2017 is upon us and on the surface, technology seems to be leading us towards a less active way of life. We have apps for everything, ranging from hanging out with friends to sourcing food.
Sometimes it seems we could literally just sit on the sofa all day and operate our lives remotely from our smart-phone. Thanks to technology, working remotely is becoming more common and physical work is becoming more automated.
Personally, I think these are all great advances as long as we pay attention to our bodies - they've hardly changed for over a million years and still have basic human requirements such as physical movement, not only for our physical health but also mental health.
So for this article I thought I'd stand in technology's corner and share some hugely powerful ways that we can leverage technology to actually improve our health.
Most experts in the personal development field agree that if you want to improve at something, you need to measure it. You'd be amazed at how much more likely you are to take the stairs or walk to work if there's a FitBit on your wrist!
For sports such as running, cycling and swimming just being aware of your times can do wonders for how much you're able to push yourself.
The future is wide open for wearable tech, with early signs of mental health issues being diagnosable with wearable tech such as sleep trackers.
Basic fitness trackers are now available for under $100 and for that sort of bang per buck, they're coming in at the number one spot.
If you don't fancy the wearable tech idea, your smartphone can often do an OK job at tracking your fitness activities.
Beyond that there is a host of other fitness apps to keep us active. From Under Armour's Calorie Counter to the 7 Minute Workout and Headspace - Meditation. There's an arsenal of tools out there to keep yourself accountable and working towards your fitness goals. Want to quit smoking? There's an app for that too.
Seriously, stop playing Candy Crush and use your phone to work out how many carbs were in Saturday evening's beers. (On second thoughts, don't!)
Alomost everyone has a smartphone and a lot of these apps are free so well worthy of the number 2 spot.
Yes, you read that correctly. This seems counterintuitive but hear me out. The big supermarkets have online shopping portals that are an absolute doddle to use.
The beauty of them is that they save your previous shops so once you've worked out what you need to fuel your body properly and feel great, you can just keep repeating the orders each week or fortnight.
I usually walk in to physical supermarkets with the best of intentions but end up walking out with a basket of Pringles and Kettle Chips. Shopping online removes much of the temptation of impulse buys.
Plus you now have an extra two hours each week to do whatever you want. Get outside, walk to the beach, go fly a kite. Do they still sell kites?
Technology will keep advancing and ultimately it's up to us to choose how we react to it. These advancements are going to make things easier and easier. It's up to us to decide whether we waste our new-found free time and energy, or use it to improve ourselves and the lives of people around us.
By Andy Hine - Founder, runner & Pringles lover.
