Lifetrak Zoom HRV Review

By Crabby McSlacker

As a greedy, gadget-obsessed health blogger, I was pretty psyched to get the opportunity to review the Lifetrak Zoom HRV Zoom HRV activity tracker. (And, full disclosure: I got to keep it).

The Zoom measures a wide variety of activity metrics from your wrist (or ankle, or forearm). What you do not need to use the Zoom: a chest strap!

So I've been testing the Zoom out for a couple of weeks in true Crabby McSlacker style: misunderstanding instructions, forgetting to hit "record" to begin or end my workouts, failing to appreciate the nuances, and finding myself too lazy for a comprehensive data comparison with my other activity tracker, the Polar M400.

Yet my lack of reviewing diligence does not, of course, keep me from having opinions.

So what's good and bad about the the Lifetrak Zoom? And who should buy one and who should not?

Fitbit Alternative: Pivotal Living Activity Tracker for CHEAP!

By Crabby McSlacker

So my usual motivation for product reviews is simple: greed.  I get stuff free to try out, and I get to express my many opinions about everything I like and dislike.  WIN!!! So yes, in the interest of full disclosure, I got to try this for free.

However, this fitness tracker from Pivotal Living would only cost me $12 to buy myself, and I am far too lazy to write up a review solely to save myself that amount of money.

I just thought the concept was too cool not to pass along. A fully functional activity monitor for TWELVE DOLLARS?

I know there are a lot of fitness minded folks on a budget who must get tired of reading about the latest wrist-candy that can set one back, in extreme cases, hundreds of dollars.

Hi There Apple Watch!
Are You Really Worth a Thousand Bucks??

So when I got a pitch for a product a wrist-tracker much like a Fitbit that costs less than an umbrella drink at a fancy upscale restaurant, I was intrigued.

What can this thing do? And is there a catch?

My Fitness Pal Review: What's Awesome, What's Awful

By Crabby McSlacker

I am obviously not the first person seeking to shed a few pounds who has discovered My Fitness Pal. 

Or, rather: "myfitnesspal," as its logo suggests it likes to be called. Apparently you're supposed to refer to it in one excited breathless blurt!!  Let's not be dawdling around pronouncing Three. Separate. Words.

Any of you have any thoughts on this or other trackers?  Here's what I've discovered so far.

Fitbit Force Review

Posted By Crabby McSlacker

April 2014 UPDATE:  The Fitbit Force was recalled due to rash issues, so I received a Fitbit One instead. See the more recent Fitbit Comparison post for more info!

The timing of this Fitbit Force review opportunity couldn't have been better! It's as though the PR person just knew I totally pork out over the holidays and begin each new year with a predictable freak-fest of obsessive calorie and exercise tracking. This year was no exception.

And yes, I did consume this entire box myself--

Including the fruit-centered ones I don't even like.

Plus, many of my friends have been parading around with Fitbits and Nike Fuelband etc, and I was getting jealous. I haven't had a daily activity monitor since I fell in and out of love with the Body Media Fit armband.

And the usual disclaimer: I got my Force for free--which could lead a nicer blogger to be be overly friendly and positive in hopes of more loot in the future.  As it happens, I am constitutionally incapable of being nice and friendly and overlooking downsides. The whole reason this blog exists at all is that I love to complain! But you are forewarned anyway.

So, What's it Like when the Force is With You?

I'll answer a few questions in the hopes that even if this review bores regular readers to tears,  I can get some future google traffic I can help people shopping for activity monitors know exactly what they're getting into.

Jillian Michael's BodyMedia Fit Armband Review--Now Updated!

Remember when Jillian Michaels went to the gym with me, and I got all excited and announced that there'd be an upcoming review and giveaway?

Well it's below, and it's now been updated!  The giveaway is over, sorry.  And speaking from the future (July of 2012) I can add, at the bottom, some follow-up information.

Anyway, technically this is not a review of Jillian Michaels herself.  But as I explained before, I'm easily confused by celebrity endorsements! Jillian has lent her name and image to the BodyMedia Fit Armband, which is a high-tech activity monitor.

At least you don't have to make up the guest bedroom for this Jillian.

So if the BodyMedia Fit armband and Jillian want to merge identities for marketing purposes, then I'm happy to go along. I will continue to treat them in my own mind as a single entity, because that's what a good consumer does.

So what is it like to exercise, go to work, eat meals, watch tv, hang out, have a beer, and go to bed with Jillian Michaels?