Mobile fitness recording devices are scientifically proven to help you lose weight

A recent study carried out by the Department of Preventive Medicine, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine on ‘Integrating Technology Into Standard Weight Loss Treatment’ found that mobile health tracking devices are a valuable tool for people wishing to lose weight and keep it off.

In this study, 70 clinically obese adults were offered access to quarterly healthy eating and exercise and told to record everything that they ate and the exercise they did. One group did this using pen and paper and the second group were given a personal digital assistant to record their eating and exercise habits on. They also received a phone call from a personal coach every two weeks for six-months to assess their progress.

The group with the mobile trackers on average lost 8.6 pounds and managed to keep it off for an entire year. The mobile device users who’d attended the optional health education classes with an attendance rate of 80 percent or more lost 15 pounds. In comparison, the group that recorded their habits on paper barely lost any weight at all, and those that did short-term, put the weight back on just a quickly.

The study concluded that:

“The addition of a personal digital assistant and telephone coaching can enhance short-term weight loss in combination with an existing system of care. Mobile connective technology holds promise as a scalable mechanism for augmenting the effect of physician-directed weight loss treatment.”

There are many personal fitness mobile devices available, however the Fitbit Ultra is considered to be the most advanced and user-friendly. The stylish yet discreet Fitbit Ultra monitors your activity all day to provide you with real-time feedback on steps, distance, calories burned, and stairs climbed to encourage you to walk more and be more active. It wirelessly uploads your data to Fitbit.com so you can gain deeper insight into your daily or monthly fitness and sleep levels with free online graphs and charts. On Fitbit.com, you can earn fitness badges, connect with friends to share and compete on fitness goals, or join the Fitbit community for advice and encouragement. As the study by Northwestern University shows, sharing your progress and getting support is just as important as recording your habits. It is great to feel like you are part of an online community that are all working towards similar goals and are eager to cheer each other on!