Hello! 🙂 I’ve been really into using Health apps on my phone the last couple of months and I wanted to share my thoughts with you on my two favorites: MyFitnessPal and Pact
1. MyFitnessPal –
I have been using this app for almost 3 years so that alone should tell you it’s an app that you will love. It has a lot of features and it’s free (unless you choose to purchase the Premium package). The app has 5 tabs at the bottom of the screen.
- The first tab is the Home page and you can see a breakdown of calories remaining for your day. If you have an iPhone 6, it also tracks your steps and you can set your goal to whatever amount of steps you want. I have mine set to 10K and I almost never reach it (gotta be honest). You can also find blogs and a feed. The feed features friends updates as well as your own. You can choose to share or not to share your own journey with other people. The feed feels a lot like Facebook status updates. I don’t have a lot of friends on there so add me (my username is ajmann87).
- The second tab is the Diary where you log your food, exercise and water intake. The diary is broken down by Breakfast, AM Snack, Lunch, PM Snack, Dinner and Other. The app will remember your most recent adds and will also allow you to create frequently eaten meals for ease of use.
- The third “tab” is a plus sign in a circle that you click to add a status update, your water intake, food, exercise or weight update.
- The 4th tab is the Progress tab. You can toggle between 1 week, 1 month, 2 months, 3 months, 6 months, a year, and all. I like to see the “all” progress because it shows my weight over time and since I’ve been using it for 3 years, I have 3 years worth of data, which is pretty awesome! You can also track your steps and measurements on this tab too.
- The last tab is the More tab and by clicking it, you get access to your profile, goals, nutrition, recipes and foods, reminders, apps and devices, steps, blog, community, friends, messages, settings, help, other apps and sync. Here you can customize the app to your needs. I have reminders set to let me know when I have forgotten to log a meal.
2. Pact
I have been using the Pact app for over a month. I have a love/hate relationship with it because it motivates me to eat better and workout but if I forget to do a workout or log a meal, I have to pay for it! I lost almost 60 bucks the first week I used it… and my husband was not happy about that, as you can imagine.
- The app allows you to bet against yourself.
- You can choose how many workouts, food diary logs and fruit/veggie servings that you want to do in a weeks time.
- Once you choose your pact activities, you choose how much money you want to bet. If you get all of them, you pay nothing. If you miss one, you pay the amount you bet against yourself. If you get every activity in your pact, you make a smaller amount of change ranging from a few cents to almost 2 dollars. I have made about 8 dollars in 4 weeks, so that’s 2 dollars a week! If I keep it up, I can save up enough for a pair of new running shoes or workout clothes! 😉
Thanks for reading! Have a blessed weekend!
Anna