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From nurturing our mental health to helping us stay fit and active, our mobile phones really are essential tools for modern living. And with all aspects of health and wellbeing having had such a big shake-up over the past two years, their importance is unlikely to diminish any time soon.

From the places we exercise to what we eat and drink, if there’s something we’ve all learned, it's the importance of taking good care of ourselves. If 2022 is the year you want to get ahead of the game in terms of healthy habits and attitudes, then let your mobile phone be your best friend. Although, take care not to let your phone use get in the way of everything else!

So, without further ado, here are some of the great ways your iPhone could help you achieve your health and wellbeing goals in 2022. Just make sure you’ve arranged iPhone insurance first, so your big plans stay on track.

Eat healthier

As we emerge from our winter hibernation mode, most of us are in need of a little advice on healthy eating and how to lose a few pounds. In theory, it’s straightforward to do – simply eat less and exercise more.

But in the real world, there’s much more to it than that. Knowing which food option is best for you, and which isn’t, is an important part of good nutrition. There’s a wealth of great apps out there perfect for helping you manage your weight effectively, and work on eating better and wiser.

So, which one is best? Eating healthier is a complicated matter and what works for one person may not be right for another. So, here’s a useful selection of apps for you to get your teeth into.

• MyFitnessPal (iOS and Android)
  Tracking calories on your smartphone is a big part of the weight loss game. With a colossal database of over 5 million foods, this is one of the most popular apps out there. It’s quick to use and remembers your favourite nibbles.
• VNutrition (iOS and Android)
  With vegan diets on the rise, it’s important to make sure your body is getting all the nutrients you need. This app from the Vegan Society will help you get from plant-based food what you would previously have got from eating animal products. Importantly the advice is from a trustworthy source. And there’s a simple checklist to help you track how close you are to hitting your daily nutritional targets.
• NHS Food Scanner (iOS and Android)
  The best apps are often those which serve a simple purpose, but brilliantly. This offering from the NHS fits the bill. If you’ve ever wondered how much sugar is in your favourite cereal or how much salt is in your pasta sauce, then this is the one for you. Just scan the barcode and it will give you the truth behind the confusing labels. Making healthier food and drink choices is so much easier with this app. Take it along to your next family food shop – it’s a lot of fun.
• SideChef (iOS and Android)
  An excellent recipe app, with so many thousands of guided recipes you need never eat the same thing twice! It offers a handy meal planner and automatic shopping lists, as well as detailed step-by-step guides. A premium version unlocks even more recipes and meal plans so you’ll never wonder what to have for dinner again.

Instead of focusing on short-term fixes, all of these apps aim to produce long-term, sustainable changes. That way, you can build good habits for the future.

Get fitter

Having the right workout app on your phone can be every bit as useful as your very own personal trainer. Whether you’re looking for cycling workouts, running sessions or strength training, using an exercise app for your iPhone will help you track your progress, follow routines and compete with your friends. Even if your competitive streak is not what it once was, these apps let you push yourself to your limits and stay motivated as you stick to your 2022 exercise routine.

• Apple Fitness+
  For iPhone and Apple Watch fans this has to be one of the best workout apps on the market. There are new workouts posted every week to keep things interesting. Plus there’s a huge variety of workout types to choose from including HIIT, yoga, pilates, and strength training for runners. There are even guided meditations for cooling down afterwards. Don’t forget to stretch!
• Nike Training Club
  Fitness apps are big business and many of the best will charge for their services. So, if you’re on a budget and looking for free workouts, then the Nike Training Club workout app might be worth investigating. There are lots of warm-ups, cross-training sessions, and workouts tailored for specific muscle groups. If you’re looking to work on your six-pack in time for the summer, then this is a good place to start.

When you’re trying to motivate yourself for a trip to the gym or a run around the block, then you might find yourself looking at the desirable range of iPhone accessories to put some umph into your workout. These can be expensive so you’ll probably need some insurance cover for them, too. A great benefit of having iPhone insurance from Gadget Cover is that we’ll replace any accessories (up to £150) if they are lost, stolen or damaged at the same time as your iPhone.

