By Samrat Amatya
Nearly one-third of the world population has some kind of health-related problem. The current generation faces a host of health issues from being obese to more persistent diseases. Much of it is blamed on the modern lifestyle. Unlike other matters, you can’t go from unhealthy to healthy in a matter of days. It takes months, even years, of dedication, following a strict regimen, and going out of the comfort zone to be well and healthy. However, there are some apps that will make the journey towards a healthier life a bit easier.
My Fitness Pal
Availability: Free on both Android and IOS
My Fitness Pal is one of the most popular health-related apps. It helps you track your calories, create a goal, and log your exercise. And it does these things very well! My Fitness Pal app has a huge database of food items to track your calories. You can manually insert the data or use the on-board barcode reader to scan the values of your food. Similarly, you can also tabulate the different exercises and calculate the number of calories you have burned. Being a popular app, it has a huge community of users whom you can gain motivation from. This is a crucial part to help you achieve your set goals! You can also share your progress charts, photos, and nutrition with your friends and family.
Samsung Health
Availability: Free on Android
Although an app made for Samsung devices, Samsung Health is one of the most extensive health trackers available. And fright not, you can easily download the app from the Play Store. Like many health apps, Samsung Health has a lot of features. From tracking your calories to your exercise, the app has it all. Heck, it even has a robust community with whom you can share your progress. But what sets this app apart from the competition, is the built-in heart rate tracker, sleep tracker, and steps tracker. Besides these, you can also find out your stress levels and oxygen saturation levels from the app. If that wasn’t enough, the app even lets you keep track of your water and coffee intake. I mean how cool is that! And oh, the app received a new design overhaul which makes it visually appealing and more fun to use.
Home Workout
Availability: Free on both Android and IOS
Many of us don’t have the time to hit the gym. We are too caught up in our worldly affairs that it makes it difficult to spare 2 or so hours. Enter Home Workout, an app that helps you exercise from the convenience of your home. You also don’t need any fancy or expensive equipment. All you need is a few minutes of your days’ time. Just fire up the app and select the body part you want to focus on. Once you have selected that, you will be prompted to the different exercises available. You can serially follow them as per the instructions. There is also a cool animation and a link to a YouTube tutorial on how to do that particular exercise. And oh, these exercises change as per your level of growth. Besides this, you can also take up various challenges that focus on exercising your full body. Great for beginners!
Headspace
Availability: Free on both Android and IOS (Includes in-app purchases)
A healthy mind is the very foundation of a healthy body. With more and more people suffering from depression, anxiety, and sleep deprivation, having good mental health is a must. One great way to do just that is through meditation. Meditating for just five minutes a day can do wonders to your mind and body. But how do you meditate the right way? Enter Headspace, an app that teaches you the right way of meditating. This nifty little app has a 10 day’s beginners course where you are guided by a pre-recorded voice on how to meditate. You can choose between three minutes or five minutes of meditation. Besides voice-guided meditation, the app also has an animation section where you can watch educational videos on the mind and body.
The Flo App
Availability: Free on both Android and IOS
The Flow App is one of the most popular apps dedicated to women’s health. It helps ladies track your period cycles and fertile days. The app also has its own personal notes section where you can easily jot down important details like moods and symptoms. The Flo App also has reminder settings that will help you remember your due dates. And for you to-be-moms, there is even a pregnancy mode to track the most important time of your lives. A great way to tabulate the weeks, upcoming health checkups, or even those precious baby movements. Besides these, the app also provides you with a lot of health tips and insights.
