Did you know your smartphone can be an important tool in your healing toolbox?
It can be your lifeline when you need to reach out to friends and family for a little love and support. It can be your support group in your pocket when you can access our Thyroid Loving Care Facebook group anywhere, any time. It can be a lifesaver when it reminds you to pick up your kids or your partner’s dry cleaning (before you forget again!).
But more than that, it can also be a source of education, organization, and stress relief for thyroid sufferers when you load up some strategic apps! These are some of my favorites:
- Food and Symptom Tracker
One of the first things I ask my clients to do is start keeping a food and symptom log, because knowledge is power when it comes to healing. The mySymptoms app is a nice all-in-one app for tracking food, medications, symptoms, sleep, stress and more. The app also makes educated guesses about which foods might be triggering which symptoms, which can be helpful if you’re overwhelmed by the data.
- Meditation Timer
Stress plays such a huge part in thyroid disease and healing, that I always encourage my clients to try meditation. Even clearing your mind for a few minutes at a time can drastically reduce your stress levels. Enso is a good basic meditation timer, with soothing bells to alert you when your time is finished, while The Mindfulness App is a great choice for guided meditations.
- Restaurant Finders
Just because you’re eating for health doesn’t mean you can never eat out again! I rely on the app Find Me Gluten Free to help locate gluten-freedom-friendly restaurants, especially when I’m traveling. AllergyEatsMobile is a similar app for various food intolerances.
- One To Do List
When you’re working on becoming a ninja time manager, you need to have one to do list to rule them all. I like ToDoist because it works on all your devices, and you can even install an extension to GMail and add to-do items right from your email. Remember The Milk is another popular, easy-to-use app.
- One Calendar
Another major component of ninja time management is having a calendar that does some of the heavy lifting for you. I think Google Calendar is probably the best and easiest to use — especially for the reminder and alert functions. Schedule in healing practices like going for a walk, meditating, taking a bath, and have your calendar remind you when it’s time. Cozi is another app that may be useful, especially when managing multiple family member’s calendars.
- Recipes
If you’re new to cooking for health, an app like Yummly Recipes & Cooking Tools might come in handy for finding recipes that will keep you healthy and strong.
- Shopping
I love the ZipList grocery list app, which lets you add recipes from anywhere on the web, and then add the ingredients to your grocery list. You might also like Food Intolerances, which can help you look up whether or not a food is safe for you to eat or not.
These are just a few of my faves — but I would love to hear yours! What apps make your life easier? Which ones can’t you live without? Join the discussion on TLC’s Facebook page. Let us all know in the comments below!
If you found this information helpful, check out my other resources on healing your thyroid naturally, including:
- Our totally free Thyroid Healing Type Quiz Assessment, Report and Coaching Sessions
- Right here on my blog, where I talk about what’s worked best for me and my clients, as well as the latest research and resources I come across. You can subscribe to get new blog posts delivered right to your email by signing up on the righthand side of the page.
- My book, Healing Hashimoto’s Naturally — part memoir, part instruction manual for how I personally healed my Hashimoto’s disease.
- The incredible Your Best Thyroid Life Video Bundle, in which I personally invited 27 of the world’s top health experts to share their best tips for living with and healing thyroid disease.
Tools you can add to your healing toolbox are everywhere! Find the ones that support your healing journey in the ways you need most.
Jen Wittman is a Certified Holistic Health Expert, Chef, Author & Vitality Coach, who teaches women how to reverse thyroid and autoimmune conditions naturally. She’s helped hundreds of women decrease (or even eliminate) their thyroid medications and has helped others stay off thyroid medication entirely.
Through her free Thyroid Healing Type Quiz and Assessment, Jen teaches easy and simple steps to thyroid healing that can fit into your busy day. She also provides print outs to bring to your next doctor’s appointment so you can get the support and respect you deserve.
