The easiest thing to procrastinate on: exercise. We’re all guilty of it sometimes, but can you blame us?
We have the choice between watching Netflix and a jar of Nutella or panting like a walrus on a treadmill, we probably prefer the former. However, it’s a new year and with a new year there comes resolutions (more specifically hopes) that bundle up into commonly three things: being healthier, exercise more or in my case; get my butt off the chair to at least walk the distance to the fridge. Either way, it isn’t strange to find ourselves giving up early in the year because let’s be honest, staying healthy can be hard to maintain, especially for a college student. Whether it’s forgetting (or pretending to forget) about hitting the gym or just finding that Starbucks is much more enticing than water, it can happen.
Fortunately, in this technology-driven era there are phone apps that can help with those pesky little problems. Looking at a variety, I found three that make health resolutions easier to keep and a lot more fun to do. More importantly they’re what every college student loves hearing: free!
Plant Nanny
Let’s begin with a simple but very cute app that keeps you hydrated. Plant Nanny offers a way to discipline your water-intake habits into a healthier routine.
First, your input your weight and activity level in order to get the accurate amount of water you should personally be drinking daily. Then it offers you a different variety of plant seeds to pick from in order to begin growing. The adorable little plant levels up once you meet your water goal, the app allowing you to input the number of ounces you consume or gives you the default amount of a regular water bottle or a cup of water if you’re not quite sure how much you drank.
To keep you from forgetting, Plant Nanny gives reminders that your plant’s thirsty (meaning you should probably switch the coffee in your hand to water stat), assuring you keep yourself and your plant healthy.
Charity Miles
Running means a whole lot more when using this particular app. If you find yourself struggling to find any motivation in exercise, Charity Miles gives you the perfect reason why. In the app, for every mile you run, you contribute money to a charity of your choice.
The app offers over 40 charities to pick from and you can always change it at any time. If you’re looking for inspiration, the app also recommends podcast episodes and blog articles to give you challenges or ideas to have a healthier lifestyle.
Having recently used it myself, it’s nice to know something as small as simply walking through town has the ability to make a difference.
Zombies, Run!
In P.E., I was the kid that loved dodgeball—and I still do. Having permission to hit classmates with a ball gave me plenty of motivation, a specific focus, and more importantly I had fun.This is exactly what Zombies, Run! gives in any type of movement activity, whether it be on a treadmill or just a nice power walk around town.
The app offers missions in which you hear going on while on the move allowing you to imagine yourself in a zombie apocalypse as “Runner 5”—an individual tasked to find supplies for your camp in which you can customize and grow. Also, you can definitely get that adrenaline high during missions, having the option to allow zombie chases to occur.
Trust me, real or not, the noises of zombies chasing you is a lot scarier than you think and it will give you the boost you might need to keep going. With the combination of feeling like a badass hero and sustaining a healthy routine, Zombie, Run! becomes very entertaining to use. If you’re going to exercise, you might as well feel awesome doing it.