Friday Favorites – Fitbit HR
It’s Friday…..on the first week back to work and school after the holidays and it seriously could not have come too soon! Why is it always so hard to get back on a routine? The type A part of me is so happy to have a schedule but the other side of me is missing lazy mornings and extra snuggles at home.
I may be late to this whole Fitbit party but for any of you on the fence I thought I would give you a little rundown with the five ways I’m using it so far. Until recently I thought the whole idea of the Fitbit was ridiculous…yes really. I did not think there was any way I wasn’t getting 10000 steps a day “as busy as I am”. My daughter added the Fitbit HR to her Christmas list and as I was looking into it my interest was peaked. I decided to add it to my wishlist and low and behold Santa delivered! I have been wearing it since December 26th and here is what I can tell you.
{Tracking Steps} 10000 steps is ALOT more than I thought!! I have only hit that mark three times…..three! I was skeptical at whether it was measuring correctly but have tested it out a few times and it is calculating within 2-3 steps every single time. I am a numbers person and still have a teeny bit of a competitive nature so the challenge of hitting the 10000 steps has been good for me. It has also been a positive for Dutch & Carly because we are taking more walks.
So far I’ve found it syncs up nicely on my phone. It also vibrates when I’m receiving a call which has actually caused me to miss less calls as my phone is usually in my purse on silent. I can easily see who is calling just by looking at my wrist. Obviously this could be good for my health if it’s a friend calling to meet me for a workout. Ha!
{Tracking Water} One of the things I am so terrible about is drinking enough water. I’ve tried other apps before, tried marking my glasses, lemon in my water….blah, blah, blah but I just struggle with this. I have still not hit my goal each day but I have definitely more conscious and when I log in and see this notation I’m thinking to myself I really AM kinda thirsty!
{Tracking Workouts} I try to make it to the gym at least 3 days a week but really should have 4-5 days of activity. I am able to set a goal for how many workouts I would like to hit each week and then track the duration of the workout by simply hitting a button on the Fitbit when I begin. By tracking my heart rate, the Fitbit HR provides stats on when I’m in the fat burn zone, etc. I’m a geek but I love some stats and if you missed my Sweet 16 post yesterday you would know I might just keep track of all these numbers in a spreadsheet!
{Tracking Stairs} I work on the 3rd floor of my building and all too often I am guilty of walking straight to the elevator. Since I’ve been back this week, every single time I reach out to push the button I’ve noted my Fitbit and quickly headed for the stairs. I love that I can see how many floors I’ve walked in a day.
{Tracking Sleep} Getting more sleep is definitely something I need to work on. I was a little bit skeptical about how the tracker worked but last with I totally got up to go to the bathroom at 1:20 and made a point to check the clock. I think this was fairly accurate. It’s been an eye opener that I probably need to get to bed a little earlier.
I started a nutrition challenge this week as well so I’m definitely more motivated than usual to keep track of activity. Part of the challenge is keeping a daily food log and I have been using My Fitness Pal. The Fitbit can also be synced to My Fitness Pal to track exercise calories. I synced them initially and it was working nicely but I am trying to focus on a constant calorie count for now instead of “earning” food from excercise so I turned it back off. Easy both ways.
All in all I really am loving it. I’d love to hear any tips from those of you currently using a Fitbit to track steps or other activities. Any features you are using I have not mentioned here? Also what are some ways you add steps during the day? Especially if you are in an office job which has so far been my challenge.
A quick shout out to Jennie at A Pocketful of Polka Dots for featuring my Floral & Stripes post last Friday. She has great style so be sure to head over and check her out. It’s always such an honor when another blogger gives you a mention so be sure to show the love through the year.
Dillon has a basketball tourney out of town starting tonight and I’m excited to watch him play! Other than that not much going on. Wishing you a fun and relaxing weekend!
Linking with||Friday Favorites with Erika, Andrea & Narci, Oh Hey Friday, Diary of a Real Housewife , High Five for Friday, Friday Flash Blog, Friday Favorites, Thoughts for Friday
I definitely agree that a FitBit can encourage more movement and better choices! Sometimes if I'm hanging out on the couch I look at mine and start just walking around my house or doing some kind of yard work just to get some steps in. It's a great motivator!
