Keeping a food journal can be beneficial for a host of reasons, but remembering to write down what you eat during the day can be stressful if you already have a lengthy to-do list. I’m also the type of person who gets discouraged when counting calories, so I was impressed with the simple food tracking provided in the new app Foodish, for iPhone and iPod Touch.
Rather than putting the focus on calories, or math of any sort, Foodish instead focuses on the healthfulness of your diet. In Foodish, which has a striking interface, you’ll hit the plus sign to add a meal, snack or drink. You’ll enter in a title — usually just the food name or items on the plate — and mark the item with one of four faces, depending on how healthy you think the meal was. There’s no one checking up on you, and there’s no right answer — which face you choose is based on your interpretation of what you’re eating. Then you’ll add a photo, either taken in app or from the library, of your food or drink. That’s it. If you want, you can share you meal over Facebook or Twitter or get more information on the food or brand on Wiki (an interesting idea, but it did strike me as a bit strange).
As you use the app more, you’ll be able to create a complete picture of what your diet looks like. The app will also track the average health of your nutrition, based on how you use the smileys. Because the app doesn’t require you to enter a title or add a photo, you could use the service with only text (it won’t be as pretty) or with just photos, and never write anything down. I think the ability to add longer notes to foods might prove helpful for some users, but it’s not a necessary addition.
Foodish makes you think about the foods you eat in a low-pressure, well-executed environment. Its affirmations, such as “You’ve got a sweet tooth,” “You could do worse,” or “Wow! Great day so far,” probably will keep you motivated to continue using the app. Some might balk at Foodish’s price tag, which is on the higher side, but you get what you pay for in terms of design and good looks.
Download the free Appolicious iPhone app
