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The New Year’s resolution is a tricky monster to defeat. For some, it’s the representation of an annual goal that goes down in flames by the end of January. For others, it can be the realization of an achievement within a larger set of goals. But no matter which category you fall into, you’re going to need assistance along the way. That’s where this post comes in.

Personally, I have received help in the area of meeting (and destroying) my resolution by using my phone more often. No, I don’t mean logging into Facebook or another time-waster whenever I got the chance. I did a bit of research and found that there are numerous apps out there that can serve as a buddy/trainer when you exercise. And after using them for myself over the past month, I’ve decided to share my insights. Hopefully these apps can assist you, too, in taking down your resolution. Good luck!

My Fitness Pal

As explained here, My Fitness Pal is essentially your one-stop solution for maintaining a healthy lifestyle with a little help from your phone. It has almost everything you would want from an app that counts the calories you take in—it comes with a massive food database—and calories you’ve burned. In regards to the latter, it can help you track more than 350 (!) different exercises, whether you’re doing cardio, lifting weights, or something in between.

RunKeeper

This is the one I use the most, because running and biking are my two preferred means of exercise. Basically, RunKeeper helps you keep track of where you’ve been and the calories you’ve burned while even setting up personal training plans. You can pay for the Plus version to receive even more information about your workout—including more advanced training regimens—but I recommend sticking with the free version.

GymGoal ABC

As you can glean from its title, GymGoal is all about setting and meeting goals for your trips to the gym. I found this one useful before I wanted to keep track of my calories, which I do with My Fitness Pal. That being said, this app is especially great because it provides step-by-step animations to assist you in performing various exercise and weight-lifting routines.

Fitness Buddy

Fitness Buddy is a lot like preceding entry GymGoal ABC, but it’s one of the few I’d recommend actually paying for. You can download it for free and get features like step-by-step, detailed exercise walkthroughs. But getting the paid version comes with videos that makes those walkthroughs much more intuitive, because you’re watching an actual person perform them. The best part? It’s only $1.99.

Health Tip of the Day

I’ve been using this app for a good year or so after reading up about it here and it’s taught me something new every single day. OK, some of the tips are obvious or you might already know the information presented, but don’t let that deter you. You’ll learn about how you lying increases internal stress, addictive foods cause cravings and bloating, and so much more.

This is a guest post by recent college graduate Kevin Gannon. He has an English degree and a strong passion for online journalism, running, and coffee.