8 Mobile Apps for a Healthy Holiday

The mobile application industry has become increasingly popular as more and more of us are incorporating apps into our daily lives. The health and fitness industry has benefitted from this trend, and now a huge range of wellness apps are available designed to help us get stronger, lose weight, eat better and lead a healthier lifestyle. We looked at the most popular apps in health and fitness from run trackers using Nike+Running to calorie counters like MyFitnessPal. We chose 8 of the best mobile apps suitable for a healthy holiday and better yet, most of them are free to download and enjoy!

1. MyFitnessPal

With this 5 star rated calorie counter, getting fit has never been easier. It stores the largest food database of over 2 million foods so you can monitor your daily food intake, making it a great accompaniment to a weight loss holiday. It adds multiple foods and includes a free barcode scanner so you can quickly identify foods for easier counting. It lets you share your progress with friends to motivate and inspire you to lose weight. 

2. Sleep Cycle

This handy 5 star rated app analyses your sleeping patterns, with its clever new technology that monitors the way you sleep. Simply place by the side of your bed or underneath your pillow and it observes your movements through your phone’s accelerometer and tracks any disruptions during the night, offering a full report in the morning. The clock slowly wakes you up when you are in your lightest sleeping phase, so you can get up feeling relaxed and well rested. 

3. Moves

This 4 star rated app features a pedometer that counts your daily steps when walking allowing you to monitor and keep a record of your activity. It also records your distance covered when cycling or running which is handy for tracking your progress. This everyday fitness tracker is easy to use, doesn’t require any other equipment and you can carry it around in your pocket or bag. It includes location maps and stores your routes for you to monitor your healthy lifestyle with ease.

4. Fitocracy

Fitocracy is quickly becoming one of the biggest work-out sharing apps available on the market at the moment. Download this free app to socialise at the gym and share your progress with friends to encourage some healthy competition and keep you motivated. Fitocracy allows you to keep track of your gym work-outs while gaining points and achievements which helps to give you a real sense of achievement. 

5. Nike+ Running

This free app is popular with runners, as it tracks your distance, pace, time and calories burned using your phone’s GPS. You can share your stats with friends and compete to beat their times. It doesn’t require any additional Nike products - all you need is your phone and headphones to listen to your selected workout music or 'PowerSongs’. For extra motivation, publish your run on Facebook to listen to cheers when friends ‘like’ your progress. 

6. Cardiio 

Cardiio is a brand new and inventive way to measure your heart rate when working out on a fitness holiday. With no wires needed, all you have to do is hold your phone in front of you and it gives you an accurate reading based on the light reflected off of your face using the device’s front facing camera. The app then explains how the numbers relate to your heath, and offers a number of useful workouts to help you improve your fitness. 

7. Workout Trainer

Get into shape with thousands of free workout programmes designed to help you reach your fitness goals. Professional trainers will guide you through exercises with photo and video instructions allowing you to focus on areas of fitness such as weight loss, cardio and yoga. It’s a great app if you have a personal trainer and want to practise moves in your own time as it requires no additional equipment. 

8. Meditate – Meditation Timer

This app is an elegant and easy to use meditation timer. With customisable presets for different durations and reminder intervals, this app is perfect for setting the scene and allowing you to unwind wherever you are. It also keeps a record of your daily usage allowing you to track how many sessions you have completed and your average meditation time.