Looking for a low-risk, high-reward investment? Invest in your health and well-being by adding or increasing activity in your life, especially after bariatric surgery. From Pokemon Go to MyFitnessPal, to free apps on iPhones and Androids, “There’s an App for that!”
Apple includes a free Health App on the iPhone that you can use to track your progress towards a goal weight and activities levels.
You can use this app to track steps, stairs walked and more. If you own an iPhone 5s or newer, it will track a lot of this information automatically without the need to use another app or a fitness accessory.
Google Fit is a free weight loss and fitness app that helps you track your activity simply by carrying your Android phone. Google Fit also works with devices like Android Wear smartwatches. You can also connect apps to the service to extend tracking and fitness capabilities.
This app can help you track your weight, your daily activity and specifically your daily heart healthy activity. With a goal to move 60 minutes each day and a pedometer goal, there are multiple ways to help push you to move more while you go about your day, even when you can’t get to a gym.
MyFitnessPal is another popular app, from Under Armour, that helps you track your food intake and exercise, and lets you call on your friends to help keep you motivated.
MyFitnessPal includes access to a million foods and items in a searchable database, that lets you easily add your food log to your iPhone or Android. There are also apps for BlackBerry and Windows Phones.
This app and service is free, allowing for a personalized diet profile that helps you set a healthy diet goal and a healthy exercise goal.
Pokémon Go isn’t a traditional weight loss app, but you do need to get off your couch and walk all over to catch Pokémon. When you get a Pokémon egg, you have to walk 2km or 5km to hatch the egg. Once you walk the 2km to 5km you will get a Pokémon from that egg. You cannot do this in a car, even driving slowly, so you will need to actually walk around to hatch Pokémon eggs. You’ll also find yourself walking to Pokéstops, Pokémon Go Gyms and walking around your city to find Pokémon.
If you need a reason to get out and walk so you can start losing weight, Pokémon Go is a good motivator to get up and get moving.
One of the hassles of trying to lose weight is knowing what food is actually good for you to eat. With Fooducate, you can learn more about healthy foods and instantly see if foods are good for you by scanning a barcode with your iPhone or Android. You can scan food using the camera on your smartphone and see a ‘grade’ for the food you are considering buying or eating. Forget trying to decipher the nutritional content based on a small area on the back of the box, and look at a grade that will help you make smart decisions. You can also ask questions in the Fooducate community to learn more about healthy foods.
At SmartShape, we address both the physical and emotional aspects related to weight loss. Learn more about our Programs and Support at http://bit.ly/SmartShapeProgram .