Pick Up Your Phone

It is true that we need to have more boundaries with our phone, but it is also true that we can be using our phone in a more strategic way! This week we are talking about how to use technology and apps to your benefit - especially when it comes to monitoring your health targets and goals. 

If you have questions, or topics that you want to hear about, head over to our Instagrams https://www.instagram.com/bayleethedietitian/ or https://www.instagram.com/brianna.dietitian/ and send us a DM! You can also follow the podcast https://www.instagram.com/mocktailminutes/

Featured Mocktails: 

Olipop 

Cure 

Click play, sip back, and be empowered.

Transcript

0:23

Hello everyone. Welcome back to this week's episode of Mocktail Minutes. This is Bailey and this is Brianna. This week I am doing a op, the orange cream. Actually, I think I have done one of these recently. Oh no, I just did the cream soda I think the last time. But yeah, orange cream is a good go-to. I'm doing cure the watermelon flavor. Oh, nice. Can't do the watermelon. Not my face. I'm just like, really? This is my brand now I decided, yes. Watermelon. I'm doubling down. Perfect. Yes. This week we are talking about, what should we call this episode? Using technology for good. Yeah. Using. Using your phone for good. Yeah. Or pick your phone up because every, it's gonna be a little bit wild. I mean, we're always saying like, put your phone down. Yeah, yeah. We're gonna call, pick your phone up. Yeah. Use your phone wisely. I don't know. I don't like it. Yeah. Use your phone for good. Maybe that. Yeah. But we're gonna be talking about how, or like different ways you can utilize. Your phone, your technology that you have in your hand, in your pocket, within a foot from you, pretty much at all times a day. Because like I said, we're usually saying like, okay, especially before bed, like we need to put our phone down. We need to put our phone down. But there are actually benefits to having these smartphone. It's all about like how you use it. Mm-hmm. So we're just gonna go through a couple different ways that we use our phones just to like. Keep us on track or help us with our health goals in general too. Yeah, I'll just, I'm gonna go through like I think the top ones that I use on my phone. I do Aura for sure. Aura. I do the, what is it called? I have a widget for it, but it's like a time blocking app. Okay. I use, I'll put it in the, I'll put it in the show notes. I use streaks for very minimal things'cause I'm really like, I like a good reward system, but if there's too much stuff, I just don't use it. So I've gotten very particular about what I use for that. I do chronometer, I plug things in there a lot to kind of just figure out like. Mm-hmm. Macros of stuff, or if someone's like sending me something and they want to know, I use chronometer a lot. And then probably just like the Apple Health. Okay. I like the watch. Yeah. I stopped wearing my Apple Watch. I thought about putting it back on. Mainly because I'm like, it's just nice because it was a little bit easier than having my phone all the time, so that way I'm not missing as many text or calls and I can also see what time of day it is. That was helpful, but I'm like, I could also just get like a nice new watch. Yeah. But I do have my Apple Watch still. I literally took like everything off the Apple Watch. I'm probably not using it even slightly to its extent, but I just have time. When texts come through, calls,'cause I'd always have my phone. I'm like, that's it. And then the reminders to like, Hey, you should probably get a pen. Oh, that's good. Mm-hmm. But everything else I took off'cause I would like get emails, I would get like all the things. Yes. This is overwhelming. Mm-hmm. Yeah. Have you compared it to the order ring? Like are they pretty similar with sleep scores or steps or everything? I feel like the sleep score and like your HRV. Very similar. I do see a big difference with the steps. You, I don't know if you see that too. Yeah. Like my aura ring will always have much more steps than my Apple watch. Yes. And I don't know if that's because like I use my hands or what it is, but it's like a pretty big difference. Yes. Mm-hmm. So I noticed I had a bigger difference because like when the days that I use my walking pad. Mm-hmm. And so I think it's because it's, I don't think the watch was really counting the steps. But the AA ring is. Mm-hmm. And so I was like, well, during the week when I'm using my walking pad for like three hours of the day, that's why my steps look a significant difference. Yeah. So I, I feel like the AA ring's more accurate with steps. Honestly. It definitely is for things like the walking pad, because mine will not, unless I'm like swinging my arm, my, my watch, and that's, I'm not, I'm typing or like doing, I can't type with one hand that's not very efficient. I haven't compared it in a while to just like on a normal day. Yeah. Like not using a