Happy Monday! It is very exciting reopening plans are being launched in Nova Scotia!
I was thinking a lot this weekend about all of the posts I have read recently on gratitude, motivation and the toll stress has taken on many with constant shifting directives. Many are saying if I hear the word “pivot” again I think another grey hair will grow. Totally hear you…..Emotions are up and down and constant change is easier for some than others. With that said physical human connection again in is our sights and it’s already showing how we have so missed the energy of in-person connection. (If you watched the Indy 500 – Helio is probably still flying from his record 4 time win…. I laughed at the end of the race after he finally calmed down and could generate words “see we old guys still got it”-the field has a lot of young blood- BTW I think Helio is only 46 – age is just a number ) The energy Helio got from human presence and the crowd was seriously off the chart – I see why they call him spiderman-he climbed the fences. This was the first sporting event in the US to bring the people back:-) Bring it on…….
So today, I read an article on Monday motivation “Rise and Grind” theory, and this opinion spoke of the added “stress” it is putting on individuals taking on this advice and feeling like to be successful you have to start your day at 5-6 am! A good point was made and I think it’s very important for your lifestyle approach you learn to trust your decisions- know you best! A linked-in article or facebook article will offer advice and theories but you have to determine what works for your needs, goals and schedule. You might be a morning person you might not be- it’s quite alright either way. Articles like “Top ten ideas of what it takes to be successful” are subjective and the author will have their own bias.
My blog at http://www.liveblueconsulting.ca will continue to add insight and info on tools that might help a few folks in their best life journey. I hope some find it helps. If you have prediabetes or diabetes type 2, I am offering a free 6 week clinic- once a week. I can be contacted at liveblueconsulting@gmail.com if you would like further information.
The below is a repost of tools if you are looking for smart data tracking results – if this is important to you. In the sporting world- tracking data is the KPI to enhance performance- for lifestyle management, it is great to build lifelong habits.
Best Fitness Tracking
Geared mainly toward tracking weight loss goals, myfitnesspal helps you track calories and fitness activities. It includes a full food database with nutritional info and allows you to calculate how many calories certain activities burn.
Are you motivated by seeing your results? Tracking and measuring can help us build great habits from beginners to pros.
Garmin is a great brand – I have used it for years in Water fitness. To give you a snapshot this is one of the monthly reports it will compile for me, this is May. Just having this calendar view – does keep me focused on my goal. The Garmin device does all the computing and I just have to tweek my training plans towards my goals. If you want to keep it simple with technology and see your progress these are great tools.
Here are some additional resources to check out.
Best Fitness Tracking
Geared mainly toward tracking weight loss goals, myfitnesspal helps you track calories and fitness activities. It includes a full food database with nutritional info and allows you to calculate how many calories certain activities burn.
Myfitnesspal also offers some great apps that integrate with the website. They are available in the app store, on google play, windows phone, and blackberry.
Similar to myfitnesspal, Sparkpeople aims to provide additional points rewards for logging in each day and tracking nutrition, fitness, and weight loss goals. You can use spark points to send “goodies” to your friends on sparkpeople or put goodies on your own profile page.
Other sparkpeople features:
- Active message boards
- Blogs
- Success Stories
- Free articles and videos of fitness and nutrition related topics
One complaint I have about the sparkpeople website is that it’s a bit cluttered with ads and can be hard to navigate for some poeple. However, it has a lot to offer.
Sparkpeople offers apps for ipad, iphone, blackberry, and android. Unfortunately they are not free.
Another website that I have used personally, I really like fatsecret. It’s probably the most similar to sparkpeople, but in my opinion this website is much more organized; it’s definitely less cluttered with ads.
Fat Secret offers a simple weight loss and fitness social network, with tools for healthy life change, a useful food database.
At fatsecret you can track:
- Calories and nutrition
- Weight loss
- Fitness
One of my favorite features on fatsecret is the weight loss graphs. You can see how you’ve been doing in a very visual representation, which really helps you to see change over longer periods of time.
This fitness social network seek to connect you with people of similar interests and provide fun ways to motivate you to get back on track with fitness.
Complete challenges and quests, gain “levels”, and earn badges of accomplishment. Invite your friends to join in the fun.
Fitocracy also connects you with fitness and nutrition experts across the world. Apps available for app store and google play.
RunKeeper is most useful as an app that uses GPS to track your fitness, though it is possible to join using the website only. Similar to DailyMile, it allows you to post your daily fitness activities and connect with other users.
Just like other social networks, it offers a “feed” where you can read what your friends have posted and comment on their fitness activities as well.
It’s really as simple as that. There is also a premium upgrade that allows you to create advanced reports, compare workouts, get lifetime insights, and more.
Daily burn is not a free website, but that’s because it offers personalized fitness workouts from professionals and nutrition information and tracking that fits with your lifestyle.
If you don’t have the money to spend on a personal trainer, you might want to check out daily burn. And if you’re not sure if daily burn will work for you, they offer a 30 day free trial.
Probably the biggest benefit to daily burn is that you can literally take it anywhere, on your phone, laptop, or computer, your workouts and tracking tools go with you wherever you go, including on vacation.
Another social nutrition and fitness tracking website with a full set of features and social networking opportunities. VirtuaGym has a clean and streamlined website that is easy to navigate, making connections and fitness tracking a breeze.
You can set personal goals, personalize a nutrition plan, and connect with users across the world. Apps available to connect to your account and make tracking your progress that much easier.
Have a great Thursday,
Danielle Pointon
Live Blue Consulting
