“What gets measured, gets managed.” – Peter Drucker
A gadget that inspires you to live healthy…
I’ve been wearing this wristband 24/7 for the last 3 days and wanted to share with you what I like, don’t like about this gadget.
Measuring your wrist size on the box.
Jawbone UP is a wristband that you wear which helps you stay motivated to do more exercise, eat well and sleep better by tracking your movement and sleep activity. The thing is, the simple act of paying attention to something will cause you to be more conscious about that activity and over time you’ll improve those areas – almost without any extra effort.
Studies show that even without changing your lifestyle, if all you do is just track your activities then over time you become more conscious about your health choices and start making better decisions. So using this gadget over time you’ll be able to see the patterns of choices you make and maybe improve them.
This wristband works with the companion iPhone app. It has PRECISION MOTION SENSOR which accurately tracks your movement and sleep activity. Then you download the data onto your iPhone and view it.
Sync with iPhone
Track Activity
Tracks your steps, activity level. Here you set a goal for yourself like 5,000 steps in a day and then measure yourself to that goal. I’ve noticed that even a moderate goal of 5,000 steps is sometimes difficult if you have a desk job, like me 
Activity Alert
This is one of my favorite thing. If you are sitting for a long time without any activity then the bracelet buzzes you to get up and move around. I feel it like a Zen Bracelet which reminds to stay in the present moment.
Track Sleep
Track your sleep length and quality. This feature I find really helpful since I can relate my days activity and food to the quality of sleep I have.
Smart Alarm
This is my second favorite feature. It vibrates on your wrist and intelligently wakes you up at the ideal moment in your natural sleep cycle just before your desired wake time.
Track Diet
Keeping a visual food journal has been shown to make us more conscious of what we eat. Just pausing for a second before you gobble down you meal makes you think. And it’s kind of embarrassing to take a photo of a big bag of chips which you are about to eat
Here’s a NY Times article on the benefits of clicking before eating.
Challenges and Social Features
From the app you can participate in challenges and if you know other people who own this then you can track each others progress and motivate each other.
I have not yet tried this thing.
What I Like
- Setting a goal for daily no. of steps and wanting to meet that goal.
- Smart alarm which wakes me up at the right time at my lightest sleep cycle.
- Activity alert which reminds me to stand up and walk around. I feel this like a Zen gong which reminds you to stay present.
- Visual Food Journal, which has been shown to make us more conscious of what we eat.
What I Don’t Like
- Some people might not like wearing this bracelet 24/7.
- The iPhone app is a good start, but needs more feature and ease of use.
You can pick this up online or at an Apple store or other big retailers.
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