Is your phone sabotaging your gains? New research suggests that popular calorie-counting and workout-tracking apps may be doing more harm than good, leaving users feeling frustrated rather than fired up to reach their goals. That\u2019s bad news for the 92 million Americans who rely on these platforms to track every bite and bench press, raising questions about whether the tech meant to help them is actually holding them back.<\/p>\n
Digital health tracking apps have surged in popularity in recent years. Prostock-studio \u2013 stock.adobe.com<\/span> \u201cIn these posts, we found a lot of blame and shame, with people feeling they were not doing as well as they should be,\u201d senior author Dr. Paulina Bondaronek said in a press release. \u201cThese emotional effects may end up harming people\u2019s motivation and their health.\u201d Bondaronek and her colleagues sorted the posts into broad themes to get a clearer picture of users\u2019 struggles.<\/p>\n They found that many expressed frustration at how complicated it was to track calories, with some saying the platforms weren\u2019t personalized enough to be accurate. One user, for instance, pointed out that they couldn\u2019t log breastfeeding, an activity that burns a significant number of calories. Health tracking apps sometimes set unrealistic or dangerous goals. fizkes \u2013 stock.adobe.com<\/span> Another major theme the researchers uncovered was the emotional toll of logging daily activity. Some users said they felt \u201cpestered\u201d by notifications to log calories or keep sugar intake low. Intended to encourage consistency, the reminders often sparked judgment and anxiety, with some avoiding certain foods just to dodge negative feedback \u2014 undermining the very purpose of self-monitoring. Health tracking apps can lead to feelings of anxiety and shame when goals aren\u2019t met. Studio Romantic \u2013 stock.adobe.com<\/span> Negative sentiments like these align with previous studies showing that measuring an activity can reduce enjoyment. Combined with unattainable goals, mounting shame and tech problems, the researchers found many users end up giving up. Diligently tracking your physical activity might take some of the joy out of exercising. blackzheep \u2013 stock.adobe.com<\/span> Bondaronek noted some limitations to the study. For example, the team only looked at negative posts, so they couldn\u2019t assess the overall effects of the platforms on users\u2019 well-being. \u201cThe apps may have a negative side, but they likely also provide benefits to many people,\u201d she said. Looking ahead, the researchers are calling on health apps to revamp their designs. They\u2019d like to see user-centered, psychologically informed platforms that prioritize well-being and intrinsic motivation over rigid quantitative goals like weight loss.<\/p>\n \u201cMany of these apps also ask users to do tasks individually,\u201d Bondaronek said. \u201cThis misses out the great potential of social connectedness for improving our health and happiness.\u201d <\/p>\n The research highlights the potential downsides of relying heavily on fitness apps for health and wellness. While these apps can provide useful tracking and motivation tools, their emphasis on quantitative goals and self-monitoring can lead to negative emotional effects, decreased motivation, and a diminished enjoyment of physical activity. It’s essential for app developers to consider these findings and strive to create more balanced, user-friendly, and supportive platforms that prioritize overall well-being.<\/p>\n The Dark Side of Fitness Apps Introduction to the Problem Is your phone sabotaging your gains? New research suggests that popular calorie-counting and workout-tracking apps may be doing more harm than good, leaving users feeling frustrated rather than fired up to reach their goals. That\u2019s bad news for the 92 million Americans who rely on […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":24539,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rank_math_lock_modified_date":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-24537","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-health-wellness"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i3.wp.com\/nypost.com\/wp-content%2Fuploads%2Fsites%2F2%2F2025%2F10%2Fcropped-african-american-lady-checking-114156741.jpg?quality%3D90%26strip%3Dall&w=1920&resize=1920,1279&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/new-york\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24537"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/new-york\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/new-york\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/new-york\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/new-york\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24537"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/new-york\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24537\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":24540,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/new-york\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24537\/revisions\/24540"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/new-york\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/24539"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/new-york\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24537"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/new-york\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24537"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/new-york\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24537"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nIn the study, researchers at University College London and Loughborough University analyzed 58,881 posts on X (formerly Twitter) about five popular fitness apps. Using artificial intelligence, the team sifted through the data and identified 13,799 posts where users expressed negative feelings about the programs.<\/p>\nNegative Emotional Effects<\/h3>\n
Complications and Unrealistic Goals<\/h2>\n
\nThe goals set by the platforms also aren\u2019t based on public health guidelines, but on the user\u2019s personal weight targets \u2014 which the researchers said can lead to unrealistic or even unsafe recommendations. One user reported being told they needed to consume \u201c\u2212700 (negative 700) calories a day\u201d to reach their target weight.<\/p>\nEmotional Toll and Technical Issues<\/h3>\n
\nUsers also reported technical glitches that added to their frustrations, like mismatched calorie counts when syncing the same workout across platforms and app crashes that erased hours of effort.<\/p>\nImpact on Motivation and Enjoyment<\/h2>\n
\n\u201cSelf-monitoring and action planning are powerful behaviour change techniques. But we over-use them. We need to learn to be kinder to ourselves,\u201d Bondaronek said. \u201cWe are good at blaming and shaming because we think it will help us to do better but actually it has the opposite effect.\u201d<\/p>\nLimitations and Future Directions<\/h2>\n
The Power of Social Connectedness<\/h3>\n
Conclusion<\/h2>\n
FAQs<\/h2>\n
\n
\nA: No, not all fitness apps are harmful. However, some may have features that lead to negative emotional effects, unrealistic goals, and technical issues.<\/li>\n
\nA: Use apps that prioritize well-being, set realistic goals, and focus on intrinsic motivation. It\u2019s also important to maintain a balance between tracking progress and enjoying physical activity without the app.<\/li>\n
\nA: Developers should focus on creating user-centered, psychologically informed platforms that prioritize well-being and social connectedness, rather than just quantitative goals like weight loss.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"