User:Michelle.dillon/sandbox

In May of 2013, Fitbit released the Fitbit Flex, which is a new fitness tracking device that one wears on the wrist. It monitors and records one’s movement 24 hours a day, including calories burned, active minutes, distance traveled, steps walked, how long and efficiently one sleeps, how often one wakes up, and their sleep patterns. It has a simple display of 5 LED lights and has almost all the same sync functions as the Fitbit One and the Zip. These LED lights lets users physically see how close they are to reaching their goals and inspires them to reach them and even aim higher. Compared to the One, the altimeter has been removed, therefore the number of stairs climbed is not counted. The Flex is also the first water-resistant tracker; it can be worn while showering and swimming. Along with other multiple uses, the Flex has a vibrating silent alarm and consciously reminds people to get moving. There are also multiple free online tools and a smartphone app available to download so that one’s progress can be synced in real time through bluetooth. These tool were developed so that one can set goals and monitor their progress through visual displays. The Flex also helps one discover trends in their eating habits, sleep patterns, and daily exercise routine. Although there has not been any clinical or peer reviewed research done to prove that the wearing of the Flex actively helps people change their habits and lead a healthier lifestyle there is evidence that daily monitoring of one’s health is very beneficial. For example, David Levitsky has found that weighing oneself daily is an extremely combative way to help fight off the common weight gain during college. His scholarly peer reviewed research states that “In an open clinical trial, demonstrated that not only was daily weighing effective as an adjunct to behavior therapy in helping moderately obese patients lose weight, but they were able to maintain the weight loss to a greater extent over a 2-year period than a group who received behavior therapy alone.” Kerri Boutelle also made a similar discovery that cognitive-behavioral treatment for obesity with a self-monitoring intervention during the high risk holiday season was effective as well. Overall the Flex was designed to be easy to wear, and extremely motivating to remind people to keep moving and make conscious healthier choices each day.

Levitsky, David. Monitoring weight daily blocks the freshman weight gain: a model for combating the epidemic of obesity. Diss. Cornell University, Ithica: Nature Publishing Group, 2006. Web. 

Boutelle, Kerri. "How can obese weight controllers minimize weight gain during the high risk holiday season?." American Psychological Association. American Psychological Association, n.d. Web. 22 Oct 2013. [http://. .]