walking pad or anything like that. I think I'm gonna do that and see. Yeah. But I feel like for sleep scores, I think the aura is way more in depth for sure. But like HRV stuff like that, I feel like they're pretty comparable. Okay. But I don't like wearing, I watch when I sleep. I don't think I've ever tracked my sleep with the Apple Watch. Mm-hmm. But I mean, I feel like usually I'm having to charge it at night. Yeah, exactly. And I'm like, eh, no, maybe I'll try that out this next week. And I've had people like ask about the ordering, what all it does. So this is where you can use data to kind of see, okay, what can I do about it? So like some things that it shows, it shows your like how to. Optimize your recovery. Mm-hmm. So if you see your readiness score is low, so like say your HRV is low, you have poor sleep, your RHR is elevated, you might decide okay to rest instead of like an intense workout that day. Do kind of like active recovery rather than just kind of push through. I think it helps with sleep habits because you can see what nights have a lower sleep quality. Mm-hmm. Like less deep sleep or more interrupter interruptions. And then you can experiment with like pre-B bedtime routines. Like what will, what looks differently? Change one thing, okay, how do I sleep now? Mm-hmm. So it helps there, just bring that awareness and even stress awareness because, so HRV drops in higher resting heart rate often. Correlates with stress or illness. So these warning signs can help you take a like stress reduction steps before you. Mm-hmm. You're just like completely burnt out. It can also help, I mean the cycle tracking. So that's what I do. I connect it to natural cycles. So someone asked me like, do you have to have both? I guess technically you don't have to have both, but. The natural cycles. I like it because like depending on what your goals are, like if you're trying to get pregnant or not trying to get pregnant, I feel like the Natural Cycles app gives more information at like for your cycle. Yeah. And it's like, Hey, yeah, you're Fertile Estate. You're not Fertile Estate, and it's gonna give a better explanation at your cycle. And kind of, it just, I think because it has more of a cycle focus, you just get more information. On that one. Well, and I think that is the one that's FDA approved for like that, like family planning or whatever. So you do get more from it. And I know they link, which is nice, like you can link it and so it'll automatically put your temperature and stuff. You don't have to have the order ring. You can take your temperature and put it in there. I forgot about cycle syncing. I use the Stardust app, but that's only'cause I've already paid for it. Mm-hmm. And I'm not trying to get pregnant or anything. Yep. And I don't really have to like, worry about not getting pregnant. Because Victor, I made him get snip. Snip. But I like stardust. But yeah, that's probably the other one too. Going back to the Oura ring, adjusting your movement for the day. I actually really like that one because we talk about that a lot of like, okay, if you're not getting good sleep, like maybe you don't do an intense workout or maybe you don't do strength training. And I think sometimes that's hard to judge because we'll be like, I don't know, I just don't feel great. There's been plenty of times where I'm like I'm tired. I probably shouldn't strength train today. Like I, I got bad sleep and then I'll pull up the OA ring and it's like, your sleep score was 90. I'm like, oh, okay. So then I'm like, okay. I actually would be totally fine to physically strength train today. This is just like. You know, it could actually probably help. Yeah. Or it does the opposite, where it's like, hey, you're really stressed. Like take it down a notch. And I think it gives you like permission to be like, oh, this is probably appropriate for what I need. You know? It helps you be more intuitive, like, what am I feeling? I think. Yeah. Yeah, I would say, or Ring is a popular one that I look at. And I guess in combination with that, the NI Natural Cycles app. Mm-hmm. I would say so. You do like Chronometer? I like to use the Nutrition IX Track app. I don't track my food every day, but I think utilizing apps like this every now and then can be a good check on yourself. Like, what are we doing? Or sometimes like I'll pop in, I switch up lunch or breakfast, like it's something I usually don't do, and so I just pop it in real quick. It tastes. One, maybe. Mm-hmm. And if I look at it and I'm like, oh, okay, I only have eight of, and I need like 20, it brings, okay, let's throw some peanut butter on, let's get an avocado, add something. So it just helps to make sure I'm eating enough and like day just using it as needed. Or when I feel maybe the meal is a little bit off. Yeah. But I think that's helpful. Do you have to pay for Nutrition IX. No. Okay. See, that's why I like coordinator.'cause I feel like all the other ones are making you