Ready for a blinding flash of the obvious? Knowing that my Fitbit is monitoring how active I actually am has made me be, well, more active. I’ve been taking the stairs more, moving around more, and avoiding sitting whenever I can. I even bought a standing desk for my office to kick the chair habit.
The most motivating part of my Fitbit experience has been a daily pie chart that classifies my waking hours into categorizes: Sedentary, lightly active, fairly active, and very active. It makes it hard to ignore the fact that I spend WAY too much time every day parked in a chair.
Science backs this up: A study in The Journal of the American Medical Association showed that people using tracking devices increase daily activity by +25 percent. With multiple other studies showing a strong connection between sedentary behavior and mortality, and health experts knowing that entrenched behaviors are hard to change, this is breakthrough stuff.
This convergence of technology, health and personal customization is a surely a bellwether of what’s to come (Scientists are already talking about things like nanoparticle sized, wifi enabled sensors circulating in our bloodstream sending health alerts to our smartphones).
For now, I’m keeping it simple: Here’s what my Fitbit, my guru tells me: Do more, move more.
Craig Bida
Originally published 2/23/2013