A couple of months ago a patient of mine came in wearing a pedometer known as the fitbit. I was intrigued. It calculated her steps; calories burned and could be used at night to see how well she was sleeping. I decided to try it out and experience it for myself.

What I found was something that has taught me quite a bit about my own health habits. First of all, I realize that there are some days when I feel that I have run myself ragged at work, and in reality I have taken half as many steps as I would have guessed.

In addition, I burn far fewer calories than I expect regardless of how many steps I take. I wondered why I was unable to lose weight recently. Now I know why. I am just not burning enough calories in spite of how much I am exercising. I eat a healthy diet but apparently my portion sizes need to be smaller.

As far as sleep goes, I now know that it takes me an average of 7 minutes to fall asleep and I move on average 10 times during the night. My fitbit program gave me a 95% sleep efficiency rating, and I am satisfied with that.

When the people at work saw my fitbit, they all decided to get one and before I knew it they were starting a competition. I have been trying to get them all fired up for fitness for the last couple of years. I have tried nutrition games, biggest loser competitions, and many other programs and finally I found a hook. They have all lost weight and they are looking really healthy.

There are many slick pedometer and sleep monitoring programs out there. In addition to the fitbit there are bracelets. One is Up by Jawbone and the other is the Nike fuel band. They all do the same thing. The bracelets are definitely more stylish. I like the fitbit because it clips to anything and has a firm fit. It is light and inconspicuous and it talks to me in the morning.

When I pick it up off the counter it flashes all kinds of words of encouragement to me. It tells me that I rock. No one recently has told me that! I love it. It encourages me to keep walking and burn calories. I look forward to what it has to tell me every morning.

If you need encouragement to keep walking, and you want to know how much exercise you are doing and what you are burning, I suggest any one of these devices to help you. It is amazing what you might find yourself doing to add to your steps for the day. What is even more wonderful is that these little devices will put a spring in your step and a healthy glow on your face.