Fitness Tracker – Should you have one?

Fitness trackers are gadgets, worn on the wrist or clipped to your shirt/waistband to keep track of your activity levels.  They help in counting steps, keep track of distance travelled, measure calories burned, monitor sleep. Undeniably, sleep is an important cycle to maintain overall physical and mental health.  You can also synchronize your fitness tracker to an app and gather all your stats and information in an easy-to-understand dashboard.

Advanced tracker– If you opt for a more advanced fitness tracker, it monitors your heart rate. With the use of GPS, it follows your location, gauge altitude, and preload activity profiles for all your sports and adventures.  Notify you of the messages, calls, and reminders from your smartphone, play and stream music, and takes a selfie as well.

Do I NEED a fitness tracker? 

The answer is yes if-

• You are not doing enough to be fit and active.
• You need to monitor your fitness to stay motivated.
• You need some stats to keep track and focus on specific goals or milestones.
• You know when to ignore it and let your body take a day off without feeling guilty.

Think twice before buying trackers

If-

• You cannot handle all the numbers and figures.
• You are hard on yourself if unable to reach those goals.
• You let your tracker dictate when you should be exercising instead of listening to what your body needs.
• You are not disciplined enough to exercise if you accidentally leave it at home or it runs out of battery.
• You will spend more time staring at notifications rather than exercising.

You know your body best and how it will fall into place with trackers.  Think carefully and see if you really need one.

written by Avni Kaul – Nutritionist and Wellness Coach