It’s been six eight months since I’ve been living my life with an activity tracker glued to my arm day and night and now I can’t imagine life without one so I thought I’d write an update on how this little gadget has changed my life for the better and — also the worst.
I use a Garmin Vivofit with a black band because I got it at a blogger event in late 2014. I used it for a couple of weeks when I first got it before relegating it to a junk stash. Then late last year as I was Kondo-fying my apartment (read, de-cluttering and simplifying my life), I came across it again. I was faced with a decision to part with it or give it another try. I chose the latter, but not without doing some research and reading a few helpful and detailed blog posts about how to get the most out of this thing.
First, I’ll say that I never thought I needed an activity tracker. I’m an active person who works out 6 days a week so why would I need to track anything? BUT, as they say, sitting is the new smoking and I was very aware that after I finished my morning workout, the rest of my days involve a lot of sitting. So my initial reason for wearing the tracker was to track my steps.
These are a few of my likes and dislikes about wearing an activity tracker:
Likes:
- It keeps me motivated to stay active and keep moving throughout the day
- I can track my sleep habits and see how much time I spend in deep sleep vs. light sleep
- I can wear a heart rate monitor (HRM) to monitor my heart rate during exercise and it also tracks calories burned, though I don’t pay much attention to that
- It syncs with other apps like My Fitness Pal and my iPhone
- It learns my activity level and adjusts my goals accordingly to keep me challenged
Dislikes:
- As someone with a Type A personality, I’ve become obsessed with this thing – if I don’t meet my step requirements for a day, I’ve been known to pace around my apartment until I do or else I feel guilty (I would like to think I’m not alone in this. Anyone?) This has led to giving myself one “off” day per week where I don’t have to meet my step requirement, much like I take one rest day per week with my workouts.
- See above. It keeps adding steps. I’m obsessed with meeting my step goal. Where does it end?
- Cycling and other types of movement don’t carry any weight in terms of steps so even if you’ve been active in other ways, it doesn’t count unless you’ve taken actual steps
- I don’t count calories (see above) so this doesn’t bother me much, but if I did, I’m not sure how accurate the calorie count is for my activity. For example, I know hot yoga burns a lot of calories, but that’s not reflected by the fitness tracker, even when I’ve worn the HRM with it.
The biggest difference between the first time I started wearing the fitness tracker and the second chance I gave it was that the first time, I didn’t have a reason for wearing it, but the second time, I felt a connection to it or a motivation for wearing it. I think that’s the first big question you need to ask yourself before deciding whether one is right for you.
Another thing to do is to really educate yourself on all the features and how to use it. The bands are simple, but there can be a lot of hidden bells and whistles you’ll want to know about to get the most out of it. I know that I still don’t use it to it’s full capacity but I’m OK with that for now, until I upgrade to a new one – then I’ll want to know everything there is to know about it.
Finally, choose one you like and feel good wearing. My biggest gripe is that my Garmin Vivofit doesn’t match my personal style and there aren’t any options for interchangeable bands (that I’ve found) that don’t require buying new device. For example, I stumbled on a beautiful light pink leather and rose-gold band by Marc Jacobs that fit this model, but it would have required buying a new device which kind of defeats the purpose – I’m too practical for that.
I’m using everyday a Fitbit Charge HR ! I love it !