Fitbit

I started using a Fitbit One to track the number of steps I walk each day in February – on 4 February, to be exact.

I’ve been amazed at how this little pedometer has managed to help me develop a walking habit. I now walk for almost an hour most weekdays – which for me is a huge increase and a lot more exercise than I’ve been getting for a long time. I am not a fan of sports (not even to watch); running is hell on my gammy ankles, and I don’t know how to swim. So getting into walking has been a bit of a Big Deal for bookish, unoutdoorsy, generally lazy me.

Every year MPOW encourages staff to participate in the Global Corporate Challenge – and to be a good sport (no pun intended) I usually join a team. You get a pedometer, track your steps and try to meet challenges with your team mates. Until this year I have always been pretty pathetic as a team member, not managing anywhere close to the magic 10,000 steps a day. This year has been a completely different story.

I now happily log at least 10,000 steps most days – and some days I even manage more than 15,000 steps!

So what’s been the difference with the Fitbit, you ask? It’s another pedometer, how has it made me change my habits?

I think the difference is the fact that with the Fitbit, I don’t need to do much to keep track of my activity. It syncs with my web-based account either on my laptop or via an app on my mobile phone and I can easily see how I’ve been doing. I don’t even need to remember to sync it everyday – the Fitbit stores data on the device for a a few days (is it 5 or 7) so even if I forget to sync for a day or two, it doesn’t matter. With other pedometers, I have to remember to write down the step count for each day, then reset it for the new day – and for some reason I have a lot of difficulty doing that simple task. I would miss days and get very disheartened for forgetting. With the Fitbit, I’m competing with myself to maintain a good level of activity. All I need to do is the walking. The rest is done for me – I can even look at my activity levels over a week, over a month (and eventually over a year), all displayed in nice graphs on my account.

The other thing? It sends me these emails every time I achieve some milestone. It’s not a big thing, but it’s a nice little pat on the back to be told: “Wowzer! You’ve walked 15,000 steps in a single day! That’s almost three times more than the national average! Keep up the pace to earn another badge!” I like the fact that it’s set up to email you all these alerts, especially right at the beginning, when you’re just trying to get into a routine.

The flower is a nice touch, too. The flower “grows” after you’ve recorded a certain level of activity.

I now have a ritual – I wear my Fitbit when I leave the house, and I leave it next to my computer when I get home. Perfect!

Thanks again to @jadedlotus for the recommendation!