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In Food, Healthy Eating, Women's Interest

Top Five Free Fitness and Diet Apps for 2014

Author Nicki CawoodPosted on

Thanks to LivingWell Health Clubs for this guest post. Many of you know that I am a long-term Slimming World member and some will know that I have specific health and fitness goals at the moment as I’ve been told I am borderline diabetic. Warding off diabetes for as long as I can is something I’m obviously very keen on and so now is the time to ramp up my fitness alongside my healthy eating efforts. These apps are free and worth checking out. I’ve used one or two of them myself on and off and aim to give them another proper bash before getting myself to that place where I feel ready to join the gym.

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When you are a regular gym-goer, if you are just starting out, are trying to lose weight or under the guidance of a personal trainer it still helps to have that little extra help when away from your regular support. If you own a mobile phone which allows you to download apps then these health and fitness app suggestions could be just what you are looking for to give you that extra push and keep you on track between gym or club visits.

In no particular order here are five of the top ten free apps for diet and fitness for 2014.

  1. NIKE Training Club
    This free app which is available on both iOS and Android phones boasts over a hundred full body workouts. Varying in lengths from fifteen through to forty-five minute sessions this tailored workout program claims to help you make your fitness goals a reality, pushing you to build stamina, build muscle, lose weight and more.

    This app is perfect for supplementing your regular gym and home routine or you may sign up to a four week regimen to help you get closer to or met a specific goal. Easy to use and personalise this app is a top find for those serious about maximising their fitness.

  2. Pact
    This is a free nifty app for Android and iOS which encourages you to basically put your money where your mouth is. On a weekly basis app users promise to work out for a set number of days and pledge an amount of cash to keep them motivated. If the gym-goer doesn’t meet their targets they lose the cash, if they do then they get a pay-out. Simple.
    This offers you a financial incentive as well as a health one.
  3. Argus
    If you sneeze this app will track it. For an app which really does track your every move; every bite, sip, and more this is possibly the best out at the moment. This is basically a health and fitness diary you don’t need to write in as it intuitively does most of the work for you. As your details are constantly being assesses Argus is able to produce in depth graphs and result reports which make it easier to assess your current situation, your progress and to help you push forward. Not yet available on Android this is one for those who use an iOS phone. The app itself is free to download and use.
  4. MyFitnessPal
    This free app has been around for a while and has been upgraded numerous times to become the fabulous health and fitness tool it is today. Use your iOS, Android, Blackberry or Windows Phone to track your food from the huge database which contains over three million foods and track cardio and strength training progress too. There are over three hundred and fifty exercises pre-loaded and more features to help you get where you are aiming for health-wise. The app syncs with an online account meaning that users can track their progress from anywhere.
    Many members of slimming clubs as well as those in training use MFP to keep on track.
  5. MapMyFitness
    This is the Windows, Android and iOS free app which uses GPS information to track how far you’ve walked, run, climbed and more. There are over six hundred activities in their database so that whatever you enjoy doing you’ll be able to keep a track of the distance, speed, the pace, duration and even the calories you’ve used. This incredibly intuitive app will even track where you’ve cycling / walked / run etc on an interactive map.

 

There are some fantastic apps available at the moment which help those serious about their health and well-being to keep track of their diet and activity levels when outside of the gym. The reports a lot of these apps throw up would also offer invaluable information to your personal trainer who will be able to use these in part to assess progress and pick up on any issues.

In Food, Healthy Eating, Women's Interest

Am I Lactose Intolerant?

Author Nicki CawoodPosted on 3 Comments

For some time I have suffered with stomach difficulties ranging from being bloated and having stomach cramps to struggling with wind and the runs. This has been happening on and off however I’d put it down to being “one of those things”. I work A LOT, I dont always get the rest I should and to be fair just assumed it was something to do with that.

Recently someone suggested looking at my diet and the possibility of being intolerant to something. I follow Slimming World and eat a healthy and balanced diet however the one thing that did jump out was the amount of dairy I was having on the plan. I don’t drink, I don’t smoke, I don’t have much of a sweet tooth and dislike choclate but I do like my cheese products!

I looked up all of the UK guidance I could find on being lactose intolerant and as suggested on the NHS website set to on an elimination diet. The end result was that having removed a number of foods and reintroduced them at a later date it has become clear that  certain foods no longer agree with me.

By cutting a range of dairy product out of my diet I have found that all symptoms have disappeared completely. I can tolerate small amounts of fat free natural yogurt and quark however dairy yogurts, milk, cheese (hard and soft) and similar kick-start the rather unpleasant symptoms with vigour.

So, is it safe to assume that I am lactose intolerant? I know that lactose may be found as a hidden ingredient in a number of foods however as I follow SW and eat a lot of basic foods such as meat, vegetables, fruits, grains and no processed / few snack foods I haven’t come across these so much myself.

I have to admit that before researching the topic I knew little about lactose and being lactose intolerant. I assumed that it was generally something you were born with (I was wrong) and that you coulddn’t eat anything at all dairy-wise, again a presumption which appear incorrect. Regardless of the outcome of my own situation it once again seems apparent there there is so much that a lot of people don’t know about allergies and food intolerances.

So what now? I could go to my GP however from NHS info and individual accounts it seems unlikely that they will do anything other than suggest an elimination diet and changing what I eat, which I have done. I’ve reintroduced milk and yogurt via alternatives and manage that fine so do I just plough on as long as the symptoms have disappeared with the lactose-freee eating?

If you are lactose intolerant or know something about this I’d love to hear from you! Any experiences and advice is welcome.

 

**UPDATE 9/6/14 – I’ve seen the GP today who pretty much confirmed my suspicions that I am lactose intolerant. There is of course no treatment however she suggested I continue what I am doing diet-wise as it clearly helps and continue monitoring. Any advice on products (what is good, what is not) and non-dairy specific foods that contain lactose would till be appreciated. I’m sure many others will find all advice and experiences useful.

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