6 Mobile Apps for a Healthier and Happier You

Written by Olivia Putnal Tuesday, February 14 2012

While the ever-so-addicting game Angry Birds has become the most popular iTunes application for children and adults alike, fortunately, there are many other apps that can help provide benefits like relaxation, fitness motivation, food recipes and reliable medical information. Whether you’re looking to log your miles or cook an impressive meal, download one or more of these popular and useful applications for your mobile device today—you’ll thank us later.

For Running and Walking: Nike + GPS, $1.99
Available for: iPhone and iPod Touch
If running, jogging or walking are your strong suits, tracking your mileage and pace is a must. Use Nike + GPS to help you map out your runs, log your mileage and track your progress. Other fun features include challenging your friends to races, posting your workouts to your favorite social media sites, choosing your own “Powersongs” to get you through the rest of the workout and listening to words of encouragement from famous athletes along the way. For more information, click here.

For Relaxation and Meditation: Simply Being, $.99
Available for: iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad, Android, Windows Phone and Blackberry
Take a break from your hectic lifestyle to reflect, relax and meditate with Simply Being. Customize your meditation session by selecting the type of music or sounds and the length of the session. Listen as your instructor softly guides you through how to let go of your worries and how to connect with yourself and your body. For more information, click here.

For Food and Recipe Ideas: DinnerSpinnerPro, $2.99
Available for: iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad, Android, Windows Phone and Kindle Fire
Ever wish you could plan the night’s dinner with the click of a button? The go-to recipe site, AllRecipes.com has discovered how to do just that. Their Dinner Spinner Pro application grants you access to over 40,000 recipes from their site, the ability to search for a recipe by ingredients you already have, create shopping lists and send recipes to friends. For more information, click here.

For Counting Calories: MyFitnessPal, Free
Available for: iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch, Android, Windows Phone and Blackberry
If counting calories is one of your New Year’s resolutions, MyFitnessPal can save you time and energy by doing the hard work for you. Simply set a daily calorie goal, log your food and workouts during the day and see how well you did at the end of the day. Another plus? You have the ability to create an online account—just sync them together, and you’ve got access from anywhere. For more information, click here.

For Tracking Daily Steps and Mileage: Pedometer 24/7, $.99
Available for: iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad
If you’ve ever wondered how many steps you take in a day and exactly how much ground you cover, your phone can help. Gone are the days of strapping a bulky pedometer to your shoe. Use Pedometer 24/7 to track your daily mileage and workouts with your iPhone—an accessory that follows you everywhere, anyway. As long as your iPhone is on, Pedometer 24/7 will calculate how many steps you take and at what pace you tackle them in. When you sit or stop, the pedometer pauses too, providing an accurate reading of your daily exercise. You might be burning more calories doing those daily tasks than you think. For more information, click here.

For Health and Medical Information: WebMD, Free
Available for: iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad and Android
If a typical Google search has left you discouraged, worried and unsure when it comes to an important medical question, the WebMD application will assist in getting you accurate information until you can consult your doctor. You’ll find general health information, drug and treatment specifics and local area health listings. If you’re not sure where to start, use the handy symptom checker to narrow your diagnosis. For more information, click here.

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Olivia Putnal is a writer and editor in Atlanta. She formerly wrote web articles and blogs for WomansDay.com in the areas of health, fitness, beauty, fashion, entertainment, news, and food.