Your phone can help you do a lot more than track your food and workouts. I use several apps almost every day to help me keep tabs on all aspects of my health (sorry if some of these apps are iphone-centric).
I do not use the premium version of ANY of these apps – free is fine! Each app is linked below for your enjoyment 🙂
1. MyFitnessPal
Food and exercise tracking for free, with an amazingly comprehensive food database. Add me (TinyFitnessES) as your friend if you want my input on your eats! (Or if you’re my training client and I didn’t give you a choice!)
2. Sleep Cycle
Leave your phone plugged in and face down on your nightstand (in case this wasn’t already a thing you did!) and let this app listen to you breathe and thereby track your sleep quality and duration. If you’re fancy, use the app’s alarm clock to wake you up naturally at the end of a REM cycle rather than jarring yourself awake with your favorite ringtone.
3. SleepMachine
While you’re tracking your sleep, let this white noise generator sing you a sweet lullaby. I like to mix rain, ocean, and white noise, but you do you! If you’re not using Sleep Cycle, this app also has a gentle alarm feature that wakes you up by fading out the sound before playing your alarm tone.
4. Happify
Don’t laugh too hard – this app can really help you get moving in a more positive direction, even if some of the activities seem a little silly. It’s designed to help you stop overthinking and making yourself anxious, so don’t get upset with yourself if you miss a day of 5 minute practice. (The social sharing features are optional – you don’t have to share your deepest fears on Facebook!)
5. Stress Check
Use your phone’s camera to take your pulse, and this app will analyze your heartbeat to give you a snapshot of your real mental state. They might not be updating it anymore, but I still love it. (iphone android)
6. Interval Timer (link is only for iPhone, but there are other apps for android!)
Y’all have already met this one in the studio, but I love how easy it is to set up and save a whole variety of interval workout routines. You can add in both rest and breaks, choose any number of timer sound effects, and set the intervals to repeat in sets…don’t forget you can turn the phone sideways to see the numbers bigger while you’re working out.
No, you can’t email them and ask them to take it off my phone.
7. Charity Miles
You walk/jog/look for Pokemon, this app turns your steps into $ for your designated charity.
