weightloss
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Jawbone's Up wristband warms up at AT&T store, wants you faster, stronger
Jawbone's fitness-obsessed wristband appears to be closing in on the retail finish line. The Up pairs with what appears to be an iOS app, (no news on whether an Android version is in the pipeline), and will pile on the guilt about your disgustingly sedentary lifestyle. You can have the luxury of feeling like a weight loss reality show contestant by scheduling "get up and move" reminders when you've succumbed to watching back-to-back mediocre sitcoms with a Doritos family bag chaser. There's also a sleep tracker and a challenge tab to plot your amazing weight loss journey (or descent to an early demise) against friends and family. It'll monitor what you eat, and even tell you which foods "help you feel your best." (We think it's cake.) No word on price or arrival date just yet, so you'll just have to put up with Autom until we hear more. [Thanks, Luke]
Fitbit Ultra review
Oh, hey, Fitbit. Nice to see you again. Although we thought the original fitness tracker did too little for a $100 gadget, enough people apparently begged to differ, as the the outfit just trotted out a second-gen model, dubbed the Fitbit Ultra. Like its predecessor, this little guy analyzes eating, exercise and sleep patterns (largely with the help of an accompanying website). If you've been following along, you know that design hasn't changed much, while that website and hundred-buck price should be mighty familiar, too. This time around the company is adding a few new features, including Foursquare-esque badges and an altimeter for counting how many steps you've climbed. But does this series of minor enhancements add up to a significant improvement? Time to lace up your running shoes, kids, and meet us after the break. %Gallery-135129% %Gallery-135381%
Autom lady-bot will help you lose weight, love you regardless
Aw, this little cutie is so adorable -- until she denies you pizza and cheese fries. Autom, the 15-inch talking droid we first caught a glimpse of last year, is back and available for pre-order. Using the LCD touch screen, hungry dieters are prompted to enter daily calorie consumption and exercise habits -- to which the robot will respond kindly to keep you motivated. With face-tracking capabilities and a killingly sweet death stare, Autom is always watching, which might just make you feel guilty enough to skip the dip. The lady bot costs $195 for the deposit and $670 for the device through company's website. Slated to ship in 2012, apparently aiding the impending robot apocalypse doesn't come cheap. Check out little Autom in action after the break.
Buff(ing) for BlizzCon: Well fed
Buff(ing) for BlizzCon is a bi-weekly fitness series written by ShrinkGeek authors Rafe Brox and Michael McGreevy. Join the WoW.com team in getting in shape for the ultimate WoW geek event: BlizzCon 2010. People will ingest a lot of weird things in the name of health, strength, recovery, or "hey, I dare ya!" All right, sure, I'm extrapolating to "people" from "me," but have you looked at the ingredient list for some of the buffing consumables we make our characters choke down? Look, buddy, I don't care what kind of stat boost it gives, I'm not eating any damn Kaldorei Spider Kabobs (and I've eaten tempura sushi dipped in molten chocolate. See "I dare ya," above, with the "I will if you will" proviso). But, really, would our toons get much benefit from eating this stuff, and, if so, would it square with what the buff they receive is? What about characters who role-play having a dietary restriction, whether or not that mirrors their behavior in real life? Could a vegetarian find some stat-boosting snacks? What about folks who hew to something like the raw-food credo - are any of the recipes obviously something that won't have to be concocted over high heat? Primalists and Paleo diet aficionados would be in their element, and might even make up the majority of Azeroth's population.
Autom, the robot weight loss coach: we'll just keep the friends that lie to us, thanks
Autom is a tiny robot, and he's getting closer than ever to availability. His whole job? To coach you to lose weight... that's right, Autom is a dieting robot. You start off by entering the details of your diet, fitness level, and exercise into Autom's databank, and then he sits on your countertop and has daily 'conversations' with you -- which we assume are full of a lot of reassuring aphorisms and 'go get 'em' talk. Developed by Cory Kidd (who built the first iteration by hand) while studying at MIT, Autom is set to go into trials in the US sometime next year with a major insurance company. Now, we're all for healthy living, and everyone knows we love robots, but we're inclined to take a pass on Autom... if only because we can't stand to hear the truth 100 percent of the time. If you hit up the source link, you can see a video of the little guy in action. A video of an earlier version of Autom is after the break.
