As it’s the start of a New Year I thought I would start a new project – looking at gadgets and services designed to help our  well being (by that I actually mean – my well being), including diet and fitness based products. At this point I’m not exactly sure where this project will lead me however I have been meaning to tackle “that” problem for some time so tying it in with this blog and a look at technology and gadgets that may help seems appropriate.

“That” problem is my weight with which I have one of those love/hate relationships. I hate putting weight on but I love my food too much. It doesn’t help that I have a particularly sedentary work habit (that means I sit down a lot) as I’m often listening at a press conference, writing an article or working on a software development project but before I shell out a hefty fee for joining a local fitness centre that I’ll probably never attend I thought I would turn to tech.

By looking at and testing well-being based gadgets I should, at the very least, get some regular reminders that I’m on the big D. So, the gadgets I have in mind so far, to have a look at and test, include Pedometers, Digital Scales, Powerball, Heart Rate Monitors, Gaming, and web based services for recording progress and gaining an understanding of what’s going on.  If you have ideas/suggestions for other gadgets, gizmos, or services then please let me know.

The first gadget, of course, was in my local pharmacy which has one of the “ideal weight” machines that you stand on and it pronounces to the whole store just how many mince pies you’ve eaten over Christmas. So, let’s introduce the elephant in the room straight away and tell you that my reading said I currently weigh in at 23 stone and 12 pounds and I am standing tall at 6 foot – before you say anything – I know.

Next, I signed up with Tesco Diets but before it would let me join it demanded to know why I wanted to lose weight. There wasn’t an option for “Because I am writing Blog posts about it” so I opted for the more run of the mill “I want to improve my health” option.

After filling in some basic details including my date of birth, height, weight and “frame type”, the site reported my BMI as 45 and to reinforce the shocking news it even went to the trouble of including a largely representative icon of me in bright red to, you know, REALLY DRIVE HOME THE POINT!!

It also told me that my healthy weight range is 10st 7lbs to 13st 2lbs. I was then asked if I have any medical conditions such as Diabetes, High Blood Pressure, or Cholesterol problems. Fortunately, a recent check with the Doctor demonstrated that, other than my childhood Asthma rearing its head again, I’m fine.

(image credits: Tesco Diets)

So, I was ready to plough ahead but at this point the site told me I needed to choose a plan type with an associated cost (from £1.50 per week). Ah, I hadn’t bargained on that. So, before I go empty what’s left of the Christmas coffers I ought to look at what I want to get out of an online service:

• Regular recordings and progress charts
• Access from a mobile device
• Support, motivation and mentoring from qualified sources
• Regular feedback and guidance

Looking for alternative options the next site I headed to was FitDay which asked all the similar questions and gave an even more specific BMI value of 45.3 but fortunately no iconic representation this time. It did have a My Goal tracker which got me thinking about an initial target to aim for – it also usefully allows me to record regular measurements so I may use this application in the sort term.

This free site is supported by Ads and surprisingly (or not) the first ad that appeared was from, you guessed it, Tesco Diets!

(image credit: FitDay)