Published on: 18 March 2020
Last Updated on: 03 June 2026
The holiday season is officially over, which means it’s time to start working off some of the extra pounds you picked up at mom’s house. While people generally love the idea of looking like the dudes who do commercials for home-exercise equipment, most of us still hate working out and dieting. If you are one of them, don’t worry. There are a ton of startups offering the kind of motivation you need in the form of mobile apps. Such apps use activity tracking as well as fitness and health risk assessment apps.
Today we’ll be exercising our startup muscles by taking a look at some of these young companies and what makes them tick.
8 Motivations to Start Up Health & Fitness:
Fitness gamification is huge right now, which makes sense given that it adds a much-needed dimension of play to the arduous task of getting fit. A great example of fitness gamification is Tep, which is basically a cross between a fitness tracker and a Tamagotchi; though, in the case of Tep, the star is a niftily-designed giraffe rather than a globular cluster of black pixels.
The more a user exercises, the better the giraffe does (users can buy their long-necked pets treats with rewards points they earn from walking, running and cycling). If users slack off, though, it’s curtains for the poor creature.
According to the app’s creators, a group of five super-talented self-starters from Szeged, Hungary, «Tep’s competitive edge relies on emotional connection and the mental „threat“ that the beloved pet might suffer from the lack of proper physical activity and thus offers a solution for curve fatigue effect.»
Does that sound a little dark? Sure. But it’s for a good cause. The founding team’s goal is to help users lose eight million pounds of fat in the next three years; there’s also talk of buying a giraffe.
The founding team built Tep on their own time and dime, but are currently funded by Traction Tribe and prizes from Microsoft’s Imagine Cup.
Tep is available in beta for Android and Windows phones, with an iOS version coming soon.
Wokamon
If you like the idea of a digital workout buddy helping you toe the line, but giraffes aren’t really your thing, then you might dig Wokamon, which comes to us from Mars Zhu and Hazim Abdul Hamid of Noodum.
Wokamon features dozens of animated monsters that get bigger and stronger as you do. Since it comes with a pedometer and syncs with wearables like Jawbone, Fitbit, and Up, you can be sure that every calorie burned gets counted and fed to your growing army of critters.
Connecting with friends on social media through Wokamon earns you reward points, which you can burn on unlocking new creatures.
Noodum and Wokamon are currently being funded by an $18,000 seed investment from Manchester Metropolitan University’s Innospace Incubator.
Gamified fitness apps like Wokamon and Tep have a lot of options when it comes to future monetization. They can either take the Zombies, Run! The approach of charging for downloads (which works if you’re as niche and well-made as that app) or offer in-app purchases for things like new backgrounds, characters, or crystals and boosters for your pet monsters.
For now, though, we can take advantage of both Tep and Wokamon for free.
Teamster
Teamster is an iOS app that, contrary to its name, has absolutely nothing to do with trucking. What teamster does do, though, is help you connect with other people in your area who are interested in the same sorts of athletic activities as you.
Conveniently, users are able to identify which sports they like and their level of skill in each on a scale of 1 to 5, which means you won’t be totally outmatched when you meet up for a game with other users.
When you find another user who shares your interests and skill set, swipe right in the app to add them to your team. Sounds like Tinder is ubiquitous, doesn’t it? Users can then create activities for other users or teams to join.
Teamster comes to us from the Melbourne based duo of Henry Chan and 22-year old Sam McCallum, who has a background in competitive running, cycling, and skiing.
Actually, 2015 is shaping up to be an awesome year for apps that bring social networking logic to the gym. Take Boston-based Perspyre, for example, which is coming out soon with a beta version for Android and iOS.
The whole point of Perspyre is connecting people who love to sweat and giving them access to workouts, advice, and motivation. Users can log into the app via Facebook and take post-workout selfies, record workouts, and brag about new personal records.
Though it’s admittedly a little intense for beginners, Persypre is perfect for those who are already «motivated and dedicated» enough to willingly visit Crossfit and P90x classes.
Perspyre is the brainchild of Jason Chisholm and Jeremy Mays and has received $25,000 in seed funding from John Piret of the investment firm Newbury Piret & Co.
