In this ever expanding world of technology there’s seemingly a million and a half gadgets, apps and devices available to us, a growing number of those revolve around health. Although I usually suggest we try to move away from our technology laden lives, I appreciate that we live in the year 2014 and it’s part of life and can be very helpful. For every dozen Thigh Master, Gazelle and Tread Climbers I hear about (and subsequently sigh) there’s a couple of really helpful tools out there that seem to be widely liked and worthwhile.

FitBit and MyFitness Pal both seem to fit into that category in the general public and, after a few months of using them, I would have to agree.

FitBit is a device that you wear that tracks your steps and activity throughout the day. I use it as a watch as well and have found it and the smartphone App to be user friendly and quite informative. It’s not perfect but it gives you a pretty good look at how active you are and what the trends in your movement tend to be. If nothing else it keeps you aware and engaged in how much you move which can be a very valuable tool.
(Screen shot from the FitBit App)

MyFitnessPal is a health/diet/nutrition App that is more widely used and liked than any other I’ve come across. Conveniently it syncs with FitBit (and a few other step trackers) and can adjust your daily goals and energy balance accordingly. Even if you don’t use an activity tracker the App itself is easy to use and is pretty informative and individualized. For one main reason this is a valuable tool: awareness. When you enter everything you eat into a journal and see immediate feedback as to what you’re actually consuming it can be a huge eye opening experience, an accountable entity and even a source of pride and motivation. Your food intake is right there and doesn’t hide. If you’re honest it will be honest right back and that’s the simplest and most direct way to get honest about your health journey.
(Screen shot from the MyFitnessPal App)

The bottom line with these two tech tools is that you’ll get out of them what you put into them. Use them as they are intended and you’ll get a very good picture of your actual movement and food intake. Use them sporadically and/or half hazardly and you’ll get a glimpse into your situation but it will be fuzzy and distorted. What makes these two cool is that, by design, they put people in a good position to do it right by being simple and user friendly.

We certainly don’t need technology to be healthy but if you think it might be something to help assist your journey check them out and see what happens.

Thanks for reading, have a great day!