Fitness watch - recommendations?

[Anand]

Hi folks,
I'm embarrassingly out of shape and hope to get fit over the next
couple of months. I'm considering buying a fitness watch as a bit of
motivation - just something that keeps track of my distance covered
and calories burned during the day.

Do any of you own a fitness watch? How accurate are these things? Do
these gadgets somehow capture calories burned in the weight room as
well? Do you recommend a particular make/model? There are an
overwhelming number of models available online and I can hardly tell
the difference..

Thanks for the help!
Anand

[Jessica Clayton]

Hi Anand,

If you are looking for something that tracks your calories burned all day, you can get by with any heart-rate monitor (hrm) watch combination, Polar is the classic.  They'll work in the gym too.  If you are looking for distance you need something than comes with a shoe pod or GPS built in.  The garmin gps watches are typically very accurate for distance as long as you are not under cover.  They won't give you distance indoors and you'll pay a premium.  As far as calories burned you need something that cares about your weight.  Most devices use some formula based on weight and heart rate to calculate calories burned.  Some are better than others, but often they overestimate the number of calories burned, so don't increase your caloric intake based on the numbers you see.  I recommend choosing a device that connects to your computer so you can track progress.  Another alternative is to get a pedometer for during the day and just wear the hrm when exercising.  The rule with pedometers is something like 10,000 steps = 500 calories or something like that.

Best of luck.
Jessica 

[Anand]

Hi Jessica,
Thanks a LOT! That was very helpful.

- Anand

[Anand]

FYI - Here's a new gadget for the competitive runners out there.

http://gizmodo.com/375156/official-59-nike%252B-sportband-works-without-ipod

"the non-iPod kit costs $59, on sale April 10. When you jog, it
delivers rudimentary workout info via a monochrome display. When
docked, the SportBand is compatible with all the same community-
oriented tracking and training software as the earlier Nike+ system"

PS: I nor anyone I know, works for Nike :)

[Rajneel Ganjoo]

Sweet. These sort of gadgets have become so sophisticated and easy to
use. I have an old-times Polar S710 watch with heart monitor chest
band and its got this clunky windows interface (and an open-source
linux variant too) and IR receiver.
I remember when training for the marathon, wanting real bad a kind of
gadget that would just beep every 2 miles or every configurable X
minutes so I could pace myself. I am not that keen on listening to
music while running. I guess I found it slightly distracting,
especially when you are trying to pace or time yourself.
Neel