Fitbit in a wee bit

[lagilman]

So today, in addition to other things (of which more in a few days), I joined fitbit nation. Or rather I will tomorrow, since I just got it set up.

My plan is to get a baseline of how much I actually move on a "regular" day, and then ramp up as needed. It will be interesting to compare an off day to an exercise day....

Oh ye fellow fitbitters, any helpful hints, clues or warnings to give?



EtA: I'm already annoyed that Fitbit decided it would be okay to abbreviate my name.  if I wanted to be "Laura A" I would have typed that.  If they couldn't fit my entire name in, there should have been notice of that. A small irritation, but WTF, fitbit? Bitchslapped the text, and fixed it.

Comments

[gardenwaltz.livejournal.com]

Yay!

I have noticed that working at home is an amazingly sluglike existence. I knew I had a shorter commute, but I had not properly accounted for the lack of walks from the parking lot and down long office corridors. On a perfectly normal, productive day, I can struggle to get more than 2,500 steps. Lately, I have found the best trick for me is obsessing over my ranking in my list of Fitbit "friends." It is petty and somewhat silly, but it's fun. Send a DM to @jennmercerFE on twitter if you'd like to join up.

There are also some other apps I've found useful that work with Fitbit. Earndit.com gives you points for activities which you can use for rewards. Most of the rewards are just discounts on expensive products, but you can also donate them to buy a share of sheep on Heifer International or donate to victims of Hurricane Sandy. I also use trendweight.com which does some mathematical analysis to smooth out the weight loss ups and downs into something that almost looks logical (almost).

[allison stein (from livejournal.com)]

I have the FitBit Zip. The hardest part for me was remembering to pick it up off the nightstand in the morning, and removing it from my clothing before they go in the hamper. I haven't sent it through the laundry yet. Yay. The best place for me to wear it is tucked inside my bra or camisole.

My husband, however, is on this third or fourth FitBit. (He has the version worn overnight to measure sleep.) They go missing at the oddest and most inopportune times...

[janetl.livejournal.com]

My husband has one. He leaves it in the pocket of his jeans, and has had to rush to the dirty clothes hamper several times!

I use a pedometer (on and off) but haven't done the online thing. I definitely find that wearing a pedometer affects my behavior in a positive way.

[maureen-the-mad.livejournal.com]

I *love* my Fitbit. It help to incentivize (is that a word??) me to move more, although I still rarely hit my goal of 10,000 steps a day, especially on computer-heavy work days. Once the weather is warmer and the days are a little longer, I plan to take walks after work to help boost my totals.

What I really got it for was measuring my sleep totals, and it has been a HUGE help in tracking that, and helping me to get more sleep.

Tips: Definitely keep it clipped to your bra. I've always had a problem with regular pedometers, because a lot of women's clothes don't have a waistband (i.e., on dresses) to securely clip the pedometer to, and things tend to fall out of pockets. It has NEVER fallen off my bra, and it's very easy to see it on the bra and remove it when I'm getting undressed at the end of the day, so I never risk it going into the laundry. I found that even the low-profile FitBit would show through my sweaters/knit tops as an odd lump when I clipped it to the front of the bra, but it doesn't show when I clip it to the side of the bra.

The first couple of times you go on the subway or in a car while wearing the FB, make a note of steps and floors before your trip and after. If the FB is counting travel motion as steps/floors (which it's not supposed to, but it often will), you can enter those times as "automobile driving" or "bus travel" on your activity log, and it will subract those steps, to give you a more accurate accounting.

[lagilman]

I'll be taking it on the subway tomorrow, so thanks for the hint.

[mizkit.livejournal.com]

Yay Fitbit! I'm available through my gmail address, but I won't hook Facebook up to it. :)

[lagilman]

request sent. Also, how the hell is it figuring the calories burned, if I haven't sync'd this morning yet? Does it give an approximation based on gender and starting weight, on a normal resting human furnace?

[mizkit.livejournal.com]

Yeah. Disconcerting, but yeah. :)

[janetl.livejournal.com]

...and my sweetie fumbled putting his Fitbit on his waistband this morning. It fell it to a linoleum floor, and died.

[silvergryphyn.livejournal.com]

MyFitnessPal is another website you can link to that allows easier food tracking and some other stuff I haven't done yet. I like my FitBit a lot. I've had it about 5 weeks and besides making me more aware of how little I move at work, it's also really brought home to me that I need to go to bed earlier.