If Perspyre sounds like it’s right up your alley, keep an eye out for the soon-to-be-launched SternFit iOS app which also gives workout buffs a great platform for sharing pics, tips, and workouts.
Rocket Journey
If your meteoric rise to peak physical perfection is still in the launch phase, you’ll find a helpful companion in RocketJourney, which bills itself as the «smartest and friendliest way to a fitness lifestyle.»
The app’s founding trio of Carlos Ayala, Pablo Artee, and Ernesto Cambuston has received funding from 500 Startups, the seed fund and startup accelerator comprised of Google and PayPal alums.
RocketJourney tracks all of your fitness activities from cycling to yoga to lifting to competitive eating — just kidding about that last one — and verifies that you’ve actually worked out through GPS and wearables integration.
The app motivates you to stick to your fitness regime by giving you points for completed workouts and taking away points for missed ones. The same logic holds true for user-created «teams» which add the pinch of peer-pressure that it just might take to keep you on track.
You can register for updates on RocketJourney’s release on the website.
OneSet
OneSet — «Vine for Fitness» — is another promising app to stay tuned for in the months to come. Users can create 15-second videos demonstrating an exercise or «stack» other users’ videos into workouts.
Since videos are organized by muscle group or goal, it’s easy to find the right moves for you.
OneSet’s founding team is based in Waterloo, Canada, and consists of brothers Amad and Shameel Abdullah, as well as full-stack developer George Xu.
GYM radio
Sometimes all it takes to reach the athlete within is finding the right music to sweat to, or the right gym to do it in.
Though GYM radio’s online music streaming service has been around since 2013, its new iOS, Android, and Windows phone releases have made it easier than ever to get amped up and pumped up at the same time.
The app features three music settings — cardio, gym, and hardcore-tailored to give your workout the right feel. Here’s the best part: GYM radio is completely ad-free, which means your runners high won’t get interrupted by voice-actors pitching toothpaste or discount car insurance.
GYM radio also offers a premium upgrade which, for a monthly or yearly subscription, will let you listen offline, skip songs, and get access to material unavailable on the standard version.
Gymhopper
Gymhopper — «Uber for gyms»- is a Swiss startup that aims to help you find the right gym by offering its users discounted individual training passes. Gyms benefit from the app by getting a little extra exposure as well as a shot at their target market, people who are actively searching for a new place to get sweaty.
Gymhopper is currently in series A fundraising but expects an iOS release later this year.
What can fitness startups learn from RunKeeper?
Figuring out how to actually make money with your app is a problem that can plague even the biggest of startup fish. Each of the aforementioned apps will have to figure out the right monetization strategy for their product and user-base. One good model employed by the leading fitness tracker RunKeeper is to partner with other businesses to provide sponsored advertising to users.
That means Teamster’s users could theoretically get discounts on Nike products for showing up at local softball games, and Perspyre users could get 25% off gym memberships for visiting p90x classes 3 times a week.
There are a lot of good ways to get back in shape, and a lot of good startups out there creating more every day.
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Content Rally wrapped around an online publication where you can publish your own intellectuals. It is a publishing platform designed to make great stories by content creators. This is your era, your place to be online. So come forward share your views, thoughts and ideas via Content Rally.
Eating is not just about dumping fuel into the tank so we can drive another twenty blocks. Multiple psychological and sociocultural factors also dictate how, why, when, and what we eat.
Varying eating habits around the world can have a significant effect on our well-being. This post aims to shine a light on some of these habits to examine them more closely.
Habit One: Is Breakfast The Most Important Meal Of The Day?
Cereal manufacturers are keen on the idea that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Is it true?
According to researchers Tanya Zilberter and Eugene Yuri Zilberter, recommendations for breakfast eating behavior remain categorical but at the same time scientifically unsound health guidelines.
If we look at the science and ignore cereal marketing, there are many benefits to eating at the start of your day. The following scientific information is extracted from the materials provided by the National Library of Medicine:
Breakfast eaters tend to get more nutrients over the course of the day. They are also more likely to intake a wider range of nutrients.
Breakfast has been associated with improved weight control and health indicators of cardiometabolic risk. This applies to adults and children.
