Getting into shape is not easy but with determination it can become a habit and less than a chore.
My goal has been to make a habit out of working out and eating healthy. Now there is plenty of conflicting evidence out there about how long it takes to form a habit but the time frame that made the most sense to me was 60 days.
Any habit I have, definitely didn’t take less than a month to form. Working out is a whole new ball game because the pain is not something I look forward to but once I push past it, the rush I get is great. It makes me feel like I can hike up Mt. Kilimanjaro.
The more I work out, the less my muscles ache. But this only starts happening after a while depending on activity level.
To help me on my habit building I have been using “Productive” it’s a free app with an option to upgrade for more options to add habits.
The app allows you to add up to 5 habits and set the time of day they are to be completed. Morning, evening and and time. You can also set something to be completed multiple times a day.
The great thing about this app is that it allows you to tick tasks as “done” or “skipped” so you are fully accountable and it shows you your results so every little task done is a victory. The user interface is also quite nice, so it’s very user friendly.
I use it to track my diet and exercise progress. But to track my actual food intake it’s all down to MyFitnessPal. If you do not use it you are truly missing out on a great application. It already has quite an extensive amount of preloaded foods and meals so chances are you wont need to add much unless you are following a super strict diet.
Seeing your progress can make that craving for a bag of crisps worth it. The app lets you chose how many calories you want to consume a day. It also lets you input water intake and exercise.
I’m awful when it comes to drinking water. Don’t know why but I’m bad at it but I love herbal teas so I’m trying to drink more plain old H2o.
MyFitnessPal lets you input exactly how much exercise you have, did you walk for 10 min really quickly to your bus? Pop it in. Accountability is key with a lot of applications.
Most do not automatically fill out what needs to be done. Although on the iPhone if you sync the MyFitnessPal app with the health app, your steps will be counted as part of your exercise.
I’m really enjoying these apps. You get notifications without feeling like you are being judged.
Time and patience is the only thing I can’t get in the App Store but I will do my hardest to keep on track.
