or all it's pitfalls (oh Facebook, why do I just keep scrolling and scrolling and scrolling??), technology has a lot of useful applications for daily life. This past year I started using a few apps that I've really enjoyed which are nice compliments to my fitness and healthy lifestyle goals, so I thought I'd share them! I don't like using a ton of apps because it gets to be a little overwhelming and too much to keep up, so I stick to a few that I really like using. Apps are nice because they not only help me track things, but they can give me motivation as well. I love being able to visually see goals and check off workouts. Do you guys use any fitness or health apps that you find you can't live without?
I'd say that one of my favorite apps is the Jawbone UP app. I started using their UP24 band a few months ago and it's really awesome motivation to get moving! Not only does it track your steps, it also tracks your sleep and lets you know how much light and deep sleep you got throughout the night. You can set goals for steps and sleep and if you have the wireless UP24, it'll sync directly to the app throughout the day with Bluetooth! I have an iPhone 4, which doesn't have syncing capabilities with the UP24, so I use my iPad mini to sync and then that is synced with my iPhone. You can also link your UP app with other fitness or health apps, so I have mine linked up with my LoseIt! app, which I love! The app itself is free, but you do need a tracker to go with it. I got the wireless UP24 tracker, which is $149. I like it a lot more than my fitbit zip, which I found difficult to remember to put on everyday and awkward to find somewhere to clip if I wasn't wearing jeans. The UP is a bracelet, so I wear it all day everyday (except for wet situations like the shower. I ruined one already by getting saltwater splashed on it when I was in Hawaii).
LoseIt! is my favorite app for tracking my food. Now that I'm doing Whole30, it's great for planning future meals too! My favorite thing about it is that it makes me way more mindful of my eating. Now that I'm doing Whole30 I have to be mindful all the time, but before that, it really helped me not just graze mindlessly and be intentional about how I fed myself. I have the Premium membership, which allows me to sync to the Jawbone app, and also gives you the ability to plan meals ahead of time. You can also join challenges, which is another fun way to get motivation, and they give you badges for eating well, working out consistently, and tracking consistently. Who doesn't like little awards? The app is free, but if you want the Premium account, it's $39.99/year.
For those of you who do the Insanity program, I found this little app which was a really nice way to keep track of what workout to do that day, enter your fit test results, and I liked getting to check off the workouts I completed! Obviously you can do all this manually, but it's nice to have it all in one place, and it stores your fit test results so you can see how you did in comparison to the last one! This app isn't free, but it's only $0.99 which isn't bad!
I haven't been running in quite a while, but when I was a semi-consistent runner I really liked using the Nike+ app, which tracked my pace and route, miles ran, and would tell me throughout my run how far along I was. Since I'm not an avid runner, this is the only running app I've ever used, but I really enjoyed using it! It's also free!
