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If you haven't had a chance to take a look at the Fitbit, you may want to learn a bit more about this tiny, integrative fitness tracking device. Just twice the size of an American quarter and weighing just four-tenths of an ounce, the Fitbit is a small solution to America's big problem: inactivity.

Tracking steps taken and calories burned is nothing new. Pedometers, for instance, have been around for years. What Fitbit offers that a standard pedometer will not is its capability to automatically upload information onto the Fitbit website. Once data is uploaded, the website allows the user to keep track of progress, or lack of progress in many cases, over an extended period of time.

Users of the Fitbit find that they are more motivated to walk longer pathways to and from the subway or around their workplace. They find that adding these extra distances, though comparatively minimal, are actually huge boosters at the end of a one month cycle. The calories burned really begin to add up, and overall fitness is improved. This is not to say that walking an extra 300 yards each day will keep your waistline trim, but coupling these extra distances with an exercise routine and proper diet will help to keep you more physically fit.

Fitbit also tracks sleeping patterns and can let you know whether your current sleep regimen is appropriate for your age and lifestyle. Some users found that they were waking up in the middle of the night without remembering. Facts like these are often impossible for the average person to gather without a device like the Fitbit.

Fitbits began shipping at the end of September and will continue shipping to pre-ordering customers. Fitbit Inc. will start delivering new orders this coming January, 2010, and the devices will simultaneously appear in retail stores.

For more information visit http://www.fitbit.com/