Why I Don't Use a Fitness Tracker Anymore

The pedometer—also known as the step counter—was first introduced to the public in 1965. Since then, technology has enabled fitness trackers to make tremendous advancements; they can do everything from calculating calorie expenditure to monitoring blood oxygen levels. Prices vary greatly, so just about anybody can own one. But do you really need a fitness tracker? This article will address my personal experience with fitness trackers and who I believe would benefit from using them. The focus will be exclusively on fitness and activity, so I won’t discuss certain safety features or other aspects unrelated to fitness that smartwatches offer.

I received my first fitness tracker in the form of an Apple Watch as a birthday gift in 2015. I wore it every day for several years, and I can safely say that it did make me more active. I enjoyed seeing the activity rings fill up throughout the day, and I would routinely challenge myself to break daily step records. When I got a notification that it was "Time to Stand," I stood. This gadget on my wrist was a valuable motivator, but it did have some psychological drawbacks.

Let's dive right in—I displayed behavior that could be considered erratic! It’s 11:50 p.m., and I still have to burn 20 calories before the clock strikes midnight to reach the burned calories goal. Like a fool, I ran around my apartment, probably woke my neighbors, and worked up a light sweat just before bed. I reached the calorie goal, but at what cost? Physiologically, the 20 calories were meaningless, but the anxiety of not filling that ring and ending my streak took over. Not being as active as my fitness tracker wanted me to be made me disappointed in myself. This is the first reason why I stopped wearing it—the watch was starting to stress me out.

The second reason may seem a little strange; however, it overlaps with the first. As we know, I was beholden to the stats and the goals derived from the watch. I also started to gain interest in traditional timepieces—I reached a crossroads! How was I going to wear a "real" watch while also tracking every step I took and every calorie I burned? The thought of wearing two watches (which people do) was anathema to me. I came to a very obvious realization: activity still occurs even if I don’t have a device telling me that it did. I didn’t need to track every step, calorie, and second of sleep. I had to break away from this tracker and become more in tune with my body. I know if I was active on a particular day; I know if I got a good sleep or not. I don’t need the metrics to tell me this.

It’s been a few years since using a fitness tracker, and I don’t plan on using one in the foreseeable future. I do track my calories consumed, and there are calculators online that can estimate, based on your age, sex, weight, height, and activity level, how many calories you need to consume to lose, gain, or maintain weight. This ballpark figure is good enough for me—I’m also skeptical of a fitness tracker’s accuracy in measuring calories burned, among other metrics. For the time being, I’ll stick with my Timex Ironman.

I mentioned in the second paragraph that my Apple Watch made me more active, but did it make me more fit? Absolutely not. I was too focused on hitting daily step and calorie objectives, and I didn’t care how I achieved them. Walking more didn’t elevate my heart rate to a zone where I was burning fat or improving my cardiovascular health. In other words, my goals had become distorted and had less to do with my body and more to do with the watch itself.

Enough about me—who should use a fitness tracker? I believe it depends mainly on two things: your current fitness level and your personality.

If you’re a beginner who needs that extra push to get off the couch and you feel like a fitness tracker could be a good extrinsic motivator, then by all means, purchase one and get moving—simple as. Fitness enthusiasts on the other end of the spectrum who can interpret the various data points and use them to set personal bests will also find fitness trackers very useful. With that being said, if you have a personality like mine and could see yourself relying too heavily on the watch to the point of experiencing unnecessary stress, you may want to pass.

Remember, fitness trackers are a part of a whole—a tool that can be useful in becoming and staying healthy. If used properly, one can yield very good results; if used obsessively, they may cause anxiety and burnout.