Studies have related breakfast eating to improvements in attention and better cognitive function, regardless of age.
Remember that breakfast means different things around the world. Eating a pain au raisin in Paris is not the same as eating bratwurst in Berlin. The nutritional value of a full English breakfast is not the same as a continental.
Attempting to run the first few hours on an empty tank is generally not as healthy as providing your body with some fuel. What’s important, however, is to start the day with food and supplement your nutritional intake during the day.
According to the researchers whose statement has opened this section, skipping breakfast is not necessarily a big deal. People need to consider the below points:
how long they’ve been without food (if two people eat at midnight and one eats breakfast at 5 am and the other at 10 am, the different fast lengths will impact their bodies differently), and
whether they make up the “lost” nutrients with their eating habits during the day.
However you do breakfast, take a holistic approach to diet. Consider what you eat over 24 hours.
Habit Two: What Are The Consequences Of Eating Before Bed?
Just as skipping breakfast is seriously frowned upon, eating late at night is typically considered a bad habit. Science suggests that eating late at night correlates with higher incidences of medical claims.
While Tanya Zilberter and Eugene Yuri Zilberter found that research on skipping breakfast and studies on eating late often fail to consider how long the participants fasted, they did find solid evidence regarding the potential risks of eating late, including the following eating behavior pathologies:
Elevated insulin and glucose levels, characteristic of metabolic syndrome;
Distortions of body image and mood disorders;
Implications on circadian rhythm.
Harvard agrees. Late-night eating is bad for health. A recent Harvard study found evidence that eating late may increase hunger, which can increase the risk of obesity.
If you suspect you’re about to see yourself in a statistic, you might be right. About forty percent of the US adult population is obese.
More study is required on the role late eating plays in calorie intake, calories burned, and molecular changes in fat tissue. Until that verdict comes in, it looks like avoiding late-night meals may reduce incidents of cancer, diabetes, and other conditions.
Habit Three: Is It Okay To Let Kids Eat In Front Of The TV?
Eating in front of the television can lead to a lack of attention, which in turn can lead to missing cues regarding fullness. This habitual overeating could then cause obesity.
And there’s another interesting angle to consider regarding television, what we eat, and how we feed our children.
A fact-filled study into television viewing and unhealthy eating made the research-backed observation that television and food advertising influence children’s food preferences. Studies have demonstrated that child TV watchers are more likely to prefer unhealthy food in early adulthood than kids that didn’t watch television.
To help kids stay healthy and become adults who make healthy choices, monitor kids’ TV intake and defend them from unhealthy, unsolicited dietary influences on screen.
These tips may help you form your kid’s eating habits:
Kids’ food preferences develop by age three and tend to remain stable throughout childhood.
Repeated exposure increases the chance that your kids will start liking a new food.
Information that a new food tastes good will increase their willingness to try it.
Kids are less interested in hearing how nutritious things are.
The availability of food in the home will affect food consumption.
Your food access controls will influence consumption and food preferences.
If your diet is healthy, your kids will be more likely to eat healthily.
As kids reach middle school age and adolescence, external influences – including peers and the media – are likely to have a detrimental effect on their food choices.
Conclusion
We are what we eat. You knew that. Still, it’s worth delving into research to back it up. It’s easy to forget. Many of us have busy lives and take eating for granted, treating our bodies as if they weren’t some of the most sophisticated machinery on the planet.
While this post provides helpful information that may confirm your healthy eating habits or inspire you to eat differently, a health professional can help you put the best into your body to get the best out of your life.
Put your health in safe hands by visiting The American Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics or Leadar websites to find a professional nutritionist who can help you, your loved one, or your team improve your health and performance.
Your eating habits have a massive effect on your well-being. Change how you eat to change your energy levels, your mood, your potential for health risks, and your life.
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In the diverse and bustling borough of Brooklyn, NY, countless individuals silently wrestle with the pervasive tendrils of depression. However, the journey towards mental wellness can often seem like an insurmountable challenge, particularly when faced alone. Yet, recognizing that you, or someone close to you, needs depression treatment is a pivotal first step towards healing.
