4. Date your monthlies
Android:
WomanLog Calendar
A menstrual and fertility calendar – it has
a three-month summary, password protection and weight-tracking function. You
can also add and edit the settings for each day.
WomanLog
Calendar
Apple:
iPeriod Ultimate
Look up symptoms and moods; back up your
stats; get email alerts; and includes a weight tracker and graphs. Complete
with emoticons, icons symbolizing your symptoms, expected periods, fertile
days, ovulation and more.
iPeriod
Ultimate
BlackBerry:
Ovulations Days
Designed for those who want to have a baby,
avoid pregnancy or simply want to track monthly cycles. You can mark your start
or end date of your menstrual cycle, calculate your fertile days and keep
notes.
Ovulations
Days
5. Track fitness levels
Android:
Run Keeper
Track your fitness activities using GPS
technology. You can record your distance, time, pace, calories, heart rate and
map your travels. You can also customize interval workouts with audio cues.
Run
Keeper
Apple:
Fitness Builder
This has full-body workouts targeting all
muscle groups. The app works as a personal trainer, taking you through each
workout. You can watch video demonstrations and record a workout log.
Fitness
Builder
Black
Berry: HandyLogs Fitness
The cardio workout calculates calories
burnt; the gym workout tracks strength and progress; and the body-weight
tracker monitors changes. You can also save your data to handylogs.com
HandyLogs
Fitness
6. Practise spiritual wellbeing
Android:
Pocket Yoga
It packs more than 145 poses. Choose from
three practices, difficulty levels and durations for a total of 27 sessions. It
also has voice and visual instructions to guide you.
Pocket
Yoga
Apple:
Yoga Trainer Lite
From beginner to advanced, this provides
easy-to-follow yoga workouts. It has pictures, videos and explanations of poses
to assist you and you can try anything from Pranayama (breathing) to Ashtanga
and other popular yoga routines.
Apple:
Yoga Trainer Lite
Black
Berry: Active Yoga Lite
This easy-to-use app includes sequences
created by expert yoga teachers. Each session contains a set of three practical
and useful postures and is designed for stress relief, core strength, weight
loss, increased energy, relaxation and flexibility.
Active
Yoga Lite
Apply to help
“When we found a tick on my 10-year-old
daughter, my mom got out the encyclopaedia because she thought it would help.
“I immediately looked up ‘ticks’ on my
cellphone and found out what to do, how to get it off her and what to look for
to see if she needed further medical attention, which luckily she didn’t.
“I find that having a medical app makes
things a lot more convenient, especially when you don’t have access to a
computer or doctor.” – Lauren Venter, 35, Joburg
“I’d put on 16kg during my pregnancy. After
giving birth, I tried to find a diet plan to fit my busy schedule. I have three
children, all under four years old. It’s difficult to motivate yourself when
all you want to do is eat, especially when you’re breast-feeding. I finally
found a healthy-weight app to help. I managed to restrict my kJ intake, which
was incredibly hard, but I lost 8.3kg, and I’m still losing weight.” – Shihaam
Isaacs, 33, Cape Town
What the experts say…
The
dietitian says…
“Little scientific research has been done
to determine the effectiveness of health-related apps, partly because this is a
new field and research can’t keep up with technological advancements. Apps
don’t replace the advice of a qualified professional, but they can be an
informative tool, making it easier to monitor out daily progress and encourage
us to achieve our weight-loss and fitness goals.” –Taryn Ackerberg, from the
Nutritional Information Centre of Stellenbosch University (NICUS)
The
fitness expert says…
“While it take more than technology to get
the results you want, apps are excellent support tools to keep your efforts in
check.
“They’re affordable option when you don’t
want to budget in a gym contract or consultant fees. But don’t rely solely on
advice from one app. Many people enjoy the pedometer and accelerometer apps,
but personally I’d prefer to rely on the actual devices that have been created
solely for this purpose.” – Lisa Raleigh, a Durban-based lifestyle and wellness
expert
