Instead of music, try books!

Ok. Sooo I have become obsessed with this app called Audible? I don't know, maybe you've heard of it? I joined last year using someone's link on YouTube to get a free book. The book I got? Fifty Shades Freed. I never finished it. As soon as I heard that I'd have to pay for a membership, I cancelled it ASAP. However, something in me wanted to try again. So I did. I got another free credit. This time I downloaded a chicklit book called Beautiful Bastard by Christina Lauren. It's a twilight-based-fan-fiction-turned-novel except much better. I freaking loved it. Once I got hooked on that book and realized I was almost done, I upgraded my membership (before the trial was over, mind you) and downloaded The Fault in Our Stars. I wanted to "read" the book before I saw the movie. Still haven't seen it, but I finished the audio book in like, two days. lol

Anyway, last week at the gym I had the genius idea of listening to audible on my phone while I pedal away on the stationary bikes. It  keeps my mind off of what I'm doing, so I go further for longer. If you can believe it. I absolutely love doing this. It's such a great way to sneak in some "reading" time and expose myself to new books without really having to take extra time out of the day to do so. That sounds bad, but I'm sure you know what I mean. I can listen at the gym, in the car, in the shower (via a bluetooth speaker), during chores, etc. Super duper nice! I would highly recommend doing something like this.

Oh! and if you don't want to pay for books, I would check to see if your local public library has an online media mall. Mine does and there's an app I can download to use for both reading and listening to books. Since I finished both FIOS and Beautiful Bastard (and I have just under a month until my new credits come in), I decided to start listening to The Maze Runner. Hooked! (I'm even listening to it right now as I type up this post).

I would definitely recommend this if you're a bookworm like me, but don't really have the time to sit down and pick up a book during the day. It really does make the time fly at the gym!

PumpUp App

Good morning! I hope you're having a super fantastic day so far. Right now as you're reading this blog entry, I'm currently at the gym getting my sweat on. It's leg day! So as you saw in my post on Monday, Thursdays are the ever popular leg days for me. I actually really like these days even though they're an absolute killer. I'm sore for the next few days, but it is oh so worth it just to know that my muscles are on their way to becoming lean and toned.

The app that I am currently using to workout not only on Thursdays, but every time I go to the gym to lift weights, is called PumpUp. I honestly cannot recommend this app enough because it is so freaking helpful and awesome. Using the app is pretty simple. You just sign up then build a workout by telling the app what you're training goal is (lose weight, tone up, etc), what your fitness level is, how long you want to workout, where you want to workout (home, gym, or traveling), what equipment you have at your disposal, the muscles you want to target, and any add-ons you want to do (such as a core circuit, conditioning circuit, and/or cardio). Then you hit build and after a few seconds your workout is ready! If you don't like anything in the workout, you just hit the back button and have a new on built (don't worry, you don't have to go through each step again!).

The app is absolutely free unless you decide to opt for their PumpUp Pro upgrade, which right now, only has voice coaching. At first when I saw this I was like, "Yeah ok...that's stupid. I'm not paying for that" but after a while, I found that my workouts were taking longer and longer because I had to keep stopping to look at my phone, and I wasn't able to use the armband my parents got me for Christmas. So I caved and bought  the 1 month subscription for $4.99 just to try it out. Holy moly have I been missing out! The voice coach tells you what exercise you're doing, what set you're on, how many reps you have to do, and when your breaks start/end. I hardly ever have to look at my phone except to put in the weight of the dumbbells I'm using. It is so nice. I think I'm going to subscribe for a year. I get through workouts so much easier now, I love it. Voice coach aside though, this app was still awesome when I didn't have the PumpUp Pro upgrade. It gives you so many workouts that can any length you want, ranging from 5 minutes to 90. I've even used it to set up workouts I can do at home just using a resistance band, dumbbells, & an exercise ball. Pretty cool, right?! There's no excuse not to workout when you have this app, none at all. Sooo since it is absolutely free and there's no risk for trying it, why not download it? See how you like it and let me know down below!

Pact App

Okiee dokiee, so today I'm talking to you about one of my all-time favorite apps, Pact. I stumbled across the app reading comments on a post somewhere. No idea where or what the post was, but someone mentioned it and it sounded like the coolest thing since sliced bread. So I downloaded the app and signed up. I've been using it ever since. Now, you're probably wondering what's so cool about it, right? Well here it is. You get paid to live a healthy lifestyle. That's right, PAID. With real money! And it's free.


So here's how it works:

Pacts I've Made

Every week you make a pact. When I first joined, it was just for working out. Now you can make a pact for eating fruits and veggies, as well as logging three meals and at least 1200 calories a day in myfitnesspal. Making the pact is easy; you just decide how often you want to do everything. Once you decide that, you set the stakes. If you miss a day during your pact, you owe money. This can range from $5 to $50 a day. But you only pay if you don't make your pact. If you complete it, you get paid by those who didn't make their pacts. It's pretty cool. I've made about $40 so far. 

In order to complete a pact, it's different for each one. For the gym pact, you can either go to a gym, do a workout at home or an "anywhere workout" that tracks your motion, or use an partner app that automatically syncs with Pact. Each workout has to last at least 30 minutes and you can only log one workout a day. The app further explains everything in the tutorial they have. For the fruit or veggie pact, you just have to take a picture of a full serving of veggies or fruit that you're eating and upload it to the app. It has to be taken with your own phone and the built-in camera, otherwise the app won't take it. You can do up to three photos a day. For the myfitnesspal app, you just have to log your meals. You have to do three different meals, which can include snacks, and 1, 200 calories.

Making a Pact & Setting the Stakes

Your pact starts on Monday and ends on Sunday. You have until midnight on Sunday to finish your pact. After that, you're done. Then on Tuesday or Wednesday of the following week, they start verifying that you successfully completed everything and pay you for your efforts. And tada! You're done for that pact. It's pretty simple. The app itself has tutorials and more in depth explanations of everything. I definitely urge you to check it out. It's an awesome app to help keep you motivated. I know it's helped me.