FitBit and Me

Fit to the Bit on my wrist…

This is the FitBit Flex.  This is the FitBit on my wrist.  Isn’t it a pretty little FitBit?  FitBit FitBit FitBit… so fun to say…

Okay, enough.  I was annoying myself just there.

I love me some technology.  I especially love it when I can utilize this technology to make my life easier, healthier and, let’s face it, more fashionable.  Yet, I find myself needing a lot of tutorials when utilizing this newfound technology.  I need it to be so user-friendly that my 3 year old could do it.  Okay, who am I kidding?  My 3yo seems to accomplish tasks on my iPhone that take me hours to figure out how to undo.  

I need technology that is REAL easy to get… At the recommendation of a friend and the birthday-gifting from my hubs of one of these nifty little gadgets, I logged onto their website, plugged in all the appropriate info, downloaded the app to my iPhone, promptly signed up within a scant 5 minute window, and popped my new little flexible, durable elastomer friend on my opposite-of-dominant hand.   According to FitBit’s official site, FitBit does the following:

During the day, it tracks steps, distance, and calories burned. At night, it tracks your sleep quality and wakes you silently in the morning. Just check out the lights to see how you stack up against your personal goal. It’s the motivation you need to get out and be more active.

Yes, yes, yes and YES!  

Sometimes I need motivation… and sometimes its a casual piece of fitness-accessory that can do it. But, you see, I had been feeling tired when first acquiring this, wondering how my sleep patterns were affecting my energy level during the day, so the sleep tracker was essential for me.   So I used it one night.  To switch to sleep mode, you literally tap it furiously until it Lite Brites up all the way across… like so:

FitBit Lite Brite

You wake up in the morning, tapping it a little more furiously (because it’s time to get up) and sync to your app on your iPhone using BlueTooth superpowers.  It will tell you immediately what kind of rest you had the night before.  

Except, when I used it, I forgot to sync immediately upon waking… and then, strangely, had trouble with the “waking” part for the rest of the day.  Suddenly, I thought to myself, 

“Self, why are you so tired?”  

To which my self said back to me “You are a mother… you are eternally and forever tired. You did this to yourself.  Oh, and, by the way, you forgot to sync your FitBit.”   

You clever, self, you… So I synced… and this is what it told me:  

 Oh, um, that explains it.  I guess that means no more Candy Crush before bed?

The FitBit also has a way to track your activity, but you have to choose from their pre-determined list of activities and T25 isn’t anywhere on there.  Essentially, calorie-burning isn’t as accurate unless you choose from their list non-inclusive list of predetermined activities.  (That’s right, FitBit, when I sweat with Shaun T for 25 minutes of sweat-filled eternity, I did NOT just burn 150 calories.  You lie, and I will Burpee all over you)

The other thing you can do with your hip new friend is track your steps.  It reminds you when you are close to the standard 10,000 step goal (via your phone app) and congratulates you when you get there.  I like a little app-driven motivation, so I am in!  Here is one of my good days…   

Yet another great feature is tracking your caloric intake, but I found this cumbersome as I sometimes throw a healthy meal together on short notice – consume it like a rabid wolf in mid-winter – and run off to the next activity before I can get anything recorded.  You literally have to piece a meal together to get the caloric content, and ain’t nobody wearin’ my FitBit have time for that!

You can also add friends from Facebook, logging all of your FitBit Greatness onto your profile, but I choose not to do that as I’m busy annoying people with the “healthiness” of this blog already. So here is my own rundown of my little FitBit friend:

Pros:

• Slim, comfortable design that isn’t too cumbersome
• Sleep activity Monitor that tracks wakefulness, restlessness and sleep patterns
• Step counter & Calories Burned  
• Water Consumption  

Cons: 

• Activity Tracker is less-than-accurate (One word: T25)
• Food Tracker IS cumbersome (or more accurately, I’m just lazy and count calories in my head)
• Can be a bit much $$ initially for some of us ministry-folk that make the big bucks: $99 
• There is not a glittered or bedazzled FitBit Flex Bracelet to be found.  (Etsy, I’m lookin’ at you)

Note:  Sometimes the battery dies in the middle of the night, therefore rendering your sleep tracking inaccurate, leaving you wondering if it was just an off night or your 3yo’s incessant habit of a 3am potty visit. 

So as a recap, I do love my new little friend.  I think its amazing that technology has come this far to aid in better health awareness and convenience… but mostly I’m glad it validates me that I am eternally sleepy and it ain’t because I have 4 kids…

So, I’ll blame Candy Crush.  

Now, get up, get out and get active for Him!!