UPDATE (September 22, 2016 3:38 PM): Allure spoke with Fitbit and got an official statement from the company below.
"The University of Pittsburgh study published in JAMA did not use Fitbit devices or the Fitbit app, so we cannot speak to their specific findings. As the leader in the wearables category, we are confident in the positive results users have seen from the Fitbit platform, including our wearable devices, Aria wifi smart scale, and Fitbit app. With regard to the study, the researchers point out that a limitation of their work includes the fact that they did not use a modern wearable device such as those offered by Fitbit. The upper arm device used in the study was limited to automatic data collection only. Most wearables today, including those offered by Fitbit, go far beyond data collection, offering individuals real-time access to their information, insights, motivation from associated social networks, and guidance about their health. We would strongly caution against any conclusion that these findings apply to the wearable technology category as a whole. As a trusted brand and recognized wearables leader, Fitbit technology is being used in more than 200 clinical research studies at institutions such as the Mayo Clinic, Johns Hopkins University, Northwestern Medicine, and the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center on conditions ranging from arthritis, breast cancer and heart disease to patient compliance and surgical recovery. These studies seek to explore the impact that wearable technology can have on physical activity, lifestyle behaviors, health metrics, and ultimately to assess opportunities to be part of the solution toward addressing pressing global health concerns."
There will always be diet and exercise fads that promise to deliver speedy results (the Atkins diet? Classic low-carb? Juicing? The 21 Day Fix?). Trouble is not everything has the effectiveness it promises—and that goes not just for diet programs, but also for tech stuff too. In recent years, wearable tech such as a Jawbone or FitBit and Apple Watches have become popular for helping people track their daily activity (among other conveniences). Though previous research had shown that these devices produce great results, a new study is arguing the contrary, theorizing that being too conscious of your activity levels helps you justify overeating, and realizing that you're not meeting your fitness goals encourages you to just "give up."
It may sound counterintuitive, but the research, published by the Journal of the American Medical Association, evaluated two groups of people, one that manually logged their daily activity and the other that used self-tracking devices. Researchers found that the latter were worse off when the goal was long-term weight loss. At the start of the study, John Jakicic and his colleagues at the University of Pittsburgh's Physical Activity and Weight Management Center put the whole group on a low-calorie diet and urged them to get more active. They then monitored what happened to the participants' weight over a two-year period. To their surprise, the group that wore the fitness tracking device actually lost less weight than the one that self-monitored.
There are two main theories for why this is, and mostly it's about the psychological impact of being conscious of your every move and counting it toward your daily calorie-burn numbers. "People may have focused on the technology and forgotten to focus on their behaviors," Jakicic told The New York Times.. He went on to explain that if people realize they aren't going to meet their fitness goals, they may be more inclined to just "give up" and eat what they want. Or, on the contrary, they may justify over-eating because they assume they're burning off more calories than usual (just because they're aware of it).
It's important to note, however, that these were the results for a trial group in which weight loss was the goal. In terms of fitness, and just making sure you're moving your body enough on a day-to-day basis, a tech device to keep you on track could very well be a great investment. Your body, your wallet, your goals—your decision.
Now watch what exercise and a little olive oil can do for your skin.