Vickerdoodle

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Financial, Health, Wellness, & Fitness, Life

Things I Use Daily

September 5, 2017 · 9 Comments

As some of you already know, I’ve been trying to change up some of my habits and create better, healthier habits. It can be difficult though, since once you get used to doing something one way, it’s incredibly hard to change that. I can’t comment on my “success” thus far, since I’ve been taking incredibly small baby steps, but I do feel as though I am moving in the right direction. So here are some cool things that I use to help me with my habit forming (or removing!)

  • If you’re a nerd, Habitica is a really cool way to work on habit building or productivity. It gamifies doing daily tasks, checking off checklist items, and goal setting. You create your own little character, and you gain levels by completing daily tasks, to-do’s, and accomplishing long-term goals. You can join guilds and even build parties and fight bosses. I’ve actually set mine up so that if I want to eat a slice of cake/pie or buy some really cool makeup, I have to have enough in-game gold to do so. It’s both a website and an app, but I personally prefer the website.
  • MyFitnessPal is a great way to track what you eat. You can set weight goals and the app will help you figure out how much you should be eating to reach your goal. It’ll help you track your calories, macros, exercise… and it connects to my FitBit and will automatically sync up so I don’t have to enter my food or my exercise on two different apps. It’s amazing how much you can learn about yourself when you start to actively track what you’re eating every day I’ve only been using this app to track my food, but I believe you can use it for a whole lot more than just that. They have articles on fitness and health, there’s a community you can join, and they have different challenges as well if you need that extra push..
  • If you already have a FitBit, FitStar is a good add-on app for fitness. They have a few free workouts that you can start out with, but the paid is really the one you’d want. They have a lot of different fitness programs that you can follow, or just freestyle exercises as well. It really takes you through every exercise, explains how to do it, and shows you. After each exercise, they also have a little survey asking you how you felt. Depending on how you answer, they’ll adjust future exercises to fit your fitness level. There’s no equipment required, so you can do it in your own living room! And it will even sync up to FitBit, MyFitnessPal, and other fitness apps so you can connect your exercise to your daily steps to your food and get a more comprehensive readout.
  • Switching gears slightly, if you’re looking for something to help you manage your finances and money, Mint and You Need A Budget (YNAB) are two excellent budgeting tools. Mint is free, which is even better, and YNAB is $50 a year, which isn’t too bad. Both will connect directly to your bank accounts and help you monitor how much money you’re spending and on what. Mint is a little bit more the set a budget, allocate money to each section, and then see how much you’re spending, whereas YNAB is more of the “every dollar has a purpose” approach where you have a total amount “to be budgeted” that you can spread amongst different categories. Mint is probably a bit more big picture while YNAB is more smaller details. I, personally, use both. But you really can’t go wrong either way.
  • Did you know you could download audiobooks from libraries? I’ve only just recently learned this, and it’s opened a whole new world of listening to books. Apps like OverDrive can connect to your library and automatically manage audiobooks for you. You can download straight onto your phone/tablet, and once your time is up, the app will return the book for you. All you need is a library membership! If OverDrive doesn’t work with your local library, it may be worth it to ask a librarian next time you go if there is something similar that works with them. I’ve probably “read” more books this year than I have since graduating college. (That’s a little sad, actually… but as an adult, you really don’t have the time to go to the library all the time or actually sit down and read a physical book.)

There are some really cool apps that I’ve been using. What about you guys? Are there any cool apps, websites, features, or special things that you use daily to help you maintain good habits?


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9 thoughts on “Things I Use Daily

I just started using Mint myself after Prosper Daily ended service Aug 31! I agree it’s a good app for monitoring finances.

I tried Habitica for a while years ago but couldn’t get into the habit of using it….lol irony.

Congrats on the steps you’re taking to make positive changes in your life! They may not seem like a lot but they will really add up, especially over time. Cheering for you!

Congrats on getting healthier! I have a health and sleep tracker on my Pebble Smart watch and it helps a lot. I even lost 5 lbs! I am so happy!

E-Books/Audiobooks are the bestt. Especially free. Amazon also has “Kindle Firsts” every month where they give you a free book every month. And there are random free E-books that they sling around (like the Handmaid’s Tale) periodically for unknown reasons.

Gasppp, I didn’t know MyFitnessPal could sync up with FitBit! When I bought a new FitBit, I started using that to track my food instead of MyFitnessPal to keep everything in one place. MyFitnessPal has a better search and database though, so I’ve been missing it. I’m glad you mentioned that! I’m going to try to sync them now!

I thought about using FitStar the last time you wrote about it. That’s nice that they have workouts that don’t need equipment and can adjust them as you go. I’ve been on the treadmill a lot lately, but I might check that out later.

Habitica is a cute idea! I like the idea of gamifying daily tasks. I’m currently just using to-do list apps like Asana, but Habitica sounds more fun. It reminds me of Fitocracy, which I used to use. It gamifys working out by giving you XP and quests.

I’ve never given audiobooks a try because I keep thinking that I’d rather just sit down and read… except I end up never doing that, haha. OverDrive looks like a handy app though!

Wow! I used to use Habitica, but I completely forgot about it. It’s really fun, and I loved the RPG elements to it 🙂

I tried using Mint and other services like YNAB, but I don’t feel comfortable that they access my bank account and other information. Instead, I just sort of mentally keep track of what I need to spend and save, so that works out for me ^^;

That’s good you discovered a way to download audiobooks from the library 🙂 I have hearing issues, so audiobooks are not something I’ll enjoy, but I can see the benefits of them when you need hands-free reading.

Thanks for sharing your apps 🙂

Habitica looks like a super cool app for to-do’s! I use Productive for something similar and got caught by the super sleek UI but I would totally look into Habitica! Man, I’ve seen so many people using MyFitnessPal. I haven’t gotten into it but it’s helpful in finding the real trend in your eating habits.

Mint is such a great app. I use it to track everything from my 401k to my loans. Haha, it does an excellent job at making me feel guilty with their “How much you spent this week” notifications.

Taking small steps is important! I think it’s great that you’re taking steps forward to more healthier habits! The apps you use sound really helpful & interesting. Habitca sounds like a cool concept! It sounds very interactive but also great for people who like organization.

I love Overdrive! I would check out more e-books from the library but a lot of popular books usually have wait times and I haaaate waiting for a book I want to read >< I should work on my patience lmao.

Hey Vicky! 🙂 Didn’t realise you had a blog – I’m just stopping by! 🙂

I really enjoyed reading up on the things you use daily. My ex boyfriend actually used Habitica and really enjoyed it! ? I think it helped him a lot with his habit-forming! It’s such a good way to get into positive habits for sure and much more engaging!

Yeah, it really is hard to be healthier, especially when you need monies for it. haha I’m doing my best with baby steps too. Good luck with all yours. Thanks for the info on those apps. I do have a fitbit but I’m terrible when it comes to remembering to wear it. FAIL lol.

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