You’ve Never Heard Of This Fitness Tracker, But You Definitely Need To Try It

Bellabeat Lifestyle

In recent years, the popularity of wearable technology has reached an all-time high. More people than ever before are dedicated to tracking their physical activity and sleep patterns, but we gotta admit — the bulk of wearables still severely lack a stylish touch. Most of them attach to your wrist via a piece of rubber-like silicone, which isn’t the most aesthetically flattering thin in the world, and the digital displays make it very obvious that you’re tracking your wellness in plain sight.

So imagine how shocked we were when we stumbled across a wearable that legit looks like a cute piece of jewelry and performs even more tracking functions than the bulk of other health tech products on the market today. It’s called the Leaf, and it’s officially the health tracker you’ve never heard of but definitely need to try.

Bellabeat, the smart jewelry company that brings us the Leaf, is all about empowering women to be the strong, smart, confident creatures they are capable of being. Rather than leaving you questioning important parts of your health and feeling awkward about the wearable you’re using to try and answer those questions, Bellabeat crammed a ton of impressive technology into their petite leaf pendant design. It can be worn in a bracelet, on a necklace or clipped directly onto your clothing (like the edge of your waistband or tank top when you set out for a jog). Basically, you can comfortably take it with you everywhere, the only exception being the shower (it’s water-resistant but not waterproof).

Bellabeat Lifestyle

The Bellabeat Leaf tracks far more than just your steps. The fitness tracker component monitors all of your body’s movement during the day, from practicing yoga to riding a horse. It records details on your activity, rest, total calories burned, amount of time spent active, steps taken, distance moved and your personalized goals. The Leaf has some of the most accurate sleep tracking abilities, too. The jewelry tracks your movement during the night, how long you sleep and the quality of your sleep. Plus, it can help you wake up with a gentle vibration instead of a blaring alarm clock if you choose to use that feature.

But when it comes to this smart jewelry, there are two stand-out features: its meditation component and its menstrual cycle monitoring.

The Leaf can tell when you’re getting too stressed out (by monitoring your heart rate), encouraging you to pause for a meditation break when that happens. The accompanying app (which works for both iOS and Android phones) is stocked with 2- to 10-minute meditation options and breathing exercises suited to a variety of different needs so you can meditate anytime, anywhere. And the wearable itself is sensitive enough to tell you if you are meditating effectively by sensing discreet movements like how you’re breathing to help you find that sense of calm even faster.

Truly catering to the needs of women, the Leaf cues you into your body’s reproductive health as well. Since periods impact both how a woman thinks and feels, the wearable helps to predict when users are ovulating and when they’re having fertile days and then provides accurate period tracking when the time comes so they can adjust their planned health goals and activities accordingly.

Bellabeat Lifestyle

The app not only tracks your data across each of these four categories, but also offers customizable coaching reminders that help you reach your goals every day and then uses your goal success to motivate you further. And one of the best features, in our opinion, is that all of that data stays on the app — you’re not watching numbers flash in front of your eyes when you look down at your wrist. It helps the slightly obsessive better balance their days and those who need a little push get gentle guidance as opposed to a shove off over the health cliff.

While there are several iterations of the activity tracker, the Leaf Urban is the latest design, which is as elegant as it is efficient. Coming in at $139, it uses Bluetooth Smart wireless syncing and has a battery life of six months. It’s made of a wood composite that looks like beautiful (but not heavy) stone, and the clip element is composed of hypoallergenic stainless steel. Sure, it’s an investment, but so is every other tracker on the market. And regardless of how you choose to wear it, your well-being can benefit from each of its many features at all hours of the day.

If you ask us, this is one of the best fitness trackers (and more) for women out there, and we can’t believe we saw so many iterations of the Fitbit and Apple Watch before stumbling along this magical piece of wellness jewelry. One thing’s for sure — it’s at the top of our wish lists now.

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