Cult Of Mac’s Awesome 2012 Advent Calendar: Day Eleven – Nike Fuelband

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One of the better Yuletide traditions is the venerable holiday Advent Calendar, in which each day of December leading up to Christmas is marked off on a special calendar by opening its corresponding door to find a small gift, toy or chocolate squirreled away inside.

This year, we here at Cult of Mac decided we wanted to give our readers their very own Apple-themed advent calendar, filled with the year’s best apps, gadgets, stories and other curios. So each day in December, we’re going to lovingly peel back the door on the Cult of Mac 2012 Advent Calendar to reveal another delicious morsel, something really special that came out this year that we think every one of you should enjoy.

What hidden behind door number 11? How about something that will help you burn all those Holiday Calories – The Nike Fuelband.


 

One gadget that’s actually made a positive impact on my life this year is the Nike+ Fuelband. It’s similar to the FitBit that Charlie adores. It counts your steps, tracks how many calories you’ve burned, and tells the time of day. It’s slim, minimalist, beautiful and life changing if you embrace it.

My body has been through a rough time in 2012. I went from being thin and almost-in-shape to fat and squishy in a matter of four months. I should blame my love for burritos and a knee injury, but really it just comes down to a lack of motivation.

I’ve played with the FitBit and it’s excellent. In fact, in many ways it’s better than the Nike+ Fuelband because it has an open API that lets other apps connect to it and use its data in different ways. My biggest problem with the FitBit was I always forgot to wear it, so I switched to the Nike+ Fuelband which I can wear like a watch.

Once I slapped the Nike+ Fuelband on my wrist I’ve had a constant reminder that I need to get off my ass and burn some calories. Its gorgeous black plastic body and inconspicuous LED screen are always yelling at me, telling me I don’t workout enough to justify my intake of two burritos per day. So if some friends tell me they’re going down to the local high school to run some laps on the track, my Nike+ Fuelband is there to tell me to grab my shoes and start running.

The best thing about the Nike+ Fuelband is that it’s a perfect gadget for adventures. I’ve jumped off 70-foot cliffs wearing this bad boy and it barely has any scratches. Nike says you’re not supposed to swim with it, but I’ve left mine on a few times and it still works just fine.

The Nike+ Fuelband has even replaced my iPhone in some situations. As an avid hiker, I usually toss my iPhone in my pack and use fitness apps to guage how many calories I’ve burned or how far I’ve gone. I’m usually nervous that I’ll lose my footing and my iPhone will plummet to its doom while I’m on one of these adventures, so now that I’ve got the Nike+ Fuelband, I leave my iPhone in my car instead.

Even though the Nike+ Fuelband is a bit expensive at $149 it’s been one of the best thing I bought for myself all year. My weight hasn’t dropped down to my pre-2012 levels yet, but it’s getting there and I’ve become a lot more active. If only Nike made a gadget that forces me to stop eating then I’d be set for life.

Use Your iPhone To Get In Shape And Lose Some Weight

Want to see more of our 2012 Advent Calendar goodies? Check out our complete 2012 Advent Calendar archive for more of our picks!

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