Buff(ing) for BlizzCon: Programming for dummies
Buff(ing) for BlizzCon is a bi-weekly fitness series written by ShrinkGeek authors Rafe Brox and Michael McGreevy. Join the WoW.com team in getting in shape for the ultimate WoW geek event: BlizzCon. From the comments and discussion after the last installment of Buff(ing) for BlizzCon, we learned that reader Saitenyo has combined a laptop with an exercise bike so she can get her exercise and WoW fix at the same time. Sweet! Settle down, everybody, I'm not going to bust out something like COBOL, or even worse, FORTRAN (which during my one programming class in college, I got a D in). Rather, this goes out to the folks who are ready to take things to the next level and are thinking about coming up with their own workout plan and strategy. Much like developing a character spec or laying out the route for a road trip, it's often best to approach things from the far end and work your way back to where you are now, so you know both where you want to end up and how to get there. As the man behind the Jabberwock (no, not American McGee) said, "If you don't know where you're going, any road will get you there."
Buff(ing) for BlizzCon: It begins
This is a guest post written by ShrinkGeek contributor Rafe Brox. Get in shape in time for BlizzCon along with the WoW.com crew! If there's one thing that Blizzard does well, it's build anticipation for upcoming events. And, other than the release of upcoming expansions, nothing gets players going like BlizzCon itself. With it being six months away, it's certainly not too early to begin thinking about going, but that brings with it logistical and social considerations. I'll leave the logistics to someone in the hospitality or travel industry; however, for anyone who wants to make a killer impression on their fellow gamers, this column is for you. Welcome to Buff(ing) for BlizzCon, a bi-weekly guide to getting in shape, brought to you by the fitness freaks at ShrinkGeek. To quote Hanz and Franz, "Vee ahr goink to pahmp joo ahp!" Keen observers of this space may be saying to themselves, "Hey, wait a minute... that sounds a little familiar." You would be absolutely correct. That said, (re-)introductions are probably in order.
BodyTrace rolls out GSM-enabled eScale
Sure, a WiFi-equipped scale may be good enough for most people -- since, you know, you're likely to keep your scale in your house -- but it looks like those not satisfied do now have another option in the form of BodyTrace's new GSM-enabled eScale. Of course, the big advantage here is ease of setup rather than portability, since you'll be able to automatically (and privately) upload your weight to the BodyTrace website without having to first mess with WiFi settings and whatnot. Somewhat surprisingly, the eScale is also actually cheaper than something like Withings' WiFi scale, with it running just $59.99 including a year of service -- or, alternatively, $9.99 a month with a $9.99 up-front setup fee (which also includes the scale).
Wii Fit push up bars make sense, but this one isn't worth dollars
Push-up bars for the Wii Balance Board? Now that sounds like a fantastic idea -- just the thing broad-shouldered individuals need to play Wii Fit without backstrain. Too bad this particular set of bars isn't worth the plastic it's printed from. The latest and greatest from the minds in the chintzy plastic peripheral industry, the $25 CTA Digital Wii Push Up Bar is held in place by only your weight and a few foam strips without reinforcement of any kind, meaning it could detach itself with any significant exertion. The only good that comes out of all this is an embarrassing video demonstration after the break, which features a pair of smiling humans pretending to have fun with the contraption. QVC, eat your heart out.
Riiflex Wiimote dumbbells cease being a joke, now on sale
You know, we were surprised these Wii Remote appendages actually made it to the pre-order stage way back in April of last year, a feeling which slowly dissipated as they failed to make it out to real retail. Until now. The 2lb / 1kg Riiflex sleeves for your Nintendo-approved wand are ready to purchase, starting at a cent under $30, though the 5lb variety promised earlier is yet to make an appearance -- perhaps it's become yet another victim of the harsh, cutthroat economics of the Wii peripheral business. Anyhow, if you wanna take your Wii Fitness to the next level, the source link will get the set of two to your door with free delivery, though it might be a bit late in helping you shape up for V day.
