My Health Approach Could Help Others

One week ago I was brought to the harsh realization that I was a walking time bomb waiting to go off. Having a mostly sedentary career, attending event after event, and working into the wee hours of the night had put me in a position where my personal health was on the brink going over the edge. I'll admit, I'm not the healthiest person, and though I'm not as heavy as I once was, what I am feeling has much to do with my intake...and let me tell you, it was not good.

After listening to a colleague and inspiration of mine, Shaine Mata, who put up a CinchCast that really made an impact on me without he even knowing my situation, I too decided that change in lifestyle was necessary. So now my journey begins.

Evaluation and Tools

So knowing where I stand, seeing a doctor, and understanding what my ultimate goal is, I've made dietary changes that will benefit me as I manage a higher level of physical activity. I wanted to share some of the tools I use with you so that maybe you too can find a reason to stay active.

Daily Burn

I use Daily Burn to keep track of my weight and food intake<. I weigh myself weekly along with taking my body fat percentage. I use those as markers of overall health. I've also found that Daily Burn has the most extensive food library around. I hated older apps where I had to input calories, sodium, carbs, etc. Daily Burn has such an extensive library of food and restaurant menus that all of that information is auto-added when you select it. This makes for quick food journaling.

iFitness

iFitness is the best of the workout apps I've found. Daily Burn can track workouts, but I find it cumbersome. iFitness not just tracks your workouts, but you can track your progress, and export workout sheets to see how you've done over longer periods of time given a specific time range. It also includes sample videos for their extensive library of workouts just in case you're not sure how to do them. It's a great addition too for workers on the go.

iMapMyRun and iMapMyRide

I like to run and ride my bike and these two apps, part of the same "iMapMy..." series, are great ways to assume distances, routes, and share them with others in your area. I highly recommend them if you're looking at doing trails or urban routes, it's all very useful and ties in well with their websites.

Trailhead

The North Face makes this app, and Trailhead is awesome for the outdoorsy folks. Trailhead identifies great trails in your area, but also shows you routes, distances, times, and gives you information on the terrain and recommendations from others who have walked it. A great way to plan for those long hikes.

Nike + iPod

I use this as my main tracker for my workouts. Whenever I go walking or running, this little device it attached and my iTouch monitors distance, speed, and allows me to enter friendly community competitions with other users around the world. It's a very useful app that allows owners to also practice for 3K's, 5K's, and higher up.

These are the main tools that I've found to be most useful. Do you have some others you use to track your health?