Pushing the shopping cart with one hand

In weighing my obsession with tech against my love for food, Geekniss beats Fatniss. That's why I'm the perfect audience for a fitness tracker or two...or three.

I started with the Fitbit a couple of years ago. It attached to my pants and counted steps. Whatever else it did was lost on me--literally--because it was so small that I lost it every time I took it off. Next up was ActiveLink from Weight Watchers. This little gizmo spends a long period of time gauging your normal fitness level, then challenges you to beat it. The problem is that I spent my test time power walking all over Disney World, so I could never beat the base. NEVER.

For Christmas, I asked for and received the Fitbit Force, which is more like a watch and records steps and calories. It fell off of my wrist constantly. Coincidentally, I happened to be in NYC at the Nike Store when it fell off my wrist again. That was just the excuse I needed to roll that one down and put on a sleek, new, hot pink Nike+ FuelBand SE. A month later--an eternity in the digital world--I'm still in love.

I like the FuelBand for a lot of dumb reasons, most of which boil down to my being the most competitive person on the planet. It uses a mysterious algorithm to calculate how much "fuel" you burn on a given day, measured in "fuel points." You also can sign up to be part of a group of friends who track points together, which only feeds my competitive spirit. These points have been known to keep me up at night--mostly because I haven't made my goal for the day, and I'm furiously running around shaking my arm trying to do it. Not sure the exercise benefit of this, but I know it entertains my husband.

On Zumba days, I shred my arbitrary goal. I'm rewarded with trophies, graphics, prizes and a ticker tape parade. At least that's how it feels. On personal training days--coincidentally the days I also swear like a trucker--I never make it. That only contributes to the cursing. I am pushing myself to my physical limit, and I can't break 1000 points.

Fuel Point happiness, courtesy of Franklin, my Zumba instructor

Then I discovered a way to game the system. It's the arms. The FuelBand is way less sensitive to cheating than a pedometer, but arm movement is definitely key. Now a reasonable person might think that means working harder on things like jumping jacks and bicep curls. I have a different approach--one that melds my two obsessions. As I push my shopping cart through the food aisles, I use just one hand, allowing the other to swing ever so slightly back and forth as I walk. Tick, tick, tick. I can feel the points burn.