The new year comes with a lot of resolutions for all of us, and if those resolutions include improving your health and wellbeing then read on!
It has been proven many times that we are more likely to stick to our healthy habits if they are made easily accessible to us, and what could be more accessible than our smart phones, tablets and laptops that we cant seem to live without these days!
You can use all of these apps without having to purchase an expensive gadget such as a Fitbit or Jawbone (I don’t own any of these).
I love anything that makes wellbeing easier, and as someone that couldn’t live without her iPhone I wanted to share with you my top five apps that I use to help with my nutrition, fitness and wellbeing.
Available as an App and via their website, My Fitness Pal is my go-to for food tracking for both myself and my clients. It is so easy to use, and has a huge database of foods ranging from grocery store goods to restaurant dishes. Even better, you can scan barcodes on food packaging for easy uploading.
You can also allow your friends to see your food diaries, and this can help accountability, and also makes it very easy for your nutrition coach to keep track of your food intake too (I see you…)
As with all food tracking apps I do not agree with their ‘one size fits all’ approach to calculating calorie allowances, so I suggest setting your own custom macros in accordance with your goals.
My Fitness Pal is free.
One of the originals and in my opinion the best of all workout apps available, you cant beat the behemoth that is Nike for a huge variety of beautifully shot and easy to follow workouts.
You can set the workout to music from your iTunes library, reiview all the exercises before you start the workout (I love this feature), and view the workout on your television if you have Apple TV. Workouts range from 15 minutes to 45 minutes so even those strapped for time have no excuses!
Nike+ Training Club is free.
3) Yoga Studio
Yoga Studio by Gaiam is my favorite of all the yoga apps available as it is so easy to use, clearly shot, and easily accessible to beginners. It has options for viewing ready made classes, from which you can select based on focus, ability or duration, or you can create your own class depending on what you want to achieve from your practice. From what I have seen so far all you need is a mat and some space, and you are ready to go. I love the Yoga for Back Pain classes, and the Deep Relaxation ; )
Yoga Studio is $3.99.
Such a simple concept, but I’ve really found these two apps life changing. Both apps make the color of your computer or smartphone displays adapt to the time of day showing as warm at night (less blue light) and like sunlight during the day. Bringing down the amount of artificial light you are exposed to after dark can lower cortisol levels (the stress hormone) and normalize our circadian rhythms, helping us sleep better at night.
I use f.lux for my laptop, and Sunn for my iPhone, as Apple do not allow f.lux unless you jailbreak the phone.
f.lux is free and Sunn is $3.99.
5) Headspace
Headspace is a relatively new app for me but I love it already. Think of it as ‘meditation for non-meditators’. You are guided through a series of ‘brain training sessions’ by the creator Andy Puddicombe (a meditation and mindfulness expert and a fellow brit – this app is worth downloading for his soothing British accent alone), in which you are asked to focus on your breath, physical sensations and noise around you, making for practice that can be adopted by anyone.
Your are also able to track your progress, find friends who are also using Headspace, and pick practices from collections to suit your mood and lifestyle.
Headspace is free for the first 10 sessions, then moves to a paid subscription starting at $7.99 if you sign up for a year.
I’d love to hear about the apps you use to enhance your nutrition, training and wellbeing! Please share your suggestions below so we can all reap the benefits!