First Look: iFlex trainer for Bowflex
As the owner of a new Bowflex system, I was excited to be able to try the $1.99 iFlex app from Redkab Creative [iTunes link]. For the new system owner, this app is really helpful. It provides a video reference library that shows you how to use the equipment to perform a wide range of exercises for every part of the body. Each movement is categorized into an area of your anatomy, including shoulders, chest, arms, legs, and so forth. Within each category are a dozen or more individual exercises. Each unit contains both a video overview and a starting and ending position -- very helpful when trying to understand exactly how to perform the exercise. In addition to the reference material, iFlex offers a virtual trainer. This section of the app includes suggested workout routines for gaining muscle, losing weight, and toning. You can track your sets, report the number of pounds lifted and your reps. Days 6 and 7 instruct you to "take the day off." I did not find any graphing tools or any way to track progress otherwise, nor can you create your own workouts. To wrap up the program, a simple fitness calculator figures out your BMI (Body-Mass Index, the same index used by Wii Fit), BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate), and your TDEE (Total Daily Energy Expenditure). It's a nice enough feature, but something of an afterthought. iFlex was nicely designed and for just two bucks, it's a great accessory to a Bowflex-style system. My personal unit is different from the one used in the videos, but it wasn't hard to adapt the instructions to the realities of the equipment in use. I'm looking forward to using iFlex over the next few weeks to add to my workout vocabulary.TUAW is commonly provided with not-for-resale licenses or promo codes to permit product evaluations and reviews. For more details, see our policy page.
Withings WiFi Body Scale integrates Twitter, launches in the US
You know that friend -- we all have one -- that bores you with incessant tweets regarding his weight, his caloric intake, number of miles jogged, so on and so forth? Well, don't let him get a hold on this: finally available in the US, the WiFi Body Scale by Withings has received a bit of an upgrade, with its web app now offering Twitter integration. Not only does this bad boy register your weight, body fat, and BMI, but you can now configure it to send your stats to "the Twitter" either daily, weekly, monthly, or each and every time you weigh -- and your followers will start dropping faster than even you could imagine. But don't take our word for it! As our man Cedric Hutchings (the company's general manager) states, "adding this social functionality makes the WiFi scale by Withings the first true flagship of the Internet of Objects." Right. He might have added that the company's given "fail whale" an entirely new meaning. Yours for $159. PR after the break.
Fitbit review
It wasn't that long ago that a bathroom scale was the only gadget you needed to track weight loss. Today even videogame consoles, once the bane of the fitness industry, are trying to help you recycle that spare tire, and of course there's no shortage of specialty doo-dads getting in on the action. The Fitbit is one of those, a little accelerometer that pledges to keep an eye on what you do so that you can just go ahead and do it, reporting back at the end of the day on how well you did at staying active. It sounds nice, but it's not quite that self-sufficient. Read on to see if it's worth the commitment. %Gallery-75475%
WiFi-enabled bathroom scale slides into USA, overweight Yanks sluggishly back away
Oh sure, we Americans love our fast food. And we love our technology. But do we really love the latter? Withings has just announced that the world's first WiFi-enabled bathroom scale has made its way into the States after a few months abroad, and we have to say, this could change everything. When pouncing upon it, the scale automatically records the user's body weight, lean / fat mass and calculated body mass index (BMI) to his or her secure webpage, and if you're more the iPhone type, it can beam data to a Withings iPhone app as well. It's available now for $159, but you can certainly wait 'til your latest diet has had some sort of effect before bringing one home. A delightful demonstration video is waiting for you just past the break.
Nike+ iPod equals a weight loss success formula
(As a follow up to Tim Wasson's 'An Apple a Day' fitness plan, I thought I'd share my experience on how the Nike+ iPod kit helped me lose weight.) It's high noon in Los Angeles on a late May Sunday. But this isn't your typical Sunday. You see, I'm about to finish my first ever marathon. As I make my way toward the finish line, I hear the roar of thousands of spectators cheering me on. For those who have yet to experience this, I tell them that there's no other feeling like it -- one where thousands of people, who know nothing about you, are willing you to finish the final meters of a 26.2 mile race. As I make my way toward finish line, I think of everything that led up to this moment, and how much running has changed my life. But I don't think I'd have made it this far had it not been for the Nike+ iPod kit; for by changing the running experience, it's also changed my feelings about running.
