5 Apps to Keep Healthy Habits
Could you imagine teaching Culinary Arts and Restaurant Management in the greatest city in the world? That was my summer. Basically, I was paid to teach students from 14-18 how to make mouthwatering, 5-star restaurant food. I was surrounded by handmade (and gluten free!) dishes ranging from éclairs to cannolis and hand-rolled sushi to fried zucchini blossoms. While I was there I did not notice just how tempting these foods were. It didn’t help that one of the chefs who helped teach the classes owned a restaurant in SoHo and kept supplying us with free appetizers whenever we went. I finally made it home and realized I needed to start eating healthier foods and kick it at the gym. My job in NYC consisted of 18 hour days and walking around for most of them, but I never had time to work out. Here is a list of 5 apps that helped me remain fit and healthy after I came home from NYC (and should help you now that you’re back “home” at Kenyon!):
There is a tiny device with FitBit that wirelessly connects to your iPhone or computer. You walk around with it or workout with it all day, and it not only tracks your steps, tells you the time, and tracks how many miles you’ve walked, but it also tracks how many calories you’ve burned. FitBit comes with three different products- two can help track your sleep and activity patterns. If you want to go the extra mile (pun intended!) I would suggest investing in one of these — it’s incentive to remain active all day.
This isn’t exactly a “workout” system. However, when you are working out your own music sometimes doesn’t cut it. Pandora has come up with all different kinds of workout playlists, from Hiphop/Pop to Indie. When you workout to the same stuff everyday it makes that 5 mile run seem monotonous.
Runkeeper gives you workout plans, such as preparing for a 5K, 10K or a marathon. From there, it gives you daily suggestions for what to do. And if that isn’t cool enough, it has a GPS to track your routes, how much you’ve run, and your speed. Also, the woman who tells you how you’re doing periodically through your run has an intriguing voice to keep you going.
While I don’t suggest calorie counting, it is nice to track what you eat and have a food journal right at your fingertips. It doesn’t hurt to set some limits for yourself, and MyFitnessPal does that. It even has a barcode scanner to input nutritional facts for that late night Market run!
GymGoal Free is key when you want to get in shape. We all know it’s important to stay active, and this app has ideas for workouts for every part of your body—core, arms, and legs—and keeps a schedule for you. When you need help staying on track or needing some new ways to spice up your KAC workouts, this is the app to get.
Photo Sources: MyFitnessPal, Tumblr