The Wellness App I Didn't Go Looking for...But Now Use Every day
Disclosure: LiftPal's developer gave me complimentary access to try the app, with no requirement to post or review it. I'm sharing it because I genuinely use and enjoy LiftPal.
I Have a Terrible Track Record With Wellness Apps
Let's me establish this first.
I am very good at downloading apps with good intentions.
I see something that promises to help me organize my life, build habits, drink more water, walk more, fix my schedule and become a completely new human being by next Tuesday...
Downloaded.
For about three days, I am unstoppable., Then? I forget the app exists. Few months roll by I find it hiding in a folder on my phone wondering how it got there. The fact that LiftPal actually became something I check every day surprised me. I really think the biggest reason I do is for it doesn't feel like another thing demanding something from me.
I Don't Need an App Yelling at Me
This is my biggest issue with wellness and habit apps. Everything becomes a streak. A challenge. A number. A punishment. You miss one day and suddenly you've broken your perfect little chain and the app is standing there disappointed in you.
GIRLLLLL
I have kids, a business, a house, emails to check, work, life. There are days I am just tired.
I do not need my phone making me feel guilty for I didn't complete seven self-improvement tasks before bedtime. That's the mentality I've spent soo much trying to get away from. Taking care of yourself shouldn't become another version of hustle culture. LiftPal is different.
Your Day Is Yours
Sounds ridiculously simple and I love it!
If I want to add a little goal? I can. If today is already busy enough? I don't have to. That feels so much healthier to me than constantly trying to maximize every single day. There are days I am super active, and other days I barely get 336 steps in. There are days where I have hundred of things happening at once and other days where I want to turn everything off and do nothing.
That's life. I don't need every day to become my new personal record.
Look at My Wittle Friend
We also need to discuss the real reason my gamer brain immediately attached itself to this app.
There's a virtual pet!
Mine is sitting there looking adorable while I check my steps and goals. That's all it takes to emotionally manipulate me into caring about my daily activity.
I accept this.
LifPal takes habit tracking and self-care and wraps it inside something that feels more like a little game. You earn coins, You can decorate. There are little activities. There are things to work toward.
Instead of feeling like I opened a serious fitness dashboard, I feel like I'm checking in on my little digital buddy. That makes a HUGE difference for me.
The best habit system in the world means absolutely nothing if you hate using it.
Gamifying My Life Works on Me
This should not surprise anybody who knows how I play video games.
Give me:
progress bar
some coins
a cute character
a little goal
and I am invested!
I will spend three hours in a video game doing repetitive tasks all because somebody game me a tiny reward every ten minutes. The same system works for real-life habits too.
LiftPal tracks things like steps and energy, and I find myself opening it just to see where I'm at.
You Must Hit 10,000 Steps or You Have Failed Humanity
Just information. That makes me what to move more without making me feel pressured to move more. That distinction matters.
I Actually Pay Attention to My Steps Now
This is something I did not expect.
I was never someone obsessively checking my daily step count.
In one of the screenshots I grabbed for this post, I had 2,128 steps. Which is fine that was my day. I didn't immediately start walking in circles around my house all because an app told me the number wasn't impressive enough.
It was something I noticed. And that awareness alone makes me want to get up and move around for a little bit.
And other times? Nope I like slower days too. And the app accepts it and that's what I like.
It Fits the Life I'm Already Trying to Build
This might actually be my favorite part about LiftPal. It doesn't feel like something trying to completely restructure my life. It fits into the life I already have. And that is exactly how I want wellness to work. My entire mindset is built around rejecting hustle culture.
That doesn't mean I don't have goals. It doesn't mean I don't care about taking care of myself. It doesn't mean I want to sit around doing nothing forever. It means I don't believe my value is tied to how productive I can make every hour. I want habits that make me feel like I have another checklist to maintain.
LiftPal fits into that perfectly for me.
I open it.
Check it.
Look at my Pinky my buddy
See what I have done.
Add some goals
and continue living my life.
It doesn't need to become my entire personality.
There's something Really Nice About Gentle Goals
I think this is where a lot of self-improvement apps lose me. Everything has to become extreme. Perfect morning and evening routine. Never miss a day. Wake up at 5 A.M
Take a cold shower, Drink something green, Journal for 45 minutes, Run a mile, Become a millionaire by lunch. LIKE pleaseeeee... leave me alone.
I want a goal to be like move a little today. That's it. A small goal like that is enough. Small becomes sustainable.
I'd rather consistently do something tiny become it fits into my life than follow an elaborate routine for four days and then ever look at it again.
The Biggest Compliment I can Give LiftPal
I still use it.
That sounds almost too simple to be a compliment. But for me? It's huge! I've downloaded plenty of apps that were technically great. They had a lot of features, Thousands of reviews. I would use them about twice and never open them again.
LiftPal became part of my day without me forcing it to become part of my day. That's why I'm comfortable recommending people to try it.
Who Do I Think Would Like LiftPal?
If you love extremely intense fitness tracking with a million graphs and numbers, this probably isn't the reason I'm recommending LiftPal.
It makes more sense for somebody who likes:
Cute virtual pets
Gamified progress
Simple goals
Habit tracking
Small daily check-ins
A softer approach to self-care
Apps that encourage you without acting like missing a day means the entire plan is ruined. If you want a wellness app that doesn't feel like somebody standing over you with a clipboard....
This might be your thing.
You Can Try LiftPal Free for 3 Months
This is the fun part!
After I started using LiftPal and realized how much I liked it, I was given a separate link I could share with my community. If you use my link, you can try LiftPal free for three months.
I love this! I don't have to sit here telling you to trust me and that you need this.
You can try it for free for 3 months! You can play around with it, Meet your little virtual friend. See how it fits your life. And have a longer grace period to really be able to decide for yourself if it's for you or not.
That's how recommendations should work.
Do I Think LiftPal is Worth Trying?
Yes! I don't recommend things because someone emailed me. I recommend them after actually using it and went from "oh, this looks cute." To " I have to check LiftPal"
And yes I use it everyday. I like that it's cute without the entire experience being about aesthetics. I like that my gamer brain gets little rewards. I like that I can track things without obsessing over them, how I have control over my goals. And I LOVE how it never makes me feel like taking care of myself need to become another full-time job.
A Little Less Pressure, Please
The older I get, the less interested I am in completely reinventing myself every January, Monday, birthday, or on a random Tuesday morning.
I don't need a "new me"
I am happy with me. I just want to take better care of the person who is already here. A little more movement, awareness, intention. Without turning my entire life into a productivity challenge.
LiftPal doesn't feel like another program telling me everything I need to change. It feels like a little companion reminding me: "hey Uni do something good for yourself today if you can."
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