I actually picked up 2 versions, the “Up” from Jambox and the “Fitbit” from Fitbit. The costs run around $125 each. While I’m testing out the Up, my wife Sheila is trying out the Fitbit
The Up and Fitbit (left and right, respectively) are a far cry from the old mechanical pedometers since they are all digital, sync to my iphone and computer and allow for a range of great personal information. My Up is a bracelet shape and is a rubberized surface which has an accelerometer on the inside that tracks movement. A very cool aspect of this device is that it also records sleep movements and determines the length of your sleep and the time spent in deep vs. light sleep. You can also manually enter your mood ranging from a happy face to sad face! You can manually enter food intake manually by typing in your meals and using their internal data base to determine nutritional values or you can scan in the SKU number and it will automatically pull up the nutritional information which is convenient.
At this early stage I am interested in tracking all aspects of data including my fitness routine, diet and especially sleep. The band targets 10,000 steps as a goal although I am not a big fan of that measure but I can live with it for now. I’ll probably be setting my own fitness goals as part of the personalization process.
As for sleep, last night I logged7.5 hours along with 3.5 hours of deep sleep (not sure yet how much deep sleep is required yet) and my energy was much better today than it was on the weekend when I logged only 5 hours of sleep and 2 hours of deep sleep (too much partying perhaps).
The nutritional element is fairly easy to do and the Up records everything from protein to cholesterol which can be reviewed on a daily basis or as a trend over time
Being smart around energy use begins with actually understanding and knowing what your energy levels are. I think the Up band may be an interesting starting point in identifying the best way for me to start to build my energy resilience. I often tell folks that a good way to start tracking your energy is to just notice when your high energy times occur and when you low energy times occur and monitor then during your day so you can target what kinds of activities you want to engage in during your day. The Up and Fit seem to be taking it a step further]]>
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