Come on, Get App-y

My computer has this annoying habit of freezing on me a couple of times a week. I’ve upgraded the hard drive, changed the fan setting to prevent overheating and done a thousand other things and yet, always at the most inopportune time, the whole thing just seizes up. My only recourse is to reboot. It makes me want to hurl the thing out the window or better yet, go all Office Space on it. (If you haven’t seen the movie Office Space I recommend it. It’s a quirky comedy about the ridiculousness of corporate America. Think Dilbert in movie form. The scene I’m referring to involves a temperamental printer and a baseball bat.)

The first screen of my iPhone.
My favorite app (a/k/a obsession) is
Words with Friends. The icon with the "W."
I think I need a 12-step program.

Yes, technology can be immensely frustrating, but it can also be amazing. Thanks to my iPhone I have a computer the size of a piece of toast in my purse. I can Google until my heart’s content, check email, schedule appointments, or dictate an article idea all while sitting at a traffic light in my car.

We all need help reaching our goals so why not use technology to assist us? It’s definitely made our lives easier, I say, how about making our lives healthier too.

But with over 500,000 apps for the iPhone and 375,000 for Android, which ones do you choose?

Hopefully, the following list will help you out. Below are some of the most popular health and wellness apps.

CALORIE COUNTING APPS

There are hundreds of apps that will help you track your calories. It’s really a matter of finding one that suits you. The perennial favorites are:

•   Lose It! (Free, for iPhone, Android, Nook Color, Nook Tablet)
•  Calorie Counter - MyFitnessPal (Free, for iPhone, Android)
•  Calorie Tracker Livestrong.com ($2.99, for iPhone, Android)
• Weight Watchers Mobile (Free, for iPhone, iPad, Android)

NUTRITION APPS

Restaurant Nutrition (Free, for iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch, Android)

Keep yourself on track by looking up calories and other nutrition information while dining out.

Fooducate (Free, for iPhone, Android)

Ever wish you could have a dietician grocery shop with you? Fooducate is the answer. Loaded with a bar code scanner, the app can identify over 200,000 products. Foods are graded from a D (the worst) to an A (the best) and healthier alternatives are listed for you. Now that’s a great app! No wonder Apple chose it as Best Health & Fitness App in 2011.

MEDICAL APPS

Epocrates Rx. Drug interactions are a huge concern. Download the free version of this and you can check the interactions between up to 30 drugs. (Free, for iPhone, Android, Blackberry, Palm, Windows Mobile)

Glucose Buddy. This app lets you enter your glucose numbers, food consumption and activity levels and links to an online account at glucosebuddy.com. Plus you can print out all the information for your doctor. (Free, for iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad)

RUNNING APPS

Runners must love data because there are hundreds of apps dedicated to running. You can log your miles, map your route, check your average speed, even compete against yourself from a previous run. Just one more reason why I’m not a runner! For those that love it, the most popular apps are:

•        RunKeeper (Free, for iPhone and Android)
•        Nike+ GPS ($1.99, for iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch)
•        Runmeter GPS ($4.99, for iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad)

And for beginning joggers, nothing’s better than Get Running (Couch to 5k) ($2.99, for iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch) The preset training plan is designed to get beginners from zero to running a 5k (~ 3 miles) in nine weeks. It starts off really slow and builds over the nine weeks. For Android users it’s called C25K (Free).

PEACE OF MIND APPS

White Noise ($1.99, iPhone, iPod touch, iPad, Blackberry, Android)

Does it sound like an episode of Law & Order is happening outside your window? Try this to drown out the chaos of modern life. Choose from 40 different sounds like rain, crickets and ocean waves to help you relax or fall asleep. 

Sleep Cycle Alarm ($0.99, for iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad)

Set the alarm to your normal time and place your iPhone next to your pillow. The app monitors your movements during sleep and wakes you up during your lightest sleep phase, any time within 30 minutes of your set alarm time. You wake up when your body is naturally ready to.