How I Use Technology To Stay Fit (As A Busy Mom)

With the continuous evolution of technology so many things we do on a daily are much easier now…including staying fit and maintaining a healthy lifestyle if that’s what you’re into. Sure you can eat healthy…but are you eating the right portions? You can exercise….but are you getting enough and burning enough calories to make it effective?  You can go for daily walks with the goal of getting in so many steps. But how do you know exactly how many steps you’re getting and wouldn’t it be nice to track this daily? With techie devices such as fitness trackers and apps such as MyFitnessPal you can achieve all of these and more. I know because

MyFitnessPal

I love this app!  I mainly use it for the food diary where I track my meals on a daily basis.  This gives me visibility to what I’ve eaten and the calories I’ve taken in from the foods I ate, which is mainly what I want to track.  But I also like to use the nutrition view so I can see information such as how much fat, protein, and carbs I’ve consumed for the day.  This is very helpful to me with the protein information since I do not eat meat anymore (except for a little seafood every so often) because I want to make sure I’m still getting enough of it. Also, not all fats are bad but this view splits out the different types of fat we consume so I can see how much of the good and bad types I’m getting.  I also love that I can sync it to my fitness tracker and use it to track calories burned.  Additionally, MyFitnessPal will send you an alert when you have not logged in for the day to track your meals. So it reminds you to help you stay on track.

Fitbit Fitness Tracker

I’m fairly new to using a fitness tracker, which is a device that tracks daily movements contributing to calorie burn such as 

workouts and steps taken.  I’ve had my Fitbit Flex for a few months and I love it!  There are different types of Fitbits on the market but I chose the Flex version because of its slim design and simplicity (see my review of the Flex and Charge I had a chance to try out courtesy of Verizon).

This fitness tracker helps me track the number of steps I’ve taken and alerts me when I’ve reached 10,000 steps for the day (I always love it when my Flex vibrates letting me know I’ve reached this many steps!).  It also syncs easily to MyFitnessPal so I can also see how many calories I’ve burned for the day.  But there are a variety of fitness trackers from which you can choose.  There are even some that you can use online although you have to be consistent with entering your information since you aren’t wearing the device.  The options for fitness trackers are plentiful.

Virtual Accountability Group

I have a gym membership but I RARELY go to the gym.  As a matter of fact, I’ve lost more weight working out at home than I did when I was going to the gym up to 5 times a week.  But how was I able to stay on track with my fitness goals without going to the gym, attending a fitness class such as bootcamp, or working with a personal trainer?  And how was I able to spend under $150 to lose the weight and inches in a month?  I joined a virtual accountability group.  These groups are on the rise and social media outlets such as Facebook make them easily accessible to people who may live near you or even those who may be geographically far from you.  In the Facebook group I joined, they had a monthly fitness challenge I participated in that helped me lose over 12 pounds and inches in a month….after being at a plateau for a couple of months while attending the gym prior to joining the group.  Read my post here on why I think these groups are the way to go if while on your fitness journey you’re looking to save money and eliminate the need to commute to a gym or other fitness facility.

YouTube

Yep, YouTube definitely makes my list of go-to’s for staying fit! Although I have a fairly decent collection of workout videos I do at home, YouTube helps me add the variety I need.  There are SO MANY workouts to choose from on YouTube that you are guaranteed to find what you’re looking for.  I love to search for specific type of workouts such as something that is short and easy designed for the abs, arms, and legs.  I typically stick with my workout videos for longer exercises.  So YouTube helps me to mix it up while also saving me money since I don’t have to pay for their videos.  I am also planning to start recording YouTube workout and foodie videos so look out for me!

Other Fitness Apps

Running was very challenging for me to do in the beginning.  I wanted to get better at it because I knew it would help me shed body fat and is overall a great way to get and stay in shape.  So when I got really serious about becoming a decent runner I downloaded an app that would help me…Ease Into 5k.  Today, I normally run 20-30 minutes and it comes fairly easy to me.  Ease Into 5k helped me build up to that by starting me out in very short intervals of walking and running while steadily increasing the intervals so I could get accustomed to running longer.  I highly recommend this or other run apps such as Nike and Couch to 5k if you want to get better at running.  After a few weeks of using these apps consistently you will probably be surprised at how much easier running becomes for you.

can eliminate the need for you to pay a personal trainer who may charge a few hundred for a handful of sessions or joining the gym that you have to travel to after a long day at work.  If you haven’t already you can get started now by simply downloading a fitness app on your phone.  So give it a try and hopefully you’ll make it a part of your lifestyle.