The new year is nearly upon us, and so are all of those resolutions we came up with in a momentary flurry of positive thinking. Except, now those resolutions are starting to seem just a little bit daunting. Changing your habits is never easy, and we tend to want to change all of our habits at once. To make things a bit easier on yourself, it may be especially helpful to download some apps for new year's resolutions that will actually help you stick to yours.
Whether you're setting a goal to eat a little bit healthier in 2018, or you're taking on a total lifestyle overhaul that involves quitting an addiction or changing the way you approach your fitness routine, there's an app to help you make it a reality. Besides, it's always easier to stick to a commitment when you're doing it with a community, and a tech community can be just as supportive as an IRL one.
This new year's, don't leave your resolutions up to chance. Downloading an app to help you stick to a resolution is a great way to help yourself go the distance, and a similarly excellent way to make this resolution a fun new lifestyle rather than a miserable chore to stick to. Here are nine apps to help you with even the hardest resolutions.
Headspace, $58 (annual), App Store
Are you looking to be a little bit more present and zen in your everyday life in 2018?
Headspace is an app that offers you coaching and meditation sessions for everything, from personal stress to sleep deprivation, and everything in between. The Headspace app will show you that it only takes a few minutes of mindfulness a day to change your entire life.
If you're looking to focus on your cardio game in the new year, Runkeeper will keep you on task. The app is a GPS running tracker that will make it easy for you to log, track, and store all of your runs in one place, so that you always have an idea of where you are in your journey — no pun intended. Plus, you can share your runs on Facebook, which is always a plus when you finally break that minute-marker you've been shooting for.
Smoke Free, free, App Store
Smoke Free is an app designed to help you quit cigarettes for good.
In addition to tracking the days you've actually been smoke-free, the app has a brilliant interface to track other aspects of your health, which are all related to smoking but may not come to mind when you crave a cigarette, like your pulse, your oxygen levels, and the amount of nicotine that's been dispelled from your body so far.
WaterMinder, $2.99, App Store
WaterMinder is a daily reminder and tracker for drinking water, because let's be real, does anyone actually sip on the recommended amount of H2O every single day?
The WaterMinder app also allows you to add and track any other liquids you're drinking throughout the day so you can see how that's affecting your hydration as well.
Pocket Yoga, $2.99, App Store
Pocket Yoga allows you to practice yoga literally anywhere, at any time. You can choose between 27 different sessions, look at pose illustrations to understand good posture and form, and keep a yoga log to track which sessions you've done and for how long. It's the perfect way to unlock your inner yogi without ever having to leave your house.
Couch To 5K, $2.99, App Store
Couch To 5K is a fitness program that helps new runners move from zero running experience to successfully completion of a 5K. The program requires you to train for 20 to 30 minutes three times a week, for nine weeks total, which really isn't all that bad when you think about it. For anyone who's always wanted to cross "run a 5K" off their bucket list but never knew how to take the first step, this is definitely the app for you.
Mint is a personal finance and money tracker that helps you manage all of your money in one place. With Mint, you can set budget goals, monitor spending, keep track of credit card bills, and so much more. If you're looking to make changes to your spending, or simply know more about your finances in general, Mint is easiest way to do so.
Yummly is the ultimate recipe and cooking app to serve as your sous chef every time you step into the kitchen in 2018. From personal recipe recommendations, to an endless inventory of new recipes to try, Yummly is perfect if you're looking to cook more in the new year, or even if you're looking to make a dietary change but don't know exactly how to start.
