Showing posts with label fitness. Show all posts
Showing posts with label fitness. Show all posts

Tuesday, June 12, 2012

Techno Tuesday: Yep, There's An App For That


 
(Disclaimer: The reviewer of this product was not compensated or provided with any products by the manufacturer of this product. All opinions are submitted as such and have not been swayed by any such provision.)
 
As most everyone is aware, this blog has a dedicated focus of health and fitness. Henceforth, I am pronouncing Tuesdays as "Techno Tuesday"! This will feature an app or some type of gadget like wizardry that can enhance your journey.

I have found that I rely VERY heavily on my smart phone. If I were to lose it, I would be lost (seriously, it has GPS on it!!! lol). There are so many apps out there, so how do you tell what's what?

Ditching The Granny Panties (DTGP) to the rescue!

One of my most difficult struggles is most often the weekly shopping trip.
I have adopted the “perimeter” strategy of grocery shopping, as advocated by most health and fitness professionals. (This essentially gives you the fruits & vegetables, meats, and dairy. )Let's be realistic. There are still staples and other items (if you have kids or a sweet tooth!) that you will have to breach the perimeter to secure. So what do ya do?

Enter the app Fooducate. 

These Images are from an Iphone. Sorry Android users, it's what I got!
 


By simply scanning the barcode of an item, you can gain a wealth of knowledge about the particular item, including an actual letter grade. You can also find out what's in the product (and what those pesky ingredients mean) and debunk or support those claims of health.

Use Your Camera Phone to scan the Barcode of the product.


You can search by category or by scanning the particular item with your cell phone camera. Some other features are that you can see the product highlights and lowlights, compare this particular item with other items and even select healthier alternatives (my favorite option!).

It is very enlightening. You think some things are super healthy because they are labelled "organic" or "low fat", but despite these claims there is sometimes worse stuff lurking within a product than you realize. For example, a few weeks ago, I went to Whole Foods and I found some Organic pop tarts there. I was delighted to find them, until I scanned them into Fooducate. Turns out that they were worse than the sugar laden, preservative riddled variety we had bought prior to our move towards clean eating.  So it turns out, it’s a pretty informative tool.

If you are slowly making changes (that's awesome), you can use this to find healthier alternatives for things you already eat. Now, some of the options may not be that much better, but better is better! This will definitely help you to make better choices and to be mindful of the food you are eating!

THINGS TO KNOW

WHERE:        This can be found in both the ITUNES and Android markets.
COST:           It’s free. There is a paid version available that does not have the  ads,         but as far as functionality is concerned, it’s not worth the extra $$$.
Ease of Use: If you can take a picture, you can use this app (Even if you can't, you can manually enter in the barcode for the same results!
Other Features:                                Standard Facebook and Pinterest sharing available.
THE BOTTOM LINE:         Get it. Try it. See if it doesn’t make a difference in your nutrition. It will only work if you heed its recommendations. If you still opt to buy junk, this app won’t help you.

For More Information on this product, visit www.fooducate.com.


Well, that's it for this first edition of Techno Tuesday. What would you like to see reviewed? Email me at ditchingthegrannypanties@gmail.com, tweet me at @DTGPForever, or visit me at www.facebook.com/nomorepants1978.

Until Next Time, keep on keepin on!








Monday, May 14, 2012

Motivating Monday: May 14, 2012: Making Habits Stick

Hi Everyone!

Happy Monday to ya!

I have decided to kick off each week with a motivational piece. I'd like to call it Motivating Monday, because if you are anything like me, you need a swift kick in the girdle right about now. Speaking of starting (and more importantly keeping up with) a new habit,today I want to talk about Habits. (Love the segue?) I'd like to focus on what happens once you make the change in habits, maintaining them.



With any lifestyle change, there is always the fear in the back of one's mind (or at least I have felt this way) in which certain questions begin to surface. Questions like 
  • How long will this last?
  • How long can I keep this up?
  • Why should I even do this? It's never gonna last.
Changing your lifestyle to the improvement of your overall health and well-being is a very important step. It is too important to start this battle without the proper tools in this arsenal. And if you have ever tried to change anything in your life, you know that it is a battle.

So you have started working out, and/or you have started making changes to your diet, but you haven't committed fully, as you don't want to start anything that you won't see through. What can you do to make these newly formed changes stick?

Here are a couple of ideas. See how these hit you:

  1.  Establish Importance: Why are you making this change? Are you doing this for yourself? Or are you doing this for someone else? If you are not doing this ultimately for yourself, chances are, you won't stick with it for the long haul. Ultimately, you must have your own conscious buy-in for any new changes to become a long-term way of life.
  2.  Do It For A Month: Got 30 days? Experts say that 30 days of consistent behavior is all that is needed to see a real change in habits. Does 30 days seem too much to reach for?