Health Benefits of Using a Fitness App
Want to get in shape before beach season, but you feel like you don’t know where to begin? It’s been a long winter, I know. My suggestion is simple, you need to download MyFitnessPal (its free) right now and take the first step toward a healthier lifestyle.
How can a fitness app help get me in shape?
There are so many ways an app like MyFitnessPal can help get rid of the winter 15 most of us pack on here in Michigan, but the most important feature allows you to track what you are putting in your body. We all know water is essential to life, we wouldn’t exist without it, but do you drink as much water as your body needs every day? Protein is important for fat loss, it can help boost your metabolism and curve hunger, but do you know exactly how many grams of protein you are consuming daily? It is very easy to not reach your daily goal of protein, or water, or calorie intake if you aren’t tracking them. With the meal tracker feature, MyFitnessPal allows you to add what you ate or drank, and it will give you a detailed breakdown of the nutrition for everything you are putting in your body. For the best diet plan tailored specifically to your needs, consult a local personal trainer. He or she can work with you one on one and come up with a diet and workout plan that will teach you how to lose weight and how to get healthy.
Learn how to change your habits
Having instant feedback on how something affects your diet will really put things in perspective for you. You’ll feel guilt adding the extra slice, when you see firsthand how it affects your daily diet. While a one on one personal trainer can help you set up the best diet plan to reach your goals, you are responsible for sticking to the diet. After a little while, the app will make you rethink having that snack at the end of the night or using regular cream cheese on your bagel, instead of using light cream cheese. You can input your height and weight and goal weight, and the app will calculate how many calories you should consume each day until you reach your weight loss goal. It is essential to stick to a diet if you are planning on losing weight, you can work out all you want, but if you aren’t properly fueling your body, you won’t get the results you’re looking for. Having to record what you eat, and seeing how many calories each item is, can be shocking, so get ready to rethink everything you eat or drink.
How a smart watch will help you get the beach body you deserve
Ever wanted to know how many calories you burned in your most recent work out or how efficient your night’s sleep was the night before? Smart watches allow us to track data in ways we never could’ve imagined before. Following your progress using a smart watch is a great motivator. It is always easier to reach your goals if you are constantly reminded what your goals are, and you can see up to the second tracking of your progress. Smart watches can track and record the routes you run, track your physical fitness and everyday activities, which is a great motivator. Smart watches also make it so you can’t forget to record a work out, it is all recorded for you without even having to tell it to do so, they are also super easy and comfortable to wear. Go online, do some research, and find the right smart watch for you and then watch (pun intended) the calories burn off your body.
Track your vitamin and nutrient intake
Micronutrients are vitamins and minerals which are required in small quantities to ensure normal metabolism and physical well-being. Macronutrients are protein, carbohydrates and fat (DSM.com). There is no single food which contains all the vitamins and nutrients needed, so it is essential to track your micro and macronutrients and make sure you are giving your body everything it needs to look good in that swimsuit. Apps like MyFitnessPal give you a breakdown of the macros you’ve taken in with an easy to read pie chart so you can see how close you are to your daily goal after eating. Nutrients can also be easily viewed, but this is more in-depth than the macros. The nutrients section shows your total intake of nutrients like carbohydrates, fiber, fat and others, along with your daily goal for each and lastly, it shows how many grams you have left to reach your goal. Not getting the proper vitamins and nutrients can have major consequences like weakness, memory loss, personality changes, low immunity, bad oral health and brittle bones (Livestrong.com).
Motivation
One of the biggest struggles, if not the biggest, is staying motivated on your path to a healthier lifestyle. Getting out of bed an hour or two earlier, so you can hit the gym before work may sound rough at first, but once you start seeing the results, you’ll be happy to rise before the birds do. Live tracking of your progress is vital to staying motivated. Having a visual record of everything you’ve eaten in a day and seeing how active you have been are great little reminders or your progress. It is easier to get back on the wagon after a cheat day, if you see firsthand how many calories you took in that day. Also, once you reach your goal weight, new calorie and nutrient goals will be suggested by the app, which will help you stay in the habit of eating healthy. According to MyFitnessPal, 88% of people who track with the app for seven days lose weight.
Conclusion
Fitness apps and smartwatches will only benefit you on your journey to a healthier lifestyle, which will also help you get that beach body you want to show off. Tracking your daily intake is essential to following a diet plan and making sure you are getting all the vitamins and nutrients you need to reach your goals. You will almost certainly change your eating habits when you see up close how each item you eat affects your daily intake, this is key to achieving your goals. Smartwatches are a great tool to help you track progress and monitor your body activity and physical activities, there is a wide range of smartwatches available, so make sure you do research and find the right one for you. Your daily intake of vitamins and nutrients can be tracked easily within the app and are available in an easy to read format, which makes tracking so much easier. Finding motivation to get off the couch and get the beach body you strive for has never been easier than it is now with fitness apps and smartwatches so easily available. Make some changes in your life and log your diet and activities and get ready to take in the sun on a Michigan beach in your favorite swimsuit.