I use my iPhone for more than just texting and checking social media, my phone is also a powerful tool to help me achieve my health goals. While I have a folder full of health and fitness apps on my phone, I have a few that are my favorites that I use the most.

Here are my top three favorite health and fitness apps. PLUS a bonus.

Fitbit

I’ve been a loyal Fitbit user since 2011 and I’ve been singing it’s praises since the very beginning. When I put on my first Fitbit there wasn’t even an app for that, you had to visit your computer to check out your data or enter a meal.

The app has a gorgeous interface that puts all the important stuff right where you need it. You even have the ability to move things around so you can see what’s more important to you.

Not only do I wear my Fitbit to track my steps, I also track my water intake, food consumption and weight. With the app I can easily add food or water with just a few taps.

The food database is pretty expansive and I rarely need to enter things myself. When I do, I need to go to my computer but 9 out of 10 times I don’t need to create a new food. In one of the more recent updates to the app they added the ability to scan a barcode to enter your food. The barcodes aren’t always in the database but I have a feeling you’ll be able to start adding things very soon.

Also new to the app is the ability to track your exercise. This is for when you run, walk or hike and uses your phone’s GPS signal to track your workout. I’ve been using this feature on my rehab walks and I really like how it works. You have the ability to play your music right through the app so you don’t need to open your music library or Pandora before you start your workout.

My Aria scale also syncs to the Fitbit app so I have a complete picture each time I open it.

Nike+

This is an essential for every runner.

There is more than meets the eye with this app, not only is it a great tool for tracking your runs, but there is also a Coach section where you can train for different distances. Within each distance, 5K, 10K, Half Marathon or Full Marathon, there are three ability settings from beginner to advanced.

If competition gets you going the Nike+ app has a leaderboard to rank you amongst your running friends. I may or may not go the extra mile if I see I’m close to beating one of my friends. Hey, a little healthy competition never hurt anyone.

Don’t wear Nike running shoes? No problem, the app works off the GPS in your phone so no need to have the chip in your shoe.

WebMD

This app has a lot to offer, from recipes to a health improvement program, there’s a lot packed into this free app.

Healthy Target is the health improvement program and it offers a few simple things you can do each day to be more healthy.

Above you can see my week one daily goals. All I need to do is check each thing off that I accomplish each day. Everyday the app sends me a push notification to encourage me to either keep up the good work or get my act together.

Further down the page it shows my data which is pulled from my Fitbit data for sleep, steps, and weight. After all my data are articles that I might find interesting on my health journey.

The other thing I use the WebMD app for is the Health Tools where I can look into a drug my doctor has prescribed, research a condition or procedure, check out any symptoms I may be feeling or get important first aid information.

Like I said, there’s a lot packed into this free app.

Apple Health

I’m really excited to see what is to come with the new Apple Health. I like the idea of pulling data from multiple sources and having it available in one convenient location.

Right now the best part of the new Apple Health is the Medical ID. I know someone who collapsed and had a heart attack while refereeing a soccer game. They grabbed his iPhone to call his wife but it was password protected, they couldn’t get in and his family was delayed in being notified of his medical emergency.

The new Medical ID is accessible from the lock screen in case of an emergency.

Rumor on the street is that Fitbit will not be integrating and I really think that’s a missed opportunity on their part. If you wear other fitness trackers you may be in luck since many of the others have integrated.

To see what apps are currently Apple Health compatable you can find a listing under the featured tab in your App Store, they were kind enough to put them all in one place.

What are your favorite health and fitness app?

It’s no big surprise that I love my iPad, every chance I get I’m singing it’s praises.

There is an app that I’ve become very close with lately and I don’t think that too many people actually take advantage of it.

Newsstand

So what is it?

Newsstand is the place where all your digital magazines and newspaper subscriptions hangout.

Like most things from Apple, it has style. The Newsstand is just a clean, neat, and organized place to keep all your magazine and newspaper subscriptions. Nice little shelfs to organize all your periodicals the way that you want them.

From the Newsstand you can also subscribe to more of your favorite magazines and newspapers. The downside of the store is that it can be a little misleading. You’ll see that your favorite magazine is free to download to your Newsstand but you don’t actually get a magazine with that, you still have to purchase an issue or subscription.

Check your favorite magazines, some of them will allow you to download the digital edition on your iPad if you already subscribe to them in print.

The Magazines

I don’t get a whole lot of time to actually read magazines but there are a few that have become staples in my life.

I like the whole idea of having a digital magazine. In some cases it’s less paper waste and I like that I don’t have to worry about it taking up space and collecting dust in my house.

I’ve been a faithful reader of All You for YEARS and I have torn out pages all over the place of recipes and exercise ideas. Do I ever really pull them out and use them? Not often.

I love how instead of tearing out pages I can just bookmark the articles or recipes I want to save and I don’t have to worry about loosing them or finding places to keep them.

I have a few magazines in my Newsstand and they all have some different features. A couple are very interactive with things embedded in the articles and features that tie in social media. Others are just a basic digital version of the magazine with no frills.

I love that if there’s an article I think a friend might like I can email it to them or share it on Facebook or Twitter.

I have two magazines that have an awesome feature where I can enter a search term and it will pull matching articles from all the issues I have downloaded. That makes it easy when I can remember reading about a topic but can’t remember what issue it was in.

The more I use the Newsstand and digital magazines the more I enjoy them.

The one thing I really wish I could do is take notes. You can take notes and highlight books in iBooks, it would be a great feature to be able to take notes in an article or highlight just the specific part that is important to me. I guess I need to make a suggestion.

Have you started using your iPad to read magazines and newspapers? What do you think?

If you’re new to this digital stuff, give it a try and let me know what you think.