What's in Your Fit Kit??

My mother used to tell me that I need to be prepared at all times, no matter what the situation. For example, she would say "Nikky, you should always wear clean underwear...just in case. You never know what could happen". Now, it's not as if I walked around in dirty undies but I guess the preparation was just in case I was knocked unconscious and the EMT workers had to strip me naked, they could say "Wow, those are a pristine pair of panties"...who knows. She had some strange moments. This concept of always being prepared should apply to all aspects of our lives. Being healthy is no exception.

Ask yourself, "What's in my fit kit?" or better yet, "Am I adequately prepared to maintain my healthy lifestyle at all times?". You wouldn't go to the store without any money to make a purchase, you wouldn't jump in the deep end of the pool if you didn't know how to swim, and you wouldn't let a doctor perform surgery on you if she didn't have the required knowledge. Therefore, YOU should be armed with the appropriate knowledge and tools necessary to begin living a healthy life or to help you to continue on a path of nutritional bliss. This post will provide you with some tools that you can keep in your fit kit.

Fitness apps are all the rage now. You can download the apps to your phone or MP3 device. Some fitness apps will track your food intake, miles ran or biked, or even walk you through a workout routine. Pretty neat, huh? Here's a breakdown of some apps that have been recommended to me.

My Tracks

This application is for your Android phone. It allows you to track your distance, speed, time, mileage, and even elevation. You can use this app while you run, bike, or hike.

Jeff Calloway's Ultimate 5k

If you are an avid runner then you are probably familiar with Jeff Calloway. His app is great for someone who is training for a race or who simply would like to become a better runner. It has an interval timer for speed or hill drills, a 7-week training program for 5k preparation, and music. An added bonus is that it works on a treadmill or outside. The only downside is that it is only available for Apple devices (ipod, ipad, etc.).

MapMyRide

This website has created a mobile app (iMapMy) that allows you to track the distance, pace, speed, calories burned, elevation, and duration of your workouts. This is another app that works with a variety of workout choices. Running, biking, walking, and hiking are all exercises that you can track. However, some devices such as the Blackberry, are limited to only the running and biking apps. One of the cool things about this app is that you can upload the recorded data from your workout onto the MapMyRide website and keep a log of all your workouts. This is great to monitor your improvement from workout to workout. What's even better is that this app can be downloaded to some of the most popular smartphones. The app is free to download on the Blackberry phone. Apple charges a fee to download the app on the Iphone.

Fit Sync

This app is available for Blackberry, Iphone, and Android users. It provides strength training exercises that you can download and use at your will. After you have completed the routines you can upload your workout to an account on fitsync.com, which allows you to compare your data to previous workouts. It's a great way to monitor progress. The online account is free if you aren't using it in conjunction with your phone, however an annual subscription is required if you want to include the phone app.

Exercise TV

Most cable companies offer the Exercise TV channel. Now, you can access workouts via an app by the same name. The Exercise TV app provides FREE daily workouts, between 10-45 minutes in length. Workouts include but aren't limited to strength training, cardio, abs. bootcamp, and yoga. Android and Iphone users can enjoy the benefits of this app.

Jillian Michaels Fitness Motivation

Most people know Jillian Michaels from her balls to the wall approach on The Biggest Loser. She too has joined the app world attaching her name to several fitness apps. This Fitness Motivation app provides video workouts, allows an individual to track the distance ran, calories burned, and weight lost. The GPS and motion features track your workout in real time, which allows you monitor your workout's intensity. You may need to step it up!!

Jillian Michaels Slimdown Trainer

Because I love Jillian Michaels so much...here's another one. This app gives you daily fitness, diet, and motivational tips, recipes, a variety of exercise routines, along with some heartfelt advice. This app as well as the one above can be downloaded free of charge for most Apple devices.

Calorie/Food Tracking Apps

There are a plethora of calorie/food tracking apps available on many smartphones. I won't even begin to list them. However, the benefit of having an app such as this is that you can be aware of what you are putting in your body and make conscious decisions regarding what you eat. To eat or not to eat, that is the question. It allows you to be an active participant in your healthy lifestyle. Some of the apps allow you to scan, or type in an item's name and you can view all the nutritional information about that product. Do an internet search or simply go to the app store on your phone to view your many choices.

If fitness apps aren't your thing, there are plenty of other options for you. When I really decided to take control of my health and physical fitness I purchased a book titled "Calories are King". I am not a huge fan of calorie counting. A person cannot look at calories in isolation, he/she must consider all other nutritional components in addition to the calories. Do you remember my previous post that mentioned those infamous 100 calorie snacks?? Despite the name of this book I purchased it and it was one of my best buys. It not only listed calories, but fat, carbs, protein, etc. for every food imaginable. The book also includes a restaurant guide for some of the more popular restaurants. This was great because I didn't have to feel overwhelmed when I went out to eat. I even gifted one to my mother, I highly doubt that she has taken it off the shelf to use, but it's the thought that counts, right???

Another great tool to have is a food journal. Now, when I recommend starting a food journal to some people, they rebut with "Who has time to write in that thing after every meal, snack, whatever?". It's actually not as time consuming as a person may think and it's beneficial. My food journal helped me keep track of how many calories I was consuming, make deliberate choices regarding what I put in my body, and it made me think twice about over snacking because I knew I would have to write it in that little white book. I didn't want to cringe at what I read. Check out this article, which outlines some of the benefits of journaling.

If you're struggling with workout ideas, you can keep a little binder with workouts that you have found online or inside magazines. I have a binder full of workouts that I go to when I am absolutely out of ideas. You can mix and match the routines and modify them anyway you see fit. My fave magazine to get ideas from is Muscle and Fitness Hers. There is a male version of this same magazine. Occasionally, I will find decent workouts in Women's Health. Bodyrock.tv is also a great source, challenging, but great material.

Attack your fitness from all angles. If you need that extra push download a personal trainer app, if you need to keep track of your goals or food intake write it down. Whatever your needs are there is probably something out there that you can include in your fit kit. If you refuse to make failure an option by always being prepared you will achieve your health/fitness goals in no time.

Peace!