Traveling Making You Fat? Innovative Food App Helps to Keep the Bulge Away

Traveling for work or vacation can negatively affect your waist when you're constantly eating out. In fact, a study conducted by Extended Stay America found that 86 percent of travelers reported gaining an average of 1.5 pounds for each week they were away from home. The numbers don’t look any better for vacationers, either. A survey by TripAdvisor found that 29 percent of Americans say they always or often gain weight while traveling. The makers of HowUdish hope to make eating out easier on the waistline.

“It can be extremely hard to eat healthy when traveling requires most of us to eat out at restaurants with high-calorie menu items that tempt us at every corner,” stated Jillian Hastings, Head of Business Development. “The biggest problem people face when traveling and eating healthy is knowing the right dishes to have and where to have them.”

The HowUdish app hopes to change how people eat out for the better by recommending curated, diet-specific, location-based menu options. Instead of wondering whether a restaurant you’re going to has food that will match your dietary and weight-goal needs, the app lets you find out ahead.

“While there are already a lot of fitness and diet apps on the market, we believe this one makes eating out fun and guilt free,” stated Hastings. “HowUdish is also very easy to use and visually appealing — two qualities that are often lacking in many of today’s food apps.”

After the user downloads the app, they can create a profile and add their current weight and fitness goals. Users can then select 1-3 diets including, but not limited, to low-calorie, low-carb, low-fat, gluten free, or high-protein food options.

“Users are then able to swipe through dishes that the underlying algorithm says are best fit for their selective diets. From calorie count to fat grams, each restaurant meal includes detailed nutritional information categorized by the type of diet selected,” stated Hastings.

The app officially hit Apple’s app store on October 17, and so far it’s been well received by users who’ve downloaded it — including dieticians and nutritionists who have been recommending the app to their patients and clients. To date, the app currently has around 50 reviews, averaging a 4.6 rating out of five. According to the most recent reviews, users like that the app helps them discover new meals that are not only tasty but healthy.

“This app helps take the worry out of dining out. It gives you so many food options from restaurants that range from pizza joints to fine dining,” stated one user. “The recipes are endless and you can swipe until you find what you want.”

“Say you’re gluten free and hungry for Italian food, and you also want to lose weight. This app takes ALL that into account and finds dishes at local restaurants that fit the bill. It takes out all the guesswork,” stated another user. “It’s easy and intuitive to use. The interface is modern and fun. You save the dishes that look good to you at various restaurants or swipe if not interested.”

The app is currently FREE for download on iTunes. HowUdish will also be available on Google Play in the near future.

“We’ve got a lot of great things in store for the app. Our final roll out will include social media functions,” stated Hastings. “Users will eventually be able to share their journey, check in at restaurants, and meet others in an effort to create some peer pressure to help everyone stick to their selected diet.”

To learn more about HowUdish, visit www.HowUdish.com.