Technology for Fitness
If you have diabetes, you must consistently monitor yourself, and keeping track of everything can be hard. Fortunately, technology can help.
Over the decades, technology has helped people manage their diabetes. Even if you only have a smartphone, there are technologies available that can help you care for your diabetes.
Wearable Technology
Fitness trackers and smart watches
Different types of gadgets, from fitness trackers to wireless scales, can help a lot when you’re trying to manage your diabetes. They’ll provide a simpler, more accurate, and even a more fun way to stay healthy and keep your condition under control.
By tracking steps and the calories you burn, fitness trackers from popular brands can help anyone get fitter. Fitness trackers can help you track:
- Exercise - Physical activity is essential to controlling diabetes. It helps lower your blood sugar, helps your body use insulin better, and makes you less likely to have other health complications. Trackers can monitor your exercise activity to keep you motivated to reach your goals.
- Sleep - Many trackers have sensors that track your sleep. That can help if you have diabetes, since they tell you about your sleep quality and sleep duration.
- Food - Most fitness trackers provide easy access to apps where you can enter what you've eaten, or plan to eat, and then show you your total calories for the day. Some also balance the calories you burn with the ones you eat, so if you work out a lot, you can eat a little more.
Built-in smartphone apps
Sometimes, you don’t even have to download an app to get stats (numbers) on sleep patterns and steps. Most smart phones have built-in dashboards that provide data on your daily activity and offer a place to track important health information.
Other technologies
A wireless scale
If you're overweight, losing some pounds helps lower your chances that diabetes will get much worse. Think about trading your old bathroom scale for one that records data. Then, you can see trends in your weight over time.
Glucose monitors
With gadgets like Ditto, Glooko, and the iHealth Wireless Smart Gluco-Monitoring System, you can store your glucose monitor's readings online to a secure site.
Social media
If you're really into sharing, you can post your weigh-ins on social media. Social support helps some people stay motivated. Consider joining social media groups for people who are living a lifestyle with diabetes. The support can go a long way to help you stay motivated and can also be beneficial to your mental health.
Apps
Charity Miles (Free)
Available on: Android, iPhone
Earn money for charities every time you run, walk, or bicycle by using the free Charity Miles app. Browse the app’s list of charities, find the one that you’d like to support, and get moving.
Fooducate (Free)
Available on: Android, iPhone
Fooducate is an app that has a grading system designed to help you make smarter choices. It helps you understand the pros and cons of certain foods.
Health2Sync (Free)
Available on: Android, iPhone
Health2Sync understands that living with diabetes can sometimes make you feel alone. With Heatlh2Sync, you can invite friends or family to view your vital statistics and offer you support and motivation. You can also view metrics like blood pressure, weight, and blood glucose.
Glucosio (Free)
Available on: Android
Glucosio is an app that tracks important metrics like A1C, body weight, ketones, cholesterol, blood pressure, and more. You can select your targets and set reminders to keep your program on point.
BG Monitor (Free)
Available on: Android
This app tries to make diabetes tracking as simple as possible. It provides an easy input system, calculates insulin levels for you, clearly shows your data, and gives you warnings when your blood glucose is too low. You can set up your blood glucose targets and add multiple types of insulin to help you take the right medicines and amounts at the right times.
Diabetes in Check: Coach, Blood Glucose & Carb Tracker (Free)
Available on: iPhone
This app was designed by a certified diabetes educator to help manage type 2 diabetes. It promises to help you lower your blood glucose levels and have better fitness, eating habits, and weight.
MyFitnessPal (Free)
Available on: Android, iPhone
MyFitnessPal is a digital food diary so it can help you keep track of what you’re eating, plus it has a barcode scan capability to make tracking your food easy. It also has a way for you to enter your exercise and keep track of your steps so that you can stay motivated to move more.