Back in January, I talked about resolutions and resolved to get a fitness tracker. A little bit of time has passed and – guilty hand up – life got even busier than usual (job, children, house going on the market, husband has just started training for the London marathon etc) and I didn’t quite (read: at all) get around to it. I lost a little weight, cut down on the vino tinto and gradually forgot my plans for a Beyonce booty. All change again now though, as I have been trialing a Fitbit for the past few days and I am in equal parts amazed and shocked by the data it’s captured.
First off, what is it? Well, it’s essentially an activity tracker. It shows a whole host of information, from steps taken to distance covered, calories consumed, floors climbed, minutes active, sleep information and numerous other details. Worn on your wrist, just like a watch, it can even tell you the time! The Fitbit Charge connects wirelessly (via Bluetooth) to your laptop, tablet or Smartphone and is a brilliant idea.
Simple and intuitive to use, I set up the app on my laptop and synced this with the Fitbit. From there I entered info that I won’t share (height and weight – I’m a lady) and set various goals.
Day one (Thursday): I was surprised that, on a cold and rainy day at home, I had climbed 22 floors but then realised I’d been up and down the stairs so many times, with laundry / hide and seek / more laundry / helping The Things on / off the loo or into the bath. Good activity day albeit with not a lot of walking due to it taking 20 minutes to get all our wet weather gear on, only to get outside and have Thing 2 complain of a hole in his welly.
When you join Fitbit, the default goal set for each member is the magical number of 10,000 steps a day (you can choose to change this if you wish). The Japanese first started using the 10,000 steps a day number, as part of a marketing campaign (to help sell pedometers, naturally!) Since that initial campaign however, medical authorities around the world have agreed that 10,000 is a healthy number to aim for. The 10,000 steps is recommended as a guideline to follow for improving health, lowering BMI, reducing waist size, increasing energy and lessening the risk for Type II diabetes and heart disease.Unless you have a very active lifestyle or profession, you probably won’t reach 10,000 steps on a given day without putting some effort into your activity. This could be a lifestyle change such as walking to work, or the addition of an exercise routine to your day. I was so determined to reach 10,000 steps that I went for a walk (in the dark) after The Things were asleep and made it to 11,250 (whilst listening to The Archers omnibus – I am very rock ‘n roll.)
Day two (Friday): The Fitbit also has a sleep tracking function that measures your sleep, in terms of total sleep, any waking through the night and periods of restlessness. Although I’d been in bed for around 8 hours, I was aware that it took me a while to get off to sleep but I thought I’d had a fairly decent night’s sleep until I looked at the data captured by the Fitbit. I’d been restless from 04:02hrs until 05:13hrs (when I’d woken properly for a visit to the *ahem* throne room) and had then been woken by The Things at 6:40am. No wonder I’m tired! Still, I love a goal and I feel motivated so we head off out, picnic in a rucksack and head off for a walk to the nearby Mid Suffolk Light Railway. It is closed. We mooch home, warm up and then into the garden for a play. By 6pm I have amassed 13,286 steps (between 5 & 6 miles, by my guesstimate), climbed 23 floors, drunk 1.5 litres of water, consumed 986 calories (still a meal to go, though) and been active WAY longer than I’d imagined.
Day three (Saturday): Once again, the sleep function is alarming but telling. We’d eaten late and had wine with our food and, on syncing my Fitbit with my laptop, I’m a bit shocked to discover that I’d fallen asleep very quickly but had been quite restless – particularly after waking at 04:52hrs in need of water, where after it had taken me nearly 40 minutes to properly get back to sleep.
I have a netball match today but the league rules state that you are not allowed to wear jewellery so I hide it in my netball dress so the steps may not be accurate.
Examining the app on my laptop in more detail I find that there are a few of my Facebook friends who I can ask to join me in challenges. I select three friends and challenge them to steps and activity goals. I AM INVINCIBLE. I go to bed very early, having achieved my step goals, calorie goals and having climbed my 19th floor to get there!
I continue my trial for a week and, at the end of the week, I have walked 70,984 steps, climbed an average of 18 flights of stairs a day, lost 6lbs and drunk more water than I ever usually do. I genuinely feel better and have been making a conscious effort to go to bed earlier so that my sleep is for eight hours. The Fitbit Charge is brilliant motivation for me and has also meant that The Things have been outside more than ever – never a bad thing, even factoring complaints about the cold.
The Fitbit charged fully in under 2 hours, is small, flexible and water resistant. The screen is OLED display so looks good and is simple to use. The ultimate compliment – and the crux of this review – is simply this: I am so impressed with this bit of kit that I’ve ordered one! View the range here.
We are currently running a competition from the 25.09.15 – 04.10.15 to WIN a Fitbit Charge. To make an entry simply visit our Facebook, Twitter or Instagram page!
