Do you feel like your dieting and exercising just aren't working anymore? It could be that you're not "calculating" it all correctly. How many calories you've taken in and how many you've used up can be confusing. There's one simple, small device, that may help you find out why you've hit a wall.
Kim Houston is a dedicated dieter, but she hit a point where the scale wouldn't budge, "I stressed about it all the time and I was still not losing weight even though i was working on it!"
But now she's armed with a new gadget that's making sense of her weight loss efforts, "I can view how many calories I've burned, like today I've burned 2,111 already and then I can press this button to see how many steps I've taken."
The device is called SenseWear, and it provides near instant feedback. "This device, it's worn on the arm, and it measures directly how many calories you're burning throughout the day, whether you're sitting still or up and moving about," says Dr. Jamy Ard.
The device features temperature sensors plus an accelerometer that interprets all types of action. "You can actually pick up things like weightlifting and stationary bikes, whereas other devices won't necessarily pick that up," says Dr. Ard.
The armband also interfaces with a web page where users track what they eat. "It's half the equation, so we always encourage people to put all information in because that's the only way you're going to get good information out."
Dr. Ard says the 24-7 device makes it easier to know where you are in the weight loss equation. "It allows people to make decisions on the go about, 'well maybe I shouldn't eat that because thus far today, I've only burned half of the number of calories that I'm supposed to have burned.'"
The SenseWear device is only available through physician-supervised weight loss clinics. Patients rent the device or can buy it outright, and also pay a monthly fee to access the online diet tracking and reports.
