STEPPING UP TO THE FITBIT CHALLENGE

I’ve had my Fitbit (fitness watch) for more than a year. It promotes two daily goals -- 250 steps per hour between 7:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m. and 10,000 steps per day (about four miles). I rarely meet the 10,000-step challenge, even though it’s doable. (It’s about three miles.) I do try to make 250 steps per hour. You’d think that would be easy, but it’s not.

250 steps per hour isn’t many unless you aren’t doing it. How quickly an hour slips by when I’m sewing or reading! I may be so lost in thought that I fail to notice the vibration that means I have ten minutes to get so many steps before one hour lapses into the next. I have to make the effort to get those steps or the opportunity is forever lost. The Fitbit is unforgiving.

I can take 250 steps in a matter of two minutes or so, but I’m so easily distracted. I can walk into the kitchen or the sewing room, get into some task, and then fail to complete the goal. It doesn’t count if you just stand there. You have to keep moving. I have even learned to walk while I brush my teeth.

I try to get those hourly steps by doing something constructive – an errand to the shed, a can to the bin in the garage, table scraps to the compost bin, etc. Making the bed counts, but unloading the dishwasher doesn’t amount to much. In fact, whereas I used to think in terms of efficiency, I now try to make many errands in order that my Fitbit records more activity.

At the store, I find I don’t get as many steps as I deserve, probably because I’m pushing a cart. I also think that the GPS locater doesn’t work as well in those big warehouse-type buildings. However, vigorous left arm movement, such as towel-drying Bess after her shower, will count as steps.

You know, I wouldn’t bother about this thing if it weren’t that I’m basically sedentary, but I know it’s important to move. Even so, the hourly goal is not the main point. The daily goal of 10,000 steps takes consecrated effort (dedicated walking) unless you’re Mike. He frequently reaches 20,000 steps in a day, through hunting or hiking. These goals are especially doable for the active person.

Are there other goals? Yes, the Fitbit keeps track of the hours I sleep with eight per night being the goal. It also categorizes those hours – deep, light, REM, and awake. It will keep track of my exercise minutes, providing I tell it to start and stop. It will track the water I drink and the food I consume if I want it to. It will even give me credit for meditation.

Well, I struggle a bit with these goals, but when I received my yearly stats for 2021, I had 347 days of activity. I was surprised that by comparison, the community average was 97 active days. KW