Aid your digestion

When it comes to making healthier choices for 2022, then improving your digestion has to be towards the top of the list for best things to do for your wellbeing. Thinking about our gut health has become increasingly popular as people realise the importance of having a healthy balance of bacteria in the digestive system.

Your gut has a lot of important jobs to do including digesting food, housing a range of beneficial bacteria, absorbing energy and nutrients, and ridding the body of waste products. Digestive diseases are conditions that affect the gut, liver and pancreas. According to the charity Guts UK these diseases are a factor in 1 in 8 UK deaths.

Cara Care is an app that lets you monitor your digestive health and educates you on the connection between your mind, gut, nutrition, and overall wellbeing. It lets you track food, stress, poop, stomach pain, and individual factors to create a personalised health diary.

Save the planet

Okay, that might be a bit of a big ask, but your phone could certainly help you lead an eco-friendlier lifestyle in 2022. In a recent readers poll for Good Housekeeping magazine 74% of people said it was important to leave the world in a better state for future generations. While 70% felt that environmental issues were too important to be ignored.

Just as every journey starts with a few short steps, just a few tweaks to our lifestyle can go a long way towards living in a better, cleaner, more environmentally-friendly world. So, don’t let those feelings of environmental doom get you down, let 2022 be all about doing better.

A positive action you can take is to download one of the many eco apps and begin the change to a better planet and a better you now. From reducing food waste and cutting your carbon footprint to avoiding fast fashion and stopping pollution, there’s an app for that!

• Too Good To Go
  While it’s inevitable that some supermarkets, restaurants and cafes will have food left over at the end of a day, this app is doing a great job at tackling food waste. This fuss-free app lets you connect with local food businesses that have food to spare. Simply buy a ‘Magic Bag’ on the app and pick up any surplus food and drink. In the UK alone, Too Good To Go claims it has saved 9 million bags of unsold goods since 2016. And did you know that just one Magic Bag saves 2.5kg of CO2? The same as would be produced by charging your iPhone 320 times!
• 30 Wears
  The modern appetite for fast fashion comes with a massive environmental price tag. After all, the fashion industry produces 20% of global wastewater and 10% of global carbon emissions. While textile dyeing is the second largest polluter of water globally! Shocking figures indeed. This app helps you reduce these numbers and avoid those impulse purchases by encouraging you to really think before you reach the checkout. Can you wear the item 30 times? If not, then maybe think again.

Remember, you don’t have to change the world in a day. But just a few positive actions are a big start!

Combat those stress levels

Sometimes it may seem there is little you can do to prevent stress. We live in a fast-paced world with many demands on our time. But that doesn’t mean you need to give up! There’s plenty you can do to manage stress levels more effectively.

An easy thing to do is to jot down some of the physical or mental stress symptoms you’re experiencing. These can range from pain or tension in your body, digestive problems, and an increased heart rate, to emotional signs such as anger and feeling overwhelmed. Simply getting these things out in the open where you can see them is often the first step on the road to a calmer life.

While pen and paper are perfectly suitable, your iPhone can also be a real help. We’ve got some great suggestions for apps that could help battle the stress. From apps to help new mums and children to those focused on panic attacks and anxiety, take a look and let us know which ones have helped most. Often budgeting and organisation can be key. When you’re looking for iPhone insurance it really doesn’t need to be a stress. Give our experienced insurance team a call and let them take some of the weight off your shoulders.

Get more from the great outdoors

A wealth of studies have shown that spending time in green spaces, bringing nature into your everyday life, and relaxation techniques can reduce physical and mental stress. Practising techniques such as meditation and doing daily exercise outdoors has many benefits including boosting your mood and improving your self-esteem.

Mind, the mental health charity, has plenty of great suggestions for nature activities you might want to try, such as growing or picking your own food and bringing nature into your home. Taking a walk, going for a run, or cycling in green space are all easy ideas you can either try by yourself or by joining a local group. Take a look on Facebook and see if there’s anything local to you.

One of our personal favourites is to simply watch the stars. Use a brilliant stargazing app from this list to help you recognise different constellations. From Venus and Mars to the International Space Station, there’s plenty to see with these great astronomy apps.

