FitBit getting me active!

I thought I'd make my first blog devoted to my Fitbit Wireless Activity/Sleep Tracker, Black/Blue! The first thing I used to grab in my mornings used to be my cell phone. These days, I'm hooked on my FitBit!!

I was first introduced to my FitBit by my amazing boyfriend. He is always reading and listening to motivational books. He came across a book, the The Primal Blueprint: Reprogram your genes for effortless weight loss, vibrant health, and boundless energy (Primal Blueprint Series) that encourages people into going from Korg to Grok. What is a Grok? A Grok is a term used to define the hunter-gatherer. Our ancestors used to eat what was available to them, and they had to either hunt for food or find food amongst plants and trees. They were also active, but they didn't do the crazy fitness routines we've been taught to do in order to maintain our weights! Anyway, he walked away from that book learning that the best physical activity is just to walk! So, to get started with moving, he purchased a FitBit to track his daily steps. After watching him track all of his steps, and how it motivated him to get going, I followed suit shortly thereafter. He purchased his in the Black/Blue and I purchased mine in the Black/Plum to avoid confusion!

The thing I love about the FitBit is that you get to set weekly goals for your activity and then watch as you hit your goals! The FitBit uploads your data wirelessly into your online profile. You can view your daily steps, miles, floors climbed, amount of time you're active, calories burned and daily sleep patterns. All of the data is kept for historical purposes to help you track your progress. You can log your food intake and keep track of your weight. Your weekly steps are emailed to you once a week as a progress report. You can add friends and monitor who the current step leader is. One cute thing that's built in, is that it actually has greeting messages on it that tell you "Good Job Joe", or "Get Moving Jane". It seems like everytime I pick it up, it pops up with something new. I also love the fact that it's waterproof!

This little device definitely seems to motivate me. Everytime I hit 15,000 steps, I want to hit 20,000 steps. Everytime I hit 20,000 steps, I want to hit 25,000. Whenever I go for a walk, I make sure to have it on me. It's the one thing I must take with me to the gym. If I forget to bring it, I definitely get upset that I'm not tracking all of my steps! It's become addictive, and that's definitely a good thing.

A recommendation I would make to the FitBit team, is to have an easier way to find your friends. You currently have to email your friends through the online system and a friend can only accept the invitation through email. There isn't an interface online to accept the friends. Also, since it keeps track of your battery level, it would be nice if it would email you once your battery is getting low... I charge mine once every couple of weeks (yup, that's all it needs), so it's easy to forget to charge it!

For $99, it definitely is worth a try!

Click here to view my FitBit profile :)