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| Looking down the Snake River from the confluence |
Last summer, our insurance provider offered Mike a free Fitbit valued at $50. I laughed. I thought it was a joke that anyone as physically goal-oriented as Mike should need a Fitbit. However, he was intrigued and immediately ordered it.
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| The Lewis & Clark Center at the confluence |
So, the Fitbit came, and he enjoyed seeing his activity stats as recorded by this watch-like device, but then he decided he wanted a better one – one that would do more. Probably most of us would just buy the one we wanted – I know I would – but Mike spent several hours on the phone negotiating through both the folks at the insurance company and Fitbit. He would return the original unit, he said, if they would credit him $50 on the one he wanted. Eventually the details were worked out, but if memory serves, he didn’t like that unit for some reason and returned it for yet another model.
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| Ducks on the river |
Meanwhile, he decided I should have one, too. It took some convincing because my life-goals do not revolve around physical activity. However, I now have a Fitbit, and I admit that I’m a bit obsessive over it.
My first goal, assigned by Fitbit, is to take at least 250 steps every hour for my 12 most active hours of the day. You might laugh – Mike does – but my interests are mainly sedentary and I know it’s important to get up and move. The Fitbit buzzes my wrist if I have not completed the 250 steps at ten minutes before the hour. For instance, it will say, “10 minutes to take 148 steps.” I now have a mental list of household errands to help me amass the needed steps – making the bed, unloading the dishwasher, trips to the shed, replenishing supplies here and there, emptying the compost pail, taking recycling to the garage, etc.
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| Lewiston from 10th Street in the Orchards |
The overarching daily goal is 10,000 steps, and many times I fall short of that, but I’m getting better. The other evening, I noticed that I only had to walk 300 steps to reach the goal, so I walked to the corner and back. Then Fitbit goes wild, throwing a party on my wrist, celebrating my victory.
My Fitbit also keeps track of the hours that I sleep. I don’t know how it knows – perhaps inactivity and heart rate. KW
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| Mike holding a cache |
[The photos here were taken Monday, Jan. 4, as Mike and I were geocaching.]
2 comments:
I don't even know how to respond to this!! LOL!! Glad you like it, though. I think I'll pass though, as I do enough nagging of myself without help from elsewhere.
Yeah -- I hear you. It's a downer for me when through no fault of my own I miss the 250 steps per hour. Mike turned that feature off on his. But if you do want to know ow many steps you're taking and meet goals, it's an easy way to do it.
I'm not sure if I'd want to wear the Fitbit for the rest of my life. For the more athletic among us (Hallie and Mike), it's more useful. Hallie's device is a Garmin rather than a Fitbit.
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