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Every Breath You Take....Every Move You Make

Every breath you take, every move you make……can now be tracked, recorded and analysed.

The latest wearable technology gadgets can put us in control of our fitness and well- being like never before. Giving us an insight of what we do on a day- to- day basis, they become tools that can support positive changes to our health.

However, the range of what is available is vast and to be honest, confusing. What do they all do; which one is the best for you; will wearing one of these devices actually improve your health or is it just a gimmick?

I’m a big believer in tracking, whether it be for exercise or nutrition- for many reasons-it has transformed the daily behaviour of many of my clients. Asking someone to be more active or eat more healthily is not really very helpful. Every day we blindly make decisions we hope will lead to an improvement to some area of our lives. But asking them to walk 10,000 steps a day, eat specific types of foods or a set number of calories is a specific goal they can achieve and record. This personal data can then be analysed in order to optimise behaviour to maximise success. Advancements in technology have made this tracking so much easier. Rather than using intuition, we can now use data to make the best decisions.

Here are some examples of the types of tracking methods I use and would recommend:

*MyFitnessPal

This is an app that will allow you to track your food and lead to interesting insights about your diet. It will record how many calories you eat per day and where those calories come from. Your macronutrient split (carbs/proteins/fats) and your average weekly statistics. It’s super easy to use and has thousands of foods on its data base and even a scanning facility to make things really simple.

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I have one of these and I’m totally obsessed with it; it’s as much an accessory as it is a sleep and activity monitor. It’s such a clever device that measures steps, distance, active and idle time, diet and sleep. I can also track all of my workouts and other activities by manually entering what I have done, at what intensity and for how long. By taking into account your age, gender, height and weight, the band can also estimate the number of calories you have burned.

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It’s really easy to use and is linked to an app on your phone via Bluetooth where you can read and interpret all of its data. It can even be programmed to vibrate when you have been inactive for too long, which if you have a sedentary job is great as a reminder to get up from your desk and take a little walk around.

Before I had no idea how many steps I took a day and to be honest, I didn’t really care. I knew I was an active person and didn’t feel as though it would make me want to do any more than I usually do-how wrong I was! I’m a competitive type of girl and found myself taking every opportunity there was to try to reach a target I had set or beat the number of steps I had taken the day before. It made me much more conscious of basic decisions and take any opportunity there is to get a few more steps in.

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It’s also really cool that you can have ‘Team’ of UP band wearers which either act as a bit of healthy competition or social pressure.

It regularly tells me I’m not getting enough sleep, something I already know but seeing it in data form has more impact and I’m really trying to get some more zzzzz’s.

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The art of tracking increases your awareness which has immediate benefits. Even after a few days, the data will highlight behaviour you may not have been aware of. If you want to solve a problem you need an action plan. To ascertain if the plan is working, you need data. Tracking really does work.


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