Get Fit by Tracking How Much You Move in a Day

My favorite tech writer, David Pogue of the New York Times, features two cool gadgets to help you lose weight in today's column.

Pogue reviewed the Fitbit and the DirectLife, both of which take the pedometer to a whole new level. Essentially they monitor your daily activity which can then download and track on your computer. You get feedback in various ways about how much more you need to step it up to burn more calories. You can track your calorie intake and how much you sleep with the Fitbit.

Two new tiny wearable motion sensors are on the loose, backed by Web sites that graph the collected data on daily activity for your motivational pleasure. There’s the Fitbit ($100) and its rival from Philips, the DirectLife ($80). In both cases, the idea is to make you aware of your daily activity and to challenge you to step it up. But despite that similarity of goal, the two gadgets are wildly different in approach.

The Fitbit has more features, but the DirectLife has activity and nutrition coaches that motivate and comment on your activity for the first 12 weeks via email. That's pretty cool.

I think I should put one of these gadgets on my Wish list!

Comments

[Adrian]

Hi,

I have heard of that piece of equipment. From what I gather it is an amazing product.

I think Santa is going to get a request from me this year.

Adrian