Doesn’t it seem like almost every other day someone mentions a new health and fitness app out there? To be honest, I’m not really a huge phone app kind of person. My favorites are simply the Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter apps so I can just troll social media, and when it comes to wellness related technology and apps, I find that tracking too many things just doesn’t work for me. For example, there have been times where I attempted to track specifics about food in the past, such as counting calories or macros, but I eventually just stopped. These methods are motivating to some people (what works for me is not necessarily what will work for you!), but remembering to track every little detail becomes too overwhelming and not really that enjoyable to me. Same with fitness expenditure. I’m someone who prefers to keep these areas of my life more general and big picture because tracking seems like a chore. And when something wellness related no longer is enjoyable, well, that’s when people stop doing it.
However, there are a handful of health and fitness related apps that I do use on the reg and are more big picture, and I thought it would be fun to share these with you today. If you are someone who is more big picture like me, hopefully you’ll like some of these too!
WELLCOIN
I first introduced you guys to Wellcoin when I started using it back in October, and I outlined all the details about how it works in this post. It’s another kind of social network (probably why I love it), but you basically log the healthy choices you make throughout any given day in return for rewards called Wellcoins. Even though the app does technically involve tracking since you have to post about your meals, workouts, sleep, and other healthy choices, it’s general enough that I can just share a picture of my healthy breakfast without having to break it down any further than that. You can then like and comment on other people’s activity as well, which adds the fun social element to it. Once you rack up enough Wellcoins, you can redeem them through the Wellcoin marketplace for awesome stuff like Whole Foods gift cards, fitness classes, massages, and more. Yesterday I just redeemed some of my Wellcoins for the first time and got a Sports Authority gift card and some discounts at Thirst Juice Company downtown, and I can’t wait to use them. If you are looking for an app to keep you a little extra motivated this holiday season, I highly recommend Wellcoin!
If you decide to download the app or visit wellcoin.com to join me in earning rewards for our healthy choices, you can enter discount code FITNESSANDFETA upon creating a username and password. This will get you 500 free Wellcoins right off the bat. If you sign up, don’t forget to follow me!
WOD DECK OF CARDS
I recently discovered this WOD (workout of the day) app, and it’s great for deck of cards style workouts. If you are unfamiliar with deck of cards workouts, basically you choose four exercises that you want to focus on in one workout, one for each suit in a deck of cards. You then flip the cards and do the number of reps that the card indicates for each exercise. Face cards all equal ten reps, and aces equal 11. I’m loving the WOD app because it takes the mess out of flipping the cards, especially if you’re doing this kind of workout at the gym! It also eliminates the need to hunt down where your decks of cards at home actually are, and it keeps track of how efficiently you complete each workout so that you can try to improve next time.
If you’re looking for some ideas for what kinds of exercises to plug into this type of workout, check out my deck of cards page.
SWEETGREEN
I am obsessed with sweetgreen, and it’s one of my favorite organic and healthy food chain in Boston. My gym friends and I are constantly grabbing lunch or dinner at sweetgreen after we take classes together, and if you pay for your meal via the sweetgreen app, you can earn credits that can be redeemed for free food. Maybe I’m realizing that I just like apps that can get you free stuff?
Bonus alert: if you click on the sweetgreen link above to sign up, you can get $3 off your first purchase using the app.
CLASSPASS
For those of you who are Classpass members, the app lets you search for and schedule fitness classes while you are away from the computer. I find that I use the app more than the website because normally I sign up for classes when I’m on the go or when I’m with my gym friends who are also signing up for a class. I like that the app tracks what classes you’ve taken in the past so you can find your favorites again, and it also lets you search by timeframe, type of class you’re interested in, or by studio/geographical location.
For anyone interested in giving Classpass a try, you can get $10 off your first month by clicking here. For past posts on my experience with Classpass, check out:
- Classpass: Boston Fitness Studios I’ve Tried Recently
- Fitness Update: Workouts Lately, Classpass, and What I’m Changing
FITBIT
Finally, I like using my Fitbit app to take a look at my sleep patterns. This is another tracking type of app, but my Fitbit Charge mainly tracks steps and sleep, both things that will log automatically and don’t require me to go in and manually enter anything else unless I want to. I will admit that lately I haven’t been wearing my Fitbit as frequently as I usually do, but that’s because I’ve been busy testing out a different wearable tracker for you guys! However, when do wear my Fitbit regularly, I love checking the app in the morning to get more detail about the quality of my sleep. Doing this also helps me get to bed at a decent hour, something I’ve always struggled with in the past. Finally, the Fitbit app also automatically syncs with Wellcoin (see #1).
For a more detailed review of my experience with the Fitbit Charge, check out this post.
Let’s chat! Do you use any fitness technology? What are your favorite health and wellness phone apps?
Disclaimer: This post is sponsored by Wellcoin as part of a brand ambassador agreement. While I was compensated for this post, all opinions (as always!) are my own. Please note that I am also a brand ambassador for Classpass and receive free Classpass items and other fun perks as part of that relationship, including $25 off my membership for each member that signs up via my refer a friend link in this post. Again, all opinions are my own.
Canada is so behind- we don’t have anything like that! (i don’t think) I like to check my fitbit app all the time for sleep and steps (and i noticed that the HR tracker is spot on when I was hooked up post-op last week and both the fitbit and the monitor at the doctor’s read the same!)
I downloaded Wellcoin a few weeks ago and am loving it so far! I also use Fitbit and the standard social media apps but otherwise I’m just not a big app person either.
I used to track everything, but got into a pattern of restricted / disordered eating that I am working to change now. But, I do still use my Fitbit app – mostly to make sure I am not sitting all day (I work from home a lot…). I’m eager to hear more about what wearable you are trying out, as I would *love* to get one that also has GPS for my runs outside. Nothing I’ve tried so far has worked well for me, unfortunately (I’ve tried and returned 2 already!). Thanks for sharing your balanced and reasonable approach to life – your example and those of others like you help make it easier for me to shift my own approach in that direction.
Hi Anne, thank you so much for this comment. I appreciate your courage in sharing about your journey from disordered eating to a more balanced lifestyle! The tracker I was reviewing is the Garmin vivofit 2. Take a look here:
https://achievewithathena.com/2015/12/02/product-review-garmin-vivofit-2-activity-tracker/