Staying fit in front of the TV

Dear PropellerHeads: I've shed some pounds playing workout-themed games on the Nintendo Wii, but I'm getting bored with those. Any suggestions for what to try next?

A: So you thought, "Who's techno-savvy but needs to lose a few pounds?" And then you e-mailed us - is that it? Well, by sheer coincidence, we do have a suggestion for you. But this is a family column, so let's move on.

If you want a gadget that will motivate you to exercise without requiring you to stand in front of the TV, check out the Fitbit (fitbit.com). This $100 device is the size of a thumb drive and acts like a pedometer on steroids (but without the rage and acne). Combined with your personal profile on the Fitbit website, this little guy makes exercise fun.

The Fitbit clips onto your waistband, bra or shirt, and uses sensors like those in the Wii remote to track movement. A screen on the front shows distance traveled, calories burned and number of steps taken for the day.

A start/stop button lets you record statistics for a particular activity or length of time, and an image of a flower "grows" on the screen as your activity level increases. Exercise enough and the flower fills the screen, with the amount of work required for this to happen increasing over time.

A flower?! That's my motivation?!

No. That's where the website comes in. Fitbits include free access to a site that stores your statistics, charts your fitness goals and tracks health-related habits.

The Fitbit battery lasts about a week. To charge it, you snap the unit onto a USB cradle. This is when your exercise data is transferred to the website for analysis.

Creating a user profile on the site requires you to specify your gender, age, height and weight. The site then calculates how many calories you burn every day. The apparatus can't distinguish between walking and biking (for example), so you can choose from a list of activities to supply more accurate information.

Previous versions of the site did not make this information private by default, leading to some embarrassing headlines after certain strenuous activities were recorded in too much detail (http://onforb.es/qB2Ljh).

Which brings us to... sleep. Wear the included wrist band at night and the Fitbit will calculate your sleep quality based on how much you toss and turn. Like your exercise stats, this data is brought to life on the site with pie charts, bar graphs and reports.

The site motivates you to exercise in different ways. You can set fitness goals - steps per week, distance covered per week or number of pounds to lose - and the site "dashboard" graphs out your progress.

Not enough? Then try beating your friends' stats (assuming they also have Fitbits). Or compete within the groups you belong to - people of the same gender, age group or Body Mass Index (http://1.usa.gov/mYn8O5).

Even better, compete against your best earlier self. The dashboard shows the dates of your own personal bests: the maximum number of steps in a single day, the longest distance and the highest activity level. How are you going to top that day you chased down the ice cream truck? Better get to work.

The hardware can be a little fragile at times, so try not to drop the Fitbit. And it can be too sensitive, mistaking bumpy car rides for exercise, which you can correct on the website. Overall, though, we're quite happy with the Fitbit, and glad to see technology helping us become more for a change (I'm looking at you, Xbox).

When the PropellerHeads at Data Directions aren't busy with their IT projects, they love to answer questions on business or consumer technology. Email them to [email protected] or contact us at Data Directions Inc., 8510 Bell Creek Road, Mechanicsville, VA 23116. Visit our website at www.askthepropellerheads.com.