8 Hot Wearable Devices To Get You Healthy In 2016

Now that the Thanksgiving food coma has faded, the winter holidays, along with the associated parties and feasts, are upon us. That makes the task of staying fit and healthy a bit daunting. But there is some high-tech help available. Here are eight wearables designed to help you jump-start your New Year's resolution.

With the winter holidays in full swing and tables laden with lots of rich and fatty foods, along with calorie-packed wines and champagnes, we're afraid to think about the fallout from all the feasting.

Donning a wearable that's geared toward health and fitness might seem attractive. Apparently, an increasing number of people have the same idea.

The wearables industry is expected to grow 27% to 170 million units worldwide this year, over the previous year. Revenue is also set to spike 70% to $20 billion, according to Shane Walker, principal analyst of digital health and wearable technologies at research firm IHS.

Health and fitness wearables are predicted to account for 28% of the industry's $20 billion in sales this year, Walker said. Between 2012 to 2019 the compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) for health and fitness wearables revenue is expected to increase 25%, he added.

The health and fitness wearables industry got its start in 1982, when Polar introduced the first wireless wearable heart rate monitor called the Sport Tester PE2000.

The growth in this segment of wearables is being driven by an increased interest in fitness, combined with greater use of Bluetooth and ANT+ technologies on smartphones. Users can now glean useful information about their workouts, compare that information with archived data, review how many calories they burned, and keep track of their cardio performance.

[See 10 iPhone Healthcare, Fitness Apps That Actually Work.]

"This is how people use it now. There is a wealth of information on your activity," Walker said. He added that future demand of health and fitness wearables and the ways these devices are used will likely be shaped as smartwatches increasingly become the product type of this segment of the wearables industry.

Here's a look at eight health and fitness wearables that may provide the wealth of data Walker referred to. Take a look and let us know what you think of these in the comments section. Would you use any of these to help you reach your health and fitness goals? If not, what wearables would you recommend?

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