FORTUNE — When I turned 30 last year, I realized my metabolism was no longer my friend.
I used to chow on rice dishes, sip vodka like water and still squeeze into skinny jeans, but those same habits now added inches to my waist, forcing me into stretchy, baggy denim that felt like I was ambling around in drapes for pants. Sure, I was five years older, but realizing the perks of youth eventually run out – a truism so obvious it warrants a, “Duh!” – was a queasy mental process.
The realization left me doing what many Americans do around New Year’s: swearing up and down to eat better, hit the gym more often and lose weight. To stay motivated, I promised myself I would track my eating habits using the diet app MyFitnessPal and my exercise habits using the Nike+ Running app. I even chipped in for two wearable devices: a Nike Fuel Band, a step-counting, calorie monitor that may soon get the axe, according to a CNET report, and Lark, a sleep sensor I would strap to my wrist at night to measure sleep quality based on movement. I was all-in.
For three months I was a “quantified self” junkie (the term refers to a group of people who strive for better self-understanding by collecting data about themselves using various electronic devices). I would capture data from my daily routine and scrutinize graphs and records on my smartphone with all the intensity of a doctor poring over an electrocardiogram. Had chicken for dinner? I’ll switch to fish tomorrow. Ran 30 miles this week? I’ll do four the next.
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One day, I just stopped using everything. I had invested hundreds of dollars into hardware and software and cobbled them together so I could to get a holistic picture of my day. But the process felt too complicated for its own good — a wristband for sleeping, another for the daytime. An app for eating, and then another running. Why couldn’t there be one piece of hardware and software to rule them all?
“They [wearable devices] are just so early stage,” explained Julie Ask, a mobile-focused analyst for Forrester (FORR) Android operating system arrive this summer from companies like Motorola, providing a platform for developers to potentially create deeper experiences beyond what Nike, Jawbone and currently offer. (Indeed, if Nike does continue the Fuel Band, the company reportedly will shift its focus to the software side.)
They probably won’t be the panacea tech-savvy, health and fitness-oriented folks seek, but at the very least, it might mean a lot less gadget clutter.
