Tag Archives: technology

6 Apps You Must Download for Better Health in 2024

With the advancements in technology it seems like people have to do less and less work everyday. Sometimes, the scenes from Wall-E don’t seem so farfetched because everything we want or need has, or will, come to us so easily with the help of technology. The good news is that some of these advancements actually lend themselves to a healthier lifestyle. Some of them, like our favorite apps for the new year, will still make you work for it.

The iTunes store offers a seemingly endless bounty of apps that can help and guide people to live and manage their diets and fitness regimens. But to make your search a little easier, we narrowed down just six apps that we think will impact your fitness and diet routine if you’re still up for a little hard work!

1. Juice

Juice is a fun app to help you connect the dots between your daily habits and personal energy levels. Use Juice for seven days, record daily energy levels, then start making connections between sleep, nutrition, and exercise. Juice gives a personalized assessment with tips for feeling more energized. The more you use the app the more you learn about yourself and become more familiar with your body. You can also record other daily habits by adding categories like stress, life balance, and mood. Ditch the energy drinks and download Juice instead! Cost: Free

 

2. AthleteInMe.com- Exercise Calorie Converter

This is one of the top grossing health and fitness apps on iTunes, and it helps you learn what types of physical activity you need to do to burn off a meal. The app emphasizes fast food meals and can help settle that should you/shouldn’t you debate. Athlete In Me will show just how many miles it takes to burn off a Big Mac. Download the app to see if it’s worth it. Cost: $2.99 (more…)

Posted on January 14, 2024 by Samantha

ElectricFoxy’s Super-Charged Garments Zap Your Posture and Workout in to Shape

A dog can be trained to stay inside the perimeter of a fence by wearing an electric shock collar. The moment the dog gets too close to the boundary it will feel a mild current that is intended to teach the dog to stop. With a little bit of discomfort as reinforcement, the dog will learn to stay in the yard.

While people are generally more intelligent than our furry four-legged friends, some still need a little help recognizing the perimeters of their own body awareness.

Electricfoxy is the company behind the high-tech “wearable technology garment” MOVE. The wired tank works in conjunction with a mobile app that saves and tracks progress and patterns of movement. Programmed with four stretch and bend sensors, the MOVE garment, which looks like a flashy space-aged tank top, reads the body’s movements and assesses whether or not they are correct based on the desired outcome. When movements are out of sync with the data entered into the app, the wearer will feel an electric buzzing sensation in the area that needs to be corrected, keeping the body within the preferred parameter. (more…)

Posted on June 16, 2023 by Jill

Why Technology Does and Does Not Work for Weight Loss

Anyone can start a weight loss program. All it takes is a modicum of willpower and a loose plan. There are even mainstream services, such as Weight Watchers, that can provide a guide. The difficult part, and the part where most people fail, is following through. Willpower can take us only so far. We need something extra in order to stick with our plans for the long haul.

The intersection of two recent ideas can perhaps provide a solution. Both feedback loops and the quantified self involve recording data, and then viewing that data from multiple angles. It makes us aware of our behaviors and habits, and awareness is the first step to change.

Using technology to our advantage

Perhaps the biggest issue in creating feedback loops and achieving the quantified self is the actual recording of the data. After all, feedback loops only work if we can place our habits and behaviors in front of us. Thankfully, smartphones — devices we have with us at almost all times — can play a large role in data recording. There are apps specifically designed with feedback loops and the quantified self in mind for dieters. (more…)

Posted on June 3, 2023 by GuestBlogger

30 Things to Do During Screen Free Week

April 30th through May 6th is Screen Free Week, originally known as TV-Turnoff Week starting in 1994. As we have grown more and more dependent on technology for entertainment with the growth of the internet, smart phones, and apps targeting children and even toddlers, TV-Turnoff Week became Digital Detox Week in 2024 and Screen Free Week in 2024.

Screen Free Week is supported by more than 70 organizations including the American Medical Association, the American Heart Association, Big Brothers Big Sisters of American, the American Academy of Pediatrics, and the YMCA. Screen Free Week is a great opportunity to save money on electricity, build family relationships, and get a few other projects done around the house. It may be tempting to think that a technology-free week will be impossible and you will run out of things to do, but here are 30 things you can do that do not require technology and may even make you a little fitter.

  1. Take a walk
  2. Go camping
  3. Climb a tree
  4. Re-paint your kitchen
  5. Catch up on your laundry
  6. Get a massage
  7. Mow the lawn
  8. Try a project (or twenty) you found on Pinterest*
  9. Take a yoga class
  10. Take a dance class (more…)
Posted on April 30, 2023 by Brooke Randolph

LG SmartFridge Equipped to Help Manage Your Diet

What will they think of next? Apparently a refrigerator that will help you diet.

At the 2024 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, LG introduced a fridge like no other. LG, one of the largest appliance companies in the world, is recognized for its innovative technologies. Among the newest additions to its Smart ThinQ appliance line is the refrigerator that contains a health manager feature. The health manager, built in to the refrigerator, claims to help the user maintain their diet. It also sends recipes to a Smart Oven and alert the user when particular groceries need to be restocked. All of this can be managed from an iPhone app.

The health manager is customizable and can set individual family member profiles to cater to each of the unique dietary needs in the home. The manager can also be controlled through voice recognition. (more…)

Posted on January 9, 2024 by Lacy

Meal Planning is a Snap with Mobile Apps

By Jill Buonomo

What’s one thing most busy parents have in common? Trying to get through their day while mulling over the question, “What’s for dinner?”