Within the vibrant communities of Brooklyn, an array of options for depression therapy is accessible, each tailored to meet distinct needs and preferences. From traditional therapeutic approaches to modern, innovative strategies, let's navigate through the myriad of depression treatment options available in Brooklyn, NY.
Understanding Depression: A Prelude to Treatment
Before diving into the various alternatives for depression treatment in Brooklyn, comprehending the multifaceted nature of depression is paramount.
Moreover, depression is more than mere sadness; it encapsulates a spectrum of emotional, physical, and cognitive symptoms that impair daily functioning and diminish quality of life. Seeking professional depression treatment is crucial in managing these symptoms and facilitating recovery.
Therapy and Counseling Services in Brooklyn
One of the most common and highly recommended forms of treatment for depression is therapy or counseling. Brooklyn offers a diverse array of mental health professionals who can provide various therapeutic approaches, including:
Cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT)
CBT is a widely practiced therapy. At the same time, it assists the individuals and, at the same time, pinpoints the negative thought patterns and behaviors contributing to their depression. Many therapists in Brooklyn trained themselves in CBT techniques.
Psychodynamic Therapy
This form of therapy focuses on exploring the root causes of depression by delving into unconscious emotions and thoughts. Psychodynamic therapists in Brooklyn can assist you in uncovering and addressing deep-seated issues.
Mindfulness-Based Therapy
Mindfulness techniques can assist individuals in managing depressive symptoms by teaching them to stay present and non-judgmentally observe their thoughts and emotions. Several therapists in Brooklyn incorporate mindfulness into their practice.
Group Therapy
Participating in group therapy sessions with individuals facing similar challenges can provide a sense of community and support. Brooklyn hosts numerous group therapy sessions focused on depression management.
Related: Some Famous People Who Have Battled with Depression
Medication Management in Brooklyn
In some cases, medication may be a necessary component of depression treatment. Psychiatrists in Brooklyn can assess your condition and prescribe appropriate antidepressant medications if deemed necessary. It's important to remember that one uses medication in conjunction with therapy to provide a comprehensive approach to treatment.
Working closely with a psychiatrist can help ensure that the medication prescribed is tailored to your specific needs. Regular follow-up appointments will allow for adjustments as needed to manage side effects and optimize effectiveness.
Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) Therapy
TMS, or Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation, is a non-invasive treatment that has gained recognition for its potential in treating depression, especially when other methods have proven less effective.
During TMS therapy, magnetic pulses are delivered to specific regions of the brain associated with mood regulation. This stimulation can lead to improvements in depressive symptoms.
Many TMS clinics in Brooklyn offer this treatment, and it's often used for individuals who have not responded well to medication or therapy alone. TMS can be a valuable addition to your depression treatment plan, and it's worth discussing with your mental health provider.
Holistic Approaches to Depression Treatment
Brooklyn's holistic wellness scene offers various alternative and complementary approaches to managing depression. These can be used alongside traditional therapies or as standalone treatments, depending on your preferences and needs:
Yoga and Meditation
Many yoga studios and meditation centers in Brooklyn offer classes and workshops designed to promote mental well-being. At te same time, these practices can help reduce stress, increase self-awareness, and alleviate depressive symptoms.
Acupuncture and Traditional Chinese Medicine
Acupuncture is gaining popularity as a complementary treatment for depression. Notably, some practitioners in Brooklyn specialize in acupuncture and Traditional Chinese Medicine to address physical and emotional imbalances.
Nutrition and Lifestyle Coaching
Nutrition plays a significant role in mental health. Working with a nutritionist or lifestyle coach in Brooklyn can help you make dietary and lifestyle changes that support your emotional well-being.
Support Groups in Brooklyn
Finding a community of people who understand what you're going through can be immensely helpful when dealing with depression. Also Brooklyn hosts a variety of support groups where individuals can share their experiences, exchange coping strategies, and receive emotional support. Whether you're looking for in-person or online support, you can find a group that suits your needs.
Integrated Treatment Approaches
Acknowledging and respecting the complexity of each individual's experience with depression, integrating multiple treatment modalities can often provide the most comprehensive and effective approach to care. This includes combining pharmacotherapy, talk therapies, and alternative treatments to holistically address the myriad symptoms and challenges posed by depression.
