You know you did it, so go ahead and admit it. Approaching the end of 2012 your holiday enjoyment packed on a couple of extra pounds. So during the last few days of December and the first few days of January, you made the annual resolution to lose weight, get fit, get healthier, blah, blah, blah. There are actually several smartphone fitness apps which will help you achieve your body health goals in 2013, ensuring your resolutions are not just so much talk this year. This can be the year when you actually follow through with your “lose weight” and “get healthy” resolutions, and these are a few smartphone apps which will help.
We all have a cell phone that appears to be permanently glued to our hands or ears. So it only makes sense that a device that can lead to a sedentary and unhealthy lifestyle try to offer the ability to offset that negative characteristic. And some good news out of the Pew Research Center recently showed that 52% of us smartphone users monitor and track health and fitness information on our mobile devices. Health conscious individuals like Lisa Lombardo credit the popular My Fitness Pal app (iOS, Android) for helping them get in shape.
The director of public relations and marketing for Jameson Health System lost 30 pounds using My Fitness Pal, beginning by tracking her calorie intake and logging workouts. Lombardo said that if you log literally everything you digest, and track that information, the application cannot fail to help you reach your fitness goals. And Corry Csiky, owner of Anytime Fitness in New Castle, Pennsylvania, called the mobile fitness technology “a great motivator.”
Chrissy Neff is a YMCA health and wellness director who likes to use the Nike Fuel Band, which is a device that looks like a bracelet, and can sync with our smartphones and computers to track the wearer’s movements and activity levels. And with so many smartphone owners claiming an iPhone, the Sleep Cycle Alarm Clock (iOS) ensures that you arise from sleep refreshed and invigorated. The one dollar app uses the iPhone accelerometer to detect when you are at your lightest sleep phase, waking you within 30 minutes of the ideal time. WebMD (iOS, Android) delivers instant access to health info, so you can diagnose and treat symtoms immediately no matter where you are, boasting an easy-to-use symptom checker and other features in a mobile friendly structure.
And if you are one of the millions of Americans who enjoy running, biking and hiking for fitness, the MapMyRun GPS Running app (iOS, Android) easily and efficiently keeps track of how far and fast you run, bike or hike. It also employs the GPS device in your Android or Apple smartphone to record your pace and display where you currently are on your route. This keeps you working towards any specific goals or time frames you set for yourself, and is simply one of many apps which can help you reach your fitness goals on your favorite smartphone in 2013.
