Pedometer OMRON HJ-720ITC (Product Review)

By Brian Nordberg

What is a pedometer? In the simplest terms, it is a step counter. However, many models go well beyond simply counting steps. I have been using the Omron HJ-720ITC Pocket Pedometer for the past 18 months and am very pleased to provide a review of this product.

Why would anyone want to count the number of steps they take in a day? Well, as we know from BFFM, burning fat is all about creating a calorie deficit. The only way to create a calorie deficit is to burn more calories than we consume. As Tom says, this is "simple but not easy." Walking more is one way to increase the number of calories we burn each day. It has been said that we only improve what we actually measure. So, if we measure how much we walk, we can then set goals to increase the number of steps we take each day. Every step burns more calories and helps us towards our fat burning goals.

The Omron HJ-720ITC is a wonderful tool for helping maximize your calorie expenditure. It is about the size and shape of a chicken egg but only about 1/4 inch thick. It comes with a clip which allows you to fasten it to your pocket, belt, or purse. However, I attach it to a lanyard and wear it as a pendant around my neck. It is small enough to be unobtrusive beneath clothing and can thus be worn continuously throughout the day. The mechanism senses the vibrational jolt which occurs with each step. Needless to say, it has to be pretty sensitive. To avoid false positives, it requires that at least 5 steps be taken before it starts adding them to the ongoing count. This prevents "false steps" from registering when you strike a road bump while driving for example.

The pedometer allows you to input your age, weight, and stride length. Using this data along with the number of counted steps, it is able to estimate the distance travelled and the number of calories burned. In particular, the number of calories burned from walking, is useful to know. Walking is likely the largest non-exercise factor we can control. For example, on a "lazy day" I may only burn 100 calories walking, but on a day where I focus on getting in plenty of steps, it is not too difficult to burn 200 - 300 calories in a day. Done consistently, increased walking could easily account for an additional pound or two of fat loss per month!

One of the fanciest features of the HJ-720ITC is it's ability to download step data via mini-USB cable onto your PC. The device comes with a software package which allows you to graph your walking activity by the Month, by the week, by the day, and even by the hour within a day. You can easily see when you walk most and when you might be able to walk more.

For example, I clearly walk the most upon arrival at work, around lunch, and then again as I depart. By simply parking further away from the building, I was able to increase my total steps even more. I was also able to consciously decide to get up and move during those "in-between" hours when the data showed I was just sitting at my desk.

My one and only dislike is the limited battery life. The special disk shaped batteries seem only to last about 6 months. I eventually just bought a dozen of them since they are not exactly available at every convenience store.

As mentioned, I've had my trusty Omron pedometer for 18 months and counting. It looks a little worse for wear, but it still functions flawlessly. At $35 dollars or less, it has more than paid for itself in terms of fat loss and motivation. If you are looking for a simple, yet effective tool for helping to increase your Total Daily Energy Expenditure, I highly recommend getting a pedometer and I recommend the Omron HJ-720ITC in particular.

-Brian Nordberg

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Disclosure: The Burn The Fat Inner Circle, Tom Venuto And Brian Nordberg are not in any way affiliated with the Omron company and receive no compensation for this review. Inner Circle product reviews are objective, unbiased and based on actual use of the product by Inner Circle members.

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About The Author/Reviewer: Brian Nordberg

Starting weight 296 pounds. Current weight = 189 @ 5.3% body fat

I've always been a little heavy, even in grade school. I lost some weight during high school, but I gained it back. I was fairly thin during college. I was fairly active then as well. I was probably about 180 pounds when I got married. That's when I really started piling the weight on. By the end of my first year of marriage, I was probably 220, and kept steadily increasing.

I tried various diets. I think I tried the Atkins Diet a couple of times. I lost 40 or 50 pounds, but I wasn't incorporating any exercise. Eventually, when I went off it, I gained the weight all back plus a little more, like so many do.

Towards the end, I'd pretty much given up. I figured, "As long as I'm healthy." But as I got older, I started to realize that I wasn't as healthy as I thought. I'd never incorporated exercise as a part of the routine.

Last summer, I was getting pretty close to 40 years old. I have twin boys that are a little over 3 years old. I started to notice that just getting down on the floor to play with them was a bit of a chore. I was also getting pretty close to 300 pounds. I started to that realize if I didn't do something about it, I was going to end up not seeing them graduate high school, or get married, or have grandkids.

The first decision I made was to alter my diet again, kind of like I'd done in the past. As big as I was, I figured I could probably lose weight if I ate 2500 calories a day, and I thought, "I'll just follow the establishment recommendations on amount of carbohydrates, amount of protein, amount of fat." So I started reading the food labels at the grocery store. I had pretty good success and dropped 40-50 pounds. But then the weight loss started to slow and I found myself plateaued even though I had actually started doing some exercise during that time period as well.

I'd been bopping around between 250 and 255 pounds for what seemed like forever. I thought, "Here I am again. I've lost 40 or 50 pounds. I have a decision point. I can either go back and gain the weight back, like I always have before; or I can press and try to find additional information that'll help me break the plateau and lose the weight permanently." I didn't want to bounce back. This time, it wasn't just about cosmetics, trying to look better. I really felt responsible for my family and I had health reasons for wanting to drop the weight permanently.

I started looking; investigating on the internet. One of the people at work mentioned that she had heard of a fellow named Tom Venuto and that he was an all-natural bodybuilder. She said he looked fantastic and seemed really knowledgeable. I have sort of a scientific, analytical personality, you could say. She said that this reminded her of Tom's approach a little bit.

He came highly recommended, so I decided I would check it out. I looked up the website and read through the material talking about "Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle" (BFFM). I bought the e-book and devoured it - read it straight through within a day or two. I've since gone back and read it again. That's how I came to it - I got stuck on a plateau and needed something to continue the fat loss. Thank goodness, I found BFFM.

My starting weight was 296 pounds. That was back in September 9th of 2007, and my present weight is 189 pounds with 5.3% body fat. I've lost over 100 pounds. I've actually lost more than 100 pounds of fat because I've gained lean body mass.