Get fit and healthier with help from these mobile apps
Tuesday, January 17th, 2012
Have you already dropped your resolutions for the new year? If one of your resolutions was to have a healthier 2012, check out this list of mobile apps designed to make living well easier.
1) Fooducate
This iPhone app encourages users to eat better by scanning products to reveal their heath scores. Fooducate uses an algorithm to established grades (A to F), developed by nutritional and dietary professionals. It takes into account the nutrition facts panel, the ingredients listed, and the product category. You’ll be able to discern products with too much sugar, sodium, trans fats, food colourings and more. This app solves the confusion of health claims and marketing hype by scanning a product in the grocery store or by searching for a product in the app. Just pick up a product from the shelf, scan it, and let Fooducate do the rest. And it’s free!
2) Urbanathlon
Invoke built this one: The Urbanathlon health and fitness app is a free iPhone application geared towards athletes competing in the Men’s Health Urbananthlon and Festival, a huge race/obstacle course/festival/ultimate fitness challenge. However those who are not competing in the the race will find the workouts challenging and beneficial. Many of the workouts suggested do not require special equipment or weights.
2) miHealth
Your health is in your hands with this app designed for the iPhone and iPad. Mihealth is a Canadian app that allows users to pull up their health records at any time. The digital copies of their health records can be updated and maintained using the app. The information can be accessed at anytime, such as in case of an emergency or to show a health care professional. The other great feature is the messaging. Users can communicate with their doctors directly using the app, providing worry free communication between patients and clinics.
3) iMuscle
The iMuscle app is available on iPhone and iPad and has 3D body part displays, which is cool although a little creepy. The app allows users to identify and target individual muscles sections for maximum results. The app provides more than 450 unique exercises and stretches. The app also measures heart rates, calories burned and more. It’s a little on the expensive side, at $4.99. However it was named the best iPad Medical app in 2011 by Apple so if you are a visual person, and have specific needs, this app is for you.
4) Nike+
If you hate treadmills and love running all over town, download the Nike+ iPhone app for $1.99. The Nike+ app tracks the distance, and pace of your runs and motivates you to go even further. It’s social in that it allows users to post the runs on Twitter and Facebook. You can get motivated with the voice feedback feature, voiced by Nike’s top athletes, and use personalized PowerSongs to help you go just one more mile. If you love treamills, don’t worry, the app will track your distance too. Keep a record of your best runs and and see what it takes for you to break them.
Honorable mentions:
The Eatery: Love taking photos of your food? This app promises to make your eating habits easy to track and thus to change. The app uses photos in your camera roll and determines whether it is fit or fat food. Or you can add friends and they can comment on what you’re eating. The app also uses that data and creates nice visualizations.
Lose it!
If you are looking for an extensive way to track what you eat and when you eat it, then be sure to get this free iPhone app. Track calories, pounds, weight lost and share with friends. The app encourages users to set goals and establish a daily calorie budget. According to the Lose it! website, the app has helped users lose at total of 7,445, 581 lbs.