Lately I’ve seen an increase of people trying to be healthy. It’s a great concept, but they usually only do one thing. That thing is buy a Fitbit — a $100 piece of rubber they’re convinced will make them skinny.

I once thought the Fitbit was cool too. It tracks pointless things like steps taken, calories burned, hours slept, distance traveled, active minutes and quality of sleep. Several of these seem like something you could calculate yourself or just another way to describe what it does.

Most people also don’t realize you have to record your calories within the app. It doesn’t just magically understand what you eat.

Plus, all of your stats are synched to a computer or cell phone using Bluetooth. Why not just use an app on your phone?

Well, the joke is on everyone who has a Fitbit and an iPhone, because you have a built-in Fitbit on your iPhone. Now, I will warn you, it doesn’t make a social statement while hanging on your wrist, but it’s free.

When you updated to iOS 8, the Apple HealthKit app magically appeared on your phone. At first, I wasn’t a fan, but now I use it on a daily basis.

Instead of tracking pointless information, it allows you to keep track of important information like blood pressure, weight, active calories, and exercises you’ve done. You have to enter most of the data yourself, but it’s not difficult at all and actually makes you more aware of what you’re doing to your poor body.

My favorite thing about the app is that it keeps track of how many steps have been taken every day, as well as walking and running distances. Your buddy, Apple, is always walking with you.

The app makes cute little graphs and gives a visual to show how out of shape you are for the day, week, month, or even year.

It’s a great tool to track your progress and is far more practical than an expensive bracelet that will do the exact same thing.

To contact Lauren Daniel, email onlineeditor@occc.edu