TUAW Fitness: An Apple a day makes the weight go away
I've struggled with my weight for a long time. In my free-wheeling post-college days I lived with my two best friends, sitting around playing video games, drinking beer and eating Taco Bell. I put on a lot of weight in a short amount of time with that diet and exercise schedule, topping out at 260 pounds. I decided enough was enough, and I strapped on my running shoes, straightened up my eating habits, and lost almost 90 pounds. In the years that have followed, my weight has gone up and down several times, and I'm at the point now that I need to get serious about losing weight again. According to my BMI, at 6'3" I should top out at 199 pounds, and right now I'm at 225. This time my weight loss should be easier since I have 3 secret weapons: my iPhone 3GS, my Mac and my AppleTV. Read on for my weight loss plan and how these Apple products will help me achieve my goals.
Withings Connected Body Scale remembers what you'd rather forget
More often the object of dread than fascination, the humble bathroom scale has been given a makeover by Withings, which has injected the Connected Body Scale with WiFi and an online progress tracking system not too dissimilar from that used by Nike+. This sleek metallic device is accurate to 100 grams -- oh yes, it's metric, like it should be -- and conducts a body mass analysis that can tell you the uncomfortable truth, should you care to know it. Accessing progress data can be done via a free iPhone app or the company's website, which is also the best place to plop down the €129 ($184) entry fee. And don't tell us you're not interested, somebody is buying up all those Wii Fit boards and it sure as hell isn't us. Video after the break.Update: Withings tells us that pound measurements are also available for you eccentric old schoolers, and September should see a US release priced at $159, so good news all around.[Via Chip Chick]
Keep your New Year's resolutions: a Holiday Gift Guide
Ahhhh, New Year's resolutions. You promise that you're going to take better care of yourself, improve your life, and then you usually break all of those resolutions by January 2nd. This year's going to be different, right? Here are some gift ideas to help you keep your 2009 New Year's resolutions. Weight Loss Unless you're the lean and mean marathon Mac man and real-life action figure Adam Engst, you could probably afford to lose some weight. Resolving to lose a few pounds is a classic New Year's resolution, and one that's very easy to break. Fortunately, there are some Mac and iPhone applications that can help you to stay the course: CalorieKing Nutrition & Exercise Manager for Mac OS X -- This US$45.00 application has a huge food database and makes it simple to drag-and-drop caloric information into a food diary. Exercise tracking and a weight log are included as well. BeFit -- TUAW covered the debut of this US$15.95 Mac application earlier this year, and it remains a good program for tracking what you put in your mouth. Remember, you can get BeFit at half-price if you're a current Jon Brown Designs customer.
Flickr Find: A polished weight tracking app
Having been a connoisseur of fine design since the first Mac hit the streets in '84, I'm always attracted to apps that have that certain polish that is associated with Apple products. That's why I was impressed when I went out and looked at the Flickr pool for Weightbot, an upcoming iPhone app that does one simple thing elegantly -- it tracks your weight.Designer Mark Jardine and developer Paul Haddad expect Weightbot to be released in the next couple of weeks, and it's an app I'd consider buying just for the looks! From the bathroom scale-like Weightbot mascot (at right) to the custom controls for entering your weight, it's apparent that Mark spent some time thinking about the look and user interface of the app, and that Paul was able to implement Mark's vision.The custom date scroller is especially attractive and functional, making it easy to see at a glance when you entered your weight as you flick through the days. I look forward to seeing Weightbot and future iPhone apps from this team at Tapbots.
15 Minutes of Fame: Lean and mean with WoW
15 Minutes of Fame is our look at World of Warcraft players of all shapes and sizes – from the renowned to the relatively anonymous, the remarkable to the player next door. Tip us off to players you'd like to hear more about.Just a few weeks ago, we published a post about two guys who connected their treadmills to their computers to find out just what it would be like to really take a little jog down the road from Shadowglen to Darnassus. (Hilarity ensued.) But that got us thinking ... What if these guys had actually kept playing that way, turning their WoW-time into a potent weight-loss strategy?It turns out that quite a few players have done exactly that. Back in 2006, The Weight Lifter lost more than 40 pounds with two-hour "WarBiking" sessions on an exercise bike while playing WoW. ("If things got crazy -- as in, I ended up running for my life in the game -- I would end up peddling really fast on the bike. LOL, I know, kinda weird. You try it and see what you do!") Then we talked to Althaea of Terror Nova-H on Eitrigg. Althaea has lost almost 100 pounds playing WoW from a treadmill, shrugging off a diagnosis of sleep apnea and creating an exercise routine that has definitely stuck. Find out how he put it all together, after the break.
