6 mobile applications to lead a healthier life

Does your phone simplify your life or is it causing you a concerning addiction? Does it bring you closer to those you love or isolate you from the rest of the world? Does it help you achieve your goals or take you away from them?

At Zen to Go, we want to see you healthy and happy, which is why today we will talk about a topic that is extremely important for all of us: how to leverage mobile technology to work in our favor at all times, and not against us. 

To do this, the best thing you can do is install apps that help you focus and eliminate those that only distract you and cause you anxiety from the accumulation of lost time. 

Now let’s look at some tips to detect if you need to start moderating your phone use and 6 free apps for nutrition, exercise, hydration, sleep hygiene, and productivity.

The Cell Phone: A Tool That Can Be a Source of Well-Being or Distress

If you identify with two or more of the following situations, it’s likely that your phone is causing you more problems than it solves:

• You lose a lot of time scrolling through social media.

• It is impossible for you to stop looking at any notification immediately.

• You dedicate all your free time to your phone.

• If you don't have your phone on hand, you feel anxious, bored, and irritable.

• You can't help but look at your phone even when you are having real social interactions.

• Looking at your phone for a long time is the last thing you do before sleeping.

• Notifications constantly distract you from work and reduce your efficiency.

• What happens on your social media affects you emotionally.

Have you come to the conclusion that your phone is taking away your peace of mind? Don’t worry, it’s not necessary to throw it out the window; it’s simply time to replace all those social media and games with apps to help you stay healthy and productive. 

5 Wellness, Health, and Productivity Apps to Improve Your Lifestyle

1.- My Fitness Pal 

You are what you eat, you already know that. And if you want to know exactly how many calories and macronutrients you are consuming day by day, your best option is this app that is considered one of the most comprehensive in terms of food control. Its database contains nutritional information for over six million foods, and you can also scan the barcodes of the products you consume, calculate the calories of a complete recipe, keep track of your weight and goals, etc. If you are looking to make a positive change in your diet, this app is definitely for you. 

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2.- Google Fit

When you are active and exercise daily, you drastically reduce the risk of being overweight and developing cardiovascular diseases. Google Fit is one of the best-rated and most popular health apps in the world as it helps you increase your physical activity throughout the day in a friendly and efficient way by automatically tracking your progress and goals when you walk, run, cycle, or take a Pilates class, for example. It also allows you to receive personalized training and connects with other health apps and devices like smartwatches. 

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3.- Apps to Keep You Hydrated

Did you know that not drinking enough plain water is one of the triggers for many of the most common health problems? We generally have the bad habit of not consuming enough liquids and, when we do, instead of drinking water, we consume coffee, soda, or juices, which quenches our thirst but does not hydrate us properly. Some symptoms of chronic dehydration include:

• Headache

• Lack of concentration and irritability

• Lack of energy and drowsiness

• Digestive problems

• Weight gain 

• Weakness of the immune system

• And a long etc.

But creating the habit of drinking enough water is really very simple, especially with a phone so handy. There are various applications like Water Reminder, Water Time, and Waterlogged, among others, that will send you timely reminders and provide you with simple tips to help you stay properly hydrated throughout the day. Just choose the one you like best. 

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4.- Sleep Monitor

Lack of sleep is another of the major ills of modernity, associated with, among other things, stress and excessive use of technology. However, there are many apps designed to help you sleep better, and this one stands out because it focuses on teaching you how your sleep cycle works, how to modify it naturally, and what habits to develop for a good night's rest. Additionally, it features a smart alarm clock, records of sleep cycles, and relaxing sounds to help you sleep, among other functions. 

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5.- Forest

One of the simplest but also most efficient productivity and work applications. How many times do we interrupt our activities to check our phones? Forest is a tool that helps you stay away from temptation and is friendly and fun to use. It's about “planting” virtual trees that take a certain amount of time to grow (half an hour, an hour, two hours, etc.), and during that time, if you look at your phone, you will interrupt their growth and have to start over from scratch. 

The beauty of this app is that it leverages the same mental mechanisms of motivation that keep us glued to the screen, but in reverse. Highly recommended if you need to focus and make better use of your time. 

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6.- Lojong 

It is scientifically proven that meditating, even for just fifteen minutes each day, helps reduce anxiety and depression levels. Here’s the meditation app with the highest rating on Google Play. Lojong owes its rapid popularity to the fact that it has a step-by-step training to learn how to focus the mind on the here and now and practice mindfulness, based on traditional and ancestral practices. It is an intuitive, friendly tool with many features available in the free version.

These are just six of the most popular tools, but consider that there are many available, and it only takes a little research and experimentation to find the ones that work best for your goals and the lifestyle you want. 

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An Additional Tip

Here’s an additional tip: delete social media and games - like Candy Crush - from your phone. The first two days will be tough, but by the third day, you will be grateful!