2012 Gift Guide: High-Tech Fitness Monitors

High-Tech Fitness Monitors

After some recent surgery my doctor gave me an ultimatum. "Get the weight off NOW!". I was/am having some health complications due to my weight and while I have known I needed to lose the extra weight for years, his order finally got my off my butt and back out walking and working out.

Once I started working out, and monitoring my calorie intake, I wanted to apply some high-tech to the process. It is great to be able to track your actual activity level and calories burned on a regular basis so you can use it in calculations about what to eat, when to work out and how to work out. All three of these devices fit the bill by providing not only a large amount of data and stats, but they also provide social media linkage to share your results, and compete with, your friends and family. In some cases, these devices can also track your sleeping habits and provide some help if you are having issues in that regard.

As is always the case, the easier it is to grab data, the more likely we are to do it. All these devices connect to your computer and the Internet automatically to download and process the data created.

I haven't made my decision about which device to get just yet, although the BodyMedia FIT LINK Armband comes with a high recommendation from a good friend who is using it. Check out the options available and find the one that works best for you. More importantly, of course, get out there and DO something -- TODAY!

More 2012 Gift Guide Items:

Microsoft release Outlook.com email services to replace Hotmail

Today Microsoft released its new email service Outlook.com to replace its Hotmail brand. This new streamlined Metro interface design looks good and functions well so far. You can use your existing Microsoft account to log in and then choose an email alias (i.e. douglaswelch@outlook.com) for your new email address. Here are several articles that discuss Outlook.com... Goodbye, Hotmail; Hello, Outlook.com [REVIEW] Outlook Is a Completely New, Feature-Filled Webmail Service from Microsoft Go Get Your @Outlook Email Address Quick Before Someone Else Does I will post links to more articles and reviews as they appear.

Shared calendars are one part of an organized family

by Douglas E. Welch , techiq@welchwrite.com 206-338-5832 Reader/Listener Line As a parent with a school-age child, I often hear other parents bemoaning their disorganized existence. Along with the busy schedules of two working parents you might have art classes, karate classes, Little League, soccer and more. Add in more than one kid and organizing your life can quickly become a nightmare. This is exactly why one of my most important organizing devices is a shared calendar that reflects all the activities and events for everyone in the household...and I do mean everything. If someone -- is required to be somewhere -- at sometime, it goes into the calendar. If we are given a calendar that reflects all the events for a particular activity (say, Little League), all these events immediately go into the calendar, along with notations on whether we are providing the team snack, working in the snack bar, etc. Even events that occur anytime during the day, like family birthdays, and other rem

TechIQ Gift Guide #15: Sams Teach Yourself Wordpress 3 in 10 minutes

#15 Sams Teach Yourself Wordpress 3 in 10 minutes Chuck Tomasi , fellow Friends in Tech member and co-author of Podcasting for Dummies , along with another Friends in Tech member and podcasting partner, Kreg Steppe , have a new book out that would be a great gift for anyone interested in blogging and New Media. Wordpress is my first recommendation when someone wants to get started with blogging, but it can be a little intimidating. It is very powerful and with power comes complexity. That said, this book can help to jumpstart your Wordpress knowledge and help you be productive. There is also a companion podcast to the book, Wordpress in 10, available from the author's web site. From Amazon.com... "Sams Teach Yourself WordPress in 10 Minutes gives you straightforward, practical answers when you need fast results. By working through its 10-minute lessons, you’ll learn everything you need to build great blogs with WordPress and WordPress.org, and reach any audience by web brows

TechnologyIQ

Search This Blog