through each recipe step by step, complete with cooking timers and notifications when it’s time to move on to the next step. If you like a little bit of form with your function, it’s worth a look—the only downside, beyond the fact there’s no web support, is the price. The OS X app is $20, and each of the mobile apps (including separate apps for iPhone and iPad; it’s not universal) are $5. You’ll have to buy a copy for every device you want to use Paprika on.
Paprika’s nominations thread was full of stories about its ease of use, especially compared to other apps, and its tablet-friendliness, especially on the iPad, Kindle, and Nook. Its smart grocery list feature will combine ingredients needed for multiple recipes, so you don’t have a grocery list that has “2 egg” in one place and “1 egg” in another—you’ll just have “3 eggs,” so you’ll know whether to pick up a dozen or a half-dozen, or whatever you actually need. You can read more in its nominations thread here.
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Now that you’ve seen the top five, it’s time to put them to a vote and determine the community favorite:
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No honorable mentions this week, as the votes fell off pretty quickly from these five, but there are plenty of other options in the call for contenders thread if you’re looking for alternatives. Want to make the case for your personal favorite, even if it wasn’t included in the list? Remember, the top five are based on your most popular nominations from the call for contenders thread from earlier in the week. Don’t just complain about the top five, let us know what your preferred alternative is—and make your case for it—in the discussions below.
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The Hive Five is based on reader nominations. As with most Hive Five posts, if your favorite was left out, it didn’t get the nominations required in the call for contenders post to make the top five. We understand it’s a bit of a popularity contest. Have a suggestion for the Hive Five? Send us an email at tips+hivefive@lifehacker.com!
Meal Planning Software For Professionals Australia
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Meal Planning Software For Fitness Professionals
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