5 fitness apps to help you keep your New Year’s resolutions

The average person gains at least 3.4 percent of their body weight every year, and those of us who indulge in regular restaurant or fast food meals may pack on even more pounds. To put this into perspective, if you weigh 150 pounds today, you can expect to weigh in at least 5.1 pounds heavier next year.

These numbers get even worse if you don’t exercise regularly, which is why so many people wake up on their 40th birthday weighing a significantly larger amount than they did when they turned 20.

It’s no wonder that weight loss is the top resolution each year.

Unfortunately, at least 80 percent of people who make New Year’s resolutions fail to keep them. The good news is that smartphones and wearables make it easier than ever to track your fitness goals, and enabling notifications may help you stick to your 2017 resolutions.

It’s also important to pick fitness apps that are easy to use and truly motivating. There are numerous options available, but we’re going to take a closer look at five of them that offer necessary and unique features.

My Fiziq

Most people who choose to go on a diet or start a regular fitness routine are primarily concerned about their physical appearance. Therefore, it makes sense to focus on achieving a desired look.

Whether you merely want to become skinnier or desire a more muscular frame, it can be very beneficial to see the physical progress you’ve made. That’s where My Fiziq comes in.

Unlike the typical fitness app, My Fiziq doesn’t focus on BMI and other measures of fitness. Instead, it uses photos of your body to help assess how much your physique changes as you continue to work toward your ultimate goal.

Pact

Pact is ideal for people who tend to slack off on their fitness goals but want motivation to avoid this problem.

The concept is simple – you set daily goals and make a bet that you’ll actually complete them. If you are successful, you get paid. If not, you have to pay the amount you bet. All of the money goes into a communal pool from which those who are truly dedicated to personal fitness receive their financial reward.

Not interested in betting money but still want to earn it for working out? Check out Achievemint instead.

Fooducate

Calorie counting may not be fun, but it’s a necessary component of weight loss. You can easily find dozens of calorie counting apps that will serve this basic role, but if you want more information, your choices begin to narrow down.

Fooducate goes much further by enabling you to set a weekly and long-term weight loss goal, offering nutrition information and even suggesting healthier alternatives for every food item you add to your daily log.

Many restaurants have already had their entire menus added and graded as well, so you no longer have to guess when you go out to eat.

C25K

Do you want to burn a lot of calories very quickly while simultaneously working toward the goal of actually being able to complete a 5K race? C25K, also known as Couch to 5K, makes it surprisingly easy to work up your strength until you’re able to run for 30 minutes or more without taking a break.

The developers of this program understand that most people can’t possibly start running long distances without some training, so they work you up very slowly during 30 minute routines that start with a lot more walking than running.

Completing this program will help you get in better shape, and it can provide a confidence boost when you cross the finish line of your first 5K.

FitStar

Do you get bored easily with workout routines? That’s one of the reasons that people fail to meet their fitness goals. But you no longer need to let boredom get in the way.

FitStar is a comprehensive app that offers personalized workouts and fitness tests. This provides a more full body experience, and you can also customize the app to focus on specific areas of your body.

The feedback feature even allows you to tell the app which exercises are too difficult or too simple, and this enables FitStar to create better overall workouts for your current skill level.

One day at a time

Studies have found that the average person spends less than 20 minutes per day exercising, but it’s vital to bump this up to at least 30 minutes in order to receive optimal health benefits.

By using these apps, you can more effectively track the results of each workout and receive some necessary encouragement.

In other words, smartphone technology may just make 2017 the year that more than 20 percent of us keep our New Year’s resolutions for longer than six weeks.