Photo by Sasin Tipchai
‘Blue zone’ is a term given to the areas of the world in which people live extraordinarily long and healthy lives.
From Ogliastra in Sardinia to the Nicoya Peninsula in Costa Rica, inhabitants are leading healthy lives that weave physical activity into daily tasks. Rather than taking time out of their lives for heavy exercise, people in blue zone regions are likely to take more steps per day, conduct more light, manual activities, such as cooking and cleaning, and get a healthy amount of sleep and relaxation.
Given the excess time that the majority of us now have, many of us are trying to work out how we can emulate the blue zone experience in our day to day lives. Feeling healthy in mind and body can be tricky, particularly during lockdown.
But thanks to apps and wearable tech, we now have plenty of devices to help us monitor our health and strive for a blue zone lifestyle. From counting steps to laying out a healthy meal plan, these apps and trackers can help us all achieve a more ‘blue zone’ way of life.
Your new favourite fitness tracker — Fitbit Charge 4
Monitoring your steps is a key part of adopting a blue zone way of life. We’re not talking about running a marathon — we’re talking about maximising the steps in your day-to-day activities and getting in some exercise when you hardly even notice you’re doing it.
The Fitbit Charge 4 offers a great way to keep track of your fitness and monitor your steps. The latest in fitness tracking tech, the Fitbit Charge 4 has repeatedly topped the charts, being crowned best fitness tracker of 2020. As well as monitoring your steps, it has the following features:
- Built-in GPS
- Blood oxygen tracking
- 7-day battery life
- Fitbit Pay
- Notifications
- Spotify controller
- VO2 Max tracking
- Workout tracking modes<
Your blue zone sous-chef — Veganized App
Residents of blue zone communities eat a 95 per cent plant based diet, so why not give it a go? Remember, it’s all about making small modifications to your life, so don’t feel pressured to make a complete dietary change straight away. Instead, why not start trying out some new vegan and vegetarian recipes using the Veganized app?
This app — which is available for free on Android — allows you to browse, create, and share vegan recipes while also tracking your nutrition. It also lets you create shopping lists and meal plans to help you organise your new diet plan and personalise your nutrient intake.
Your all-round wellness assistant — Bellabeat wellness tracker
For a wellness tracker that ticks all the boxes, look no further than Bellabeat’s wearable lifestyle trackers. These beautiful pieces track your steps, stress level, sleeping habits, menstrual cycle, and more.
What’s more, the delicate designs of Bellabeat’s tracking jewellery will fit wonderfully into your wardrobe. The pieces don’t include clunky screen displays but give you any information you require from the app itself. You can choose from bracelets, necklaces, and more. Each design is simple and elegant — this jewellery wouldn’t look out of place alongside a cocktail dress on a night out or a designer bikini when you’re away on holiday.
Your Mindfulness Guru — Insight Timer
Sleep, relaxation, and meditation are all key elements to a blue zone lifestyle. This free app is packed full of meditation practices specially designed to reduce stress and anxiety while helping you get a better night’s sleep. Getting enough sleep is integral to blue zone living — people who live in blue zones get sufficient sleep as well as taking frequent daytime naps.
If you have trouble with sleep and relaxation, perhaps due to high levels of stress, give the Insight Timer app a go. There are 45,000 free meditations for you to try out!
If you want to give the blue zone life a go, but you aren’t sure where to start, any of these options will help you get your new lifestyle choice off to a fantastic start. By keeping active, eating healthily, and monitoring your activity, you’ll be amazed at the huge transformations that such tiny changes can make.
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