From diet and nutrition to getting a good night’s sleep, here are ways to track wellbeing and stay on top of health and wellness in the new year.
Today’s post is all about discovering ways to track wellbeing! While leading busy lives in a busy world, it’s perfectly understandable (and incredibly easy) to lose focus when it comes to tracking our own personal health and wellness. We’re all so accustomed to tackling a mountain of tasks and juggling busy schedules, so it makes perfect sense that prioritizing ourselves sometimes comes dead last.
At times it can even feel selfish to make ourselves a priority when there’s so much else going on in the world.
Well, rest easy because I’m here to give you permission to absolutely make yourself a priority — and have found some really nifty tools to help you along the way.
Ways to Track Wellbeing
Living in the digital age, we have smartphones glued to our sides at all time. That in and of itself comes with its own line of problems, but it also comes with a few perks. One of those perks? A growing surplus of technology and apps to help us stay on top of everything from our personal finances to our personal health. If you’re a numbers and analytics geek like I am, it’s a great time to be alive! (And tracking your stats can be fun as well as a bit addictive.)
In the world of personal health, I got starting looking at ways to track wellbeing in four main categories:
- Fitness
- Diet
- Mindfulness
- Sleep
Below, I’ll walk you through different tools, apps or techniques that can help you keep a close eye on this areas of your life. Yes, it would be a bit bonkers to track absolutely every single stat of your existence…but if there is an area or two you’d like to focus on improving…these tools will absolutely help you do just that!
Maybe you want to focus on getting better sleep. Maybe you’re interested in a keeping a closer eye on your nutrition.
The resources below can help you do all those things and more! Hope you enjoy and be sure to let me know if there are any other ways to track wellbeing that you have hanging up your sleeve!
Fitness
When it comes to looking at ways to track wellbeing, it’s pretty much a no brainer that fitness is going to come into play. We all know that being active is incredibly important for our overall health and wellness. Some people love working out, others need a little nudge. No matter where you fall on the spectrum, the apps below are sure to help keep you motivated as you track your standings.
My Fitness Pal:
The My Fitness Pal definitely doesn’t offer as many features for free as it used to, but it’s still a very popular and great way to stay on top of your fitness goals! Track your physical activity, log your diet and engage in a community of users to help stay motivated.
Humana Go 365:
If you have Humana, you can sign up for the Go 365 program to track workouts as well as earn benefits such as giftcards to stores like Target and Macy’s or FitBits and other athletic devices. You can also join a number of challenges to earn more points, such as parking further away at the store, taking your dog for walks or joining in on a step competition.
iPhone Health and/or Apple Watch:
If you have an iPhone, you have an activity tracker. The new ios will conveniently track how many steps you take in a day as well as flights of stairs. This is something the phone does automatically and it’s a great way to get started with tracking your activity as it’s already a built in feature. The one downside? The phone obviously won’t track steps and movement unless it’s on you.
FitBit:
Since I mentioned other iPhone as one of the great ways to track wellbeing, I obviously had to make mention of a FitBit as well. This of course is an additional device but tracks your movement as well as monitors your heart rate.
Runkeeper
If you’re a runner, you may just LOVE the Runkeeper app! It offers a free community of runners to keep you motivated and tracks your runs to give you cool maps when you’re done of just how much ground you covered.
Johnson & Johnson 7 Minute
Despite how busy we are, I think we can all manage to carve seven minutes out for a workout. Good news? J&J is here to help with their 7 Minute app! Enjoy large library of workouts where all you need is a wall and a chair.
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Diet & Nutrition
FatSecret:
I hate the name of the FatSecret app, but it is my preferred way of tracking nutrition because it gives you the most information for free. You start out by entering some stats about yourself (height, weight) and it will help you determine what your goals for the day should be in terms of protein and other nutrients. Then, you just simply log your food for the day and it will pull up the full nutritional content for you. It even has lots of restaurants so you can stay on track while eating out as well.
Weight Watchers:
While I personally have never used Weight Watchers, I know a number of individuals who have and have enjoyed great success with their program. WW is also very modernized with an app and all to keep you on track so you don’t have to lug a big book around. (I remember seeing those in the 90s, don’t you!)
Spark People:
Spark People is an entirely free online community and weightloss program. If you’re interested in WW but don’t know about the membership dues, SP is a really great bet for you to try.
Noom:
Noom is an online tool for those really looking to develop a weightloss plan. If you’re simply looking to monitor your diet, it’s probably not for you but if you want help finding a nutrition and weightloss plan that’s customized to you based off your lifestyle — it’s a good resource and has been useful for a lot people.
Food Journal:
If visually you like writing things out, there are also a number of really excellent food diaries available to help you monitor your diet and ensure you’re getting enough nutrition.
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MINDFULNESS
Mindfulness can be practiced in a number of ways, but meditation seems to be the #1 go-to in today’s world. Rightfully so, too, as meditation forces us to step into our own personal thoughts and feelings to escape the busy world outside. Here are some ways to inject some mindful habits in your day-to-day life.
Calm App:
My favorite app for mindfulness? The Calm app. It has guided meditations for virtually every topic you can think of as well as sleep stories, relaxing sounds and even a new mind & body section. It’s also one of my favorite ways to track wellbeing as it will keep steady track of how many mindful minutes you spend throughout the year!
Headspace:
Headspace is the first app I ever used for meditation. It’s absolutely perfect for beginners and was the perfect way to get started. It helped me stop overthinking the whole meditation and stripped everything down to the basics of breathing.
10% Happier:
Another great option is the Ten Percent Happier app, which features more guided meditations from a variety of instructors. The downside is there is no free version available and the trial version is just one session.
Journaling:
Sounds basic, but that’s one of the best things about it. Journaling is a great way to practice mindfulness as well as release any negative feelings that are weighing you down.
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Sleep
We all know how much of a positive difference a good night of sleep can make. Establishing a calming routine is definitely a big part of success in this department, but there are also a number of apps that can help you keep track of your sleep patterns.
Sleep Cycle:
The Sleep Cycle app has a nifty smart alarm clock that tracks your sound and movement through the night to determine the optimal time to wake you up. It also has a library of sleep stories and bedtime meditations to help you get to sleep. Offers both a free version as well as a premium with more features.
Pillow Automatic:
What I’m currently using. The premium version allows you to do more but if like me all you want is to track how much sleep you’re getting, this does the trick. Hit start when you go to sleep and set the phone next to you. It will track how well you sleep based on sound and movement and put that into a log with some interesting sleep analysis stats.
Noisli:
Like some calming music or sounds to help you unwind for bedtime? Noisli offers a free website and a $2 app with a library of options.
Sleep++
The Sleep++ is app is a free option for tracking your sleep and works very similarly to Sleep Cycle and Pillow Automatic.
What are your favorite ways to track wellbeing?
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XOXO
Kelly
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