By Helaina Thompson
Wearable fitness trackers such as FitBit “may not offer an advantage” when trying to lose weight, a study in the Journal of American Medicine Association reported last week. The study found that in a weight-loss program spanning two years, participants who wore activity and calorie tracking arm bands lost fewer pounds than those who did not.
Fitness-tracking die-hards need not throw their banded forearms up in protest. The researchers did note that previous shorter-term studies saw increased weight loss in participants who used activity- tracking devices. At this point, the science is a mixed bag.
In 2014, David Sedaris hilariously chronicled his devotion to fitness tracking for The New Yorker. When his FitBit died, Sedaris wrote, “Even running up the stairs and back, suddenly seemed pointless, since, without the steps being counted and registered, what use were they?”
I myself have been guilty of obsessive step counting. Pajama-clad, I once scurried around my block before bed to reach the sacred 10,000 daily steps. My step-mother, perhaps more nobly, tracks her activity with an app called CharityMiles, which donates 25 cents per mile to a charity of her choice when she walks the family dog.
“I think people are fascinated with [fitness tracking] because it makes them feel as though they are in control of their diet or exercise,” said Katherine Mellen, a University of Iowa lecturer in health and human physiology.
Still, the new study suggests fitness tracking is not an end-all-be-all solution to sustained weight loss. Calories in, calories out may seem a simple system to hack, yet weight loss journeys appear to vary according to diverse physiological, psychological, and environmental conditions.
For some, following the American Heart Association’s recommendations for physical activity — 30 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise five days per week (e.g., brisk walking) — could prove more beneficial than fitness tracking for losing or maintaining weight. An even more liberal option is intuitive exercise — simply following internal cues about what kind of physical activity the body and mind need on any particular day.
Tracking activity and food intake go hand in hand, and, like exercise, eating can be as intuitive or deliberate as one wishes. Oceans of calorie counters and food logs exist as apps and online. Meanwhile, the Blue Zones Project simply suggests eating until you feel 80 percent full. Michael Pollan, author of The Omnivore’s Dilemma, famously advised, “Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.”
“If individuals start with fruits and vegetables as the foundation of their meal and treat protein foods and grains as side dishes, they are very likely eating a balanced diet,” Mellen said.
There appears to be no need to worry if fitness tracking fails to fit into your routine or lifestyle. And we know this for certain: Calories have been moving in and out of human bodies for thousands of years without any digital record of it.