Fitbit One for Christmas!

Knowing I needed to address my baby weight, I asked my triathlete husband to find me an activity tracker for Christmas, so that I would know how active (or not) I was each day, and to estimate how many calories I burnt during workouts.

He chose the Fitbit One, a little black gadget the size of a USB stick that you wear on your belt, pocket or bra strap. Each day, it tracks steps walked, floors climbed, miles walked, and calories burnt. It also has a graphical flower that grows or shrinks depending how active you have been that day, and has a sleep tracker facility, which I thought would be both interesting and frightening with a newborn in the house!

First impressions are good. It's motivating to know I'm wearing something that's monitoring my active and sedentary periods, and good to know I'm getting some recognition for the number of times I'm traipsing up and down the stairs to change nappies and check on the baby! Using the free online dashboard you can also track calorie intake, though unfortunately there's no UK food database yet. Following the advice of some reviews, I've signed up for a My Fitness Pal account (also free) which has a wide UK food database and will synch with your Fitbit account. On a roll, I've also signed up with Endomondo, which is a GPS activity tracker, which uses your phone to track walks, runs, cycle rides and other activities.

Once I've got to grips with these apps I'll post reviews of them all and how well they work for postnatal weight loss. For now, I'm off to track my breakfast and walk about...