Health 2.0′s Appy Holiday Wishlist!

Optimized-AllergyFreeThe holidays are a time for joy and merriment. But during the break, a little too much food and drink, or not enough exercise can really ‘weigh’ down celebrations. That’s why we’ve made a list of 10 of our favorite health apps, to help you stay healthy, light, and spritely this holiday season.

1. EveryMove’s 2013 Resolution Team Challenge: It’s one of the most commonly asked questions this time of year: “What’s your New Year’s Resolution?” Most of us make them, and then break them. The attrition rate is high, with 40% dropping resolutions in the first two months. EveryMove has come up with a solution, it uses tracking, social, and reward elements to help you reach your goal. And if you and your teammates score enough points, you earn a free FitBit Zip! (Free, AppStore)

2. Allergy Free Entertaining: The holidays are here, which means you’ll be hosting that annual dinner party. Whether you’ve got gluten-sensitive friends, or just picky eaters, the Allergy Free Entertaining App can be a helpful tool for taking some of the heat off. The app offers your favorite traditional recipes, with an allergy free twist. Good for any time of year - great for holiday entertaining! ($2.99, AppStore)

3. DrinkTrackerLoved ones, sometimes they can drive us to that extra glass of spiked eggnog – which can lead to not being safe behind the wheel. Keep track of your holiday imbibing while going out with friends, at office parties, or holiday events. This app calculates your Blood Alcohol Level based on your height, weight, and metabolic rate, as you input your holiday jolly juice. The app will let you know if it’s safe to drive, and will help you find a taxi if you’re not! ($1.99, AppStore)

4. Stress Check Pro: This time of year we have to deal with presents, parties, travel, work, family, friends, holiday shopping, and being on the nice or naughty list. For one reason or another, most of us are stressed during the holidays. Azumio’s Stress Check Pro app puts the power to measure physical and emotional stress at your fingertips. This app uses your fingertip on the camera lens to gather heart data and personally measure the effects of stress on your body. Use this info to track stress over time, and find effective ways of decreasing it. ($1.99, AppStore and GooglePlay)

5. MyNetDiary: Did you know that the average North American gains 7 to 12 pounds over the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays? Enjoy the holidays, without the Santa belly. This app includes 40 screens, a 465,000+ foods database, and website for calorie-counting backup. Maintain your weight this holiday by keeping track of how many snowflake sugar cookies you’ve enjoyed (and you’ll have one less New Years Resolution to worry about!). ($3.99, webAppStore and GooglePlay)

6. Meditation: Research findings show that the ancient tradition of meditation is healthy for the mind and body. This app includes a soundboard of 80 meditation-inducing sounds, two timers that will ease you out of meditation, beautiful nature pictures, and a completely customizable interface. So, whether you’re trying to de-stress, or just make an escape from the holiday craziness, you can use this app to reach meditation relaxation. ($0.99, AppStore)

7. Sports Tracker: When we break for the holidays, we also tend to break from our workout routine. Stay competitive with this social workout tracker. This app counts calories burned, heart rate, and your route, and then analyzes your performance. Share your workout data and photos on SportsTracker, Facebook, and Twitter. Then, you and your friends can make comments, or challenges. The maps feature helps you discover new routes, trails, and adventures — wherever you may be for the holidays! (Free, AppStoreGooglePlay, and Nokia)

8. UV Safe Timer: On the beach or on the slopes, it’s important to protect your biggest organ — your skin! At home, or on vacation, the UV Safe Timer provides a location-specific UV Index to let you know your sun risk. The app’s proprietary timer calculates when to re-apply sunscreen (with optional alarm), so you can focus on holiday fun! Create a custom profile with skin type, activities, and sun protection level. With sun safe tips, this app helps prevent you from looking like Rudolf’s nose this holiday season. (Free, AppStore)

9. HealthTap: Just because you’re on vacation doesn’t mean your health is taking a break. Holiday activities can sometimes leave you achy; get answers on HealthTap. Use their database of 30,000 US-licensed physicians to get holiday health questions answered. Find out if you can enjoy that Irish Coffee when you’re on an antibiotic, or if you need to be seen, find a physician in your area. (Free, available on the webAppStore, and GooglePlay)

10. Sleep as Android: Holiday vacation is a time to turn off that morning work alarm. Track your extra hours with a sleep graph history, sleep deficit calculator, and sleep statistics. Show off your sleep data on Facebook and Twitter. Wake up gradually, at a calculated ‘optimal wake-up time’ by nature alarms. Want to know if you snore or talk in your sleep? Use the sleep talk and snoring recording options to find out. Make it a restful vacation! ($2.49, available on GooglePlay, with addition add-ons. Free 2-week trial)

Happy Chriskwanzakkah from the Health 2.0 Team! We wish you healthy, happy holidays!

  • http://twitter.com/s57benchodor Ben Chodor

    Great list - so fun

  • http://www.facebook.com/raiderdesign Matt Irving

    Awesome list! Android users, check out the new 1-800-onocologist app!
    https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.mobile11.mobile1.one800oncologist

  • http://twitter.com/MilnerFenwickPE Milner-Fenwick Inc.

    sharing this with my team! Great list - thanks