Several weeks ago I wrote a post — that I never published — titled, “I need an iPad for recovery.” I never posted it since it was really more of a plee to my husband than anything else. However, lately there seems to have been a lot of negative press about eating disorders and technology — between iphone apps used to monitor calories and pro-ana sites. So, in contrast, I’m going to explain how I’ve used my iPhone / iPad to aid my recovery. Granted, most of these apps aren’t mental health-specific, but I’ve found them helpful for that purpose.
Tracking food:
I still track food exchanges (well, sometimes), and originally I could only find one app that was appropriate for this in the app store: EatRight. After that I discovered Foobi, and most recently have converted to FoodTrackerPro. Note: none of these apps use calories — just servings/exchanges — and I’ve been pretty pleased with all of them, but FoodTrackerPro is definitely the coolest. PLUS, it works on the iPad, so bonus points for that. You can customize your meal plan and make charts and set goals and all of that… but it also has a great food servings cheat-sheet — for all those times that you’re trying to remember how much hummus equals a protein exchange (for example). iPhone/iPad, $1.99. 
Tracking mood:
I started doing this on paper awhile ago and found that it was actually a good exercise for me (not only to see the patterns in mood but also just to check in with myself). I’ve seen several apps for this, but currently my favorite is MyMoodTracker (same company as FoodTrackerPro, actually). It’s only for iPhone (no iPad yet, bummer), but it tracks mood using a 1-10 scale and little emoticons. You can track sleep on here, too, and see how that influences mood. iPhone, $1.99.
Meds:
You know those times when you’re at the drug store trying to purchase something to help with your nasty cold, and you can’t remember if it’s okay to take Sudafed with the Wellbutrin you’re on? That’s when you need Epocrates. Or… when you have a headache and have already taken Tylenol twice and are not sure if it’s okay to take another dose yet? Okay, maybe it’s just me, but I run into situations like this all the time and would be lost without this app! Plus, when you’re on more than one med at a time (which is pretty common these days), things get complicated (drug interactions, dosing, side effects, etc), and it’s just good to have it for reference. iPhone, free.
Countdown:
By now you’re probably thinking, “okay, you track way too many things”–and it’s probably true. BUT, do you know what’s even better than personally tracking something? An app that does it for you! That’s Countdown. I have countdowns for everything — how long I’ve been married, how long it’s been since I last acted on symptoms, how many days until my next therapy appointment, how long until my birthday (hey, why not….), etc. Random countdowns aside, there’s something really motivating for me about knowing that I haven’t skipped a meal in three months, or drank coffee since…. err, yesterday (okay, really bad example), or that I have therapy in 1 hour, 42 minutes and 18 seconds (and really need to do my therapy homework). I just love seeing that.
Coping Skills:
Remember my series on coping skills? Well, for each of those items, there is of course an app for that:
- card stores – it’s not a card store, but someecards can entertain me for an embarrassingly long period of time (both the app and the website).
- bulletin boards – Corkulous would probably by my favorite app-equivalent of a regular cork bulletin board. However, the real purpose of bulletin boards for me are to serve as reminders, so that the “out of sight, out of mind” thing doesn’t kick in. For that, I’d probably actually use a todo app or custom background/wallpaper (not going to link these because there are a million and I don’t have a favorite!)
- kudos chart – again, this is something you could probably find in a todo app, but if you’re looking for something a little more…. sticker-chartish… try GoalTracker (ipad).
- crafting — there are a million apps for: coloring, collaging, drawing, photo-editing… really, a million. You might start looking in Apps for Kids.
- dvds — you can download just about anything from tv/dvd onto your iPhone/iPad from the app store. Additionally, ABC has an awesome media player that lets you stream shows for free.
Okay, that’s the end of my list for today. If anyone has any other app suggestions, I would love to hear them!
You always have such creative ideas. Thanks for sharing some of your favorites!
Over the past year I have found that technology and social networking have been very important for getting support and understanding how to deal with my eating issues. It seems like you have found the same to be true for you.
