Technology and Fitness

When you mention the words "Technology" and "Fitness" in the same sentence, you should usually prepare yourself for a long infomercial about some crap product like the Bowflex SelectTech, something that promises huge results at a high cost.

Today I'd rather focus on something rather useful, and that is progress trackers and calorie counters on the web and for your smartphones.

On the web, two of the best calorie and fitness goal trackers are Livestrong and FitDay. Both have their pros and cons, but they are essentially the same. FitDay has a good offline program you can use if you're into that, but personally I prefer Livestrong, because it has many verified and branded foods on it for easy calorie counting.

These are great for when you're cooking from home and need to figure out how many calories are in your family's secret sauce, or the cheese sandwich you just made, but when you're out and about, what are you going to do? Well, I'm all for the old paper and pen method, but if you've got a cellphone, then two of my favorites have been RunKeeper and FatSecret. I prefer the FatSecret app for calorie counting, because it integrates with a barcode scanner to quickly scan that healthy protein bar you just snacked on at work, but when recording runs or workouts nothing beats RunKeeper, as it integrates with GPS satellites to record your run, and tells you approximately how many calories you've burned.

I've even heard of some people using Excel spreadsheets to track their progress!
What do you use to track your fitness? Tell me in the comments below.

Breakfast: Do you skip it?

Today I'd like to briefly cover the topic of breakfast, the most important meal of the day.

Many people that I talk to have decided that breakfast is an unnecessary part of their day, and that it slows them down with little to no benefit every morning. While I admit that cooking a full breakfast is time consuming, it does have it's benefits:

Your metabolism will be started off right, provided you fill up on the nutritious side of the breakfast table, and avoid the drive-thru Mc'D's on your morning commute. 

You'll have the energy to get through the morning without the need for snacking on vending machine items or otherwise readily available but unhealthy foods.

You'll have a nice spot of time to stop getting ready for the day and enjoy yourself. I like to sit down, watch a little breakfast television, and savour my food for a few minutes while I relax and think about absolutely nothing, preparing myself for a hard day ahead. Compare that to eating a McMuffin while driving and being stuck in traffic, the possibility of grease stains ever-lingering over your crisp pants.

I like to have a full bowl of steel cut oats every morning, because they’re such a versatile food item, and provide a good amount of slow burning carbohydrates that keep my body fueled and ready to go for a few hours. I will usually add a generous amount of milk and a dash or cinnamon, as the oats can be quite bland by themselves, but you can add pretty much anything (within reason, of course; don’t go adding triple-churned iced cream!) and they’ll taste like whatever you’ve added. In the summer I like to add seasonal fruits to my oats to add a citrus kick every morning!

On mornings where I’m running a little late, I grab a couple of the hard boiled eggs that I’ve got ready to eat in my fridge, and some Vector or Kashi cereal in a Tupperware container. Skipping breakfast  is never really an option, because I’ve taken the time necessary to make sure that even if I’m late I can still get in a good amount of nutrients every morning.

Alongside my breakfast, whatever it may be, I am currently taking One A Day Men’s multivitamin to cover my recommended daily vitamins!

What do you usually eat for breakfast?  Do you skip it, or are you always prepared for a rushed morning?

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P.S.
Did you drink enough water today?
What motivates you to get enough of that wonderful stuff?
Tell us what works for you in the comments below!