fitness apps I love.

weight watchers // fooducate // nike + running // myfitnesspal. All apps are free in the app store, but the WW app does require a subscription to the program in order to access the pointplus tracker.

Since last summer I have started to get a little more serious with the foods I put into my body and about exercise. I don't spend hours in the gym every morning (I wish I had tons of free hours!) and I'm not on a lettuce diet, but I do feel that with the help of these apps and programs I have become so much more food conscious to a healthy, non obsessive degree, and the exercise that I do is tracked well, all of which motivates me.

1// I joined weight watchers in October and have lost about 13 pounds since I started. I attribute most of the weight I've lost to weight watchers, and while I don't think I'll keep paying for it much longer, I have a great idea of the "pointsplus" system in comparison to calories and carbs and things like that. I will definitely keep all that weight watchers has taught me in mind moving forward and would consider revisiting it in the future if I felt I needed to.

2// the reason I don't think I'll keep WW for too much longer has a lot to do with not wanting to pay for it when there are plenty of free apps out there that can do a world of good if you know how to use them. Fooducate is an app that "grades" foods based on ingredients (especially sugar), serving sizes, and a few other factors. You can use the scanner as you do your weekly grocery shop and if something isn't graded to your liking (I like to consume things that are a B- and up if possible), you can click on the alternatives for that product and find something similar that has better ingredients. As a bonus, pretty much every food comes up with a point value that matches up to weight watchers points.

3// I've talked about nike + running before, here and here, and I'm happy to say I'm still obsessed with it, but I miss it. I haven't been able to run outside in a while and I'm really getting the itch to do so. Unfortunately I have found that the nike + running app doesn't work when you're on a treadmill because it can't rely on the gps and doesn't really sense enough movement because you're essentially running in place. I'm excited to get using this app again soon, but in the mean time I have been estimating calories burned using another app.

4// I have had the myfitnesspal app for about two years, and at a few different points I was using it daily (much like I'm doing with WW now) to track what food I was eating and calorie intake. I know it's not all about the calorie intake, which is how fooducate comes into play again, to make sure that certain low calorie foods are still good for me. I also use myfitnesspal to track workout calories. It's not completely accurate because it doesn't know how hard I'm actually working, but it is a good ballpark estimate to keep myself on track and make sure I'm working as hard as I can during a workout.

I am considering a fitbit flex band or another type of exercise watch to really track my activity, but for now these four apps combined are helping me stay on track with food and exercise as well as teaching me valuable information.

*this is not a sponsored post, I just love these apps and recommend all of them.