pay for it, so that's good to know. Yeah. You don't have to unless so they have like a pro version and I could be your coach on it so I can see your data. Mm-hmm. But otherwise you can use it for free. I, it's really user-friendly, which is what I love about it. It just stinks that like I can't see client data on it. Yeah. Where like my FitnessPal people just add me as a friend and I can see their data. Yeah. So that helps. Yeah. I'd say the other things like just your regular apps on your phone, like my calendar to some people looks insane, but I have four different calendars synced on there. They're all different colors. One that, I mean, obviously my work calendars, I have two separate work calendars because my work stuff is not normal. Nine to five. Yeah. And so we have to have separate calendars and sync together. But I also have like a personal one just for me, and then I have one that Josh and I share. Yeah. So that way if I put it in, it's also gonna go on his calendar, on his phone. Because you know how many times you're like, Hey, we have to go do this. And then they're like, we, we get to that day. You, me, we, we had this to do today. I told you this like a month ago and then I told you again like two weeks ago. It helps that like mental load, I think that's a huge one. Share a calendar with your significant other. It has been so helpful, but it's also helpful. So like, I mean, wedding is this week, so had to schedule the marriage license like. Get an appointment to go pick it up and instead of me having to like text him a million times while I'm on the phone with this lady, adds it to it. Yeah. I, yeah, like I can see his schedule from my phone of like, here's where you definitely have to be somewhere for work, or like, here's your free time. So things like that are helpful or things like with travel coming up. I can put all of our flight itinerary itinerary in that, or when I traveled by myself, I put my flight information in there. So it's just nice. It's a great way to just, yeah, like communicate with other people without having to repeat yourself 9,000 times and you just be like, okay, go look at our calendar. This is what we're doing this weekend. This is what we have planned. Yeah, that's really helpful. And I, like, I tell people to put their self on their calendar. I'm like, listen. Yeah. All these appointments, scheduling your workouts when you're gonna go work. Yeah. Schedule your workouts. If you are like having a trouble, like meal prepping, find the time, put it on there. That's the structured app. That's what it is. That's the time blocking one. So I'll like kind of, you can pay for that and it'll sync all that together. I, I should do it. I don't, I just go in and I manually do everything. I should probably sync them'cause it is so helpful. But that's like where it's like, oh, I'm finding time. These are the things I really wanna do. These are my goals this week. Like, let me put it in. Yeah. And then yes, sharing it.'cause I think that's a big one to like take that mental load off. The other thing I would say is like alarms. I have so many alarms on my phone. Reminders, alarms, like if you're having a hard time taking your supplements or like remembering you need to do something or like packing your lunch, like putting those reminders so that you start to like form habits and just like, oh yeah, at this time, every night I do this. Mm-hmm. Do it. I also like the reminders because like I'll be driving like, oh yeah, tonight I need to like get this done. And so I can just like talk into my phone and be like, Hey, remind me at this time to do this. And so that's really nice'cause it'll pop up. Or like when there's certain bills that have to be paid, I have that as a reminder. Also, the notes app, this is like where like if you die and you go, and if I die and you go and look at my notes, you're like. Like, yeah, that's what my brain, like the amount of notes I have wedding, this wedding, this wedding, this wedding, this. But then groceries. So I do a lot of collaborative notes as well. Mm-hmm. So that's another thing Josh and I share. We have a grocery list on there, but it also has our meal plan. So there's no question of what's for dinner and. If we run outta something, you just put it on the grocery list. Yeah. I don't need you to tell me to get paper towels. Put it on the grocery list and I will see it when I go to the store. So that's been really helpful. Or even, I'm a schedule person for Gannon. Mm-hmm. So I have his schedule typed out on a note, so that way. Whoever has them, has him or is watching him or I change the schedule, I just have to share it with them. So notes, collaborating those. And I'll also like put my workouts in there so I know what I'm doing. Mm-hmm. Because I like it typed out rather than watching a video or anything. Oh yeah, me too. Yeah, so I do that. I save certain PDFs there. So note section, like just save everything there. I'm sorry. Yes. And then. Let's