The blame game is over

By Rachel Conner

For years now we've been blaming technology for making us lazy. Well, you iPhone users are going to have to find a new excuse. Thanks to this popular do-it-all which has revolutionized the cell phone industry, technology is quickly shifting from an excuse for you to waste your day on the couch to your own pocket-sized Jack LaLanne. I've picked 3 out of 20 of Apple's favorite free Healthcare & Fitness Apps listed on the App Store. Yeah, I said free. So you can't even use the economy as an excuse this time either. Here they are in no particular order:

If you're anything like me, you eat almost every meal out. I moved back to Indy almost 6 months ago and I've only been to the grocery store 3 times. However, if you're thinking, "I'm not THAT bad" but you do live in Indy or a similar city, there's a good chance you eat every lunch out during the business week. That's why I like this app. It allows you to either look up a certain part of town or search for a restaurant by popular location. The app then calculates the healthiest thing on the menu for each restaurant in the area you searched. For example, I typed in the zip code "46250" and it pulled up 20 different restaurants in my specificied area of Indianapolis. Here's one of the results I got:

Sorted By: Distance Lowest Fat Lowest Calories Lowest Carbs

T.G.I. Friday's

Healthiest Choice: Dragonfire Chicken
Within 0.1 miles View Menu

Fat 10g Calories 500 Carbs 44g

Notice how I can also rearrange my search results by lowest fat, calories or carbs by clicking on the above links. But the best part of this app? It's not limited to the iPhone! I actually composed the above search on the website and also downloaded the free app onto my Blackberry. It's little things like this that keep me from kicking myself for buying a Curve when my friends brag about their latest iPhone downloads.

Next on the list is the iPump Free Workout! by PumpOne.

This app allows you to try it before you buy it by setting you up with 2 free total body workouts. Not only does it take you through each exercise step by step, it also provides you with images (as you can see in the picture above), videos, and audio coaching. From there you can even log your workouts. PumpOne even takes it a step further by also allowing you to sample an exercise from each of the other 19 Apps they offer on the App Store. I could go on all day about the incredible bang you get for your non-buck with this app, but I'll just let you check it out for yourself on PumpOne's website or on the App Store. Once again, this app isn't limited to the iPhone. Those of you with the iPod Touch can also download this program.

Last, but not least, is the application that ties the results from the previous two together: Lose It! by FitNow.

As seen in the picture above, you can enter your initial weight, set up your own daily calorie budget, and establish your fitness goals. From there, you can use the program's database to find and log the food you've eaten out and the exercises you complete each day. Not only will the app then track your weight loss progress, it will even predict the specific date you should achieve your goal!

So all in all, the iPhone can act as your own personal trainer and nutritionist...without the nagging or overpriced one-on-one sessions.