實際上你的健身追蹤器可能並沒有幫助你減肥
FitBits, Jawbones, Apple Watches. Fitness trackers are everywhere these days and everyone - from super-toned gym bunnies to flabby middle-aged dads and even fashion editors - seems to have one.
FitBits、Jawbones和蘋果手錶都是智能手環。而今到處可見健身追蹤器，似乎每個人--從超級健身愛好者到有點肥胖的老爸甚至是時尚編輯--都有智能手環。They're marketed as a way to help you lose weight, by enabling you to keep track of your steps, sleep and calorie intake (when paired with apps like MyFitnessPal). However, new research suggests they might not actually help us lose weight after all.
營銷人士說佩戴智能手環能幫助減肥，因爲它能追蹤你走了多少步，你的睡眠狀況和攝入的卡路里量（與MyFitnessPal配合使用時）。然而，新的研究表明這些健身追蹤器也許根本就不能幫助你減肥。A study by researchers from the University of Pittsburgh, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, found that using fitness trackers as an aid to weight loss was no more beneficial than typical weight loss methods and may even make us gain weight.
匹茲堡大學的研究員們開展了一項研究，該研究已發表在了《美國醫學協會》的雜誌上。研究發現使用健身追蹤器減肥並不比傳統的減肥方式更有效，甚至還可能讓我們增重。
During the two-year study, 471 overweight young people (aged 18 to 25) were put on a low-calorie diet, a prescribed fitness plan and were asked to keep a diet diary and attend weekly group counselling sessions. After six months, everyone had lost weight - an average of between 7.7kg to 8.6kg.
在這項長達2年的研究中，471位過胖的年輕人（18-25歲）進行了低熱量飲食、規定的健身計劃實驗，研究員們還要求他們每天寫下自己的飲食日記，每週參加集體諮詢會議。六個月後，每個人都瘦了--平均每人瘦7.7kg到8.6kg。Then half the participants were given fitness trackers to use for 18 months, while the other half logged their activity using a website, a more typical dieting method.
之後的18個月，研究員們讓一半的參試者佩戴健身追蹤器，另一半的人則使用更加傳統的飲食方法，即在網站上記錄他們的活動。By the end of the study, the group using fitness trackers had lost less weight than the control group. They lost 3.5kg on average, while the group monitoring their progress online lost an average of 5.9kg.
研究最後發現使用健身追蹤器的人沒有對照組的人瘦的多。使用智能手環的一組人平均瘦了3.5kg，而在網上記錄進程的一組平均瘦了5.9kg。
The results surprised the researchers and the data didn't make it clear exactly why using fitness trackers made dieters less likely to lose weight.
研究結果令研究人員感到震驚，並且這一數據並未清楚的解釋使用健身追蹤器的節食者更不容易減肥的原因。One possible reason, said lead researcher Dr John Jakicic, is that the fitness tracker group may have been more likely to feel they owed themselves "treats" upon seeing their progress, leading them to lose less weight than the other group. There's also a chance they may have felt disheartened and given up early if they knew they weren't going to hit their daily goal.
首席研究員John Jakicic博士認爲一個可能的原因就是：使用智能手環的這一組人在看到自己的進度之後，更會覺得要好好犒賞自己，這就導致他們沒有另一組人員的減肥效果好。也有可能當他們得知自己每天的運動量都不達標時，他們會覺得心灰意冷，想要提早放棄。Some previous studies, by contrast, have found fitness trackers can promote weight loss, and Jakicic did acknowledge that these devices may be effective for certain people.
相反，早前的一些研究卻發現健身追蹤器能促進減肥，Jakicic承認這些設備對特定人羣是有效的。Still, it's something to bear in mind before you invest in your own pricey little plastic personal trainer.
不過，在你購買這個昂貴的塑料私人小教練時，本文倒給你提了個醒。