Finding Your Fit: Selecting the Right Depression Therapy in Brooklyn
Embarking on a therapeutic journey demands consideration and selection from amongst the wealth of depression therapy options in Brooklyn. Here’s a primer on how to select a therapy type and therapist that aligns with your or your loved one’s unique needs:
Credentials and Specializations: Ensure therapists are licensed and explore their areas of specialization to ensure they are equipped to guide your therapeutic journey.
Therapy Style: Consider the therapeutic approach and style that resonates most with you, whether it be a structured, directive approach or a more explorative, supportive style.
Logistics: Factor in location, availability, and insurance coverage to ensure sustainability and accessibility of treatment.
Final Thoughts
Navigating depression treatment in Brooklyn may feel overwhelming amidst the sea of available options. Yet, armed with information and support, taking those initial steps toward healing and recovery becomes a journey of empowerment and hope. Engage with the rich tapestry of treatment modalities, therapists, and support available in Brooklyn, NY, to carve out a personalized path toward mental wellness.
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We all know what stress is. We all cope with it every day; we look for creative new ways of handling it but prolonged exposure to stress can lead to burnout which could have some long-term consequences. Travel nursing, like any other health care field, falls into the category of highly stressful jobs. The stress became even more emphasized since the pandemic had started.
In the last few years, jobs for travel nurses have not only grown in scope, but also in terms of remuneration. The global pandemic has necessitated the biggest movement of trained nursing professionals across the world. While there are stressful moments involved, the salaries and compensations are the perks that are leading the nursing industry. With the chance to see the world, a lot of young professionals are encouraged to pursue short term travel nursing jobs.
Travel nursing can be both stressful and rewarding:
There has been an increasing demand from medical staffing companies for healthcare workers in the past year. And yes, while it also meant higher pay for travel nurses, more job openings, and travel opportunities it also came with exponential exposure to everyday stress.
Now, as a healthcare professional you are already used to coping with situations that would upset and throw out of tracks every average person, but COVID-19 is still quite new to everyone, and just like with everything that’s new it takes some time getting used to it.
We know how tough you are but you are still prone to feeling effects of accumulated stress over time and as a health care staffing agency that puts its employees first, we are saying that you should take some measures of precaution to avoid burnout and to increase or maintain the quality of your life.
Things you can do outside work:
We know it can be hard to put work aside and go back to your normal life once you take off your uniform. But if you think about it, in a long run, doing so you are doing yourself and your patients a favor. By focusing on your wellbeing, you are refueling, reenergizing, and investing in your career too. You will be more concentrated, more rested, and more efficient if you had enough time for yourself.
Focus on your physical and mental health:
This can be, for example, a walk in a park, going for a run, or just wandering around the city exploring new cafes, restaurants, parks, buildings and enjoying the pulse of a new place.
You could start off by exploring your new residential area and discovering places according to your taste. You could go on a hunt for a beautiful sunset or sunrise and get the perfect postcard for your friends back at home.
Invest in your own health - find a farmer’s market and enjoy organic or unique specialties that locals could tell you about.
Yoga is great for both physical and mental health:
Find a gym or a park to do yoga every day. If you are not a fan of exercising indoors, you could find a park or a nice and quiet place to do your stretches or yoga, for example. It's very beneficial to practice yoga outdoors with other people. Why not try that out?
Maintain social relationships and contacts:
Stay in touch with your friends from home or hang out with some new people you’ll definitely meet. It would be nice if you could avoid talking about work and instead focus on experiencing new tastes, learning new things, and hearing different points of view. Make the most of your stay.
Things you can do at work:
It can be very busy and sometimes overwhelming at work, and we understand that being a travel nurse you sometimes can’t just decide when to take a break. But if you have the chance, take that little break.
As they say, one can be surrounded by people and still feel alone. That’s why you should try to bond with your colleagues or/and patients that you like. It will make your workplace a much more pleasant place to be at and you will look forward to your next day at the hospital. The social component of our overall wellbeing must not be disregarded. We are social beings, right?
Everyone’s threshold of stress tolerance is different. And if you start feeling overwhelmed by your everyday tasks, if you find yourself unable to stay focused for a longer period of time, or if you start getting easily frustrated, don’t wait. Seek professional help, take care of yourself and put yourself in the first place just like your medical staffing agency does.
