A week ago I decided to take the plunge and purchase the Up24 fitness band by Jawbone. In short, it tracks how many steps you take, what you eat, and how long you sleep. I have used it for a full 7 days and I have to say, I absolutely love it, and here’s why:

1. It does most of the heavy lifting.

As someone who isn’t the best of keeping track of things, the Up24 monitors, records and analyzes my sleep, motion, and eating with little to no effort on my part. Its bluetooth capability allows for it to sync up my activity with the app on my iPhone 5s. To go into sleep mode I simply push the button on the band until the moon shows up, and when I wake up, I just switch it back. What’s even more awesome is that if I forget to put it into sleep mode, I can manually input the data in the app on my phone, no harm no foul. Every time I move, the Up24 logs it. It also calculates the calories you burn while at rest in conjunction with the calories you burn from movement. The only real “work” (besides exercise)  on my part is logging my eating habits, which brings me to my next reason.

2. Up24 syncs with other fitness apps

I use apps, Myfitnesspal and RunKeeper, so I was pleasantly surprised that Up24 syncs with multiple fitness apps. It takes my eating and workout data from the apps and syncs it with the Up24 app. For example, if I enter my lunch in Myfitnesspal, Up24 will add that to its app and calculate the data, that way I don’t have to repeat the steps, so it’s quite handy.

3. The Design

The Up24 does not take up as much wrist real-estate as other fitness bands, which is convenient. It looks more like a bracelet and isn’t an eyesore. It’s also simple to use. There’s one single button at one end which is used for a stopwatch or to switch back and forth from sleep to awake mode. The other end is the 2.5 mm plug used to charge the device. The Up24 lasts about 7 days and it only took me about 2 hours for it to fully charge. For me that’s incredibly convenient.

4. It makes being healthy fun

Since tracking my physical activity, I became aware of how important it is to remain active. They say it’s a good rule of thumb to walk 10,000 steps a day. Before, was I probably doing 7,500 or so. Now I’m between 11,000-13,000 a day and it wasn’t hard to make the change at all! In addition of tracking the data, it also marks your progress and gives you an “atta-girl” from time to time. I totally love this, I mean who doesn’t like positive reinforcement? Also I’ve been more conscious about my food habits. Not only does it count the calories, it gives you the breakdown of what you’re eating; I.E. carbs, protein, fiber, etc. I’ve literally switched up how I eat because I realized how many empty calories I’d been eating. Also, I make it a point to get at least 7 hours of sleep. On average I’d say I was getting 4-5.5 and the change has helped me significantly.

5. It’s changed my attitude toward eating healthy and exercising regularly

I’ve always found both topics to be rather tedious and time consuming. How important is it to be healthy and active anyways? Turns out it’s quite important. Being healthy is not only good for you physically but also mentally. This last week, I’ve been happier, less anxious, and my cognitive functionality has drastically improved. Did you know that eating junk religiously can make you forgetful and not focus? I didn’t until recently, and after eating “clean” for a week, I can truly notice the difference. I’m also more productive as well. I don’t see working out as a chore anymore either. Also I’ve made a more conscious effort to find healthier options while eating out with friends. Yesterday I found a phenomenal vegan store that sold the best wraps I’ve ever had, and the price was not bad at all!

So, I’m no fitness guru nor am I aspiring to be one, though I must admit since purchasing Up24, I’ve been more active than I have in quite some time and eating healthy is fun and not annoying as I had once thought. It is a bit pricey ($149) So I wouldn’t recommend getting one if you’re not going to utilize it, unless you’ve got money to burn :-). All in all, it’s a great product, and I’m happy to have it.