High-tech Health

One of the perks of being a blogger is the opportunity to test out new things and thanks to an extremely generous blog sponsorship that came in the form of Amazon gift coupons, I could try out some geeky stuff that I was curious about.

When the gift coupons came in, my first thought was to get a Kindle, or maybe an iPad mini. But we already had an iPad working fine, and I just didn’t want to get a Kindle and keep adding books that I don’t have time to read.

Instead, I focused on fitness and decided to try out a couple of fitness devices. After a lot of googling, I hit upon the Withings Smart Body Analyzer and the Fitbit Flex.

So what are these devices exactly?

The Withings Smart Body Analyzer is a high-tech weighing scale, that’s all. It gives accurate measurements of your weight, body fat percentage, heart rate, and for some random reason also tells you the quality of the air you are breathing.

And oh! It looks very pretty 🙂

It comes with a free app for iOS and Android called Withings Health Mate. All data from the scales are synced up with this app. No more trying to remember details. I just need to look it up on the app 🙂 . I can use the app to monitor my wellness from four angles – weight, sleep, activity, and heart.

The Fitbit Flex is a band that you wear on your wrist. It calculates the number of steps you take in a day, the amount of calories burnt, and the quality of your sleep. This band also comes with an app to sync data with.

There are many such bands on the market, but I opted for the Fitbit Flex because it did not stick out like a sore thumb.

However, once I started wearing it, I realized that was not the case. I didn’t think anyone would notice. But Snubnose asked me if it was a friendship band and promptly asked for one for herself. K tactlessly remarked that it looked like the hospital band I was wearing when I was hospitalized while delivering the littles. A couple of colleagues eyed it curiously. So, it doesn’t fly under the radar like I expected it to. And I definitely cannot wear a watch with it as I thought. It’s just too thick.

However, I love the ease of wearing it. It’s comfortable and I never need to take it off except for when I need to recharge it. And I am very happy with both these devices.

Btw, if you are considering a Fitbit Flex, there is a pink Valentine Day special out now. It looks so pretty and I am kicking myself for not waiting a little longer and getting the hot pink one.

So how does it all work together?

I have been using these devices for the past couple of weeks now, and I love them. Both were very easy to set up and configure and were functional within minutes. The Withings scale and app work as described. The scales are super-accurate, as good (maybe even better) than those high-tech scales in gyms.

The Fitbit Flex is a revelation. I knew my lifestyle was sedentary for the most part but it was an eye-opener to realize just how sedentary. I am good on weekends. Running after Snubnose and Piglet made sure that I zoomed past the basic 10,000 steps a day mandate by 4:00 pm itself. It’s the working days that are a challenge. I barely make it to 6000-7000 steps a day.

Since both tools are by different companies, they don’t work together. However, they integrate well with MyFitnessPal – an app that tracks food intake, which works good enough for me.

With all these apps tracking every health and fitness blooper I make should motivate me to lead a healthier lifestyle this year, I hope. I already see some small changes I am consciously making. I try to get to bed a little earlier in the night instead of lingering on the internet, and I am more aware of the food I eat and the amount of walking I do.

Now, I just need to move that extra bit from awareness to taking more concrete steps towards fitness.

Here’s hoping these apps help motivate me towards that goal.

Do you use anything special to track and monitor your wellness? What do you use/recommend? I would love to hear.