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A glance at the people around you on the train, walking down a busy street, or in the grocery store will tell you that the gym isn’t the only place people are wearing fitness trackers these days.

Devices like the Apple Watch Series 12 , Oura Ring 4 , or Whoop 5.0 have become more of a fashion accessory than strictly for tracking workouts. They’re a great way of tracking your training and seeing tangible evidence of your progress, but does everyone need one? I’m not so sure.

There’s a dark side to the tracking. Viewing burned calories so easily in an app can be an extremely triggering experience for some users, and it may even begin unhealthy habits like calorie counting and overexercising. So, let's go over the perks of these devices and discuss the science behind why they can also become harmful.

Fitness tracker or calorie counter

(Image credit: Tom's Guide)

The majority of these smartwatches and smart rings track your health using metrics including sleep and activity.…