Something which has really been helping me with my weight loss, has been finding a few really great apps! So I thought I would share them with you.
I am pretty sure this app is the most popular one out of all the ones I mention. I have been using MyFitnessPal for just over a year now, (it helped me lose weight this time last year) and if I were to pick one app out of all of these to recommend you use it would be this one! You set up a profile based on how fast you want to lose/gain and how active you are, then it calculates a daily calorie allowance for you. The idea behind this app is that you LOG EVERYTHING, anything you put in your mouth and any time you workout you need to log it. Doing it this way really opened my eyes to how bad some of the foods I would usually eat were, and motivated me to research better options! There is also a barcode scanning feature which is handy when logging your food on the go. As long as you weigh everything correctly and stick to the nutritional goals (fat/protein/carbs) set for you, you will see changes on the scales.
There is also a large social aspect to this app, not only can you add your friends from Facebook, but you can also interact with others through the forum section, there are forums where and possible question you could have, has been answered by others using the app. You can post new questions yourself, or engage the others within existing posts. I have made loads of friends through reading and commenting on the forums, once you have become friends with someone, you receive updates of how they are doing on your news feed. If they workout, complete their diary for the day or even if they have lost weight at their recent weigh in, you can like and comment on these updates and you also get likes and comments on your own!
The website quite a few additional features, I use the reports section of the website quite often, you can look at the trends of the changes in your body over a period of time. I like to see how my weight loss changes within the month for example, through looking at the chart I can see that I tend to maintain the week before my TOM (Sorry if that TMI!). You can also chart how your measurements are changing as well.
There are loads more I could say about this app but I don't want to go on, honestly just download it and give it a go yourself! My username is kk2aa, feel free to add me as a friend!
This app is basically Instagram with a focus on heath/fitness, the people who use this app have their own goals towards becoming healthier. Some are trying to lose weight, some gain weight, there are others who just are aiming to tone up what they already have. I love this app because it's not all really fit people showing off their super toned bodies, there are plenty of people just like me who are just trying to reduce the flab!
Everyone is really supportive, there is also a recent posts feed so whatever you post goes directly onto there and you get loads of likes in minutes! I don't know about you but I get all proud of myself if I get quite a few likes on something, it motivates me to keep sharing the experience/journey.There are pre-made workouts for you to use, I found these really helpful when I was first starting out and you can also post when your weight has changed. I have started posting on Pump Up almost every day so feel free to add me if you would like to! My Username is kk2aa
This is a really simple app, its helped me to increase the amount of water I drink on a daily basis. You enter your weight and it tells you how much water you should be drinking in a day. You can choose the capacity of the container you usually drink your water in and then each time you finish a full container you click it in the app and it logs that you've drank it. As you log more and more water throughout the day, a sunflower grows on the main screen, if you complete your goal for the day you are left with a fully grown sunflower. I don't know what it is but something about wanting have fully grown sunflowers at the end of the day, want to meet my goal and it's really helped me get into the habit of drinking more!
I'm pretty sure this particular app is only available on Google Play Store, but any water logging app will work the same way and help you to drink more water throughout the day! You just might miss out on the sunflower growing!
Obviously, I know that not everyone has access to an activity tracker like a FitBit, and I will be doing a review based solely on the FitBit in the future. But I just wanted to highlight how helpful I've found using a step tracker in general! It has encouraged me to be more active and reach my step goal each day. I find myself getting off the bus five stops early on my way to work so that I can walk the rest of the way, I go out for an hour walk in my lunch hour and now it would be weird if I didn't! It's just got me moving loads more, and isn't that the main basis for weight loss eating less and moving more?
I didn't always have a FitBit, so I used an app called Accupedo which is a simple app which also allows you to set a step goal for the day and I found it to be quite accurate! I know there are many phones which have a step tracker built in now and many more apps which will do it so have a look around on your app store and take a wack at it!
Last month I completed Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred (review to come!) and I was lucky enough to find the complete DVD on YouTube so I didn't have to pay a penny! Sorry Jillian I'm cheap. But after I finished the shred, I went on to discover that YouTube offers a wide array of fitness videos which are completely free, many require zero equipment and the best part... you can do them in your living room!
I love all of Blogilates videos she is so upbeat! Although sometimes I marvel at her, shouting 'how is she doing that!' at the TV when she makes a really difficult pilates move look ridiculously easy. The FitnessBlender videos are good too because there is so much variety, there are videos of all lengths so you can choose one depending on how much time you have, and you can focus on a specific area of the body or just do a full body workout if you want to. The FitnessBlender videos are also good because they tell you how many calories you've burned, this makes logging the calories on MyFitnessPal loads easier.
Getting fitter doesn't require a gym membership, in fact I have been in the gym less since starting this journey 8 weeks ago because I enjoy working out at home so much!
I love all of Blogilates videos she is so upbeat! Although sometimes I marvel at her, shouting 'how is she doing that!' at the TV when she makes a really difficult pilates move look ridiculously easy. The FitnessBlender videos are good too because there is so much variety, there are videos of all lengths so you can choose one depending on how much time you have, and you can focus on a specific area of the body or just do a full body workout if you want to. The FitnessBlender videos are also good because they tell you how many calories you've burned, this makes logging the calories on MyFitnessPal loads easier.
Getting fitter doesn't require a gym membership, in fact I have been in the gym less since starting this journey 8 weeks ago because I enjoy working out at home so much!