BAKERSFIELD,CA- When putting your alarm across the room isn't enough motivation to get you out of bed, how about apps that charge you every time you hit the snooze button?
"Everyone plays little psychological games with themselves. But that isn't one I'll play," said Bakersfield resident Melonie Demkey.
With apps like Charity Alarm, there is now an incentive to get out of bed.
"Every time you hit snooze, it links up to either your credit card or bank account and then it puts it into a specific fund for a charity of your choice,"said Gabe Ulloa with Arrc Technology.
Other apps like Pact, allow you to log the number of days you go to the gym and your meals on myfitnesspal.com . When you sign up for a pact, you select a certain amount, $5 or $10-that is deducted from your credit card or paypal account for each day you miss.
"Now if you actually succeed and hit all of your goals. The money that they take from those who miss their goals. They actually distribute to those who are actually meeting their goals," said Ulloa.
The app rewards users ranging from 30 cents to $5 per week. Some like the idea of a little more motivation to hit the gym.
others, not so much.
"I wouldn't want people to just arbitrarily take money out of my checking account just because i missed a gym appointment or decided to sleep in once,"said Bakersfield resident Mike Shoemaker.
According to a study by the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, weight-loss mobile apps have the potential to be a helpful tool but they lack behavioral strategies that lead to weight-loss.
There are 20 behavioral strategies that have been found to be effective in a weight loss journey including problem solving, stress reduction and relapse prevention.
The apps studied included on average just 18 percent of those strategies.
"Everyone plays little psychological games with themselves. But that isn't one I'll play," said Bakersfield resident Melonie Demkey.
With apps like Charity Alarm, there is now an incentive to get out of bed.
"Every time you hit snooze, it links up to either your credit card or bank account and then it puts it into a specific fund for a charity of your choice,"said Gabe Ulloa with Arrc Technology.
Other apps like Pact, allow you to log the number of days you go to the gym and your meals on myfitnesspal.com . When you sign up for a pact, you select a certain amount, $5 or $10-that is deducted from your credit card or paypal account for each day you miss.
"Now if you actually succeed and hit all of your goals. The money that they take from those who miss their goals. They actually distribute to those who are actually meeting their goals," said Ulloa.
The app rewards users ranging from 30 cents to $5 per week. Some like the idea of a little more motivation to hit the gym.
others, not so much.
"I wouldn't want people to just arbitrarily take money out of my checking account just because i missed a gym appointment or decided to sleep in once,"said Bakersfield resident Mike Shoemaker.
According to a study by the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, weight-loss mobile apps have the potential to be a helpful tool but they lack behavioral strategies that lead to weight-loss.
There are 20 behavioral strategies that have been found to be effective in a weight loss journey including problem solving, stress reduction and relapse prevention.
The apps studied included on average just 18 percent of those strategies.