For me it has been slightly frustrating (maybe that is too strong a word), that my treatment provider is unaware of the resources available. To some extent I feel like I have to justify my use of Twitter or reading blogs as a legitimate source of support. While he has never criticized me nor nor been judgmental, it would be nice if those types of resources would be suggested, rather than stumbling on them haphazardly. Hopefully, with posts like this more treatment professionals become aware of these resources and feel comfortable in using them in their practice.
BEST. POST. EVER! Thanks for all the cool app ideas. I can really, really use a bunch of these
eCBT helps reframe negative thoughts
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These are great ideas! I used to be obsessed with tracking everything (okay, just calories) too, but now I see that I can use my OCD-ness somewhere else, and for recovery too! Great post
Wei-Wei
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Hi. After struggling with an E.D. for nearly 14 years I admitted myself to a treatment program. I had been behavior free for nearly three amazing years! Recently I had a baby and although he has brought the upmost joy into my world, E.D. has started to creep back in. Meal Planning, especially tracking food exchanges, aided in my recovery the first time around; So naturally I have resorted to this coping skill again. Obsessive or not, it helps me avoid negative behaviors and truly allows me to focus on the healthy choices I make. It can be annoying to always carry a paper based food journal so I was looking for an i phone ap this morning. Unfortunately, I came across many calorie and carb counter aps or those that especially encourage weight loss. It wasn’t until I read your blog that I learned there are aps for those of us who want to make healthy choices! I just wanted to personally say thank you for your post and thank you for reminding me that there are others in recovery too! For those that criticize meal planning applications and suggest they trigger disordered eating, please keep in mind that most individuals with eating disorders or diabetes actually benefit from tracking their nutritional exchanges. This method of tracking food intake is actually a part of most treatment programs. Unlike alcohol or drug use, we cannot abstain and we MUST learn moderation. In order to do so, it helps to have a visual reminder or what we have or have not consumed because so often our addict like brains are not able to regulate this information in a healthy way without assistance. Again, thank you! I look forward to checking out your suggested aps!
It’s me again. I just took a look at your suggested applications. Love the Food Tracker Pro! I’m curious though, why did you choose this one over Eat Right and Foobi? (I never found Foobi BTY). Anyway, now that I’m using Food Tracker Pro, there are a couple of things missing for me. For instance, I’d love to be able to type in a food or meal items and get the exchanges to track them. I’d also love to be able to see how many exchanges I have left in a day for each food group. Perhaps a diabetes ap has these features. Let me know your thoughts! Still, I’m glad to have found these aps. Thanks again!
hey all!
I use an eating disorder specific app called Recovery Record. It’s an app developed in the UK, so the lingo used is a little different than in the US. Besides having a few minor hiccups – like no ability to respond to turning your phone sideways, or not being able to track online from a computer – I’ve found it very useful.
First, you can personalize the food tracking form to ask about your mood, feelings, where you ate and with whom, whether you restricted or purged, your desire to restrict or purge. It also has an open ended area where you can fill in your thoughts.
Secondly, it tracks this information in list form as well as in graphs/charts. So it’s easy to look back and see how your mood affected your eating.
Finally, you can allow your team of physicians/therapists to access your food tracker. This is helpful since it’s really easy to forget about bad eating days since they’re such habit for someone with an eating disorder. They can help identify correlations that we may not see.
I’ve only used it for a couple weeks, but so far I think it’s the best thing I’ve found. Download it for Apple or Android… http://recoveryrecord.com/
I think apps are a great way to touch base and regroup at regular intervals during the day. As a CBT therapist I am constantly telling my clients to “catch that feeling” ” catch that thought” and an app is a great way to do that. It helps to regulate our emotional state and create balance throughout the day. Also remember to use notes page on your phone to write things down. We try to hold too much in our poor brain and its useful to offload onto phones / paper occasionally ! happy app ing !
claire@uktherapyacademy
claire –
have you seen some of the new thoughts for logging emotions? I have an iphone so I don’t know what’s out there for droid…. one of them is called “happiness” and the other is “mood journal”. search for them in the app store and check them out!
best,
grey thinking