In The News
Four Mobile Apps that Drive Healthy Eating, Weight Loss for Expediters
WARNING: The expediter lifestyle can be hazardous to your health (and bank account) -- unless you take charge of your eating habits today.
You’ve chosen to become an expediter because of the lucrative income potential, or opportunities to see the country, or to run your own business as an owner-operator. But when you’re away from home for extended stretches of time, driving long hours each day, it can be easy to fall prey to bad eating habits.
You’re exhausted and don’t feel like cooking, making the convenience of fast food at a truck stop an attractive option. And it’s easy to get into the habit of snacking on chips and drinking high-calorie, sugary sodas to quell the hunger pangs and stay awake while driving.
Yet, that quick fix -- which feels so right at the moment -- could be jeopardizing your long-term health … and your earning ability.
When so many factors are working against good eating habits, how do you gain control over your health? Put your smartphone or tablet to work for you.
Consider these four mobile apps.
LoseIt!
URL: https://www.loseit.com/
Cost: Basic -- Free; Premium -- $39.99
Compatibility: Android, iPhone, iPad, Nook, Kindle
Lose It! is a tool for tracking what you eat and do while you’re on the go. The app includes a food database of thousands of restaurant, grocery store, and brand-name foods, with an easy-to-use calorie counter and food tracker to help you stay within your daily budget. A barcode scanner, which takes the work out of tracking calories, and a personalized recipe builder are designed to put you on road to healthy eating.
The LoseIt! platform also integrates with many of the top health and fitness devices, trackers, and apps available (such as wireless scales, pedometers, and fitness bands).
MyFitnessPal
URL: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/
Cost: Free
Compatibility: iPhone, iPad, and Android
The MyFitnessPal app enables you to track your diet and exercise in less than 5 minutes per day, making it a practical tool to achieve your health and weight loss goals. With a built-in recipe importer, you can discover any recipe on the web and import to your MyFitnessPal app with a single tap of the finger.
With a 100-percent free subscription, MyFitnessPal also gives you access to a food barcode scanner and personalized reports, providing insights into where your calories and nutrients are coming from and how to make healthier choices.
The system integrates seamlessly with over 50 devices and apps, such as Fitbit, Jawbone UP, Garmin, MapMyFitness, Runkeeper, Strava, Runtastic, Misfit, Withings, and Healthkit.
Rolling Strong’s RoadApp
URL: http://rollingstrong.com/CMS10/rs/App.html
Cost: Free
Compatibility: iPhone, iPad, Android
Rolling Strong’s RoadApp is touted as the first wellness app designed specifically with the transportation industry in mind.
The RoadApp’s free non-member section includes a health tip everyday, upcoming Rolling Strong events and a monthly wellness e-newsletter. Drivers can also use the app to look up the nearest health clinics, Rolling Strong Snap Fitness gyms, and Pilot Flying J locations. When you go out to eat, the RoadApp gives you the ability to pull up that restaurant’s nutritional guide and identify the healthiest food options. It also provides educational resources, such as videos that discuss different ailments a driver may be suffering from and a link to the Centers for Disease Control for the latest in health information.
The RoadApp’s section for Rolling Strong members offers a deeper level of features, including access to your health database that’s updated each time your biometric readings (such as blood pressure, weight, BMI, sugar) are entered from Rolling Strong’s health clinic partners and wellness stations out on the road.
Fooducate
URL: http://www.fooducate.com/
Cost: Basic -- Free, with “in-app†purchases
Compatibility: iPhone, iPad, Android
Like other food-tracker apps, Fooducate enables you to easily import your exercise info from a wide range of fitness devices and track food nutritional data. But it also provides deeper insights into the foods you scan into the app, offering a personalized nutrition grade (A, B, C, or D) on each item, with details on a product's pros and cons, so that you can choose healthier alternatives.
When you use the app’s barcode scanner, you’ll also discover details that could negatively impact your health, such as excessive sugar, high fructose corn syrup, MSG, controversial food colorings, additives and preservatives, and artificial sweeteners (like aspartame).
The Bottom Line
While mobile apps won’t completely eliminate the struggle that comes with changing to a healthier lifestyle, they will help hold you accountable and make it easier for you to track your progress, so that you have the knowledge and insights you need to achieve your goals.