There is a critical time between Thanksgiving feasts and New Year’s resolutions that is commonly known as the black hole of dieting. Those hoping to resist seasonal temptation without resorting to skipping holiday parties are best served by counting calories.

As always, technology is ready to ease the dieter’s burden. Any number of free calorie counters are available online. The U.S. government has even joined the game with Mypyramid.gov. However, websites aren’t always helpful when eating on the go ... unless you own an iPhone. Ranking at No. 41 on the “Top Free” iPhone downloads is Livestrong.com’s Calorie Tracker.

Nifty but not perfect, this app received 2.5 out of 5 user-reviewed stars. The main complaints were about program stability and the fact that users must be connected to a wireless network in order to input calories. This won’t work for everyone, but for the price, it’s worth a try. Otherwise, there’s always zero-cal Virtual Beer.