I came across this calorie counter app (and more) six weeks ago, and intrigued and interested in really testing the usefulness of this application and the other of its kind, I decided to commit myself seriously and use it every day.
And after more than a month, here I am to tell you how it went.
YAZIO
YAZIO is, as already said, a calories counter app. It actually does a lot more. From the total count of calories and water consumed during the day, through the tracing of the body values and the percentages of macronutrients taken.
In this review I used the version for iOS, subscribing an annual subscription (€ 20/year, about € 1.66 per month. This is the Italian price).
Let’s see in detail the most interesting features of this calories counter app.
Calories Counter App
Obviously this is his main function and it plays it very well. Your calorie requirement estimate is based on different parameters, such as age, weight, height and level of activity. It will also be asked what results are desired: weight loss, maintenance or muscle mass increase.
Food Diary
Once you estimate your daily calorie requirement, you can start! The insertion of food is really quick and easy. Just scan the bar code (if the product is equipped with it) and YAZIO will give you a lot of possibilities. Once you find the one corresponding to your (same calorie intake) you just have to add it to the meal you are registering.
If the food is not present in the database, you can always add it (it will automatically appear in your food list as a food added by you) in a few seconds.
YAZIO also offers the possibility to create meals (in case you often eat the same things on several occasions) and also to create recipes (to be made public or not) to be able to quickly insert some dishes without having to put individually each Ingredient all the time.
Water Counter
This calories counter app also offers the possibility to keep track of the amount of water taken. By default the quantity insertion size is set on 250 ml glasses, but this size (as well as the daily water objective) can be set as you like.
Every time you drink a glass, just tap one of those represented and this, with a nice animation, will fill up by updating the counter all day.
Calorie Requirement Update
One really fantastic thing about YAZIO is its ability to update in real time the calories to be taken during the day. YAZIO interacts with several fitness applications, including Garmin Connect and Apple health.
So, based on the steps and the activities you are going to accomplish, whether they are gym, race or a simple walk, YAZIO will upgrade the daily calorie requirement by considering the calories burned to accomplish these activities.
Body Values
YAZIO also allows you to keep track of your body values. Thanks to my Renpho balance (which I will review soon, you can buy it here) weight data are directly imported from Apple health (which in turn imports them from the official Renpho app). In this way YAZIO keeps track of your progress related to your fitness.
In case you don’t have a balance like that, you can always enter the data manually;the same applies to the activities if you do not have a fitness tracker (if you want to choose one also consider these: Garmin Forerunner 235, Garmin Vivoactive 3 and Tom Tom Spark 3) or do not use that integrated in your smartphone.
Recipes
In the app is included a great list of already inserted and tasty recipes, you can try in case you have lack of ideas or if you wanted to try something new.
Each recipe has a brief introduction, after which several parameters are indicated (time, portions, number of ingredients, difficulty level) to give you a general idea of what awaits you.
Then follows the list of ingredients, which through a simple tap is possible to transport by creating a shopping list(always inside the app) to tick once at the supermarket.
Portions can be increased and the quantities of ingredients are updated accordingly.
After that it is accurately indicated how to prepare the dish. All this can also be quickly displayed by pressing the “Cooking mode” icon, which gives a view in my opinion prettier.
Once you have finished the recipe (or when you prefer) you can then add it to the food diary, to record all the nutritional values of it.
Coach
Through this function you can choose a food plan to follow among those already present, or you can decide to create one by defining your needs so that YAZIO can configure a list of recipes automatically.
Profile
In this latter section, our progress are represented. Here you can also choose to start counting down for fasting (for those diets that require you to skip certain meals sometimes).
Here you can also choose to challenge yourself by starting counters that will indicate how long we are not taking a certain unhealthy food.
Finally you can choose from which other fitness app to import health data automatically between: Apple Health, Fitbit, Garmin Connect and Polar Flow. Since you can choose only one, I recommend Apple Health (for iOS) or Google Health (for Android) as they are applications that collect data from all other (or almost) installed on the device.
YAZIO: does it work?
So let’s draw conclusions.
Since I use this application I have already lost weight (about 2 Kg). If it does not seem much, you have to consider that during this period are also indented the festivities of Easter and Easter Monday!
But the real advantages are obvious. The weight loss was constant and gradual, making it much healthier and even lasting. Moreover, by trying to introduce the correct proportions between carbohydrates, proteins and fats, this led me to lose weight, but not muscle mass.
Always thanks to my Renpho balance, I have seen a decrease in the fat mass, while the muscle has increased.
In addition, even though I first tended to drink too little (just half a liter of fluids throughout the day), the fact of having a counter spurs me to drink in a proper way. Maybe I not always arrive at 2 l a day, but at least at 1.75 at day all times!!
One important thing is also the fact that the calories are dosed correctly: never, at the end of a day, I found myself hungry if I had reached the calorie requirement indicated.
Healthy Lifestyle
In the end the real great possibility that this calories counter app (and more) gave me and continues to give me, is to have a healthier diet and above all VERY CONSCIOUS.
With the daily advice appearing on the page of the diary, YAZIO helps to improve your way of life in several aspects, even pointing out curiosity and effects of them that we would never have imagined.
YAZIO vs MyFitnessPal
Having found myself so well with YAZIO, I decided to experiment in parallel also MyFitnessPal, the well-known calories counter app by Under Armour (manufacturer of fitness products, like this one).
To make an equal comparison, I have activated the premium feature free trial.
As far as I’m concerned, two days later I uninstalled it. Much less intuitive and above all too elaborate and “messed up” compared to YAZIO (not to mention the higher price: € 50/year), which with its simplicity and excellent interface, does not present any functions inferior to MyFitnessPal ones, placing to an overall higher level.
Final Advices
This application really does its job, indeed it does much more: it spurs you and leads you to have a healthier diet and lifestyle.
Just don’t give up: you have to be constant!
Like all things that go into a routine, only through constancy they manage to become a fixed part of our days. That’s why even if at the beginning weighing the food will weigh on you (beware, only at the beginning will be necessary: going forward you’ll be able to estimate the weight of the food, as I always do in the restaurant), do not give up!
In the past I had left go too early when I used a similar app. And now, really committing myself, I realized that in the end I had made a mistake of laziness.
So, in general, remember that constancy, in every single important aspect of life (from relationships to nutrition), is really the key to success.
And it tells you a person who, in many aspects, has experienced it on his own skin.
What do you think about this app?
Did I make you want to try to improve your lifestyle? Do you also have other ideas or advice about it? Do not hesitate to write everything in the comments or to discuss it with us in our forum.
