Jul 4, 2014

My New Toy!

By Barbara DeLeo

I'm a complete sucker for new and shiny exercise equipment and I haz a new toy! Yes, I know those late night T.V ads can be as seductive as Joe Manganiello in boxer shorts, but this is different. It's not one of these:
or one of these
it's one of these

This is my Fibit. 

What's a Fitbit and why would I ever want to use one, I hear you ask? It's the perennial problem of WWB (writer's widening butt) which comes from hours spent in a chair when the only thing getting exercise are my fingers on the keyboard and my elbow as I shovel chocolate into my bouche.

So, what is a Fitbit? Well, it's like a jazzed up pedometer. I wear it all day, hooked to the waistband of my jeans or clipped to my bra, and it counts the steps I take, how far I walked and how many floors I climbed, but that's not all. It also monitors my sleep, helps me track how much water I drink as well as what I eat. Because it syncs with my phone I can see a whole lot of charts and graphs to monitor my progress which is really motivating.

Yesterday for example, this is what I achieved. The step info fell off the bottom of my picture but it does show the green line to indicate that I met my goal of 10,000 steps.
I can set my own goals and get little messages of encouragement sent to my phone and collect stickers for milestones met. I'm also in a Fitbit group with other writers where we have a leaderboard to show how many steps we're all doing. 

One of the really interesting things I can monitor is how well I sleep. I pop my Fitbit in a little wristband at night and it monitors how long I sleep and what the quality is.Not surprisingly,  I've found that the more exercise I do during the day, the better I sleep at night. See how my sleep was much better yesterday than the day before? The red line means awake and the blue means restless.
                                                       


















So, that's my Fitbit. I'm hoping that it doesn't end up in the garage like the Ab-Circle Pro or a glorified clothes rack like my treadmill.....Have you had success using exercise equipment at home? Thought of getting a Fitbit?





29 comments:

  1. Barbara

    I am not very good at exercise at all sadly I have arthritis and find it difficult to walk too mush these days I do get housework done and move around especially when I have any of the grandkids around but my exercise is turning the pages on my kindle or in a book not good I know but I have so many wonderful books waiting for me :)

    One of my friends has a fitbit and they really are great

    Have Fun
    Helen

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  2. Hi Helen,

    I'm very sorry to hear about your arthritis. I know it can be a very painful condition.

    One interesting thing I've found since using the Fibit is that housework uses HEAPS of steps and exercise points! I've always tried to find a good reason why I should do any housework and this one's working for me.;)

    Barb

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  3. Wonder if my husband would buy one for me - maybe even get a his-and-hers set. Sounds like the sort of thing he'd enjoy and encourage me to use. Could be one of the 'best' finds on the advertising channel. Thanks for sharing, Barb.

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    1. I love the sound of his and hers Fitbits, Susanne! There are some lovely wristband ones in really bright colours but I have the one that attaches to a waistband. Would love to hear how you get on!

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  4. I've been wondering about getting one of these, Barb. I don't have a mobile phone with all the bells and whistles (and I don't want one) so it wouldn't have the phone sync-y thing that you mention. Can it hook up to one's computer instead? I'm thinking anything that can urge me to more exercise would have to be a good thing. :-)

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    1. Yes, Michelle, you can definitely use the computer to see your dashboard, in fact there's even more info on there. I think you'd LOVE it. I'm a badges and gold star kinda girl and love the encouragement of all that. Do let me know if you get one, we could take them for a spin in Sydney!

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  5. Uhoh, Barbara... I think I need one! Actually, I have to confess that I am a bit of a pushover for the advertising channel things that promise health/fitness miracles so I tend to avoid it these days! I've tried a few things including one of the ab thingies (can't remember what it was called - not a great success and not as easy as promised either because I hurt my neck using it!)

    But your Fitbit really does sound like a useful thing. Something that encourages me to exercise is just what I need! How interesting that you can monitor your sleep quality and see that it's much better when you've done some exercise.

    Thanks for telling us about your Fitbit... I'm off to investigate.

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  6. Barbara, Mr Bailey has one of these and he loves it! Now I'm planning to get one too. It makes the achievements kinda fun with the charts and graphs. :)

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    1. Oooh, get one! We could take them for a whirl in Sydney! I really love the sleep tracker thingy. I've realized I'm not even hitting 6 and a half hours a night at the moment so my goal this week is to get to 7 every night. I'm sure it makes the words come out easier when I have enough sleep ;)

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  7. I have a Fitbit that I wear on my wrist. It's embarrassing to read how little exercise I do some days. It's interesting to see how sleep improves the more active I am. You can also log how much water you drink. I need to drink more water and less coffee.

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    1. I love those wrist ones, Elaine! There gorgeous colours. And my one has a little flower that grows if I'm on track to meet my goals but I think yours has lights, is that right? I'm exactly the same as you with the water and always find it a struggle. Now, if there was a graph for chocolate or wine I'd do great!

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  8. Sounds like a fabulous good-for-you new toy Barbara. I'm thinking I'll need to consider getting one for myself too.
    I can generally tell what the quality of my sleep was like by how tired/alert I am in the morning, but it would still be interesting to see it in a graph like the ones shown.

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    1. Lyn, I think you'd love it. I didn't really know about the sleep thing when I got it but it's really opened my eyes to how little sleep I've been getting. I'm not nearly at my 10K steps goa today so must take the pooch for a walk.

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  9. Michelle, mine came with a little bluetooth thing to plug into the usb port of a computer.

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  10. OMG Barb, I want one. How does it how how much water you've drunk. Great idea with the group!!

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    1. You'd love it Jen! You have to manually add the water you drink but there's a cute little icon that shows how much more you need. You can also set an alarm so it will buss against your skin to remind you to drink :)

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  11. Oh, I love my Fitbit! I should qualify that by saying I love my Fitbit when I'm being active. The last few weeks not so much -- I'm half-bear and like to hibernate once winter hits. Plus it needs a new battery.

    But I love the charts and tracking. I loved getting the badges to say I've walked 500kms and 1000kms. I think it will be a while until I reach the next big number.

    (This is actually my third. I've managed to lose two. The fact I've re-purchased is my testimonial.)

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    1. Bron, I'm finding all these closet Fitbit users? Yes, it has the capacity to make me feel quite guilty when I'm not hitting my goals. And I hear you on losing it. I lost mine this week and found it wedged down my thigh of my jeans. At least it was still counting my steps!

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    2. I kept thinking I'd find mine somewhere strange but months have passed without so it must have been while I was out and about.

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  12. Meant to say: I've also been a sucker for the exercise equipment. None of those you pictured although I was likely tempted.

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    1. My treadmill'sa very handy clothes horse, Bronwyn ;)

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    2. Mine is known as the towel rack. :-)

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  13. On the phone app you can press an icon for a glass or bottle of water when you drink and it adds it up for you through the day.

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    1. Yes, Elaine, it's great to see how much more I need to drink in the day.

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  14. I have the Fitbit Zip and I love it :) It would be better if it did the walking for me - or maybe even sent me an electric shock every now and then to get me off my backside, but I do love it :)

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    1. You would think, with all it does, it could head out and exercise itself, wouldn't you?

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    2. The electric shock is a PERFECT idea, Kerrie! It's an addictive little critter, isn't it?

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  15. I've fancied getting a Fitbit, Barbara, but wasn't sure how it worked. You've convinced me to get one! Thanks for sharing the details.

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