Fitness Bug

I’ve been on a workout kick for about six months, so I’ve been keeping my eyes open for any gizmo, Website or thingy that might help keep me motivated. 

While watching “The Biggest Loser” last week, I saw an ad for a device called the BodyBugg. It straps onto your arm, measures four different body parameters and, in conjunction with a Web site, tells you how many calories you burned during the day. I was immediately intrigued so I went online to find out more, only to discover that despite the $199 price tag you also had to pay $15/month for a subscription to the Web site. In BodyBugg’s favor, it does come with three free months.

Considering the price and additional fees amounted to about half my gym membership costs, I decided to pass. 

Today an email from PumpOne landed in my inbox. PumpOne designs dieting and fitness applications the iPhone and iTouch. The application provides workout logs and aspires to help users stay on their fitness program. 

This all sounded pretty harmless until I got to the following sentence in the press release” 

“Not only coaches users through complete workouts, but also allows them to keep track of sessions and instantly send progress logs to friends, family or medical professionals.”

 Possible progress logs sent to my friends and family.

•  “Doug fell off the wagon today and had six Snickers bars for lunch.”
• “During Doug’s 5-mile run, his calf muscle popped. He is now in excruciating pain and on the way to the doctor.” *.
• “Doug is not working out, but is in a local bar watching the Mets lose.”
• “Doug has passed out and is lying at the end of his treadmill.” 

*A true occurrence