A GPS Run Tracker That Also Counts the Calories You Eat
Published: August 17, 2026 · Furkan Mert Fındıklı · 8 min read
Short answer: Almost every app picks a side: Strava, Nike Run Club and Garmin record the run brilliantly but have no real food logging, while MyFitnessPal and Yazio log the food but have weak or no live GPS. If you want one app that records a run on a map and takes the meal afterwards, the realistic options are MyFitnessPal paired with a running app, or Suu — which does live GPS recording with a route map, photo and voice calorie logging, and hydration in the same place. What Suu does not have is segments, leaderboards or a social feed; if those are the reason you open Strava, keep Strava.
There is a specific frustration that sends people looking for this: you finish a 10 km run, your watch says you burned 620 kcal, and then you have to open a second app to log dinner — where that 620 kcal either does not appear at all, or appears as a number you have to type in yourself.
The two halves of the same equation live in different apps. This page is about which apps actually close that loop, and what you trade away when you pick one.
Which app does which half
| Capability | Strava | Nike Run Club | MyFitnessPal | Suu |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Live GPS recording | ✓ | ✓ | Basic | ✓ |
| Route drawn on a map | ✓ | ✓ | Limited | ✓ |
| Segments & leaderboards | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ |
| Social feed / clubs | ✓ | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ |
| Log a meal | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Calories from a photo | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ |
| Log a meal by voice | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ |
| Barcode scanning | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✗ |
| Food database size | — | — | Widest | Good |
| Hydration tracked properly | ✗ | ✗ | Basic counter | 91 beverages |
| Workout raises your water goal | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ |
| Reads workouts from Apple Health / Health Connect | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Free tier does real work | Limited | ✓ | Limited | ✓ |
Why the loop is usually broken
Running apps and food apps grew out of different problems. Strava started as a cycling and running social network; the calories-burned figure exists there mostly to give the activity a headline number. MyFitnessPal started as a food database; its exercise entry exists mostly to add calories back to your budget.
The result is that the number crosses between them badly. Even when two apps sync through Apple Health or Health Connect, what usually transfers is a bare calorie total — not the workout's intensity, duration or what it means for your fluid needs. And nothing at all flows the other way: your dinner has never once changed how a running app thinks about your day.
Two workable setups
There are only two configurations that genuinely work today, and it is worth being clear about both.
- Two apps, joined by Apple Health / Health Connect. Record in Strava, Nike Run Club or Garmin; log food in MyFitnessPal or Cronometer. This gives you the best of each — Strava's segments, MyFitnessPal's barcode database — at the cost of two apps, two subscriptions and a sync that carries only a calorie number.
- One app that does both. Fewer moving parts and the two halves actually inform each other, at the cost of a smaller food database and no social layer. This is where Suu sits.
What Suu records on a run or ride
You start, pause and finish the session inside the app. Distance, duration and pace update live while you are moving, and when you finish, your route is drawn on the map.
Around 50 sport activities are supported — running, walking, cycling, gym, swimming, hiking, cardio and more. Running and walking report distance, pace, average speed and calories burned; cycling adds speed and elevation. Sessions you recorded on a watch or in another app are read from Apple Health and Google Health Connect, so a run logged in Strava still counts inside Suu.
- The workout changes your water goal. Every recorded session raises your daily fluid target, and Suu suggests 300–500 ml of calorie-based extra water after training.
- The meal changes it too. Protein and sodium in a logged meal add a digestion-water requirement — the only direction of influence that no other app in this table implements.
- The drink is not thrown away. Log "a banana and a glass of milk" after a run and Suu splits it: the banana becomes calories and macros, the milk also counts toward hydration.
What Suu does not do — and who should not switch
This is the part that decides it for most runners, so it goes before the verdict rather than after it.
- No segments or leaderboards. If being ranked on a climb is the reason you run the route, Strava is the answer and nothing here replaces it.
