I have been wearing a Fitbit Flex daily since March 1st. I did not buy the Fitbit for myself. I would consider that an extravagant purchase for myself. I actually received it as compensation for a blogging project I completed.
For those of you that don’t know, a Fitbit is an activity tracker that you wear on your wrist. It tracks your activity levels and sleep while you are wearing it.
There are different models of Fitbits. Mine is the Fitbit Flex, which is a pretty basic model. It does not have a watch or digital screen to look at like some other models do. For me, that is a good thing because it makes the device less of a distraction to me.
During the past 3 months wearing my Fitbit, I have learned 3 things about myself and my habits.
1. I am Not Very Active.
It is recommended that we get in 10,000 steps per day. I have only hit that daily goal once in the past 3 months.
I have had many days that included playing with my kids outside, going to the zoo, and grocery shopping. But that has not been enough. I have discovered that I need to physically add exercise to my day, in addition to my normal activities, even when I think I am already being active.
I have averaged about 5,600 steps per day over the past 3 months. I work in an office with a 30 minute driving commute each way. I sit at home when I work on my blog and other freelance projects. I have been living a very sedentary lifestyle.
It’s time to change that!
Related: 5 Simple Ways to Stand Up for Your Health
2. I Need 7.5 Hours of Sleep per Night.
The thing I love most about my Fitbit is that it monitors my sleep and shows me how much actual sleeping time I had in a given night.
It’s easy to think, “If I go to bed at 10:30 pm and get up at 5:30 am that’s 7 hours of sleep, and since experts recommend getting 7-9 hours of sleep per night, that should be good.”
Except that is only factoring in time spent in bed without adjusting for the time it takes to fall asleep or times you may have woken up in the night.
By wearing my Fitbit to bed and reviewing how much sleep I have been getting, I have made adjustments and found that I need 7.5 hours of sleep each night to feel my best.
3. Bluetooth Gives me Head Aches
Just while typing this I started thinking, “Why is my head feeling funny?” Then I realized, “Oh yeah, my Bluetooth is still on.”
I don’t normally have Bluetooth on my phone turned on. I only turn it on to sync my Fitbit stats on my mobile app because that is how my phone communicates with my Fitbit.
You can also sync your stats with your computer. My Fitbit came with something that plugs into a computer’s USB port to allow the Fitbit to sync with a computer.
The battery in your Fitbit will last a lot longer when it is not constantly trying to update stats using Bluetooth. Mine lasts at least a week when it has been fully charged, but I may only sync it with the mobile app twice a week. Then I will usually charge it back up up on Saturday mornings while I am on my computer.
Do you use a Fitbit or other wearable activity tracker? What do you think of it?
Leave a Reply