I like being fit and healthy. I also like winning prizes. This list of likes can be hard to make a reality, but SlimKicker – a new smart phone app – might make winning prizes and getting fit a little bit easier for all of us.

SlimKicker may seem like just another weight loss app, especially since there are plenty of fitness apps out there. But app market experts are saying that, “SlimKicker turns your diet and weight loss goals into a winnable, level-up game.”

At first, even the tagline seems similar to other game strategy weight loss tools on the market. But after reading a little deeper, SlimKicker may truly have a different and highly effective concept for its users.

Here’s a brief rundown of SlimKicker’s four main functions, as described by the company.
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Two popular mobile health brands have partnered to create a completely new and unique “do-it-yourself” health monitoring system. MyNetDiary just announced its integration with Withings Devices. Together these two applications are giving users an experience like no other. “This integration with Withings makes it even easier for people to keep track of their diet, weight changes and health,” says Sergey Oreshko, CEO of MyNetDiary.

MyNetDiary is a popular calorie counter that was launched in 2007. Today more than two million members use the application to track calories and lose weight safely. Withings has been a worldwide force in bringing health care into the people’s hands. Withings introduced the Wi-Fi Body Scale in 2009. The scale was the first ever internet connected body scale. Now the two are combining to offer weight loss and diet help along with a Wi-Fi scale and blood pressure monitor.

This integration will now allow users to automatically send data from both the blood pressure monitor and the scale to their MyNetDiary account and receive support in monitoring their diet and health.

Oreshko explains how the two devices will combine to be a highly effective tool.
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For years I’ve espoused the many benefits of weekly meal planning. I rave to anyone (and even brag a little) about how it ensures we have home cooked meals most nights, how it keeps our grocery budget in check, eliminates a lot of food waste, and leaves little room for excuses about time. I can’t remember the last time I heard “What’s for dinner;” if I do, I point to the calendar on the refrigerator door.

From pen and paper to iPhone apps, there are numerous ways to adopt a meal planning habit in your house. Food On The Table is one digital tool that helps families plan meals almost effortlessly. The cooking, well, that will require a bit more muscle. I spent some time this week “playing” with the app and site, and asked Josie Maurer at YumYucky.com to take a look with me as well. She’s an equally health-conscious and busy mom who hasn’t quite adopted the meal planning strategy that I have. However, I think FoodOnTheTable.com changed her mind.

At FoodOnTheTable.com, or through their Android or iPhone app, you can make a weekly meal plan that is family-friendly (read: the kids will like it), keeps you organized, and reduces strain on your grocery bill. The app is free, as is a base subscription on the site; however, for more bells and whistles a monthly subscription is offered.

The site and app are both designed well. In fact, Josie and I agreed on her note that “It’s very interactive and highly visual, which encourages easy to understand navigation.”
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My life, like many others’, is centered around my iPhone. I can’t imagine my life without it. Web developers realize the increase in smartphone use could be helpful in managing diabetes and there are apps that can help diabetics count carbs and track their blood sugar trends. I reviewed a few of the free apps for the iPhone to see if they could be beneficial for diabetics.

Bant

This is a great starter app but there are definitely some limitations. It logs glucose readings but doesn’t indicate a before meal reading or post-prandial (1 hour post meal). These readings are the best for truly seeing how well the sugar is being controlled or how different foods can affect the blood sugar. It has the ability to upload your information to Twitter (#bant) and there is an online community for support and to share ideas. You can also upload your results to websites like www.healthvault.com so your doctor can see your trends at your next appointment. I think adding a medication reminder to help taking insulin or oral medications would be a useful tool to help people stay on track. Currently this app does not have nutritional information to help with tracking calories and carbohydrates.

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According to the Harvard School of Public Health, the U.S. Government, and dietitians all you need is 80 bites of food a day. This concept is behind the new 80Bites Diet created by registered dietitian Meredith Luce, M.S. and Pilates instructor Joan Breibart. The 80Bites Diet is promoted as a way to permanently retrain how your body feels hunger, teach it to eat slower, and reprogram the digestive system.

Due to chronic overeating, our stomachs stretch. The more a stomach stretches, the more of an appetite one has which leads to over-consumption and weight gain. 80Bites claims that by simply taking 80 bites of a food a day, your body can learn to intuitively eat a healthy amount. We are assuming that those 80 bites are nutritious foods, and not mouthfuls of cake.

The 80Bite plan is a 12 week plan that is explained very simply: Take fewer bites, your stomach container shrinks, you want fewer feedings, and finally you absorb fewer calories. As the name indicates, you eat 80 bites of food per day, divided into three meals and a snack. To monitor your bites, 80Bites has a smart phone app that you count your bites with. It’s considered the “pedometer for your mouth,” a practical way to track consumption and become aware of overeating. The app records each bite you take as you tap on the screen. If you eat too quickly, the app alerts you to slow down. When you get close to your maximum bites for the meal, the sound changes, too.

We aren’t entirely sure if doing everything for you, and focusing on quantity over quality, is the path to learning intuitive eating, but it does set a pace that can become habit if practiced over a period of time.

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