Mobile phones – and increasingly smart phones – are central to our everyday lives. The digital world is constantly on the move and sometimes it is difficult to keep up with the changes or to know what is best for you. We have taken a look at the most popular smart phone health and fitness apps to find out what really helps and how. Here are our recommendations and some advice.
MyFitnessPal
If you are looking to balance your diet and reduce calories, MyFitnessPal by Fitnow is perfect… or almost. MyFitnessPal counts how many calories you consume per day. You can set a daily calorie goal and then keep a record of your food and exercise to make sure you stay on track. But remember to set realistic goals – especially for teenagers – and not crazy ones. While the aim may be to lose weight, you also need the right nutrients. This app is great for understanding how your daily intake is affecting your weight, but won’t help you balance the nutrients you are consuming. Eating one muffin for breakfast and then nothing for the rest of the day for example, isn’t the route to balanced health and fitness.
Fooducate
With Fooducate, you enter a product, compare products and select better alternatives. It was created by dietitians and parents and identifies the ingredients that manufacturers don’t want you to notice such as excessive sugar, trans fats, additives and preservatives, high fructose corn syrup and controversial food colourings. Fooducate allows you to be smart with your shopping choices and when used with MyFitnessPal can set you on the right path to health and fitness.
WebMD
Another interesting health app is WebMD which provides mobile access 24/7 to mobile-optimised health information including a symptom checker, drugs and treatments, first aid advice and local health listings. Accessing the first aid advice can be done without having to be connected to the Internet – critical if you don’t have Internet access in time of need. You can also personalise the app by saving drugs, conditions and articles relevant to you through secure access and easy sign-in. This app doesn’t make you a doctor but can be used as a guide for symptoms or for first aid tips, to check a prescribed medicine or simply find a local list of doctors. If you are unsure, always consult your GP.
RunKeeper Pro
RunKeeper Pro is a feature-rich app that enables GPS tracking, distance, speed monitoring, caloric output and activity history for activities and sports such as running, cycling, hiking, skiing and swimming.
Water Your Body
As the name implies, Water Your Body is an app that helps keep your daily water consumption on track. You do this easily by selecting the icon that corresponds to how much water you have drunk or by entering it manually.
All of these apps, used individually or together or ideally as part of a tailor-made training programme such as those offered by our Personal Trainers here at Integrated Training, can help take you one step further to helping you achieve your goals. They can help you keep track of your food and water consumption and increase awareness of your health and fitness, all of which contribute to a healthy lifestyle.
Posted by www.integrated-training.co.uk
