#TuesdayTip Fitness Apps WellCoin and Fit Bit

As some of you might know, I’ve had a long battle with my weight. I’ve gone up and down so many times that I guesstimate I’ve lost and gained hundreds of pounds.

I’m on the heading down again and have lost 30 pounds. I’ve done that with a combination of better eating (a key part of it) and being more active. I’ve shared some of my healthier recipes with you in the past and today I’m going to share two of the apps that have helped me meet new people who keep me encouraged and help me track what I’m doing so I can keep to my lifestyle change. In the future, I’ll share some apps for workouts and exercise that are helpful.

WellCoin

I learned about Wellcoin several months ago and am now a Wellcoin Ambassador. What is Wellcoin? Wellcoin bills itself as the “World’s First Health Currency” and basically, you enter information about your lifestyle to earn points you can exchange for things like gift certificates, healthy food and drink samples, yoga lessons, etc. It’s free to join, but to earn the points you will need to photo document the various healthy activities you are doing.

The activities are many. You get points for counting steps, sleeping 7+ hours, eating healthy meals, participating in the community by verifying other people’s activities, etc.

I find that documenting my activities helps keep me aware of what I’m doing and also, I see interesting new foods, etc. that others are trying out. Makes me want to be adventurous and try them out as well.

Click here if you want to follow me there!
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FitBit

As I mentioned, being more active is a big part of being healthier. I log at least 12,000 steps a day by walking to and from my office from the train station, getting up every 30 minutes to move and going to the gym for cardio and strength training. Yes, it can be work, but I am feeling so much better and stronger. It’s worth it!

I use FitBit and its community and app to help me. This does require the purchase of a FitBit device and there are several different kinds. I have the Fitbit Flex which I wear on my wrist. I have friends who use the Zip and the One which attach to your clothing. Still others have variations of the Charge (wristband) which also track your heart rate. Regardless of which one you choose, the end goal is the same: monitoring your activity.

In addition to monitoring, you can friend people on FitBit and cheer them on. Challenge them to daily or weekly goals. It’s all in the name of helping others stick to it. You can friend me by clicking here!

Another thing I really like about the FitBit is the smartphone app. You can use the GPS on your phone to have the Fitbit track your walk. You can also journal what you eat with a really nice interface.

The Fitbit also helps you track your sleep so you know if you are getting that essential 7+ hours of sleep (I don’t regularly, but am getting better).

I hope you enjoyed today’s Tuesday Tip!

Creating a Facebook Landing/Splash Page

Many thanks to fellow author Amy Atwell for providing her advice on how to setup a cool Facebook landing page. If you follow these steps, you will be able to provide new visitors with more information than what’s available on the regular Facebook wall (see below). This splash page will be visible to anyone who has not “Liked” you yet.

How do you create such a landing/splash page?

You will need to use Facebook’s FBML language, which is basically HTML code. If you’re not familiar with HMTL don’t worry. If you are using either WordPress or Blogger, you can use the regular editor to create a draft of the page that you want. When you’re done, disable rich text editing or the Visual editor and what you’ll see is the HTML code for what you just laid out.

Step 1: Search for FBML and you’ll find a user for that. “Like” them and add their “App” to your Fan page.

Step 2: Return to the Fan Page. At the top below your name you will see “Edit.” Click on “Edit.” You will see a list of items on the left hand side of the page. Click on “Apps.”

Step 3: This will bring up a list of added “Apps.” FBML should be down on the bottom. Click on “Go To App.” This will open up a blank page where you can either type your HTML if you know how to code or where you can cut and paste the HTML that you created with your blog program. Make sure to also give the page a title, like “Welcome!” Some things to remember:

    The page width is about 500.

    To get paragraph returns, use a < BR > (without the spaces).

    You can use tables and other more complicated coding, just keep the page width in mind.

    Keep the title short as there is not much space on the sidebar.

Step 4: Once you are done with the HMTL coding, click on “Save Changes” down at the bottom.

Step 5: Click on “View Page” and when you reach your Fan Page, look at the left hand side below your profile photo. You will see a list of available items. Click on the name for the FBML page you just created to view it. If it looks good, proceed to Step 6. If not, go back to Step 2 and repeat to tweak your code.

Step 6: To make this your “landing” page for people who have not yet “Liked” your Page, Go to “Manage Permissions.” This choice is located near the top of the items on the left hand side of the page. Down toward the middle of the page in the choices, you can choose which of your pages to make the “Default Landing Tab.” Choose the FBML page you just created.

Step 7: Logout and then go back to your Fan page so you can enter Facebook like someone who has not yet done the “Like.” This will let you see this new landing/splash page. Once you have done a “Like”, you will not see this landing/splash page again.

You can also use the FBML App to create additional pages with content for your readers! Visit my Fan Page to see what kinds of goodies are available.

Hope you found this useful! Feel free to share it with others.