Joining the National Trust and English Heritage are also tried-and-tested ways to get outdoors more and learn about our wonderful national treasures. Just make sure your tech is protected by iPhone insurance just in case of any accidents while you’re out exploring.

Start a mood diary

After a turbulent few years, another wellbeing trend that could be set to surge in 2022 are mood diaries. Using a mood diary to record how you feel and why is a great way to get to the root of lingering negative feelings. And hopefully increase the positive ones!

Once you’ve recognised negative emotions, you’re in a much better place to take action, either by opening up to a friend, family member or a mental health professional. Writing down your feelings has also been shown to reduce feelings of anxiety and depression.

MoodPanda
Bristol-based MoodPanda offers a handy supportive mood-tracking app to help you manage and improve your mental health. Update the mood tracker as often as you like and add notes about how you’re feeling. You can keep track of your moods with calendars and graphs, so you can identify trends or stress triggers throughout the month. You can also share any problems with the MoodPanda community and receive anonymous support and advice.

Have more fun

From learning new languages, playing games, listening to music and meeting up with friends, the list of fun opportunities your iPhone can bring is almost limitless. But if you’re reading this you probably knew that already! A simple way to make your life a whole lot better is to invest in yourself every day. Spending 15-30 minutes each day doing something you enjoy can do the world of good for your health and wellbeing.

If something happens to our trusty iPhones it can put a real downer on things. Make sure your tech is protected with iPhone insurance so the fun never stops! While you’re having a look at what Gadget Cover has to offer, be sure to have a read at some of our other handy guides. How to learn a new language on your iPhone? That’s easy! How to get the best out of your iPhone at a music concert? No problem!

Watch your drinking

Many of us enjoy a glass of wine with our meals or a bottle of beer while tending to the barbeque. But sometimes we might feel like we’ve over indulged. Or have developed an unhealthy relationship with alcohol. If you think that your drinking habits are in need of a review then download the free MyDrinkaware app. It’ll help you track your consumption, calculate units and calories and set goals to help you moderate your drinking better.

You don’t have to cut alcohol out of your life completely, sometimes it’s just a good idea to reassess your relationship with drink. Simply cutting back on the booze can be a really effective way to improve your health, boost your energy, lose weight and save money. The NHS has plenty of strategies to help, including downloading the Drink Free Days app.

Quit smoking

If you’re a smoker, then stopping smoking is perhaps the number one thing you can do for your health and wellbeing in 2022. It could also improve the health of those around you! Read Gadget Cover’s pick of the best apps to help you quit those cigarettes for good!

And while your health improves, so could your finances. Who knows, you might even save enough for an iPhone 13 Pro Max! That said, whatever you do, make sure to invest in specialist iPhone insurance to protect it against theft, loss, breakdown and damage. Or you could see your hard-earned cash going up in flames!

Is your iPhone damaging your health and wellbeing?

While your beloved iPhone can do so much for you, can you ever have too much of a good thing? Well, yes you can!

There are plenty of warning signs that you might be spending too much time on your phone. Do you regularly snub friends and family in favour of extra screen time?  Is your beloved iPhone the first and last thing you see every day? If so, then you might have a problem. But don’t worry, we’ve got some great tips to help you get your phone use back under control!

And while we’re on the subject of healthy iPhone usage, did you know that your gorgeous gadget could be harbouring some unpleasant health hazards in the forms of bacteria and viruses? But fear not, some simple household soap and water and a soft cloth can work wonders. Read our recent blog post on how to safely clean your iPhone to find out more.

iPhone insurance from Gadget Cover

Protecting your iPhone is the best way to ensure that it continues to help you throughout the whole of 2022 and beyond. Speak to our team of insurance specialists to arrange an iPhone insurance policy that’s just right for you.

Policies can include protection from accidental damage, liquid damage, theft, breakdown, unauthorised usage, and even loss (for an additional premium).

Get a quick quote for iPhone insurance today.

Policy benefits, features and discounts offered may very between insurance schemes or cover selected and are subject to underwriting criteria. Information contained within this article is accurate at the time of publishing but may be subject to change.