My Love Affair With Smart Devices – #GetFitWithFlipkarevolution
I was first introduced to a Smart Wearable device four years back. This happened on that fateful day when my family doctor warned me, ‘Mr. Jayakumar, your HBA1C reading is 9.1 and your weight is 106 Kilograms. You are a severe diabetic. Your cholesterol levels are very high. You need to follow a strict diabetic diet and if you do not reduce your weight to less than a 100 kilograms within the next three months please do not come to me for help again. I simply cannot help you if you do not follow a disciplined lifestyle and listen to what I say. Unless you follow my advice and walk for at least an hour every day there is no point in coming to me and pouring out your woes.’
My wife and I listened to these damning words from our doctor, in alarm. My doctor gave me several medicines to control my blood sugar level. He further advised me to set about my exercise routine in a very scientific manner keeping track of my weight loss and the number of calories I burn on a day to day basis. I was wondering how to go about doing this. That was when my brother-in-law suggested using the Pivotal Tracker 1 fitness band which would help me approach my weight loss program in a very organised and scientific manner. I googled Pivotal Tracker and sure enough google informed me about the Pivotal Tracker 1 fitness band.
The Pivotal Tracker 1 band seemed to be a very simple fitness band that you wear on your non-dominant wrist all the time. It works in conjunction with an app called the Pivotal Living app. The band has to be worn constantly and keeps track of the steps taken during your walks, calories burned, hydration, sleep duration and light versus deep sleep. Impressed I immediately ordered a Pivotal Tracker 1 fitness band for myself. I strapped the fitness band on my wrist and constantly walked for an hour every day for several months. The band helped me keep up my motivation as it showed me the number of calories I had burned, number of steps I had taken, my hydration levels and so on. This helped a lot in keeping me motivated. Here are some images of the Pivotal Tracker 1 fitness band.
The Pivotal Tracker 1 Fitness Band
Pivotal Tracker 1 Fitness Band Complete Set
Features Of Pivotal Tracker 1
The Pivotal Tracker 1 activity data can be synced with the Pivotal Living app and the app is extremely friendly to use. You can use the app with extreme ease and it helps you by allowing you to set newer goals as you progress with your exercise routine. Even your sleep quality can be determined. There are ways of determining if your sleep is disturbed or if you are getting a good, undisturbed and refreshing sleep.
It is also possible to set up teams with other users and motivate each other. I used this fitness band for a long time and my weight reduced considerably and I was weighing 96 kilograms soon and my HBA1C reading reduced to 7.2 and cholesterol levels were also down. Here are a couple of images of myself before and after I started using the Pivotal Tracker 1 fitness band and the Pivotal Living app.
Before Weight Loss Program Using Pivotal Tracker 1
After I started using the Pivotal Tracker 1 app
It was this tryst with the Pivotal Tracker 1 fitness band that helped me realize the use of Smart Wearable devices in maintaining our health and the hundreds of other ways in which modern technology and smart devices help us in our lives. But pivotal tracker went out of fashion pretty soon and I switched over to an iPhone as a mobile device and then I got introduced to the apple-watch. This was even better than the Pivotal Tracker.
I soon purchased an apple-watch and it had a number of apps. I could get access to my emails instantly, keep appointments and there is an activity app that performs the function of keeping track of the number of steps I have taken during walks and giving me an idea of how much exercise I am getting every day. This is extremely important for a busy software professional like me who is shining the back of a chair all the time and leading a very sedentary life.
There are hundreds of apple-watch apps available in the App Store. I found a wonderful fitness tracker app called the Best Workout Tracker: Strava. There is a workout app called Carrot Fit too. There are numerous other apple-watch apps like the calculator app pCalc, travel apps, notes apps etc. The apple-watch has become indispensable for me now. If you are a busy executive who is keen on keeping fit and at the same time going about your busy professional life, do try out the apple-watch. Here are some images from my apple-watch.
Apple-watch showing time
Apple Watch Showing Mailboxes
Apple Watch Showing Activity Graph
Apple Watch Showing the Activity App
And finally, the one Smart Home device that has caught my fancy totally and absolutely is the Google chromecast. Let me inform you I am a movie buff. I love watching movies and songs on a big 42 inch TV screen and love to stream the YouTube videos in my mobile on to my TV. Among the Smart Home devices that I constantly use, the one I love the most is Google chromecast. Thanks to this excellent device I can stream a YouTube video or a Netflix movie from my mobile on to my TV.
This came as a heaven-sent blessing to my entire family. Simply connect the device to the HDM1 port of the TV and voila! you can stream your favourite movies and songs on to the TV. All you have to do is to open the chromecast compatible app in your mobile and press the cast button. Some of the compatible apps for Google chromecast are Netflix, Hulu Plus, HBO Go, Spotify and so on. For those of you who love to watch movies and videos on a large screen in the comfort of your home I really recommend Google chromecast. It really is a great device. I simply loved this device. Here are some images of the chromecast in action at my home.
The Google Chromecast Device
The Google Chromecast Device
Chromecast Connected To The HDM1 port of the TV
My Mobile Screensaver Streamed On To The TV
A Video Being Streamed To The TV
The above devices I have mentioned and the ways in which they have been useful to me are just a drop in an ocean compared to the ways in which smart devices help us in everyday life. They are really useful to us and make our lives easy in hundreds of ways. Be it keeping important appointments or keeping our bodies and minds fit, smart devices are really a boon. There are several home devices like Smart Lights and the Smart Camera that are ubiquitous. Security in schools and colleges have come to depend heavily on smart cameras. The day is not far off when these excellent marvels of technology will help us in several other aspects of life. So I assert with confidence that soon these devices will play a very important role in our lives.
Tags – #GetFitWithFlipkart, #SmartHomeRevolution
Author’s Note: This post has been written as a part of Flipkart’s #GetFitWithFlipkart contest in collaboration with IndiBlogger