Top New Year's Resolution Apps To Help You Stick To Your Goals

By Alexandra Burlacu email: a.burlacu@mobilenapps.com | Dec 27, 2012 02:03 PM EST

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About 87 percent of Americans will make more or less ambitious resolutions for 2013, and a slew of apps are ready to help them stick to their resolutions.

Whether it's losing weight, improving health, or managing finances better, a wide range of apps are available to help users achieve their goals for the new year. Nearly half of New Year's resolutions are typically health-related. According to a recent survey by online broker TD Ameritrade, health is the most popular category when it comes to such resolutions. Here's a look at the apps that may help you keep your New Year's resolutions.

5K Runner

The new app called 5K Runner suggests that it might be better to ease into things and concentrate on building sustainable habits rather than jumping head-on into a hellish fitness routine. Basically, this iPhone app aims to help couch potatoes increase their running distance to 5 kilometers over the course of eight weeks.

"You're slowly building this routine into your daily life with a lot of success and after eight weeks you're literally running 5K, which is pretty big if (initially) you're not running at all," explained David Michel Davies, the executive director of The Abby Awards, an annual ceremony in honor of Internet companies.

The app works by guiding runners through each run, alternating between periods of running and walking for 35 minutes. Davies further recommends the Nike+ Running and RunKeeper fitness apps, both of which use GPS to track distance traveled and speed, and also keep track of calories burned. Both apps are available for free for iOS and Android devices.

Fooducate

As many New Year's resolutions are related to eating healthier, Fooducate aims to help users make healthier choices at the supermarket. The app is available for both iOS and Android, and works by allowing users to scan the barcodes of products to get insight into how healthy the product actually is.

The app's database contains more than 200,000 products, and displays a grade for each product, as well as relevant information on its contents. The app can also show whether the product contains hidden additives, as well as the probability of containing genetically modified ingredients.

"There are a lot of healthy people out there who unknowingly buy products that have an inordinate amount of salt in them," said Davies.

DietBet

Many New Year's resolutions are related to losing weight, and DietBet targets people with a competitive streak. The app is available for the iPhone and online, and it enables users to join a four-week weight loss challenge to lose four percent of their weight. To motivate users, the app has everyone betting money and submitting proof of weight loss. The money goes into a fund and those who meet the challenge split the money.

"It comes back again to how people get motivated," explained Davies. "Gamification is something that technology has really enabled and for some people it really works."

Mint

For those who aim to get their personal finances back on track in 2013, Davies recommends Mint. The app provides a visual view of the user's financial accounts and tracks all expenditures, allowing the user to stay on top of money matters in an easy and efficient manner.

To stay on top of finances, Davies recommends Mint, which provides a visual view of all financial accounts and is available for iOS, Android and on the Web.

This is only a small list of the most popular New Year's resolution apps, but there are many more out there to help users achieve their goals. The user's determination and personal ambition, however, has a big role in achieving those goals.