Good App: UP Coffee

Remember when I wrote about how I broke my soda habit? Well, I was careful not to say "caffeine habit". I still need caffeine. I'm grumpy without it in the morning and no one wants to be grumpy.

I do have to be careful how much caffeine I take it. I get jittery and anxious if I over do it. That's no good. 

Usually, I do fine with a mocha in the morning and a refresher in the afternoon. Sometimes I am tempted to make it a two mocha day though. Like when I'm up all night with a sick kid... Been there. 

I stumbled upon this great app to help me visualize how much caffeine is in my system. The app is designed to tell you when you will get optimal sleep, but I have found it helps me avoid the jitters. 

It's called UP Coffee and it's from the same folks who brought you the UP Jawbone. (This isn't a sponsored post, by the way)

Here's what it looks like in the App Store (all pics in this post are screenshots from my phone):

The first time you use the app you give it info like your height and weight so it can calculate how your body burns caffeine.

Every time I drink something with caffeine I add it to the app- they have lots of options but if you can't find your caffeine of choice you can add a custom entry:

After I add a drink, my caffeine tank fills up showing me how close I'm getting to jittery:

The app tells you how close you're getting to good sleep and as the day goes on your caffeine tank empties: 

There are graphs that show your caffeine levels over time and compared to all other users. They also give you fun tips and facts everyday. "I'll take caffeine for 1000, Alex."

This app has been great for me to see how much caffeine is still in my system. There have been days where I've felt draggy in the afternoon and checked the app only to find my tank half full- this tells me that I need to GET UP AND MOVE instead of drink more coffee. See how that works?

You should try it, I think you'll find it interesting too. 

What apps keep you accountable? We'd love to know how you use technology to stay healthy!