fitbit
caitlin asked how i liked my fitbit.
i do like it! i don’t know if it’s actually worth the retail price of $100 (i paid about $75 for mine after amazon rewards), but if it motivates you, then the price is worth it.
it pretty much gamifies getting your steps in. i got a badge for my first 10,000 steps, then one for 15,000. my guess is there’s one for 20,000, but i haven’t gotten there yet. if it’s 8 p.m. and all i’m doing is watching netflix and i only have 4,000 steps in for the day, i’ll take my laptop downstairs with me and watch netflix while walking on the treadmill. (this normally happens on my days off of running.)
its also nice that you can sync it to your phone/music device, so you can see what’s going on as far as steps, miles, calories, etc. it also will sync up with myfitnesspal if you use that. it might sync with runkeeper but i haven’t used RK yet this year. it will track your sleep patterns as well – let you know how restless you are during the night. i don’t really track that much anymore because it was pretty consistent over the first couple weeks.
i think the biggest change i made was that instead of running 20 minutes or 30 minutes or whatever, i run to 10,000 steps (on a normal day). this lands anywhere from 20-45 minutes, and it makes sense to run to the steps instead of the time.
it’s easy to wear – a band on your non-dominant hand. i wear it above my watch. waterproof, so the only time i take it off is when i have to charge it – about once a week. there are different colored bands, but i just have black for now. if i want to get fancy, maybe i’ll pick up a different one. there are also different types of fitbits – i got the simple one; it has 5 dots that light up with your chosen progress (default is 10,000 steps). so after 2,000 steps, 2 dots light up, 4,000, 4, etc. but if you want to track height or have a display on your wrist, there are different kinds you can pick out.
so, that’s it. novelty hasn’t worn off yet. it is a motivator!