There's an App for That

In my previous post, I mentioned being sick (still sick) and all the things I was using to help myself become a healthier person, because hey - a healthy body and mind = a healthy immune system. I've been adhering to all of my self-imposed challenges with a lot of help from my pal, the iPhone. I thought it would be appropriately geeky to give a run down of the apps I'm using to help me in the process of becoming a healthier person. And yes, they are all free!

1. Workouts - Workouts is a collection of 5 and 10 minute workout videos from Youtube. You choose which one you want to use, and go to town. My current faves out of the long list is the 5 minute warm-up, the 5 minute butt workout, the 5 minute kick-boxing cardio, and the 10 minute no equipment workout. On top of these awesome, provided videos, it has 10 or so spaces where you can link your very own personal Youtube favorite workout; then just open the app, tap on your video, and away it goes!
2. Waterlogged - Waterlogged is pretty simple. You can take a picture of your favorite glass or mug, input how many ounces it holds, and save it. When you use your glass, you go to the app, tap "record drink" and find your glass. Tap record again, et viola! It shows you how much water you have had, and how much more you need to go to reach the recommended 64 ounces. It even has a tall glass that visually adds "water" so you can see how far you've come. It also provides you with a reminder at the time specified: I set mine for the afternoon because that's when I'm least likely to drink it. My personal best? 21 ounces. Lol. That's almost there! :P
3. Healthy Eating - Healthy Eating concentrates more on eat your food groups, instead of calories, carbs, etc. I went online to find my recommended intake of calories. You set that sucker up, and it shows you your food groups and how much you need in your diet to meet your dietary needs. It even gives you an idea of what a serving is, and helpful "favorites" to give you something to try. To record what you've eaten, just tap the picture: the apple to record your fruits, the carrot to record your veggies, and so. I like it because I can see my goal being achieved right in front of me.
4. Optumize Me - Optumize Me (I'm spelling it the way THEY spell it, so leave it alone!)is more of a social app. Other users come up with "challenges." You can choose to join the challenges, and record your progress. The app will give you awards for achieving different things, and shows your progress via a progress bar under each challenge you belong to. Currently, I am doing the "H2You challenge" - drink 64 ounces a day (because, why not feel accomplished TWICE?), the "Sleep Early" challenge - go to bed every night before midnight for a year. This one has been tough, but I've managed well so far; the "Park Further" challenge - Just park in the first spot you come to, basically causing you to walk further to reach class, the store, or whatever; the "Cleaning" challenge - clean your house for four hours every week. Cleaning is not only a good form of productive exercise, your house will always look good! I actually love this app and have recently joined a new challenge on positive thinking, which will start in 2 days.
5. Last, but not least, is the Passometer. The Passometer is just a pedometer; it counts your steps, it times you, it shows how fast you are walking currently and your average pace in mph, it shows you how many calories you've burned during that walk, and the distance in feet you have gone. Today, I walked a collective 1022 steps, burning 20.35 calories, at an average speed of 1.39 mph (a lot of times I had to slow down, because I use stairs.) I walked half a mile. Not bad, considering it was all my normal walking that I do to get to and from classes and work. Also, it didn't record my steps when I got to school because I pushed the wrong button, so it's a little off today.

I'm allowed to have a goal, reasonable or not!

So, those are my health apps. I'm the kind of person that likes to be healthy for the immune system perks, the strength perks, and the endurance perks. Let me put it in these terms: if the zombipocalypse were to occur soon, I want to be the person to survive because I'm too tough to catch, able to leap into open doorways or out of windows in a single bound, and able to fight off whatever gosh awful bug makes everyone else go mad. Being able to wield a giant ax wouldn't hurt, either.