FFP Episode 11: Is Your Fitness Tracker Helping or Hurting

Jul 23

Do you live for the moment 10,000 steps show up on your fitness tracker? Feel like your day isn’t complete until you’ve hit that marker?

Fitness trackers can be a useful and harmless tool to track your activity levels and connect with friends. At the same time, they can easily become an obsession and have a negative impact on your overall health.

In this episode, we discuss:

The use of fitness trackers and how to determine if your relationship with yours is helpful or harmful
Insight into some research around fitness trackers
3 steps to assess if your fitness tracker has become an obsession
The truth behind the 10K steps/day craze

We mention several research studies in today’s episode. Here are links to the study so you can read more.

Research study from Duke found that activity-tracking can decrease enjoyment of whatever pastime someone is tracker and even lead people to move less when they are not wearing their tracker.

A study in Eating Behaviors journal found a correlation between the use of calorie-counting and/or fitness-tracking devices and ED symptoms in college students.

Survey conducted in 2016 among female Fitbit users found that 60% stated their days were controlled by their devices and 30% said gadget made them feel guilty.

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Dylan Murphy

Dylan Murphy, RD, LDN, is the Founder of Free Method Nutrition and a Registered Dietitian based in Nashville, TN, serving clients nationwide. With a Food Science and Human Nutrition Degree from Clemson University, a Dietetic Residency at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, and extensive experience coaching hundreds of clients, Dylan is dedicated to helping individuals break free from societal ideals around body size and diet. Specializing in eating disorders, intuitive eating, body image concerns, and women's health, she provides well-informed, personalized, and realistic nutrition and mindset coaching.