TECHNOLOGY FOR CHANGE

The Techie's Guide to Fitness

Rebecca Kutzer-Rice | Date: 07-07-10 | Comments

Forget going to the weight room or penciling calories into a food journal. Tons of new technologies have been designed to help you get fit fast and conveniently.

June 21 marked the first day of summer, and if you�re like most people, getting a beach body is on your mind. Check out these tech-savvy tools to aid in physical fitness�just in time for your summer vacation.

WiFi Scale

The advanced Withings scale, which measures weight and body fat, automatically sends your daily statistics to your phone or computer. You can then monitor your weight over time, catch patterns and set goals. The scale allows multiple users, so the whole family can lose weight together.

It might look like a run-of-the-mill bathroom scale, but the Withings scale is WiFi-enabled to track your weight directly on your computer.

Tweet What You Eat

While there are many food journal sites out there, Tweet What You Eat should particularly please the health-minded nerd in all of us. The system syncs with your Twitter account so that you can send it messages throughout the day about your eating habits. It also lets you log your weight, tallies daily caloric totals and provides statistics. SMS-enabled Twitter lets you record your weight via text message, so you can keep up with your journal from anywhere�at a restaurant, on the street or in your kitchen. While your food log can be kept private, many users find the public atmosphere of Twitter particularly motivating.

Body Bugg

Finally�a device that calculates exactly how many calories you burn in a day. Worn on an arm band 24/7, it provides accurate and detailed information about caloric expenditure and heart rate. While it will track calories burned during exercise, the device is especially useful for learning how much daily activities�like house cleaning or playing with your kids�actually burn calories. Any dieter knows that weight loss is a matter of calories in and calories out. The Body Bugg has calories out covered.

Wii Fit
While you might not have played a video game since you were a kid, Wii Fit is designed for users of all ages and health levels. The console guides you through all fitness needs, from cardio to strength training to yoga. It even lets you chart your progress by calculating activity levels and body mass index. Cheaper than a gym subscription and certainly more fun, a Wii Fit in your living room leaves no excuse not to exercise.

Mobile Apps
There are hundreds of apps out there to help you reach your fitness goals. Some of our favorites include Lose It!, which helps you track your daily calories and exercise; iFitness, a comprehensive database of exercise tips and videos; and iTreadmill, which turns your iPhone into a pedometer. Since you already carry mobile devices everywhere, apps might be the most convenient way to get healthy.

Do you already use some of these apps? Let us know in the Comments section!