With every holiday season comes a glut of, well, gluttony as we strive to make merry amid calorie-laden food and drink for weeks on end.  Then there’s the predictable diet and fitness-focused New Year resolutions that, however genuinely and well-intended at the onset, can be easy to make—but even easier to break. With this understanding, throngs of tech and online companies are finding innovative ways to keep people engaged and motivated throughout the holiday season and beyond as they endeavor to get fit and healthy…and stay that way.  However, with such an extensive and comprehensive field of modern-day health-tech options, it can be overwhelming to hone in on which are worthy of working into your daily lifestyle.  With that in mind, here are six savvy digital diet and fitness solutions that are sure to help you better survive the holiday revelry, shed those stubborn pounds, tone those muscles and increase your endurance easier, more effectively and with increased sustainability.

Tonal Intelligent Home Gym
Created by former Apple, Nest and GoPro engineers and designers, Tonal is the world’s first machine learning-powered strength training system. This intelligent home gym pairs on-demand workouts and personal coaching with a first-of-its-kind, at-home, wall-mounted fitness system that you really do need to see to fully understand and appreciate. So, hitting the website to watch the intro video is worthwhile. It’s like having a personal trainer plus an entire gym in the convenience of your home—but one that is super-sleek, taking up very little space and boasting a “wow” factor unlike any other all-in-one I’ve seen. It features digital weights to help you achieve your goal, whatever that may be: to lose weight, gain strength, build muscle, boost energy, improve your performance or maintain your fitness. As a virtual personal trainer, expert-led programs and full body workouts are availed on this device’s digital display.  Virtual coaches will guide you step by step. Tonal supports hundreds of moves and 200 pounds of resistance so you can skip the gym without compromising your workout. Additionally, its artificial intelligence capabilities take the guesswork out of strength training. This device actually learns from your body and adapts guidance in real-time, so you see results faster. Service-wise, similar to Spotify music’s family plan, with Tonal, you can have unlimited users per household so everyone from mom and dad, to teens and even visiting friends and grandparents can strength train.

BINGE Networks’ Fitness Channel
BINGE is a broadcasting platform offering a convenient way to find all of a variety of fitness classes all in one place.  They feature an array of fitness, health and life coaching shows allowing you to do yoga, pilates, weight training and even get your mind in shape. With BINGE Networks, you can work out where and when you want with expert-driven programs that you can do at home, and that also travel with you.  Users can stream the content from a SmartTV, tablet, smartphone or laptop from over 90 premium platforms like Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, Google Play, Sony, Samsung, Sharp, Tivo, Philips, Sanyo, Panasonic, JVC and Toshiba. The first week of access to the BINGE Fitness platform is free using code “FIT” and then access to the service and its content thereafter costs $24.95 per year.

Amazfit GTS SmartWatch by Huami
Huami recently announced the launch of its newest smartwatch, the Amazfit GTS. This device is powered by Huami’s Bio Tracker optical sensor, which enables 24 hours of uninterrupted, high-precision heart rate monitoring with detailed data and abnormal value detection warnings. In both the watch and the app, the data is clearly displayed for an easy understanding of the heart rate data patterns. With the app, users can also customize the classification of their heart rate and receive an alarm when the bpm values are out of range. All recordings are saved and can be seen in the app and can be shared. The device also integrates multiple health management features such as sedentary reminder, calorie consumption, sleep analysis and more. All these features, if used as an integral way to manage the user’s health, can surely help people to maintain a healthier lifestyle and improve their overall well-being. With the six-axis acceleration sensor, the Amazfit GTS becomes an ideal companion for sports and workout. It comes with 12 different sports modes including outdoor running, treadmill, walking, outdoor/indoor cycling, elliptical trainer, pool/open water swimming, mountaineering, trail running, skiing and exercising. Once the activity is finished, the smartwatch displays all the data collected like pace, calories, BPM range, altitude, time and much more. This new model comes in six different colors and with a 50 meter depth water resistance. Its techy and modern looking style comes with a vivid silicon strap, a thin 9.4 millimeter body for maximum comfort and the battery can last up to roughly 14 days.  It also allows users to stay connected thanks to the mobile smart notifications, find-my-phone function, music control via Bluetooth and weather forecast.

