Let your smart phone do the nagging

Many of us spend way too much time on our smart phones, to the point we have symptoms of withdrawal if service is interrupted or we misplace them.

We like the system where restaurant dinner guests stack their phones in the middle of the table, and the first one to check their Facebook or read a text picks up the tab.

Electronics and dining aren't always a bad combination, however. They can replace our significant others when it comes to nagging us to eat right, exercise and get enough sleep.

"Staying in shape over the holidays is always difficult," said Erryn Andersen, U.S. Cellular's director of sales in Iowa and Nebraska.

Her company recommends free Google Play and iTunes apps such as Fooducate, which won the U.S. Surgeon General's Healthy App Challenge. Users can track the quality and quantity of their calories, scan barcodes for nutrition specifics and it integrates with Apple's Health app to compare calorie consumption and burning.

It also recommends the Lose It! app to track calories and exercise, and integrates with social media sites.

MyFitnessPal is a calorie counter and diet tracker, which uses the largest food database and fitness database to help users know when their calorie output is not keeping up with their calorie input.

U.S. Cellular also recommends the Garmin Connect fitness tracker to collect personal health and activity data, and then upload it to a mobile app in your phone or tablet via Bluetooth.

There are other apps and fitness trackers, of course, and they all can deliver effective reminders that "Hey, we've not been getting enough sleep this week," or we could bank a few more steps in our exercise account by walking to do that errand rather than hopping in the car.

With today's technology, you can let the apps keep track of your health, and keep track of your friends and family face-to-face.