January is undoubtedly one of the most begrudged months, when the Christmas festivities are over, and the cold weather is making everything just a little more tiresome. However, it’s also the month for new starts and positive plans- and with that, most of us, including The Practice team, are setting our sights on how to lead healthier lives in the New Year.

If not last year, then we envisage 2014 to be the year in which more and more people start embracing the wearable tech trend in a bid to reach their weight loss, health, and fitness goals. A Consumer Electronics Association report found that 29 per cent of smart phone users with health problems would be willing to try wearable devices such as the Nike + FuelBand or FitBit- and that’s not even counting those who only wish to make moderate health or lifestyle adjustments. Furthermore, the report also stated that the number of personal health and wellness products will rise from around 40 million dollars last year, to approximately 70 million by 2018.

So which accessories are proving to be the most popular? We think that the UP wristband from Jawbone, most certainly, is leading the way on paring workability with style. With everyone from David Cameron to Gwyneth Paltrow as fans, it has made a name for itself among the fashionably health-conscious crowd. The wristband tracks your sleep patterns, movements, and food intake, and then you can plug it into your iPhone and sync with the affiliated app, in order to view your personal information and progress. The data is generated by the band’s smart built-in motion sensor and GPS, and you can input your daily meals and snacks for nutritional breakdown, meaning you have an accurate way of measuring just how much you’re ingesting and expending. It definitely seems like the perfect analysis tool to us!

Similarly, the Nike + FuelBand tracks your activity levels, although not other lifestyle areas, and rewards the wearer for hitting fitness goals. It acts as a pedometer and calorie counter, with hourly activity reminders too. However, it’s also more expensive than Jawbone’s UP wristband, at 129 pounds- perhaps it might lose out to its rival for this reason, and also for the fact that it doesn’t provide sleep analysis. Thirdly, competitor FitBit have launched their Flex wristband, which also monitors your overall data including movement, such as the number of steps taken, food intake and the user’s sleep cycles. It’s been most compared to the UP band as it tracks full information about the user, including even detailed points such as daily water intake. And unlike the Jawbone UP, it syncs with Bluetooth rather than your iPhone, and is also priced more reasonably at 79.99- might this make it the most popular health accessory in 2014? We’re very tempted to get one ourselves…

Do you own and use a health-monitoring device? Do you think these might become the trending products for 2014, and will you be wearing one? We’d love to hear your opinions as always, so please tweet to us @PracticeDigital and share your comments on our Facebook page. And wishing all of you a Happy New Year, and a very healthy and successful 2014!