Physical fitness has always been an important part of my life. I’ve actually enjoyed the challenge of the strenuous regime of Army bootcamp (not for everyone) and training and running in a few marathons –including one a few years ago with my mother when she was in her early 70s.
I realize I may be a little extreme and have had the good fortune of inheriting good genes. But research shows that Boomers are exercising more, joining health clubs and working with personal trainers as never before. That’s great news.
Personal tech is certainly encouraging more active and healthier lifestyles – from helping to motivate us, monitor our workouts, encourage us to eat better and, when needed, to take our medications properly.
A couple of years ago, I became an early adopter and big fan of personal activity tracking technology, which has since become a symbol of health and fitness. The proposition behind this fast growing category is to put a personal trainer on your wrist or in your pocket. These bracelets and/or clip-ons let you know how active you are when you’re awake, track how many calories you eat/burn each day, how well you sleep at night – all conveniently from a dashboard on your smartphone or PC.
Fitbit, Jawbone Up, and the Nike FuelBand are just a few of the major tracker brands. Most of these devices perform equally well – and it comes down to a matter of personal preference in design and price. Most devices are waterproof and range from $80 to $200. PC Mag did a recent thorough review of the top ones.
It’s just amazing how addicting these little devices can be. When I get close to my recommended 10,000 daily steps, I have extra motivation to take the stairs or walk around the block one more time. Actually, until it’s logged as a step, to some of us it doesn’t feel like we’ve accomplished it. Since you can track and challenge your friends, you certainly want to keep up with, if not exceed their steps!
What’s exercise without a good diet? Calorie counting apps abound too. A couple to check out are MyFitnessPal, which offers a free database of 3000 foods, and LoseIt, also allowing you to track your food and exercise, and connect to people and your devices. I have friends that still swear by the tried and true WeightWatchers’ points plan, which has also gone digital and mobile.
If you’re not into diet, how about staying healthy by simply eating a meal slowly, like our mothers told us? The HAPIfork is an electronic fork that tracks the number of fork servings taken per minute per meal. It transmits your eating data from your fork to your with computer and/or smartphone. Priced at $99, it includes a coaching program that offers helpful dietary advice. I confess this one is not exactly my cup of tea. Forgive the pun, but there’s something out there for everyone’s taste.
Note to ourselves: Most of these devices are collecting data so that we can see patterns and monitor our health plans. But we have to realize that the collection of our private data is also happening – and we need to be mindful and ever vigilant of how our data is being used and protected. Know your rights. As a starting point take a look at our ebook on the topic of Digital Privacy. And stay tuned for constantly updated info at blogs.AVG.com.
On a final note- for some, exercise and diet is not enough to keep us healthy – and we need medication assist to control things like blood pressure. Did you know 2 out of 3 Americans don’t take their medication correctly, which can lead to illness, hospital visits or additional health problems, and, of course, untold millions in wasted medicine and healthcare costs. It’s pretty alarming when you look at recent stats. Of course there’s technology that can help us keep you keep track of your proper medication and supplement routine. An interesting one is Glowcaps. It’s basically a little computer cap to put on your pill bottles. Once activated, the plug-in reminder light and cap connect to the AT&T Mobile Broadband Network, giving you both light and sound indicators for scheduled medications, vitamins and supplements. I also recently read about ingestible pills with sensors now being tested and studied in the US and UK. OK, so maybe you draw the ingestible sensors.
There are many additional ways technology will help us stay healthy in the future while enabling a longer and more active lifestyle. It’s easy to foresee a future of increased healthcare, greater activity and physician connectivity.