Paula Haddock - HERLIFE Magazine

herlife | healthGADGETSTOHELP YOUGETHEALTHYby catie watsonIf you’re taking control of your health by improving your diet andincreasing your exercise, there are a profusion of new gadgets tohelp you track your progress and stay motivated. Thanks to digitaltechnology, wireless communication and social media, gettinghealthy can be a lot more fun.Today’s modern pedometers do more than count your steps.The Omron Pocket Pedometer measures steps taken, distancecovered and calories burned. It also keeps a seven-day history ofyour activity in its memory. Besides measuring steps, distance andcalories, the Striiv Smart Pedometer motivates you with a colortouch screen and built-in apps. Part pedometer and part gamingsystem, the Striiv lets you play games that are powered by your walking,compete with family and friends, view your stats and goals at theStriiv website and share your progress via Facebook and Twitter.The Nike+Fuelband is the ultimate digital pedometer. This personalactivity-tracking gadget is a sleek bracelet with a built-in screenthat displays steps taken as well as overall movement, time elapsedand calories burned. You can use it to track all types of exercise, fromwalking to shooting hoops. With the push of a button you can syncyour data via Bluetooth with the Nike+ website or an iPhone app andthen view a graph of your day’s activity on your computer or phone.Watching your weight is less of a chore when you use a hightechbathroom scale. Digital readouts have become the norm and thenewest twist is a digital scale that talks. A company called NewlineWhen you’re looking for healthand fitness gadgets, don’t forgetyour smartphone. There are ahuge number of fitness appsavailable for both Apple andAndroid devices, though manyare not worth downloading.makes a scale that will announce your weight in pounds or kilograms.Operation of the Newline Digital Talking Bathroom Scale istotally hands-free. You turn it on with a tap of your foot and it turns8 HERLIFEMAGAZINE.COM