8 Healthy Apps to Download Today
Our mentors at healthcoachFX believe that in the long run, future technology and knowledge innovation hold the key towards personalised health and wellbeing.
At Ted 2012, Peter Diamandis – engineer, physician, and entrepreneur best known for being the founder and chairman of the X PRIZE Foundation, the co-founder and chairman of Singularity University and the co-author of the New York Times bestseller Abundance: The Future Is Better Than You Think – made a case for technological optimism:
We’ll invent, innovate and create ways to solve the challenges that loom over us.
We are aware that technology can also cause a great deal of stress, but with the right selection of tools it also has the potential to eliminate stress, as it becomes easier to integrate health into our lives. Here are 8 useful apps that bring some bliss into your healthy lifestyle!
30 RAW (BREAKFASTS)
This is my latest addiction. I’ve been following the awe-inspiring food blogger Elenore Bendel Zahn of Earthsprout for a while now, and I love everything about this wonderful-bright-loving sunshine. This green goddess produces culinary miracles in her kitchen and recently launched her 30-day breakfast program called 30 Raw. One of my incredible vegan loving friends reminded me to download her app the other day (how could I’ve forgotten?!) and I immediately was drawn into her wonderful world of fingerlicking foods that taste delicious and nourish the body – transforming & beautifying it from inside out. The recipes are gluten-free, mostly vegan and free from processed sugar.
Available on iPhone for €3.59.
NIKE+ RUNNING APP
This app gives me the feeling I am Super Mario and my run is a computer game – including challenges, next levels, prizes, extra points, sharing opportunities, cheers from sport champions and leaderboards with your friends. Map your runs, track your progress, and stay motivated to keep going. The Nike+ Running app tracks distance, pace, time and calories burned with GPS, giving audio feedback as you run. I love moving, but running was never my thing per se. Since I have this app, I have been integrating runs into my fitness regime and sticked with it. Afterwards you’ll feel like a hero.
Available on iPhone + Android for free.
TABATA PRO™
When I was living abroad, I couldn’t always join the gym (due to subscriptions of minimal 1 year). I wanted to spice up my runs around the park. I fell in love with the benefits of HIIT training. HIIT is a form of training that combines short intervals or bursts of maximum or near maximum efforts alternated by rounds of low effort or recovery. In other words, you train meaner and get leaner in a smaller amount of time. Now, who wouldn’t want that? The Tabata Pro™ App allowed me to enhance my interval trainings with a timer and I found it extremely easy to use. The possibilities are endless (running, burpees, weight training, cycling, or any interval fitness training) and you can take your short effective training wherever you want. Join me and ‘knock’ yourself out!
Available on iPhone + Android for €2.20
CALM
Need a little more calm in your life? When I feel an anxiety attack coming up, when stress is taking over or when I simply can’t fall asleep (dear mind, please shut the f*ck up!) – the Calm App is the solution. With an easy-to-follow meditation program and 7 guided meditation sessions from 2 to 30 minutes, you’ll be able to discover how meditation can improve your mood – and your life. Other features include 10 beautiful nature scenes, 16 blissful music tracks and guided meditations for focus, creativity, energy, confidence, and sleep. Sweet dreams!
Available on iPhone for free.
VIRTUAL TRAINER SUSPENSION
At healthcoachFX we love TRX. The TRX Suspension Trainer is a highly portable performance training tool that uses gravity and your own body weight to develop strength, balance, flexibility and core stability simultaneously. It allows you to train wherever you are: at home, on the road or in the gym. You’re in control of how much you want to challenge yourself on each exercise – because you can simply adjust your body position to add or decrease resistance. With the Virtual Trainer Suspension App, you’ll gain access to 46 exercises presented in sharp HD video. You can get a full body workout with exercises in all ranges of difficulty by the world renowned TRX-guru Seth Ronland. Optimise your results with Virtual Trainer Suspension. You can challenge yourself, get rewards, keep track of your score and find exercises targeting specific muscle groups.
Available on iPhone + Android for €4.49.
SLEEP CYCLE
Sleeping is thé most underrated ingredient of health and wellbeing. A good rest gives your metabolism an extra boost and supports weight loss. As you sleep you go through different phases, ranging from deep sleep to light sleep. The phase you are in when your alarm goes off is critical for how tired you will feel when you wake up. Sleep Cycle is an intelligent alarm clock that analyzes your sleep and wakes you in the lightest sleep phase – the natural way to wake up feeling rested and relaxed. The App comes with many features such as detailed sleep statistics, 15 carefully selected alarm melodies, a customisable wake up window (varying from instant to 90 minutes), sleep aid which fades the soothing sounds as your fall asleep, Philips HUE light bulb support, and much more. I have to add that it’s important to put your phone on flight mode. We don’t want our bodies to suffer from e-smog, do we?
Available on iPhone + Android for €0.89.
QUICK FIT
Quick Fit from Tiny Hearts on Vimeo.
Workout in 7 minutes. Anytime. Anywhere. No equipment necessary. This is the perfect workout app for busy people. The world-famous 7 Minute Workout — as seen in the New York Times — is scientifically proven to be as effective as a trip to the gym. Quick Fit guides you through it all with HD video and voice prompts and tracks your progress as you get in shape.
Available on iPhone for €1.79.
SMOKE FREE
I am not a smoker BUT I have heard incredible stories about this particular app: Smoke Free. The app has received over 500 5-star reviews in the app store, and is completely free, without any adverts. The dashboard provides by-the-second updates, of how much money you’ve saved, how long you’ve been smoke free and how many cigarettes you’ve not smoked. You’ll be able to see how much money you saved, and watch how quickly your health improves.
Available on iPhone for free.
Photo Credit © Shutterstock
30raw is the shhh…t! love it!
Woop! The Chia Cranberry Craze, Gingered Rawpple and Coco Flapjacks are AMAZING. Foodgasm guaranteed. x
One – your site is amazeballs BEAUTIFUL! Two – Nike+ running app downloaded! Thanks for that hot tip! Looking forward to staying linked in with this beautiful space Laura! X
Thanks heaps beautiful! Yesterday I discovered you and your stunner website The Polka Dot Flamingo via Adventuringhome. I love your energy & blogging! Have fun with the Nike+ app :) X
Awesome apps! I feel like a kid in a candy store…I mean a raw breakfast store…so many good ones! Thanks for sharing.