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You’re committed to improving your overall health and fitness, but you’re not going to start booking marathon personal-training sessions at the gym, and you’re loath to shell out thousands on the latest in-home equipment. Relax: There’s no need to overdo it. It’s the little changes that are often the most important anyway. And, lucky for you, there are some technological innovations that’ll help you overcome your inertia, with very little startup capital required.
â–ºFor more from the 2013 Health and Fitness Supplement, click here.
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- PICK UP THE PACE Are you the type who would rather be loafing on the sofa than hitting the gym? Is the idea of running a couple miles in one go an impossible dream? Then the RunDouble Couch to 5K Tracker app is for you. It can take your lazy self and turn you into a bonafide runner with a 5K target. The app tracks your time, distance traveled, and pace—and advises you to pick up or slow down the speed when the time is right. It can even play your favorite get-pumped playlist for you. Available for Android phones through the Google Play store (play.google.com), $1.60; rundouble.com.
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- THE RUNNING DEAD Nothing motivates as much as sheer terror: It gets the heart pounding and the legs moving. Do you think you’d have as much trouble with your get-up-and-go if you were running for your life amidst the zombie apocalypse? The Zombies, Run! The 5K Training app deposits you in the middle of one of 30+ missions; you need to run (in real life) to avoid (virtual) zombies, all set to your favorite adrenaline-pumping music. You’ll also be sent to collect critical supplies and return them to your base to save civilization as you know it. Available for iPhones/iPads, Android, and Windows phones, $1.99; zombiesrungame.com.
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- GET BACK TO BASIS Why stop at tracking calories and exercise? The Basis single-sensor device keeps a running log of motion, perspiration, skin temperature, and heart rate—meaning, like Santa Claus, it knows when you are sleeping and when you’re awake. It will then help you set goals to work more sleep, more activity, and healthier habits into your daily routine. Best of all, it actually tells the time, too. $199; mybasis.com.
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- STICK A FORK IN IT In our rush-rush, go-go lives, it’s easy to forget our table manners and wolf down lunch or dinner. But eating fast is bad for weight control, since the faster you eat, the more you eat. The HAPIfork, due out in September (if it reaches its Kickstarter goal), helps you slow it down by flashing indicator lights when you’re eating too fast; it also monitors the number of bites per minute you average in a meal. Available through HAPILABS, $99; hapilabs.com.
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- FIT TO BE TRIED A sure-fire way to make sure you stick to your fitness regimen: Make a friendly wager about it. Bet 50 of your friends that you’ll take more steps than they will in a given month, then set the Fitbit Zip to keep you from cheating. The Zip tracks your steps, distance traveled, and calories burned, then sends that information to your computer or smartphone. And, coming in five colors, it looks a lot cuter than any chunky ol’ pedometer. Available through Amazon, $59.99; fitbit.com.
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- PAL AROUND If you eat a snack entirely in the dark with no one around you, do the calories still count? Yes—and you need to be held accountable for them. MyFitnessPal’s free apps let you keep track of all the food you eat, subtracting calories, fat, carbs, and salt from your allotted daily total. You’ll also build up a personal food database, so it will be easy for you to log in your favorite meals. Available for iPhone/iPad, Android, Blackberry, and Windows phones for free; myfitnesspal.com.
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