Recently, I have noticed many students wearing the increasingly popular Fitbit bracelets and smart watches around campus. I often hear my friends mention they have to “log their calories” after a meal or check to see how many steps they have taken in a day.

I am passionate about health and fitness myself, so I tried out a fitness app for about a week. I downloaded one from the popular fitness brand Under Armour and began logging my meals. More often than not I exceeded my calorie goal, and I felt like I was being virtually scolded for my eating.

This leads me to the question: Does having a calorie-counting app encourage us to be healthier and make better life choices? Does having a step-recording bracelet make us want to exercise? I personally think if that is what it takes to encourage society to live a healthy lifestyle, then we are far too dependent on technology. 

I feel like this is a problem plaguing mainly our generation. Our grandparents and parents did not turn to an app to tell them whether something was fattening and did not rely on an electronic wristband to measure how far they had walked in a day. What happened to taking a nature walk just to enjoy it, without measuring every step? I think the simplicity of exercise, the joy of taking a walk or run, has especially suffered from the rise of the Fitbit. It is surprising how beneficial a simple 20-minute walk around campus or the Tuscaloosa Riverwalk – without looking at a cell phone once – can be.

As for the fitness app fad, I encourage those who use them to ask themselves, “Is this helping me live healthier?” If it is, great. But is obsessing over and analyzing every calorie on a phone screen healthy? Is breaking down every food to the bit actually beneficial? I do not think so. Being and eating healthy is not purely focused on calories. Good nutrition is about the ingredients in food and the way they affect the body.

We are living in an analytical age. Smartphones and tablets give us access to a plethora of information on everything, from calories, carbs and sugars to the latest and greatest workout. We have lost the beauty in simplicity: in taking a walk or a run just to clear our mind and enjoy it or in eating a doughnut and not agonizing over the calories or carbs. I eventually deleted my fitness app from my phone because I felt like I was breaking down and analyzing my lifestyle too much. Rather than relying on my phone to tell me what is good for me, I listen to my body, taking note of the things that make me feel good and the things that don’t. I walk or run until I feel tired, not when I’ve reached my desired number of steps.

It feels good not to look to my phone screen to know what is good for me. I just feel it. I think that is the healthiest way to live.

Anna Wood is a sophomore 
majoring in advertising. 
Her column runs biweekly 
on Mondays.