Instead, I decided to take advantage of the fitbit I acquired at CES. My cute little blue fitbit has measured my steps, counted the number of stairs I climbed, calories burned and miles traveled since January. At CES, I was averaging about 15-16,000 steps a day. Despite New York being a “walking city,” it is taking a bit more effort to hit my daily average of 10,000 steps.

I kept to my workout routine of 4 runs of 2- 3 miles each and added a few extended walks on the days that I would normally do a Jillian Michaels DVD. Of course all the cleaning, lifting and shopping involved in renovating a kitchen added steps too. My results using the fitbit took me by surprise.

HOW IT WORKS

The fitbit clips to an article of clothing or slips into a pocket; it’s not much bigger than a USB drive. The blue display screen offers encouragement, number of steps taken, calories burned, and number of floors climbed. It uses a flower metaphor. The more steps you take, the taller the flower.

The fitbit syncs wirelessly to your online account through a docking station that is plugged into a USB port on your computer. Data is then uploaded and posted to your Dashboard. You can also update fitbit data from a smart phone – adding what you’ve had for lunch, for example. The company just recently launched its Android app but I use the iOS version.

REWARDS

Steps, stairs and activities are rewarded with badges as your stated goals are met and exceeded. If you are into it – you can compete with friends on Facebook for leadership board positions or use apps such as My Fitness Pal.

Fitbit has actually become “my little buddy”. I feel quite naked without it. But, I’ll admit some of my friends in the non – CE world are appalled at all of the naval gazing and body monitoring. When I explain that body sensor controls will be the fitness craze of the future they say they’re concerned with what it’s going to do to their privacy. Whatever, I don’t know if “big brother” is watching or not, but I lost 7 lbs, my kitchen is beautiful, and now that I’ve freed my living room I’m about to order my Xbox with Kinect. Any bet on whether Xbox or fitbit will win my self-inflicted weight loss program?

My story is not quite as dramatic but I’m well on my way to becoming a reformed gym rate. Cardio intervals, step class, circuit training, high impact aerobics, low impact aerobics… for 20 + odd years these words were a part of my daily vocabulary. And then one day I stopped. I quit the gym.

I put my membership on hold to test the Jillian Michaels “30 day shred” promise. In addition to the promise, I got freedom: freedom to plan my day without keeping the gym schedule in mind. Freedom to workout when I could, where I wanted to. My 30 days led to 60 days and then 90 days and then I just quit. No big sexy trainer shaking me down, no dramatic excuses as to why I wanted to quit the gym, I just quit the gym!

I started exploring the world of Jillian Michaels. DVDs, Exercise TV on line workout and diet tips. My self-prescribed workouts took on a routine: 3 days a week a 2 mile run, 3 days a week Jillian. My workouts continued even if my gym membership did not and the results, while not awe-inspiring, were satisfactory. And to top it off, without the pressure of how to get to they gym, my daily routine was more flexible, mobile and productive.

After a few months of fitness freedom, late fall turned to winter and while mild as it has been there have been some days where a run in Riverside Park doesn’t make a whole lot of sense and Exercise TV was taken off the air. Exercise TV had offered the opportunity to explore not only other Jillian DVDs but also vary my trainers enough to keep my routine from being boring. So without the various options offered on Exercise TV my workout was becoming somewhat redundant.

Luckily in my role as producer of the Fitness Tech Summit I often get invited to demos of newly launched or upgraded products and games. Stick with me over the next few weeks and I’ll take you on my journey from MS Kinect to a variety of body meters and sensors.