Technically Perfect…for me.

I love my Fitbit One. It’s been essentially glued to me since the day I got it.  I chose this particular Fitbit for three reasons:

1. It had a visible display with actual numbers reflecting what I’ve done during the day (as opposed to arbitrary light-up dots).
2. I can wear it in my bra instead of on my wrist. This is VERY important for me as I’m a lindy hopper and I am often lead by my wrists.
3. I refuse to wear a visible activity tracker – I’m way too into aesthetics for that to be ok.

Just a note: I reject the idea of using my phone as a pedometer as carrying a phone while dancing is stupid and phone pedometers are wildly inaccurate.

Dual Purpose: Fitness & Weightloss

Fitness and weight have always been sore subjects for me.  I’m not into running or competitive sports and I really like cookies.   Over time, I have learned that with my body in particular, activity on it’s own does not cause me to lose weight; I have to really watch what I eat.  At one point in time, I was quite overweight and I lost 40 lbs with Weight Watchers – almost 100% due to eating significantly less.

I’m not strictly following Weight Watchers anymore, and I don’t really feel like I need to. I’m 10 lbs up from where I’d like to be, but I have this great tool that keeps me moving and will help me track my food intake, if and when I choose to do so. I see results with this thing no matter which strategy I choose to emphasize.  When I use the tools to record my food intake compared with my exercise, I lose weight. When I go balls-to-the-wall movement but pay less attention to caloric intake, my weight doesn’t change much, but I feel myself getting stronger and I can tell I’m more fit.

Fitbit Challenges

The weekly leaderboard is nice, but Workweek Hustle is my absolute Fitbit addiction.  I’ve been participating in this for a few months with mostly the same group of folks and it keeps me SO MOTIVATED!  The group is made up of friends, acquaintances, and total strangers – who now probably qualify more as friends because they play a significant role in my everyday life.  This group is exactly what “friendly competition” should be.  There’s definitely a competitive edge to it, but mostly we encourage each other to keep going and any taunting is very kind and light-hearted.

Here’s a picture of some dude named Jack, whom I’ve never met, handing me my ass.

I LOVE IT. I am going to go dance tonight (first time on a Thursday in years) just to keep moving. There’s no way I’ll pass him at this point, but I’m still motivated to push myself.  Honestly, without this challenge, I’d probably sit on the sofa tonight re-watching episodes of Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries. (Don’t judge me. The costumes are amazing and Phryne is a badass.)

Bonus: the only poem I’ve ever received was from Alex D – also never met – in the challenge chat group about how I’m a worthy foe! Thanks Alex, whoever you are!

On a tech nerd note regarding the mobile app, it is by far the best use of local and push notifications I’ve ever met! Every time I get a notification from Fitbit, I know it’s because someone in my challenge group did something awesome or is about to pass me…and often it inspires me to take a little walk at lunch time.