You are important to us. And we take care of what’s important.
Don’t push yourself.
Be gentle with yourself.
Treat yourself like you treat your patients.
Let us take care of you.
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If you like the idea of a digital workout buddy helping you toe the line, but giraffes aren’t really your thing, then you might dig Wokamon, which comes to us from Mars Zhu and Hazim Abdul Hamid of Noodum.
Wokamon features dozens of animated monsters that get bigger and stronger as you do. Since it comes with a pedometer and syncs with wearables like Jawbone, Fitbit, and Up, you can be sure that every calorie burned gets counted and fed to your growing army of critters.
Connecting with friends on social media through Wokamon earns you reward points, which you can burn on unlocking new creatures.
Noodum and Wokamon are currently being funded by an $18,000 seed investment from Manchester Metropolitan University’s Innospace Incubator.
Gamified fitness apps like Wokamon and Tep have a lot of options when it comes to future monetization. They can either take the Zombies, Run! The approach of charging for downloads (which works if you’re as niche and well-made as that app) or offer in-app purchases for things like new backgrounds, characters, or crystals and boosters for your pet monsters.
For now, though, we can take advantage of both Tep and Wokamon for free.
Teamster is an iOS app that, contrary to its name, has absolutely nothing to do with trucking. What teamster does do, though, is help you connect with other people in your area who are interested in the same sorts of athletic activities as you.
Conveniently, users are able to identify which sports they like and their level of skill in each on a scale of 1 to 5, which means you won’t be totally outmatched when you meet up for a game with other users.
When you find another user who shares your interests and skill set, swipe right in the app to add them to your team. Sounds like Tinder is ubiquitous, doesn’t it? Users can then create activities for other users or teams to join.
Teamster comes to us from the Melbourne based duo of Henry Chan and 22-year old Sam McCallum, who has a background in competitive running, cycling, and skiing.
If your meteoric rise to peak physical perfection is still in the launch phase, you’ll find a helpful companion in RocketJourney, which bills itself as the «smartest and friendliest way to a fitness lifestyle.»
The app’s founding trio of Carlos Ayala, Pablo Artee, and Ernesto Cambuston has received funding from 500 Startups, the seed fund and startup accelerator comprised of Google and PayPal alums.
RocketJourney tracks all of your fitness activities from cycling to yoga to lifting to competitive eating — just kidding about that last one — and verifies that you’ve actually worked out through GPS and wearables integration.
The app motivates you to stick to your fitness regime by giving you points for completed workouts and taking away points for missed ones. The same logic holds true for user-created «teams» which add the pinch of peer-pressure that it just might take to keep you on track.
You can register for updates on RocketJourney’s release on the website.
OneSet — «Vine for Fitness» — is another promising app to stay tuned for in the months to come. Users can create 15-second videos demonstrating an exercise or «stack» other users’ videos into workouts.
Since videos are organized by muscle group or goal, it’s easy to find the right moves for you.
OneSet’s founding team is based in Waterloo, Canada, and consists of brothers Amad and Shameel Abdullah, as well as full-stack developer George Xu.
Sometimes all it takes to reach the athlete within is finding the right music to sweat to, or the right gym to do it in.
Though GYM radio’s online music streaming service has been around since 2013, its new iOS, Android, and Windows phone releases have made it easier than ever to get amped up and pumped up at the same time.
The app features three music settings — cardio, gym, and hardcore-tailored to give your workout the right feel. Here’s the best part: GYM radio is completely ad-free, which means your runners high won’t get interrupted by voice-actors pitching toothpaste or discount car insurance.
GYM radio also offers a premium upgrade which, for a monthly or yearly subscription, will let you listen offline, skip songs, and get access to material unavailable on the standard version.
Gymhopper — «Uber for gyms»- is a Swiss startup that aims to help you find the right gym by offering its users discounted individual training passes. Gyms benefit from the app by getting a little extra exposure as well as a shot at their target market, people who are actively searching for a new place to get sweaty.
Gymhopper is currently in series A fundraising but expects an iOS release later this year.
