Activity trackers are designed to encourage you to move throughout the day. And although just wearing one won’t help you slim down, a tracker has the potential to guide you to successful weight loss. The key is learning how to use your tracker better in order to reach your goals (and get your money’s worth.)
Here are some tips to make the most out of an activity tracker:
Tip #1 Separate Step Count From Exercise
Exercise steps can’t count in both categories. Exercise should be an addition to, not a substitute for, non-exercise activity.
There are two ways to burn extra calories throughout the day: exercise activity and non-exercise activity. To lose weight faster you need to maximize both of these numbers. That means you need to burn calories from exercise and calories from non-exercise steps.
Tip #2 Track Your Sleep
If you are not getting enough sleep, you may eat more the next day out of fatigue. Poor sleep can also reduce the number of calories you burn from activity throughout the day. You can make reasonable changes to get better sleep when you start to see the data that is tracked.
Tip #3 Wear it Everyday
If you want to lose weight with a fitness tracker, you need to actually wear it every day. That means you wear it even on your lazy days, your “off” days and days when you don’t plan to follow any of your exercise or diet rules. Those days matter more than your “on” days. This helps collect the most accurate data for you.
Remember, your fitness tracker can only be useful if you gather accurate data and if you can use the data to change your behavior and lose weight. The data alone, the wristband alone, and the app alone do nothing to help you lose weight. So, pick and choose the information you use and make smart changes to reach your weight loss goals.
References:
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28488834/
https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/weight-loss/expert-answers/activity-trackers-for-weight-loss/faq-20348545