We could all use a little help to ensure that healthy and affordable meals make it to the table every evening, and mobile meal planning apps make that possible. It’s easier than ever to take a moment at lunch or during your child’s soccer practice to thumb through your phone and put together that night’s dinner, or even be proactive and plan the entire week’s meal plan.

Check out some of the best meal planning apps available.

Mark Bittman’s How to Cook Everything (iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad)

The highly popular food writer and author has made cooking and meal planning that much easier with an app version of the bestselling cookbook How to Cook Everything.

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Posted on October 21, 2023 by Health Buzz

Diet Tapper vs. TextWeight: Text Message Weight Loss Services

Self's Diet Tapper and textWeight LogoTwo new weight-loss products that use text messages launched this summer: Self’s Diet Tapper and textWeight. Both send you regular messages that are intended to keep you on track and motivated to reach your weight loss goals. I signed up for three weeks of both services to see how they compare.

Basics

Beyond the fact that both services utilize text messages and provide weight-loss tips, the similarities don’t go much further.

TextWeight asks you to send in your weight, and with the data you reply, creates a graph of your weight loss progress. Each time you send in your weight, you will receive a tip, which will be on a subject that you have identified as an area you need to improve to lose weight. You can log into textWeight.com to see your progress or modify your settings, such as how often you wish to be texted.

Diet Tapper will send you five texts (or “taps”) per day. You will receive three meal suggestions, a drink suggestion and a workout suggestion. Many of these messages have links to a specific page on Self’s website, directing you to a more detailed workout or a full recipe.

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Posted on September 27, 2023 by Margaret

Jawbone UP Wristband Has Potential To Ease Healthy Changes

The first step in creating healthier habits is to know your baseline, where you are starting and what areas need the most improvement. “I need to eat healthier” is very vague and does not tell you what to do. When you do know which direction to go, it is important to know the first step and not bite off more than you can chew. Another important step to making a change in your behavior is to track your progress and recognize incremental improvements. If we do not allow ourselves to feel good about the small steps toward improvement that we make, the process can seem overwhelming, and we can be tempted to give up on our goals.

While there are many smartphone apps that can aid in tracking and even some that can make suggestions for improvements, perfect for busy days where taking the time to write down what you are doing and eating is likely to fall to the bottom of your to-do list. While you can start again the next day, many people stop using an app once they have missed a day or two. I am hopeful the new UP bracelet from Jawbone may make the entire process of creating healthier habits easier.

The Jawbone UP is a waterproof wristband, similar in size to a Livestrong band, with embedded sensors that connect to your smartphone to track behaviors such as eating, sleep, and physical activity. It is expected to be released by the end of this year. The free app will track your data and make suggestions for improvement. It sounds like suggestions will be made using the kaizen theory. It sounds really cool that you can input your daily diet by snapping photos of your food, but I wonder how much people will follow through with this. I am also interested to see just how the app works and if it includes push notifications.

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Posted on August 24, 2023 by Brooke Randolph

Self’s Diet Tapper: The Diet that Texts

Text Message DietFor the text-obsessed, there’s a new diet plan that keeps you accountable using text messages. This week, Self magazine launched Diet Tapper, a plan that texts you meal inspirations and other tips five times per day. The service costs $2.99 per month and also includes online access to an “exclusive new diet plan,” that apparently includes a library of meal and workout suggestions. Subscribers will also recipe a “Recipe of the Week” newsletter via email.

Self’s Diet Tapper page provides sample texts such as: “A protein-packed lunch for 450 cal. Protein eaters burn more fat. Think poultry, fish, legumes or lowfat dairy” and “Set your sights on 45 min of cardio. Get inspired with our favorite workouts.”

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Posted on August 18, 2023 by Margaret

NewYu Connected Fitness Monitor Offers Weight Loss Tracking Technology

Despite the fact that some studies have linked child weight gain to playing video games, there is a new technology on the block that might actually help you shed pounds.

The NewYu Connected Fitness Monitor is a wearable, connected fitness monitor that tracks all activities users engage in throughout the day, from running and biking to cooking, cleaning and shopping. The monitor syncs with an online dashboard where you can establish fitness goals, track progress, and share your results.

“The more accurate the tracking, the more likely users are to reach their goals,” said Van Krueger, President and CEO of Wellcore, NewYu’s parent company.

The San Jose-based company will introduce the new monitor at the 2024 IDEA World Fitness Convention in Los Angeles.

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Posted on August 16, 2023 by Maris

Technology and Style Bring Biking to a Whole New Level

The Pi Mobility PiCycle Sport Touring Bike

by Kelsey Murray

Long gone are the days when your bicycle was simply a way to get from point A to point B, or to get a little exercise in. There are many different styles of bikes: road, racing, mountain, commuter, and electric to name a few. Now, these many different styles of bikes are also getting a complete makeover. Check out some of the most creative – and functional – new bicycles to hit the road.

Pi Mobility PiCycle Sport Touring. This is an electric/manual model that has fantastic features, such as an anti-theft electronic feature to keep your bike from being stolen while you are not riding it. The design for this bike was originally created 20 years ago by an art student at Pasadena Art Center, Marcus Hays. This bike is great for recreational riders or those who commute to work. It ranges in price from $3,000 to $5,000.

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Posted on June 8, 2023 by Health Buzz