Getting in shape and getting healthy aren’t mutually exclusive–improving your overall health can lead to a longer, happier life. You can still suffer from headaches and ennui due to poor sleep even if you’re sporting the world’s first sixty-four pack. Improving your health can lead to better relationships; both with yourself and with other people, which will increase the quality of your life. There might be more to do than caring about your pants size, but taking control of your mental and physical health isn’t so difficult–you just need the right tools. And the perfect one to start you off is right in your pocket: your iPhone.
Managing Your Health
Apple is seriously kicking their “healthy living” game into gear. Health App is one of those applications that you can’t delete, so you may have to dig it out of the back corner of your iPhone. The Health App goes beyond tracking your workouts or nutritional intake–you can input medical information so that you have all your data where it’s easily accessible. Health also tracks your heart rate, sleeping patterns, and distances you’ve walked or run and displays the information on your dashboard for quick access. Your allergies, dietary restrictions, body measurements, even emergency contacts can be recorded–all of these are important aspects of “health” that go beyond just working out. If you use other applications on your iPhone for workouts or health-tracking, have no fear! Within the Health App you can choose to import this information underneath the “Sources” tab, streamlining your health information.
Getting In Shape
Yeah, overall health is important, but you came here looking for some sick gains, right? Fitbod is probably the golden ticket you’ve dreamed about. The app includes training exercises and videos that are specifically designed to avoid repetition and boredom when you’re getting your sweat on. It even has a log to keep track of all your past workouts. This allows Fitbod to create your next workout by analyzing your workout data. If you want more than the basics you can always purchase more workouts within the app.
Cooking Smarter
Eating better is a huge part of improving your overall health. You could be exercising every day, but if you’re chowing down on whatever takeout is readily available, you’re not going to see a whole lot of improvement. In our previous post about refreshing your life, we’ve touched on how eating better can improve your overall lifestyle, but what if that’s still not fitting into your schedule? Epicurious Recipes is an app that lets you type in whatever you have laying around the fridge and figures out which knock-out dish can be your dinner. Best part? These recipes are made by professional chefs that have been in lifestyle magazines like Bon Appétit, and also feature reviews by everyday people whose tastes might align better with yours. Second best part? It’s free to use.
Improving Your Sleep
Ever wonder why after a long day of working in front of your computer, you feel exhausted but can’t manage to fall asleep? Staring at screens for too long damages your eyes and may make it difficult for your mind to relax. Enter Night Shift. Much like Health, Night Shift is a built-in program that uses information about your timezone and adjusts the hue and saturation of your iPhone display. Night Shift’s orangish glow helps ease your brain into a “nighttime ready” state so you can fall asleep easier. Unless you downloaded the Jeff Bridges Sleeping Tapes, then you probably don’t need help sleeping at all.
