Fitness Apps

Over time, I've found some fitness and/or health related apps that have been really helpful to me & I wanted to share them in case any of you have been looking for some guidance, especially in the new year! Click the titles for the link to each app's website. 

My Fitness Pal

This is the app that I've been using the longest. I definitely go through phases where I log my meals & activity every single day or take some time off, but either way it helps me stay on track with calories. It's incredibly easy to use, & it has tons of great features like a barcode scanner for packaged items, a large database of exercise options with their corresponding amount of calories burned, and an easy way to track your changes. I like that it tracks your water consumption and vitamins. I also love that I can sign in on my computer, phone, or iPad & they all sync together! It's also free as an added bonus.

Moves

This is by far the most simple app that I use, but that's also why I love it. It runs in your background all day to count how many steps you take, and with GPS track your movements by distance, time spent, & calories if you want to link it to My Fitness Pal. Moves is helpful because you don't have to actually do anything with the app or enter any data to get something out of it! It's interesting to see how the amount of activity you do day to day changes, & I liked using it over the summer when I lived in D.C. because I was walking everywhere. 

Runtastic

I downloaded this app while starting to train for a race I ran last fall. I was looking for something to track my progress & Runtastic fit the bill! It uses GPS to track your activities & give you all the information you might want. I don't use this as my primary app, because My Fitness Pal does quite a bit more all around, but Runtastic has been really helpful for things specific to my run. There's a limited version available for free, or the full app, Runtastic PRO, costs $4.99. I found that Runtastic PRO was worth the money because it integrates with my music! It also talks me through my workout in a way that isn't too annoying or overbearing.

Pact

I'm always on the lookout for cool new apps for either my phone, iPad, or both. Recently, I came across Pact & decided to download it. It has three different features, & all of them are really cool. The basis of the app is that you're rewarded when you complete your goals, and charged when you don't. The money that you receive comes from other users that didn't meet their goals. You can set the amount of money for each & your activity is tracked through GPS & pictures! I think this is a pretty cool way to make yourself be accountable, especially since you don't want to have to pay $5 or $10 when you miss a gym day. The three different types of pacts you can make are for number of workouts per week called Gym Pact, amount of fruit & vegetables you eat called Veggie Pact, or committing to tracking your meals through My Fitness Pal called Food Logging Pact. The last option stood out to me because I already use My Fitness Pal! I'm also taking a yoga class twice a week this semester, so adding in a third workout would be fairly easy to do for the Gym Pact. Plus, who doesn't want to make some money by achieving their goals? That's a pretty great incentive to me! It's free to download & only costs money if you don't keep your goals & that money goes to reward those that kept theirs. 

Sleep Time

The last app that I use is Sleep Time. It monitors your sleep patterns and wake you up at the lightest part of the sleep cycle you're in. You set the time you want to wake up, like 7 a.m., it wakes you up within the half hour prior to that. As a college student I never get enough sleep & I'm trying to cut back on my caffeine (not as easy as I thought it was going to be). There's also a lot of talk these days about the relationship between amount of sleep & your health, so I thought this was a great way to combine the two to hopefully get me on track for that early wake up for 8 a.m. class this semester. It's free, which was important to me since I don't know how well this is going to work for me yet!

What are your favorite health related apps?

                                             xx,

^♦SPJ^♦