iPod Apps: What’s on My iPod? Part 7

Welcome to the FINAL part of ‘What’s on my iPod?’!  I hope you’ve enjoyed this series and that’s it’s given you some ideas on new apps to try for your own devices at home.  And here is the last (and of course, biggest) section.

Health

MyFitnessPal:  This app is great for those who are trying to count calories and track their weight loss along with tracking their physical activity.  I use this app currently to track my weight loss and to help me reach my goals.  Go check out my AllisonFit series to learn more about how I use this app to track my fitness.

Fitocracy:  Another great app to track fitness goals, this app is a social network community of people who all work to achieve exercise goals together.  This is another app I’ve been using to track my specific exercises that I’ve been doing and it’s been helping me a lot.  This is another app you can read more about in the AllisonFit series.

Virtual Weight:  A new app that I discovered this app allows you to type in your current weight and your goal weight and see your ‘virtual’ body and compare what your appearance would look like once you achieve your ideal weight.  Sounds shallow I know, but it is a great way to keep yourself motivated if you are trying to lose weight or get in better shape. 

AbsTrainer: This app contains exercises of various levels and lengths of time that enable you to target different areas of your body.  This company also makes several other trainer apps that specify in other parts of your body, some of which I have downloaded (listed below).  I love these apps, I would highly recommend them to anyone looking to target certain areas of their body and get in better shape.

I also have the following ‘trainers’:

ButtTrainer

ChestTrainer

LegsTrainer

ArmsTrainer

BackTrainer

ShoulderTrainer

AllisonFit: My First Juice

The Recipe:

“Hearty Wake-up Juice”

-2 Oranges

-1 apple

-2 cups of mixed berries (Raspberry, strawberry, blueberry)

I admit, I was a tad nervous before making my juice.  But I was super excited too.  And the overall end result was so worth it. 

To prep for the juice, I measure out all of the berries, and cleaned the fruit.  Typical stuff.  Nothing too exciting there.

Now, once I actually started feeding the fruit into the juicer, I was surprised by how quickly it sucked the fruit up and processed it.  I had to feed the fruit into the machine rapidly in order to keep up – something I wasn’t really prepared for.  But, once I got into a rhythm it was fine.

Overall, the juice tastes amazing.  I’m glad I chose a juice that I actually like for my first one.  If I had chosen one I didn’t like, I definitely would have gotten discouraged.  If you’re considering juicing or looking for a new recipe to try, I definitely recommend this one!

iPod Apps: What’s on my iPod? Part 6

News

All of these apps are new downloads for me, so I’m not going to go into a super amount of details about them, just because I haven’t gotten to use them too much yet.  But, I think it’s overall really important to keep up with current events, especially in your own country.  And, if it’s what you’re interested in, in pop culture.  So, here are the news apps that I have on my iPod, and why I picked ‘em.

NBC Nightly News:  I chose to download this app because this is one of my favorite ways to get current events in the nation and in the world. 

BuzzFeed:  A great site with everything from entertainment to politics, this site has pretty much everything that you could possibly imagine. 

TodayShow:  A great way to wake up in the morning, I love watching the Today Show.  Not only does it cover hard-hitting news, but it also covers ‘fun’ news like pop culture.

AllisonFit: The Juicing Journey

If you follow me on Twitter (and I highly recommend/encourage you to do so!), then you already know that I’ve just ordered my very own juicer.  I first heard about juicing from watching Nikki Phillipi’s vlogs, and then learned more about the process and the health benefits of juicing from watching the food documentary “Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead.”

I decided to juice because, well, first and foremost, I’m not living a healthy lifestyle.  Part of this AllisonFit series is sharing my journey with you to me progressing towards a more healthy lifestyle, and this is a major step for me.  Juicing provides a simple, one step opportunity to consume a ton of veggies and fruits in one gulp that you wouldn’t be able to otherwise.  So there’s a ton of nutrients there.  I’m hoping that this will help me.

I’ve decided to begin my juicing journey by gradually adding juicing into my diet- meaning, that I’ll do it a few times a week in order for my body to adjust to the massive amounts of vitamins it’ll be getting.  And then, after I graduate college in a few weeks (eek!), I’m going to do a ten-day juice fast. 

Why am I going to fast?  Because to put it bluntly, I need to lose weight.   You may not be able to tell by looking at me, but I’m overweight and out of shape.  Juice fasts are a healthy and effective way to lose weight, and if you continue to juice as part of your regular diet and commit to changing your overall diet, to keep off the weight.  So that’s what I’m going to do.  I know from watching the documentary “Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead” that the first few days of the fast will be rough.  I’m completely aware of that.  But, every time they showed the end result of a fast, the transformation was incredible.  Not only was the person physically healthier, but they looked better and had more energy, and were more confident in their own skin- all things that I need right now.

If you are considering juicing, I definitely recommend watching the documentary and doing extra research on the side before committing to anything.  While adding juicing to your regular diet isn’t as extreme as a traditional 10-day fast, many people eventually develop the desire to fast.  But definitely consider it.  And even if you aren’t interested in fasting or juicing, watch the documentary.  It’s a truly inspirational documentary that will make you want to change your lifestyle.  I will also be documenting more of my juicing journey as I begin to juice and during my fast so that you can see the process and my transformation.  Until next time, I hope that you personally have been inspired to make more healthy choices in your life and have been living up to your own expectations for yourself.  And if not, keep trying!  It’s never to late to change, and good for you for trying! J

iPod Apps: What’s on My iPod? Part 5

Social

Twitter: By far my favorite social media site (and app!) I’m constantly on Twitter, checking my feed and posting new tweets for my followers.  This is probably really sad, but checking my Twitter feed is one of the first things I do in the morning and yup- I do it right from my iPod.  If you tweet, you absolutely need to have this app.  And if you’re not already, follow me on Twitter @allisoncomments

Facebook: Another social networking site that I use on a fairly regular basis, Facebook is an app that I’m on to keep in touch with friends and keep up to date with all things Program Board, since we use it to communicate with each other through groups.  It’s not my favorite network in the world, but I admit I do like the app better than the actual website.

Tumblr: I loooooove Tumblr.  It’s like geek zone, so I feel right at home.  I love that I can post tons of Harry Potter stuff STILL and it’s still relevant there.  On this site and app, I can be my total nerdy self, without fear of being judged or looked at funny.  I love it.  http://alagonigro91.tumblr.com/

Pinterest:  Pinterest… there aren’t enough words to describe how much I love this site.  Pinterest has all of the clothes I wish I had, the homes I wish I lived in, and the inspiration that I need to live a better life.  I’ve gotten so many incredible workout, craft, and recipe ideas from this site (and app!) that it’s changed my life.  On this site I can ‘pin’ things for my dream home, my dream wedding, and even all of the quotes that I find.  Feel free to give me a follow: http://pinterest.com/allisonlag/

LinkedIn: While this isn’t as exciting as some of the other social networking sites I’ve mentioned already, for someone about to enter into the workforce, it’s a necessity.  LinkIn (both online and app versions) is a great way to build your professional network and get your name ‘out there.’  If you’re in the process of looking for jobs, I highly recommend taking the time to set up a profile.

VYou: Finally, VYou.  A video question and answer site, VYou enables you to literally answer questions that people ask you via webcam and upload them to the site for people to watch.  Want to check out my page? http://vyou.com/user_108341