Friday Favorites: Fitness apps
Just a few months ago, I didn’t use a single fitness tracker or app. Fast forward to today, and I’m obsessed with not one, but two programs designed to log and record things related to health and wellness.
My favorite activity tracker
This one is clear, and the UP24 is the winner. Granted, I’ve never tried another fitness tracker, but I have no issues with my UP24 band, as people seem to have with other brands. It tracks my steps and my sleep, and the app interface is super user-friendly. It fits nice and snug on my wrist all day and night. I only have to remove it when showering.
I check my phone frequently throughout the day to see where I’m at with my steps. And I’m walking way more than the suggested goal of 10,000 steps or five miles a day, sometimes logging ten miles. True story! I’ve written about my love for my UP band before, so check that out for more details.
My favorite food tracker
Upon recommendations from my fellow personal trainers, I’m finally tracking my food intake. There are a few programs out on the market, but nearly everyone said I should just go with MyFitnessPal. I downloaded the app, registered online, and it’s been smooth sailing.
When you tend to eat similar meals each day, it’s very easy to log your food in without wasting much time. You can also log in your exercise, but I haven’t found the calories counts listed to be super accurate, so I usually adjust them manually.
What’s the best part about MyFitnessPal other than its simple system? It’s totally free to use, and my UP band links to it too. Therefore, it pulls my steps and incorporates them into my daily diary. While the UP app also offers a way to track food, I didn’t find it as easy to use or as detailed as MyFitnessPal.
You can see my goal calories, which I aim to go over every day, based on the amount of calories I burn with exercise and walking.
I’ve been keeping track of, not only my calorie intake, but also my macronutrients (i.e. carbs, proteins and fats). I’ll post more about tracking macros in the future, but I set a goal for myself based on help from a nutritionist at work. Earlier this week, I shared a recap of my meals and the protein counts for each, and some of that information I pulled from MyFitnessPal. When you go to log in your food, you don’t have to know the nutritional information, because there are tons of restaurant meals, name-brand foods, drinks and other data already in the system, which you can choose when entering what you’ve consumed.
You know what’s incredibly scary and eye-opening? When I add in all the foods I eat and drink on Saturday evenings, (nights which are rarely as healthy as the rest of the week and usually include a couple glasses of wine). Just this past Saturday, I loaded in a big slice of creamy fudge ripple delight from The Cheesecake Factory into the tracker, and quite frankly, I didn’t need to know what was actually in there. Let’s just say it blew the goals for the day out the door. Oh well.
Nonetheless, I’m loving MyFitnessPal and my UP24, because they offer me so much information.
I went from having no idea exactly how many hours I’ve been sleeping, how many steps I’ve been taking, or how many calories I’ve been consuming, until now. It feels pretty empowering.
That’s it, friends. I hope you have a great Friday. And I’ll be back with some more recaps of San Francisco group fitness classes I’m trying via ClassPass soon.
Giveaway winner
The winner of the ProYo High-Protein Frozen Treats giveaway has been randomly selected an notified. Congratulations to Brittney! For everyone who entered, check back soon for another exciting giveaway.
More Friday Favorites
And for all of my previous “Friday Favorites” posts, see below. As always, thanks goes out to the hostess of this link-up, Heather.
- A snack, a purse and a ritual
- A delivery, a bra and a guy
- A sweet, a wine and a read
- A drink, a gadget and a plan
- A time, a bottle and a powder
- San Francisco edition
- Beauty edition
- Beach vacation edition
- Hidden meanings
- Kicks, a book and a bowl
- The very best sweatshirts
- Party hosting and froyo
- Fourth of July daytime activity
- Beauty basics edition
- Workplace edition
- Shopping, sales and a show
- The foods I always buy
- Sushi, a game and pants
Questions of the day
Do you have anything fun planned for the weekend? Do you use any fitness apps that make your life easier? Do share!
Tomorrow my husband and I are hosting a bbq/bonfire night at our house. So tonight is all about running errands and getting the house all ready to host everyone.
My favorite fitness apps are myfitnesspal for tracking my daily food and exercise and I use the Nike NTC app and the Skimble apps for workout routines.
Have a great weekend!
Party hosting is fun, but always a little stressful. I’ve never heard of Skimble, thanks for the tip. Have a great weekend!
I suppose that’s one perk of living in the city, you walk a lot! That’s awesome.
I love MyFitness Pal but I quit tracking my eats a while back because I decided it was too time consuming. But it did allow me to get an idea of how many calories I was eating and taught me to pay closer attention to portion sizes.
My favorite fitness apps have been RunKeeper and Nike Training Club. They’re both great for at home workouts.
I’m excited to hear more about the classes you take! Have a great weekend!!
Well your eats seem fancier than mine, so I could see it taking up too much time. 🙂 Have a good weekend too!
My Fitness Pal is a favorite of mine too! I have a tracker with BodyMedia but I wondered how accurate the readings were. Yours looks good. Thanks for the suggestion!
I’ve been wondering how the Jawbone wristbands compare to the fitbit ones. The UP24 sounds pretty cool! I currently use Runkeeper and 7 minute workout on non running/no time days but have been looking for upgrades. Thanks for the suggestions!
Hi Lora,
Thanks for stopping by. Hope you have a great weekend.
I’ve been thinking about doing some food tracking, as much as I hate the idea haha…if I do, I’ll definitely remember your recommendations for MyFitnessPal! Thanks for sharing your experience!
I just found your blog and I’m having such a great time looking thru your posts. I left my heart in San Francisco, so I especially love all your post on dinning and life in the city. I will be visiting SF the first week of October and hope to visit some of the places you’ve featured.
Hi! Thanks for reading. So many people have left their heart here in this City. I love it here. October is an excellent time to visit, as you might even get a little Indian Summer weather. What types of things would you like me to write about San Francisco? Requests are welcome!
My husband and I have been to San Francisco many times to visit his grandmother who lives in the city. We tend to just chill and walk around the area and eat out in Japan Town. Which is a little bit hard because my husband and I are both vegan. But We try and work it out. I think next visit up, we’ll try going to Golden Gate Park. I’ve never been. Do you have any suggestions on what to do at the park? We’re going to stay at Hotel Vitale for a couple days then be with grandma for the rest of our visit. I did hear that the Exploratoriam moved to the Embarcadero. Have you visited yet?
Hi again! I haven’t been to the new Exploratorium, but it’s at a great location on the Bay. Golden Gate Park is huge, so you need to have a plan. There is an awesome Japanese Tea Garden there, as well as a Botanical Garden, which are both worth checking out. It tends to be a few degrees colder at Golden Gate Park, so plan ahead with a sweater or jacket. Have a wonderful visit!