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10 Apps to Kickstart a Healthy Lifestyle

10 Apps to Kickstart a Healthy Lifestyle

Turn your phone into a 24-hour a day wellness coach with these fun, inspiring apps.

Apps are the perfect way to set healthy goals and track your progress. Here are ten to try:

Start your morning on a positive note with Unique Daily Affirmations. You simply press down the green button to receive your affirmation for the day, and then vocalize it in front of a mirror. (Free, for iPhone and iPad).

Set the reminder function on Salad of the Day Pro and the app will nudge you to create one of its 250 healthy salad recipes. Both vegetarian and non-vegetarian options are included. Liza Minnelli’s Salade de Provence, anyone? (99 cents, iPhone, iPad and Android)

Water is vital for boosting energy, flushing out toxins, keeping joints flexible, and carrying nutrition to your cells. The Mayo Clinic suggests that about 9 glasses a day should be adequate for most women, but it can be hard to hit that goal. Waterlogged helps you track your water consumption; just upload photos of your glass or other water container. It’s compatible with Fitbit, too. (Free, for iPhone and iPad.)

Energizing ideas abound in the 30 Day Green Smoothie Challenge. No fasting here; this smoothie-a-day plan can be integrated into your regular diet. The app will send you a daily recipe for tasty, veggie-packed smoothies like Skin Booster, Clean Green Energy and Vitamin K booster. Five-day shopping lists help you plan ahead. ($4.99, for iPad and iPhone.)

If smoothies are too complicated, at the very least you can Eat Fruit! This app is simple and sweet, reminding you every few hours to nurture your body with five daily portions of fruit. (Free, Android.)

Noom Walk counts your steps, but unlike some phone pedometer apps, won’t kill your battery. During 24 hours of use, it will only sip 2 percent of the battery power. No external hardware is required, and you can share your progress with a group of friends using the same app. (Free, Android.)

Cookies, donuts, brownies…wait, this is healthy? BabyCakes NYC is famed for its vegan and gluten-free treats, but if you don’t live near one of the bakery’s locations, the BabyCakes App will teach you the recipes. The lively, video-based approach—singalongs! Starlets making waffles!—is as delicious as the desserts. ($3.99, iPhone and iPad.)

How about a cold glass of non-dairy milk to go with that vegan cookie? The Nutti Milk App has videos and recipes that will show you how to whip up nut milks, such as banana almond, pecan and hemp. A recipe calculator helps you adjust by number of servings so you can create enough for one person or many. (99 cents, for iPhone and iPad.)

Get off the couch and turn into a runner with this 8-week plan. Ease into 5K encourages you via thrice-weekly, 30-minute workouts, alternating between walking and running. It uses voice command—choose a male or female voice for a coach—and yes, you can still listen to your favorite tunes. ($2.99, iPhone, iPad, Android.)

If you’re worried about the quality of your rest each night, sleep cycle tracker Sleepbot lets you review your snooze statistics. It will create graphs for how much you moved and snored, for example, or help you keep a sleep debt log. It also features multiple custom alarms, and relaxing resources to help you fall asleep. (Free, Android)

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