- No social feed, clubs or kudos. Suu has weekly water-drinking leagues with up to 4 friends, which is not the same thing and is not meant to be.
- Shallower cycling analytics. No power-meter analysis, no external sensor ecosystem, no route planner.
- No barcode scanning, and a food database smaller than MyFitnessPal's. If you eat a lot of packaged or restaurant food, that gap is real.
- Not a strength-training log. For set-and-rep tracking in the gym, Hevy or Strong remain better tools.
Using both together is a legitimate answer
Because Suu reads workouts from Apple Health and Health Connect, you do not have to choose. Record the ride in Strava for the segments and the club feed; the session still arrives in Suu, still raises your water goal, and still sits next to the meal you photograph afterwards.
That combination costs nothing extra and is what we would honestly recommend to a competitive cyclist who also wants their nutrition in one place.
Verdict
Choose Strava or Nike Run Club if the run itself is the point — segments, clubs, race training plans, group riding. Add a separate food app if you need one.
Choose MyFitnessPal if food logging is the priority and you eat a lot of packaged or restaurant meals, where barcode scanning and the largest database do real work. Pair it with a running app for the GPS half.
Choose Suu if the workout is part of a body-composition or hydration goal and you want one app where the run, the meal and the water actually update each other — and you can live without segments and a social feed.
Or run both. Strava for the ride, Suu for everything the ride changes. The workout crosses over through Apple Health or Health Connect automatically.
Record the run — and everything it changes
Free to download · GPS tracking free forever · Premium free for 3 days
Frequently asked questions
Is there a GPS running app that also counts the calories you eat?
Yes, but very few. Strava, Nike Run Club and Garmin record the run well but have no real food logging. MyFitnessPal logs food well but its GPS is basic. Suu does both in one app: live GPS recording with a route map across around 50 sport activities, plus calorie and macro logging from a meal photo or by voice. The trade-off is that Suu has no segments, leaderboards or social feed, and its food database is smaller than MyFitnessPal's.
Does Suu track running distance, pace and route?
Yes. You start, pause and finish the workout inside Suu and see distance, duration and pace update live; when you finish, your route is drawn on the map. Running and walking also report average speed and calories burned, and cycling adds speed and elevation.
Can I use Strava and Suu at the same time?
Yes, and for many people that is the best setup. Suu reads workouts from Apple Health on iOS and Google Health Connect on Android, so a run or ride you record in Strava still appears in Suu, still raises your daily water goal, and still sits alongside the meal you log afterwards. You keep Strava's segments and social feed and add nutrition and hydration on top.
Does a workout change my calorie or water target automatically?
In Suu, yes on both counts. Every recorded workout — whether tracked live in the app or read from Apple Health / Health Connect — raises your daily water target, and Suu suggests 300–500 ml of calorie-based extra water after training. Meals influence it in the other direction: their protein and sodium content adds a digestion-water requirement.
Is Suu a good Strava alternative?
For recording a run or ride and tying it to what you ate and drank, yes. As a replacement for Strava's competitive and social layer, no — Suu has no segments, no leaderboards, no kudos, no clubs, no power-meter analysis and no route planner, and it is not trying to build them. Its cycling analytics are shallower. If those features are why you open Strava, keep Strava and use Suu for the nutrition and hydration side.
Which app is best for tracking gym workouts and food together?
For set-and-rep strength logging, dedicated tools like Hevy or Strong are better than any app in this comparison, including Suu. Suu covers gym sessions as one of around 50 activity types and links the calories burned to your daily targets, but it is not a strength-training log. A common setup is Hevy for the gym plus one app for food, hydration and cardio.
Do I need Premium to use GPS tracking in Suu?
No. Exercise tracking, including live GPS recording and the route map, is part of the free tier, as is core water tracking and 3 AI meal analyses per day. Premium adds unlimited AI analysis, photo meal recognition, advanced macro statistics and PDF/CSV export.
References
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Suu is not intended for medical diagnosis or treatment. Consult a healthcare professional for health-related decisions.