see another, they're at Pinterest, so Pinterest and chat. GPT is how I also meal plan Pinterest. I just look up pictures and I'm like, okay, this looks nice. Here's what it looks like it has in it. And then sometimes I'm like, okay, I don't really know what all to put in it, but this is, gives me a good idea. Let's say like Asian tacos or something like that. I will go to Chachi PT and be like. Give me a recipe for four servings, 30 grams of protein, seven plus grams of fiber, 25 grams of fat, 30 grams of starchy carbs, and it'll give me a recipe. Yeah. And I can also tweak it if I want. So I use both of those to help the meal planning as well. Yeah. There's also things like stress management. I think there's like so many, like the calm app. I don't use the Calm app, but the Calm app. Mm-hmm. I also use like Moon Gate. Moon Gate is great. It does all those different like, I don't know, frequency sounds like brand, whatever, noise. Love it. Great for stress management. That's another thing that Aura Ring does have is like the breath work one, there's so many like breath work work apps. You could do meditation apps. Devotion, whatever it is to be like, oh, I'm gonna do stress management. I think that's a great thing to put on your phone because it is something you pick up every day and stress management should be every day. So put something on your home screen, put it as a widget. Like if it's on a widget and it's right there, like I will do it. Yes. Yeah. I have a lot of people that use Headspace. Another one that I recently found. Is D Minder. Mm-hmm. So it's a health app. It's meant to optimize your vitamin D from sunlight exposure instead of just like telling you how Sunny it's, it actually uses your location, the time of day, your skin type, like you have to put in, like do you burn? Do you tan? Oh you burn, and then you tan. And it just a couple other factors to help estimate how much vitamin D your body is likely producing in real time. So when you're like a Missouri girl. We, we struggle with vitamin DA lot, so yeah, I can track vitamin D gives you like a sun exposure timer, so it tells me when to go outside for safe, effective vitamin D and ki it's supposed to like alert you before you're at risk for a sunburn. It's like I'm in Texas. It's like you've been outside 10 seconds. Go back. Yes. No, but that's so good to know. And you can even put your, like if you know your vitamin D levels, you can put that in there too. Mm-hmm. But yeah, it's a great way to kind of naturally manage your vitamin D without just like over supplementing it. I love it. We should like, we should like come up with like a compilation of like all the apps. That we know of And and like. And like we need an app. For the app. We need an app for the app, because these are good ones. There's literally apps for everything now. Oh my gosh. Yes. I feel like use it to your advantage, right? Like we use so much of our phone time and like random apps for like not very helpful stuff. Yeah. Think about if every app on your phone was helpful. Mm-hmm. Even like Spotify, like use that. Mm-hmm. For a podcast, literally you can type in. Insulin and see what information is out there. And I think anytime you're like working on weight loss, working on making yourself less insulin resistant, working on building muscle, whatever it is. Mm-hmm. Just kind of eng goal for yourself in it a little bit and just become educated and research it. I have one of my clients, she's got a very science-based mind and she loves to do like these deep dives. So we did an HTA and she literally. After I gave her results, went into Spotify and was like, slow and metabolism and listen to all these podcasts, and it's the more, you know, I think mm-hmm. I mean, just knowledge is power. Yeah. Yeah. So even Spotify is a great resource for some podcasts. Mm-hmm. I mean. Probably if you're listening to this, you might be listening from Spotify. I think we do have a lot of Spotify listeners, like when it, because it tells us, I think it's our most popular. Mm-hmm. Yeah. Mm-hmm. It's like maybe we'll put together a list and we'll add it somewhere for you guys to have all the apps we use, what we like, what could be helpful, and then you can start transitioning into trying to use your phone any more. Helpful, helpful, helpful way. There we go. That was, that was, that was, that was fun. That was good. Yeah. All right, everyone, we hope this was helpful just to give you some new ideas on how. Picking up your phone can actually be beneficial. How to use it more wisely, how to help your health goals. And we'll put a maybe, yeah, we'll put a list in the show notes and maybe we'll post it too. The Instagram too. That's a good idea. We we're working on being more active there. It's a work in progress, but yes. Yeah, we'll add it there. That'll be good. Yeah, I think this is helpful. All right, everyone. Have a good rest of your week and we'll be back next week with a brand new episode. Bye.