Are Fitness Trackers a Fad or the Future?

By Natalie Posdaljian –

By 2014, one out of 10 Americans had invested in a wearable fitness tracker, according to Forbes. Although that number continues to grow in 2015, people are concerned that this gadget is just a technological fad that will soon pass. If you’re still on the fence about investing in a fitness tracker, consider the following reasons why this gadget may be right for you:

Use It and Lose It

The first step to meeting your fitness goals, whether it’s losing weight or building muscle, is not purchasing your fitness tracker — it’s using it. Like a gym membership, enrolling isn’t going to get you very far if you never workout.

To use a fitness tracker to its full potential, the first step is to learn what it is capable of doing. For example, the Jawbone UP MOVE Fitness and Sleep Tracker monitors your steps, sleep, exercise and calories burned. Sync it to your smartphone to track the food you eat throughout the day as well as to interact with a smart coach who gives you personalized advice and insight to help you reach your goals. Live Science reports that a study conducted by Wake Forest University shows that adding a fitness tracker to a fitness regiment helped participants lose weight and maintain the lower weight compared to those who didn’t.

Know How to Use Your Data

Now that you know how many steps you took today, how many calories you burned and what your heart rate was, what do you do with that information? Numbers are only numbers if you don’t understand what they mean, and you are more likely to throw the device in a draw after you get bored with it.

To take full advantage of your fitness tracker, you need to know how to take action on the information it gives you. The best way to get more information about your numbers is to talk to your physician or personal trainer. These individuals are trained to analyze these numbers and can help you interpret yours. For example, Fitness Magazine states that gyms like 24Hour Fitness offer training packages using certain types of trackers.

Or, if you understand how the data works, use your data for a little healthy competition with your family, friends, coworkers or other users. Compare the number of steps you took or calories you burned with others to motivate you be more active.

Change Your Habits in a Positive Way

The end of the day rolls around and your fitness tracker tells you that you didn’t reach your daily goals for steps or calories. This should encourage you to start brainstorming ways to get in extra steps the next day. You start taking the stairs up to your office instead of the elevator. You park farther away from the grocery store so you have to walk more. Maybe you even walk to work or to the store from home. Next thing you know, you’ve changed your habits in a healthy and positive way. Instead of associating fitness with just a gym, a fitness tracker allows you to engage in your fitness wherever you are.

It Is More Than a Fashion Statement

Don’t invest in a fitness tracker if you just consider it a fashion statement or a trendy device to own. Although most fitness trackers are fashionable (or at least discrete enough to be worn anytime), if you’re not purchasing one for the right reasons, it will pass as a fad for you.

Destined to be an Armenian housewife perfecting her hummus recipe, Natalie Posdaljian instead chose a life of marine field biology and sriracha. Born and raised in southern California, her veins rush with salty seawater and sunshine no matter where she goes. When she’s not saving jellyfish from extinction, Natalie is dancing in the shower, knitting on a plane or swinging in her hammock.