Recently, I joined the Fitbit bandwagon. As always, I'm a bit late to the party. I can see how someone with an addictive personality such as mine could get a little crazy with one of these bad boys. After being sick for the majority of the fall and winter, plus sinus surgery, my work-outs have been non-existent. I needed a boost of motivation.
So far, I'm about 50/50 on hitting my step goal. I'm doing okay on logging food, and pretty much rock at getting enough water. It's also cool to see how I'm (not) sleeping, as I tend to be a bit of an insomniac. I'm great at falling asleep, but not staying asleep. I imagine if I looked into my food log on the days I'm not sleeping well, I could see a pattern. But as always, denial and I are besties.
To be honest, I can super easily talk myself OUT of exercising. So, for me, this is a good way to motivate myself. Make it a challenge. I still will find myself an out on occasion, but for the most part, I am making it happen. When once I would have decided to hang out on the couch in the evening, if I don't have my 10,000 steps for the day, it's out the door I go! Most of the time, at least. I also like that I can add additional exercise in a different area. It's also nice to know that even if I'm not getting in an "actual" workout, I've taken 10,000 or more steps for the day.
We've actually considered getting an activity tracker for each of the girls. They are like me and tend to over-estimate how much exercise they are truly getting. And I've never seen two kids more affected by not getting enough exercise. Their brains just function so much better when they've been active that day. They are also very influenced by not enough sleep. Oh, and another trait they inherited from me is getting "hangry". So, I doubt it would change their attitude, but at least I could know if they were being mean due to hunger, or just because they are teens. Ha!
It seems that this would be treading some very dangerous waters though. We have always stressed being healthy and strong as important. Not weight. I think we've done a pretty good job. (Or maybe, denial again...) I'd be lying if I said I wouldn't worry about the message a tracker would send though. Growing up, they were always excited to see they had grown at their check-ups. Peyton even went as far as to correct her weight (to higher) when she got her drivers license. The clerk looked at her like she had two heads and told her "most women would never admit that"! (Definitely another post, grrr...)
I have to think about the trackers for the girls some more. But as for me, so far, so good. Now I just need to find myself a motivator for house work and all of the other things I'm really good at excusing myself from.
