In the days where fitness trackers like Fitbit and the Apple Watch are commonplace, many of us don't know where to start with them. Things like 'What one will suit me best?' or, 'What one will accurately track my calories burnt?' are all questions that everyone asks, but for wheelchair users, this becomes an even bigger problem. Hardly any of the fitness trackers will accurately track wheelchair users activity levels. Why? Because the biggest muscles in your body - your leg and bum muscles, either are used rarely or aren't used at all. It's why we need less calories to keep our weight stable, and why it's so much easier for us to put on weight.
An update that Apple did to its watch became a game changer for wheelchair users! Why? Because the moment you tell your Apple Watch that you are a wheelchair user, the standard 'stand' goal becomes a 'roll' goal, and the move tracker recognises that as a wheelchair user you burn less calories than normal. It makes it harder to reach your desired move goal, but I've found my watch to be extremely motivational in trying to reach my move goal when I've gotten close, and in being able to track the calories I'm burning in the gym. It even tracks resting calories! In fact the only calories it doesn't track are those I burn while swimming! As far as I know, Apple were the first to have settings for wheelchair users, and probably still are the only watch that can accurately track how many calories I've actually burnt as a wheelchair user.
Even better, is that the Apple Watch can sync your activity and heart rate data to your iPhone's health app, and if you have an app like My Fitness Pal, it even syncs your dietary data for the day, making it easier that ever to track everything in one place, and give you everything you need to work out your calorie deficit for the day. I aim for a minimum of a 500 calorie deficit each day, purely because over the course of the week, that equates to 1 pound (453g) lost. Another motivational feature that Apple have created for its watch, is the ability to share your activity data with your friends, so you can have a little competition between each other to see who's burning the most active calories that day. It definitely helps the motivation when you see your friends doing well as well as yourself!
Overall, I definitely think that the Apple Watch can help with not only getting your more active and helping you to stay motivated, but with its accuracy, it can also go a long way to helping you lose weight, especially when you have apps like My Fitness Pal that work with it, and the fact that the watch can accurately track your calories burnt that day.
