There are numerous ways to approach weight loss. With the explosion in accessibility to smartphones, a growing number of apps have been designed to allow people on the go to closely monitor their goals and progress.

(Click on Begin Slideshow to the right of the headline above to view additional screenshots for each app.)

Five weight loss applications vary in their approaches, which may suit particular tastes. The following list includes apps with varying functionalities. Among those features are being able to closely manage food intake behavior patterns, visualize all food intake by taking photos of all food eaten for possible review by nutritionists, using a popular points system approach, coaching for receiving encouragement, and emphasizing exercise and workout tracking.

Most Apps are available for both iPhone and Android smartphones.

1. Lose It! – The app allows precise calorie tracking, letting a user see behavior patterns in specific food consumption and exercise types that can be modified to meet the user’s goal. It also allows for peer support through social networking and tracks user-created recipes. The app’s maker FitNow, which also promotes a related book, says this approach to weight loss “doesn’t tell you what you should eat, just where your limits should be.”

2. Thin-Cam is an app which allows a user to create a food diary online by taking a photo of everything he or she eats for breakfast, lunch, dinner, or as a snack. The photos are uploaded on a related website for later viewing. If users want an evaluation of their food by a nutritionist, they can pay a one-time fee. The nutritionist will also send personalized information to help the user lose weight.

3. Weight Watchers Mobile - All who download can see a daily featured recipe, save some recipes for later viewing, create shopping lists from recipes, get access to weight loss stories, and tips. Subscribers can use Weight Watchers’ PointsPlus system for food and activity, calculate values, and search through thousands of meals and recipes. It also allows for weight tracking.

4. Noom Weight Loss Coach – The app’s emphasis is on motivating users to reach their weight loss goals to exercise, and track food intake. The app includes meal logging and exercise reminders. “You don’t need to be an obsessive Type A person to use it (but it doesn’t hurt!) the product’s maker “WorkSmart Labs, Inc” says in a statement.

5. DailyBurn – The app helps users manage their diet, fitness and exercise. It includes training plans and calorie tracking, and access to the app’s web community. Food barcode scanning as well as access to a database of information for thousands of foods is also included. Fitness goals can be set by age, weight, gender and activity level. The workout feature provides a training plan based on goals for weight loss, cardio training, muscle building and more. It also allows for the ability to build workout routines. It also tracks exercises outside of a plan