Autumn Years Fall 2023

TECHNOLOGY TRENDS

NOOM

Noom, which tracks a person’s food intake and exercise habits, is known for its emphasis on behavioral change and mental well ness. It divides foods into categories (Green, Yellow and Red) based on Caloric Density (CD) instead of plain calories, which means it calculates how much food makes you feel full as well as how much it delivers crucial nutrients. Noom also asks users to describe their current life situations and pairs users into virtual groups of people going through similar situations to talk about tips and tricks. The only required part of the behavioral change feature is to read two-to-ten minutes per day of research-based articles on your personalized journey to weight loss. Do note, however, that Noom only offers a free trial but requires a subscription to get the full features.

FOODUCATE

Fooducate is another calorie tracking app with a bit of a twist. It really is all about educating users on everything relating to eating. Like other apps it allows users to scan barcodes of foods and add them to their log. What sets it apart from the others, besides being inundated with ads for the premium version, are the podcasts. The app has a whole tab dedicated to food related podcasts featuring prominent chefs, food critics, researchers and everyday people interested in food. Most of the podcasts are free and dive into interesting topics like “Have We Reached Peak Korean Food” or “Corporate Lunches, South west Airlines, and Sidewalk Hot Dogs,” both hosted by David Chang.

HABIT TRACKER

Let’s take a look at achieving good health from a somewhat differ ent angle, and that means considering the Habit Tracker app. A lot of healthy choices can be incorporated into your daily routine, and that is where Habit Tracker can help. It gives you complete control over habit building notifications sent to your phone, reminding you of something you should either do or not do. You as the user have control over what that looks like, sounds like and how frequent you are reminded. Something as simple as adding a reminder to add a vegetable at dinner or take vitamins before bed could make a reasonable difference in your life. The app starts off with many built-in habits to choose from but you also can easily add your own. Habits can be checked off when completed for the day or turned off as well. Incorporating specific habits you learn in some of the other apps on this list could aid in your health and wellness journey.

62 AUTUMN YEARS I FALL 2023