Wellness Wednesday: 5 Apps to Improve Your Health

I'll be the first to admit...I could not live without my smart phone. I barely remember a time when I wasn't able to check my email, update my Facebook status, plan my shopping list or "help" my son play a level on Where's My Water. It has become a permanent fixture in my life that in some ways has added productivity, while in other ways has kept me up until the wee hours of the morning "pinning".

Please tell me I'm not the only one?

Any new technological device has its pros and cons---your cell phone is no different. BUT we can choose how to wield this powerful tool; as a vessel for good or weapon of evil (screw you Words with Friends!)

My husband thinks what I just wrote is a load of bullshit. He will be the last person on the planet to get sucked into purchasing a smart phone. He thinks they are overrated, too expensive, and even harmful. Something about the microwaves in your phone seeping into your head...blah...blah...blah--- he loses me "brain cancer".

Now, while I'm not THAT flippant about the potential dangers cell phone can invite into our lives, like texting while driving, teenagers using it at as the new "bathroom wall", or the real disconnect it has created (heaven forbid you actually use your phone to speak to someone). I also recognize the value a smart phone can bring.

With the plethora of apps now available for Android and iPhone you can basically have a wellness army right at your finger tips. From making better food choices, calculating how many calories you burn, to helping you be more mindful, cell phones have really come a long way.

Who remembers this bad boy?

10 Phone Apps 2 Improve Your Health

1. Run Keeper 

What it does: Using your phone's GPS it keeps track of your pace, distance and calories. It allows you to listen to music while running, can give you preloaded cues to pick up speed, and allows you to customize your routine.

Cost: Free

Available HERE for Android & iPhone

2. Fooducate

What it does: Scans the bar code of any food item and breaks down the nutritional value in non-scientificy terms. Each item is given a letter grade from A to D and lets you compare foods side by side with healthier options.

Cost: Free

Available HERE for Android & iPhone

3. Lose it!

What it does: This handheld personal trainer allows you to calculate your caloric intake, set reminders for when to eat and exercise, track food with a bar code scanner, and share all your weight-loss success on Facebook and Twitter.

Cost: Free

Available HERE for Android & iPhone

4. Relax Melodies

What it Does: Say "Good-bye" to insomnia. Choose from 46 high-quality ambient sounds to soothe you to sleep, help with mediation, or just relax. You can even make a personal master mix of perfect sounds.

Cost: Free

Available for Android & iPhone

5. iBirth

What it Does: This is one of my personal favorites, which I use all the time in my work as a birth Doula. It has a contraction timer, videos for positions to use to ease labor pain, a list of things to ask your doctor or midwife, and prenatal nutrition tips.

Cost: $3.99 (worth every penny)

Available for Android & iPhone

What are your favorite wellness apps?

Technologically Healthy in Granolaville, 

Thoughtful Thursday: Kid + Cell Phones, Not in My House

****I know this isn't the post I had scheduled in the Weekly Newsletter, but after my first birth as a doula last night, and nearly 16 hours, I didn't have it in me to write another post. So here's a oldie, but a goodie from Moms in Boyland. Hope you enjoy and I'll have that video update about the birth soon! ****

Remember when you were a kid, if you wanted to speak to a friend you had to call their house phone and pray that you didn't get a busy signal? Or when you wanted to tell your neighbor about the newest video game you had to actually walk over to his house and speak to him...in person!

Long gone are the days when human interaction actually involves human beings; instead we've been replaced with tweets, texts, emails, and remarkably long status updates. Our kids are now able to use technology in ways we never imagined. My 6 year old is savvy to Facebook etiquette. He once told his brother not to write a message to a girl he liked on her Facebook wall because then everyone would see it. Ah-mazing.

The fact that my 13 year old even has a Facebook page was something I grappled with for a long time. I understand that it has become an integral part of the way I connect with my friends and family. So after laying down MANY rules like "I will have access to your password", "No spreading gossip", and "Only going on after all homework is done", we let him get a Facebook page. I got major "cool" points for that one.

Now, I am the WORST mother in the world because EVERYONE in the 7th grade, but my son has a cellphone. I think its funny that he is dying for a phone, to call his friends that he would only call when he forgot to write down an assignment. I told my son if he needs to call his friends then use the ancient invention called the land line.

You would have thought I suggested going to school in his underwear by the look I got. Nothing irks me more then watching 10 year olds chatting on their iPhones. Here are my reasons for not giving my son a cell phone, especially a "smart" phone:

1. He doesn't want to call his friends, he only wants another way to "fit in". My job is to be his parent, not his accomplice in succumbing to peer pressure.

2. Heard of "sexting"? Now imagine your 12 year old getting propositioning messages or inappropriate pictures from the girl who wants to get his attention. What happened to passing notes?

3. He doesn't go anywhere without me or his father. If he did, for some reason and there was an emergency, there would be at least 10 other people around him with cell phones he could borrow.

4. PORN, at 4G speed. Enough said.

5. My son gets distracted from a barking dog while doing his homework. He doesn't  need another thing to steal his attention.

6. He loses...I mean "misplaces" everything.

7. Kids should be playing outside with other real kids, not pretending to play games with virtual friends.

8. The phones that he wants are expensive (I'm still trying to convince my husband why I need one).

9. It stunts their reading, writing, and social interaction skills. (WTF, LOL, ROTFL, I h8 doin, hw it totally sux.)

10. I want to raise an articulate child, not a texting zombie.

So if, and when I decide to get my son a cell phone it will have no texting ability, only be programmed with essential numbers, not be Internet capable and only be used for calling people...shocking I know. Once he has a job and is old enough to pay for a smart phone he can have any phone he wants. But, best believe if I call and it goes straight to voicemail, he will have one crazy mom on his hands.

What do you think the appropriate age is for a kid to get a cell phone?

No longer "cool" in Granolaville,