Methodology Healthy Food Delivery
Methodology is a web-based, wellness-focused subscription service that offers ready-to-eat meals, with menus crafted by a team of chefs and nutritionists dedicated to maximizing health benefits while also making the food delicious. So, this is a great Internet-driven solution for those who find themselves too busy to make good, wholesome meals at home—whether every day or intermittently, as needed. Methodology distinguishes itself from other meal services on the market based on five parameters for using food to improve beauty, strength and well-being: (1) Eat food you love; (2) maximize nutrient density; (3) avoid refined and processed ingredients; (4) control your portions; and (5) be consistent. Methodology addresses all five of these concerns and endeavors to make clear that it’s “no ordinary meal delivery service.” It offers clean, ultra-nourishing, personalized meals for people who both love food and want to achieve optimal wellness. Of course, pricing reflects the premium nature of this food service option with meals starting at $16.99 each for lunch and dinner and $7.99 for breakfast. A small price to pay for truly delicious, real, whole, ultra-nourishing superfood meals that are ready-to-eat and can be reheated in a microwave or on a stove top in less than five minutes—all prepared and also refined sugar, gluten and processed ingredient-free. Grass-fed ghee is the only forms of dairy they currently use. In fact, the company can aptly accommodate specialized diets like Keto, Paleo, Mediterranean, Pescatarian or Vegan. You can visit the company’s website to review sample menus online and also kick-start the process by specifying your food preferences.

Courtesy of www.HealthyWage.com

HealthyWage App Weight-Loss Cash Incentives
No matter what kind of fitness or diet regime—or technology facilitators—you choose, the HealthyWage app actually PAYS you for losing weight! With the HealthyWage app, you determine how much weight you want to lose, how long you want to take to lose it and how much you want to wager each month. If you successfully reach your goal by the end date of your challenge, you win your prize. The average HealthyWager prize is over $1,200! You can also join team, jackpot and step challenges through the app. And, this gamification approach is well-proven. Multiple studies show that monetary incentives serve to enhance the effectiveness of, and duly complement, weight-loss programs of any and all sorts—especially when paid out quickly like HealthyWage’s various programs. In fact, according to a company spokesperson, the average HealthyWager participant “more than doubles their investment if they are successful at achieving their goal,” so the financial upside potential is impressive. In 2018, alone, program participants collectively lost over 1,000,000 pounds and gained $13,000,000 in kind. Since the company’s inception, over $20,000,000 has been paid to HealthyWager winners.

H20N Smart Scale by InBody
InBody has developed the H20N Smart Scale that measures your whole body, providing accurate and personalized results in the comfort of your home. The product provides essential health metrics including body fat percentage, BMI, skeletal muscle mass, and weight. Test data automatically uploads to a mobile app that allows you to record test history and track trends. Smart scales only have electrodes on the footplate, so they can only measure your bottom half and have to estimate the upper half. The InBody H20N comes with handlebar electrodes as well as footplate electrodes, so your entire body composition is measured, not estimated.  Testing your body composition on the InBody H20N is quick and easy. Just step on the scale, pick up the handle and get your results in 10 seconds. All your data is automatically recorded and synched to an app installed directly on your smartphone. After every test, your results are recorded and organized. See your test history, spot trends and share your results with your personal trainer or doctor. Make adjustments based on accurate data, so that you are consistently trending toward the right direction, “During our R&D, we found that the current smart scale market focused heavily on the number features offered rather than the quality of the outputs,” said Joseph Han, Director of Business Development. “We made the conscious decision to scale back on the number of features and focus on delivering the most accurate body composition test you can take at home.”

***Some or all of the accommodations(s), experience(s), item(s) and/or service(s) detailed above may have been provided at no cost and/or arranged to accommodate this review, but all opinions expressed are entirely those of Merilee Kern and have not been influenced in any way as per the disclosure policy on our “Legal” page***