Best Apps for Health & Wellness

There are 100,000 and counting apps for health and fitness on the market today. That's pretty exciting, but very overwhelming at the same time. It's like Netflix, you have so many movie/TV show options at your finger tips, but you end up spending 30 minutes just looking through all the different categories that you just end up giving up on trying to watch anything at all. The endless amount of apps left me searching for hours trying to research which ones were actually good that by the time I downloaded a few, I was over the whole idea. Which is unfortunate, because there is a lot of really good stuff out there.

Jenn's Favorite (FREE... ish) Apps for Health & Wellness

Calm

Calm is an app to calm yo' self. There are 10 minute guided meditations with your choice of background noise (lake with birdies chirping, beach waves crashing, rain drops, etc). If you don't want the guided meditation part, then you can just listen to the waves and chillax. If you are like me and want someone to talk to you, there is a "body scan" option for progressive relaxation (squeeze your muscle, then let it go), and a "calm" option. There are a zillion others, but to get them you must subscribe. Try out the free ones and if you really enjoy it, you can subscribe for $3.33/month.

Swork It 

Swork it's motto is "No gym, no excuses". There are four workout options- Strength, Cardio, Yoga & Stretching. Each option has a type of workout you can select (full body, upper body, lower body, core, etc.) and the amount of time that you have (five, ten, fifteen minutes). Don't have the time to get in a quick stretch, or don't know what to do? No more excuses. You can even have it send you text alerts to stop and stretch. If you sit at a computer desk all day, I recommend to stop and stretch/move your shoulders, neck, back, hips, and wrists for AT LEAST 2 minutes every hour.

Strava 

Strava is an app for tracking athletic performance using your GPS (phone, garmin, fitbit, etc.) It's like facebook, but for runners, cyclists, snowboarders, walkers, & whatever else your heart desires. You can give "kudos" to a friend for their run, you are able to score virtual medals if you finish a challenge (who doesn't love a good pat on the back), and you also get trophies for PRing different routes. I like how I am able to track my performance overtime, and it helps to be motivated by my followers giving me a thumbs up. 

Daily Water


Who else forgets to drink water until all of a sudden its noon and all you've had is two massive cups of coffee? Guilty. Is it sad that there is an app that will text you to remind you to drink water? Maybe. But whatever works to stay hydrated. You can customize how often you want to be reminded, and also keep track of how much water you are drinking.

Headspace

It's an app that is like a personal trainer for your mind. Don't know how to meditate? It will teach you! Andy, the said personal trainer of for your mind, has an awesome accent that is very easy to relax to. Do we need to review my past posts about why meditation is important for our mind and body? Again, you can have it send you reminders via a text alert once a day.

Happier

Have you heard of the Happiness Project? Or perhaps gratitude journals? Those who write down 3 things they are grateful/happy for each day has been shown to decrease depression and improve overall quality of life. Happier is an app that is basically your own personal journal for why you are happy. It can be a simple picture, a quote, or a quick story of something positive. You can share it with others, or keep it personal. I challenge you do write down three things that make you happy each day!

Mindfulness Bell

One of favorite most simple apps. Mindfulness bell is an app used to get ourselves back into the present moment. I have mine set on "random" to send me an alert 2-3 times per day. When it goes off I swear it happens to be when I need it most (I'm frustrated, saying something negative, complaining, etc). It's like knows! You can have this app but whatever you want it to be, whether it be as a reminder to take a couple of deep breaths throughout the day, or if its to say something you are grateful for, or may even a reminder to stand and stretch.

Stand Up!

For my 9-to-5ers who work through lunch while sitting at their computers. This App reminds you to Stand Up!.. and hopefully you stretch, move, and increase some blood flow, especially to those necks muscles that like to get really tense throughout the day. For the weekend warrior, you can program the app so that it only bugs you to stand up the days that you are at work. You can program how often you want the reminder to Stand Up! I recommend at least every 30-45 minutes.



The cons to a few of these apps... They can be annoyingly repetitive with all of these alerts. What I highly recommend, have one alarm that goes off every 45-60 minutes to:

1. Drink water 
2. Stand up
3. Take a couple of deep breaths 
4. Stretch & Move

I also recommend to take 20 minutes of your lunch break to stretch and meditate using the Swork-it, Calm, or Headspace app.

And lastly, at the end of the day, take 5 minutes to write 3 things that you are grateful for, or made you happy that day.

Once this becomes a habit, we will not need 15 alarms going off in the day to remind us. But it's nice to know that there are those opinions out there to help us out.