Hello everyone. Today’s article is a guest post from Jamie Gibbs
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My biggest problem when it comes to healthy living and fitness is a complete lack of motivation. I start out with the best intentions, but then my regime quickly unravels and I end up eating takeaway pizza whilst sat in front of the TV, feeling more defeated for giving up. I’ve since found that there are a host of tools available for you to get motivated and improve your health using social media, so now you don’t have to go it alone.
An App For Everything
There are a range of apps that are available for both iOS and Android that integrate social media to help you improve your fitness, depending on what you want to get out of them. If you’re a team player or are slightly competitive then you could use an app like Endomondo, which uses GPS to find other fitness enthusiasts near you. You can then set up fitness clubs or share your best run times to compete with others.
If you prefer a more independent approach, you can get an app like MapmyFitness+, which tracks your route and allows you to post the results on Facebook and Twitter. This gives you that little bit of added pressure to perform well each time, as your friends will be able to keep track of your progress. If you miss a run, they’ll know about it.
Foodie Snapshots
If you want to eat healthier, calorie counting websites advise that you make a record of everything that you eat. The problem that I’ve found with this is that it’s very easy to ‘forget’ to add certain things, or to underestimate portion sizes. Besides, who wants to trawl through a little notebook filled with notes on how much chocolate you ate over the weekend? One solution to this is to take photographs of every meal you have (and if you’re able to do so, snacks too). This will give you a quick reference of what you’re eating each day.
To help motivate you to eat healthier, you can post these photos on Facebook or Twitter, or even create a Tumblr photo blog to keep a running record of your diet. In addition to the added pressure to eat right in front of your peers, you’ll find a lot of people in the same position as you, and will be able to offer you support by following you and sharing your posts. Since testing this out myself on a Tumblr blog, I’ve found that my portion sizes have decreased quite a bit, and I’m eating much more fruit and vegetables in the knowledge that I’m sharing my fitness journey with the world.
Level Up
This whole exercise and healthy living stuff can get a little tedious for some, so why not turn it into a game? The iOS app Slimkicker gives you points for eating certain healthy foods and for exercising, allowing you to gain experience points and level up. You can also win badges for certain activities (such as eating your five portions of fruit and vegetables a day) and you become part of a wider community of like-minded people who will help to support you.
Social media has made the world a much smaller place, but if you’re interested in getting fit, it can also open many doors to help you out.
About the Author:
This guest post was written free of charge by Jamie Gibbs