The Fitbit Ultra activity tracker

Who hates gyms? I do, I do!
Who hates biking? I do, I do!
Who hates running? I do, I do!
Whose doctor says, “You’ve got to get moving, Steve!” Mine!

Like millions of Americans and thousands of Marina-ites, I know I should get in shape, I kind of sort of want to get in shape, but I’ve been known to be sidetracked by something marginally good on TV, or by an invitation to share a plate of nachos, or by an unusual configuration of seagulls flapping above Marina Green.

But since Christmas, my life has been changed; my mental scale-weighing of exercise versus vegging out is now tipping more in favor of exercise. What was the miraculous source of this change? It was an impulse buy – a fancy USB pedometer called the Fitbit ($99 at Radioshack or www.Fitbit.com).

You may ask, “Is this the nerdiest fashion accessory since Texas Instruments’ TI-30 pocket calculator?” Before answering that question, let me tell you how it works. Clip the Fitbit on your pants pocket – or put it in your pocket – and an interface (which, unfortunately, must be shaded with your hand to read in bright daylight) will tell you the day’s count of how many steps you’ve taken, how many calories you’ve burned, how many flights of steps you’ve climbed, and how far your feet have taken you.

“Is this information useful in any way?” you ask. Yes. Having had the Fitbit clipped to my pocket since Christmas (looking like a 21st century iteration of a pager), I now am aware that my body feels sluggish if I haven’t taken at least 6,000 steps in a day.

So say it’s after lunch and the Fitbit display tells me I’ve only travelled 1,483 steps (just puttering around the house doing chores will give you roughly 1,000 steps). I now know that even though I’m an average-sized American, later in the day I am likely to feel like a grotesque, mutant sloth-human who is pulling away from a fast-food drive-thru with one hand in a gigantic bag on the passenger seat, despising myself almost as much as I despise the gym as I stuff a fistful of fries into my face and wonder how I can squeeze open those ketchup packets with one hand in a way that will not render the interior of the car looking like a drive-by shooting.

With the Fitbit, I can avoid that horror-movie feeling, and – this is key – I still do not have to go to the gym. Since I am aware of how many (or how few) steps my feet have traveled in a day, I can boost the number by taking an hour, or half an hour, between work and home and go hiking, or what I call trail running though others might call it a “fast tortoise on its hind legs sighting.” I do feel good after these minor forays into the world of exercise.

While exercising there are frequent checks of the Fitbit to see how many hundreds and thousands of steps I am racking up. My record in a day is little over 10,000 steps, which translates into roughly six miles of walking. “Ha ha ha,” real athletes and sweaty, fluorescent-light-exposed gym rats may laugh.
So to answer the question: Yes, the Fitbit is nerdy.

There are other devices on the market such as the Jawbone Up ($100 at www.jawbone.com/up), a bracelet that provides information similar to the Fitbit. Reviews note that plugging the Up into its power source is cumbersome. The Fitbit connects to its dock, which connects to your computer’s USB port. If you want, you can register the device and Fitbit.com will track your daily steps, calories burned, distance covered, and flights of stairs. The device resets at midnight, so you start at zero the next day.

Self-motivated Type As, and those motivated by $75 per hour personal trainers, might disdain the need for a fancy pedometer. More power to them.

The Fitbit, and related devices, seem useful for certain types of people – statistics geeks, the marginally motivated, and marginally motivated statistics geeks. What is revolutionary is that a tidbit of objective statistical knowledge at one’s fingertips can motivate certain types of people to be healthier.

The Marina Times tech team covering the International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas tells me that a “patch” from BodyMedia is coming to market that will monitor thousands of its wearer’s data points. No doubt these types of devices will eventually show up molded and sewn into sneakers and clothing. Right now, I’m good with knowing how many steps I’ve taken and how many I need to take so I don’t feel like a twice-baked couch potato with bacon bits, extra butter, cheddar, and sour cream (hold the chives, they’re too healthy).