Speaking of apps...

Reading labels in the grocery store and trying to decide what's healthy, what's organic, what's real... it's all exhausting. But this app I learned about at work is really helpful and actually pretty fun. It's called Fooducate (go download it!) and it let's you scan barcodes of packaged items and assigned them a health letter grade. Then it goes a step further and tells you pros and cons, as well as suggesting better alternatives.

So picture this: my boyfriend and I were in the grocery store (practically done, in the last aisle) and the bread he ALWAYS gets was sold out. (Back story: he cannot make a decision to save his own life, so this was a complete panic moment.) I started looking through the ones I thought would be good alternatives and started scanning them with the app. Then, because he had already also downloaded the app when I told him about it months ago, he started grabbing others and scanning them too. It was so fun, and we actually learned a lot about several different breads while doing this. In the end, he ended up picking one that was so much better than the "whole grain white" he was used to.

Naturally we became intrigued and started scanning all sorts of things we already had in our cart, and actually ended up going back to exchange quite a few items for the better alternatives.

Anyway, I highly suggest it--if for nothing else than just the fun of scanning in the store.

Did I mention it's a FREE app? Links to download are below! GO SCAN!

- Kristen

Fooducate for Android
Fooducate for iPhone

New workout tracking calendar!

So, it's been a while since my last post... or anyone's for that matter, it appears. :) Things have been quite busy for me this past month. I turned the big 3-0, went on a trip to Puerto Rico, and started a new job! With all that, of course I let my workout motivation float away and now I have to work twice as hard to get it back. To help, I started a tracking calendar. I got some of those star stickers (yes, the "gold star" kindergarten kind) and decided I would get to award myself a star on the calendar for each day that I worked out. Then at the end of the month I would buy myself a present if I had 20+ stars in a month. For that extra kick in the pants, I started using my calendar counting app on my phone again (I love the Fat Secret app on Android) and starting weighing myself each morning--at the end of the day I mark my weight and the calorie total for the day on the same "star" calendar. This way I get the whole story for each day. Well, May didn't go so well. So... yay, June! Here's to a fresh start and looking forward to getting back out there!

- Kristen