As Dr. Sanjay Gupta writes on Oprah.com, "If you're going to monitor only one thing, this (sleep) is it. Without adequate rest, your whole body suffers." Dr. Gupta has a very good reason for pointing out how important the sleep tracking feature of fitness trackers is. According to the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, sleep is vital to good health. Chronic sleep deficiency is linked to a higher risk of heart disease, kidney disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, and stroke. Most fitness trackers have built-in sleep monitors, which measure how long you sleep and gauge the quality of your rest by how much you move around while you sleep. While Dr. Gupta is careful to note that fitness trackers can overestimate the quality of your sleep, he does say that if you keep track of those restless nights, you may be able to discern a cause for them and address it accordingly. Wear your fitness tracker to bed, and perhaps your nights will be more restful and you'll feel better in the morning. Easier calorie counting The math doesn't lie: eat more calories than you burn and you gain weight. Eat less, and you lose weight. This is not rocket science, yet it can get pretty inconvenient for busy people to do. Fitness trackers and their associated apps make calorie counting more convenient than ever — whether you need to lose 5 pounds or 50, they can help you manage your food intake quickly and easily. Most fitness tracker apps have nutritional information databases, which include most foods — even that Big Mac you had at lunch. So if you're counting your calories, no longer do you need to carry that calorie book with you wherever you go. It's now all on your phone, which you're never without, right? Another benefit is that if you set a daily calorie goal, you can see at a glance how many calories you have left in your budget. You can also see how many calories you've burned. Be more active Fitness trackers aren't infallible; if you ignore yours, then it's not going to help you become more active, simple as that. But with more and more fitness trackers offering motivational features like Fitbit's "Reminders to Move", it's getting harder and harder to ignore the need to get up throughout the day and stretch your legs. Many fitness tracker companion apps offer exercise suggestions, exercises that you might not have considered. I know the gym gets stale for me sometimes until I discover a fun new exercise I've never tried before. So while owning a fitness tracker on its own won't cause you to be more active, all of the little incentives combined with reminders to get off your ass as pretty hard to ignore and discount. Get better at a sports ball