Webforum: Web-based gifts to make 2010 a healthy year

Jan 1 2010 by Andrew Jackson, Huddersfield Daily Examiner

WHILE we all wave goodbye to the Noughties what better time to leave behind one (or more) of our bad habits?

Making resolutions, of course, is the easy part. Sticking to them for any period of time is altogether more tricky.

But with the advent of shopping on the internet you don’t even have to leave your sofa to try and beat your demons.

Banish the tobacco – QuitKey – £39.95 from www.anhealth.co.uk

This slightly more unconventional approach to quitting may well be worth a try as it eases you off cigarettes in stages without nicotine patches or gum.

Stage one – smoke as normal over a seven-day period, recording each cigarette with the touch of a button.

Stage two – the keyring sounds each time you’re allowed a smoke with ever increasing gaps over a period of two weeks to 34 days. It’s not for everyone, but heavier smokers will certainly benefit.

App for fat – Withings Connected Scales – £115 from www.madeindesign.co.uk

This super-stylish set of scales is so smart that its function actually manages to outweigh the form.

Step aboard and it’ll measure weight and body mass index, then upload the data via the built-in WiFi connection to a website that’ll track the data over time in graph form. There is also an iPhone app so you can access those graphs just about anywhere.

Wii workout – jOG Controller – £11.99 from www.generationd.co.uk

There are peripherals a-plenty for your family console and while the Wii Fit balance board may have had all the attention, this device literally runs rings around it.

Hooked up to the nunchuk end of your controllers, you’ll now have to jog on the spot to get your on-screen character to move.

Master all these and chances are you’ll have a very happy New Year.

Grow your own – Power Plant Growing Machine – £34.95 from www.firebox.com

Many have tried those on-sill herb gardens and most generally fail after crop one, but this one uses NASA technology to put the green in all of our fingers.

Just add water to a special nutrient, mix, then pour it over a spongy strip inside.

A happy New Year to all at the forums at www.examiner.co.uk from the Examiner’s web team.