Technology = healthy + happy ??

There are many things I know I must do for myself in order to keep me healthy and happy.   I know I need to-- spend more time with family, continue to educate myself, read more books, save money, work out, buy a house, start a family, eat healthy, lose weight, reconnect with old friends, make new friends, find work / life balance... the list goes on...     Fortunately most of these are easy especially with the assistance of technology.  Facebook connects us with friends instantly, good reads gives us lists of books for both education and pleasure.

The more difficult area for me has been health and fitness.  Thankfully with the assistance of technology even these areas are much more manageable.  I have found that by keeping myself organized and scheduling time for each of these things I can achieve more in my day.   I have also found some great apps that that help me out.


1. My fitness pal-  I love this app.  It helps you be more cautious with food consumption by tracking calories.   You set your current weight, goal weight and the app calculates your recommend calories.  You then enter your food each day.  There is even an entry for cardiovascular activity as well as weights/ strengthening    The thing I wish the app had was a a timer, gps tracking and heart rate monitor to get a more accurate input of the activities. Nonetheless its one of my favorite health apps.

2.  Runtastic-- this app isn't only for running.  There are lists of exercises and workout routines.  You can even schedule a reminder.  I noticed last week that a notification with a praise about my progress popped up.   I then also noticed this week that a notification with encouragement popped up.

3. Fooducate- I really do not use this app too much but I found it interesting. It is a bar code scanner and it grades food.  Fruits and vegetables receive A's while sodas receive D's-  even diet soda due to the artificial sweeteners.   If you scan a food that has a D grade you can search other similar healthy alternatives.   Its great for someone like me who things just because it says "diet" means its good for me.

4. Pinterest-  Pinterst has been a great resource.  There are various types of motivational posts, health receipts, copy cat restaurant receipts with healthy twists, alternative options and blogs for encouragement and support.  My favorite blog right now is Mama Laughlin   She is a fowl mouth, fun loving, weight losen, Texan that reminds me A LOT of my friend April.  She blogs about her journey, her struggle, motivation and life.   There are many other inspiring finds on pinterst and tips and tricks for starting and maintaining a healthy lifestyle.  Thank you Pinterest for all of these amazing resources.

There are a bunch of other apps that I've downloaded on my iPhone.  There really does seem to be an App for everything.    I have not had the opportunity to explore them all but I always welcome new suggestions.

What are some of your favorite health/fitness apps?