I am addicted to numbers too and i freak out if I cannot find it. Mine is a clip on with bands when I wear a dress. can you believe I average 14,000 a day and I'm pushing myself for more. I adore how accountable that thing makes us. Super awesome technology to motivate!! Go girl and go have an ahhmazing weekend!!
I've got to find a way to remind myself to take a walk around my building every hour or so. I have a standing desk so I'm not sitting all day but I could definitely take a few strolls. Have a super weekend!
Exactly Morgan! I really feel like it has made me pay closer attention.
I've been reading so many posts and such about everyone getting healthy and working out…I'm still over here drinking Pepsi!! I promised myself Monday is my day to "start". I always like to start on a new week (excuses excuses excuses)
And I'm over here drinking my Diet Coke thinking, "Y'all go ahead and knock yourself out!" LOL! My motivation totally sucks right now!
The Fitbit is great motivation. I am taking a lot more walks (Albie is happy) since I started wearing mine again. I hadn't thought to wear it at night to track my sleep.
Hey, what Bible study did you do with the group of friends last year? I am looking for suggestions to start one with a group of friends in the next few weeks. Anyone else have suggestions? Something that doesn't require watching a video with it, but has discussion questions or a guide. Thanks.
And now I know what I need for my birthday! We can be FitBit besties! 🙂
I totally always start on a Monday! I stopped drinking soft drinks years ago and traded for Spark. I really don't miss it.
I could barely fit my jeans so that was motivation enough!
We actually used Seamless by Angie Smith but it did have a video with it. I'll check with my friend Katy as she totally may be willing to loan it out and I could mail it. It was so good!! I really think it could also work without the video but it really did tie everything together each week and I remember having some aha moments. Plus she has the most gorgeous hair! haha
Any suggestions for the person that is allergic to the fitbit band? My husband and I bought these at Christmas time in 2014….I broke out in a terrible rash. The fitbit company was great about taking it back and refunding my money, however I still had no fitbit (insert sad face). This year I was told that they changed the material in the band soooooo dummy me tried it again……in 24 hours I had the WORST rash on my wrist. Turns out I am allergic to nickel and there is nickel in the band. Same with the Jawbone brand. So bumbed….my whole family is having great competitions and loving the fitbit!!!
Signed……left out :((
Glad that this is working for you! My sister has one and really likes it, but I've nevr taken the plunge and got one myself. I am pretty good with drinking water (especially as it's summer here!) but it would be good to see if I'm walking enough during the day. I'm certain to be doing so on days I'm home with the toddler, not sure about when I'm in the office all day! Although I do try take the stairs as much as I can 🙂
Away From The Blue Blog
I love mine!!!
I figured it out. Its Kandidly Kim! 🙂
Look at you! I love a determined woman. 🙂 Have a super weekend!
I really stink at drinking enough water! Better in the summer but still not great and I can tell such a difference in the way my body operates and in my skin when I am drinking enough. I rarely sit down when I'm home so I was super shocked to see that the days at the office I was getting so few steps. Time to park a little further from the entrance and walk to the furthest restroom. 🙂 Have a great weekend!
Aww…that stinks! My sister-in-law is also allergic to nickel and had the same issue.
Yes!! We can motivate and challenge each other!
I got a fit bit hr too and I loooove it! Better than the two jawbones I had before that conked out!
So fun! I have a Garmin that has very similar features but I rarely ever use those parts of it. Im horrible about drinking water too. I think Ive tried all the same tricks!
I really like this one! I had the Flex and I don't think it was as nice. I ended up taking it back because I was like well I can track steps on my phone! Haha
I have really enjoyed tracking my sleep and my workouts. The biggest change I'm positive is I've not taken the elevator at work one single time. Hope you are having a great week!
Water is just so blah…and I'm too lazy to put anything in it on a regular basis. I'm terrible.
I'm really loving it and it has definitely opened my eyes that I was not as active as I thought I was!