We have come to a point in the modern world where we can turn to technology for almost anything imaginable. Today, we can even utilize it to obtain a healthier, more active lifestyle. Mobile apps that involve health tracking applications and games that get you on your feet are just a couple of the many ways technology plays an influential role on healthy behaviors and overall lifestyle.
How Can Mobile Apps Help You Meet Your Fitness Goals?
Mobile apps today allow one to track and evaluate your diet, exercise, body, stress levels, sleep patterns, and more. This TED Talk by Gary Wolf provides further insight on how mobile apps can improve your health.
I personally use MyFitnessPal to track my diet and exercise habits in order to meet my fitness goals. One article examines the impacts of health tracker apps on health behaviors. “Health apps focused on healthy diet and weight loss. The most common app characteristics were planning, reminding, prompting motivation, and the provision of information. Health app use may reflect a user’s motivation to change or maintain health behaviors.” I can personally relate to many aspects of these findings. I use MyFitnessPal to focus on a healthy diet and reach my weight loss goals. The reminders and the planning aspects of the app keep my motivated to meet my health goals. For example, if I wake up and log that I am going to run 3 miles, I am more motivated to make sure that I actually get up and go do it. The use of this app has also helped me maintain a healthy lifestyle. Although I no longer consider myself to be “dieting”, I still use the app to ensure that I am eating in moderation and conscious of making healthier food choices.
What Is Gamification & How Can It Help You Meet Your Fitness Goals?
This article defines gamification as “the use of game design elements in non-game contexts.” The non-game context of gamification as I am discussing it today revolves around the incorporation of physical activity. Take a look at this video below to see how gamification can be used to get people to engage in more physical activity while having fun.
This video discusses how the Xbox Kinect allows for the burning of calories and involvement in physical activity all while simply playing a game. The idea already sounds appealing!
Gamification: Staying Active With Just Dance & Wipeout
My friends and I always find ourselves playing on the Kinect, either because we don’t feel like going to the gym, or because it’s just plain fun! Our favorite games that get us up and moving are Just Dance and Wipeout. Just Dance has us all sweating after a few songs and we can play for an hour plus. Dancing is already a great form of exercise on its own, and incorporating it into a game makes it more fun, and competitive too! Wipeout keeps you on your feet and you run, jump, and dodge objects in attempt to complete an obstacle course. This is a workout that keeps your mind and body involved and has us all rolling on the floor laughing the whole time. From experience, I can confidently say that gamification indeed influences healthy behavior and is an easy tactic to motivate people to maintain an active lifestyle.
Overview of Health Benefits Using Mobile Apps & Gamification
The use of mobile apps and gamification has been proven to influence health behaviors. They are great ways to stay motivated and track progress. I will continue to utilize both of these applications to benefit my health and I highly encourage others to as well. The use of mobile apps and gamification exemplify how technology influences health behaviors today.
I hope this post provides you with the resources that are available for you to acquire a healthier lifestyle.
Thanks for reading!
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