Thanks to my FitBit, I not only feel tired, but I also have proof that I had a terrible night’s sleep last night.
On Black Friday, I purchased my first fitness tracker. Since it was a present from my husband to me for our anniversary a week before, I didn’t have to wait until Christmas to open it and, after a few glitches during the setup process, began wearing the FitBit Charge HR that very day.
I purchased a FitBit with the ability to measure heart rate because I wanted an objective way to monitor my training. Changes in resting heart rate can indicate overtraining. As I’ve recently begun a new weight-lifting regimen and, in general, want to improve my fitness, I wanted to monitor the impact of my mix of exercise.
I began wearing a pedometer a couple of weeks ago when my workplace entered into a four-week “steps” competition with about 97 teams at the university. Attached to my pants or belt, the cheap machine measured my “actual” steps (and any jostling that might be interpreted as a step). In comparison, the FitBit, on my left wrist, measures my arm swings, and I’m beginning to realize how many times I carry something when I’m walking, preventing that arm swing and those step counts. (I must limit my multitasking or restrict carrying to my right hand.)
So when my wrist band vibrated last night, indicating I’d made my 10,000 step goal, I celebrated, knowing I’d likely walked more than that but still satisfied. (Plus I earned a badge — one I don’t have to sew onto a green sash or dust. Silly but somehow motivating.) By the time I went to bed, I had walked an additional 400 steps and totaled nearly 5 miles — without exercising!
Today I plan to add exercise (because my FitBit is completely guilting me into it):
And pay a bit more attention to what I’m putting in my mouth, because, yeah, the FitBit app allows you to measure calories you consume as well as calories burned (and I might have lied to it yesterday).
And I also plan to sleep better.
Posts for NaBloPoMo 2015:
- Why I love my hairstylist…
- To NaBloPoMo or not to NaBloPoMo? That is the question…
- No AC November…
- That dubious gift of an hour…
- I can’t wait to be discovered…
- Once an English teacher, always an English teacher…
- Of mice and men (or when you give a mouse a cookie)…
- When you replace people with possessions…
- Do what you know is right…
- When your eyes are bigger than your weekend…
- Attempting “The Glad Game”…
- When the Christian life is a bit too much like a political debate…
- Vertigo: When the world around you begins to spin…
- How our Mitsubishi van became blue…
- If she only knew…
- When everything feels like straw…
- Construction criticism (or where have all the detours gone?)…
- Don’t skimp on the showers…
- My surprise “happily ever after” …
- In fact, we are not entitled…
- The end of the twin era…
- More time is not always the answer…
- When furniture shows your age…
- If a gift falls in the forest…
- Turkey trauma: Me, myself, and my memories…
- Thoughts upon awakening Thanksgiving morn…
- Black Friday matters…
- SEO and so what?
- Getting a bit more fit…
All Things Work Together 
Fitbit: Destroying Innate Self-Awareness and Intuition Since 2007 (For more, see GPS)
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Interesting perspective… have to say that my experience with electronics — case in point, my scale — makes me believe I will retain my self-awareness and self-control, rather than yielding to a machine. For information purposes, I find the FitBit quite interesting. Thanks for commenting.
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Great!! I have the FitBit Charge, I love it! My co-workers and I participate in the challenges for some friendly competition.. I definitely stay more active consistently because of it.
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Glad to hear it, Kathleen! While some of us from the office have regularly walked or climbed stairs to relieve “sitting disease,” a majority don’t — and I’ve seen the impact a little pedometer can have on their motivation. Competition adds to the motivation, certainly! Thanks for your feedback. 🙂
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