Your smartphone connects you to the world, allows you to chat with your friends at any time, lets you capture any moment, and entertains you with apps, music, and videos. Is it any surprise that it can also improve your health? To get the most out of your phone, discover how to monitor different aspects of your health with smartphone health apps and services.
Monitor and motivate your activity level
Most newer phones come pre-loaded with proprietary motion sensors that use the same technology as wearable fitness trackers. You can—and should—either use that as a fitness tracker or download separate activity tracking apps to keep up with your movements each day.
In general, people are far more sedentary than they think they are. It might surprise you to discover how few steps you take each day.
That’s a motivating factor, however. With proof that you’re not even walking a mile’s worth of steps during your day-to-day routine, you have the motivation you need to get more active. That might just mean taking the stairs instead of the elevator or parking far away from the front entrance of the supermarket at first, but it’s a start.
Improve your eating habits
Similarly, your smartphone can inspire you to eat better. There are dozens of ways to keep track of your nutritional intake, how many calories you consume, and when, where, what, and why you eat. A quick search in your app store reveals lots of food-related apps that can help you eat healthier and identify triggers for emotional eating or overeating.
Calorie counting apps are helpful in conjunction with a tailored exercise routine. You can easily see whether you’re burning more calories than you take in, or if you need to increase your caloric intake. Calorie counting apps deliver numbers that also let you know if you need to tweak your workouts.
Food diaries hold you accountable for what you consume each day. They also illuminate your eating habits. Going over what you’ve eaten on a given day reveals any instances of emotional eating or instances of similarly disordered behavior. Because you can track your moods, the information helps you to pinpoint your triggers.
Reduce your stress
Stress leads to insomnia, sickness, loss of appetite, desire to overeat, anxiety—the list is endless. While detractors like to claim that reliance on smartphones causes more stress, the truth is that the phone in your hand has the power to help you chill out and relax.
From ambient music anti stress apps to meditation apps and yoga tutorials, these smartphone health apps hold everything you need to melt away your anxieties and breathe easier.
Sleep better
Finally at the end of the day, your phone can help you sleep better. We don’t mean taking your phone to bed with you — you probably already know that spending time on your phone, tablet or computer at bedtime or checking it in the middle of the night is bad for your sleep and health.
But if you already leave your phone on while you sleep, it’s a smart idea to install and run a sleep tracker app to help you create better sleep habits. The best sleep tracking apps will not just track your sleep data, but also show you how to read your sleep data, and suggest ways to get better sleep.
Smartphone health apps = smart health
There’s such a thing as being too connected, of course, but it’s impossible to deny the positive impact that smartphones can have on the health of the people who use them. Remind folks of that the next time someone mentions how often you’re on your phone. How do you use your phone to stay healthy?
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This story’s trending topics: smartphone health apps, activity tracking apps, calorie counting apps, food diaries, anti stress apps
