Batteries ...

My hubby has a nickname for me ... 

The Energizer Bunny. 

I just keep going and going and going.

It's not always true ... I get worn down, just like everyone else. But I do really LIKE exercise now. I'm not sure if there are "exercise endorphins" that actually make me happy, that ironically give me MORE energy when I workout - or if it's all a placebo effect in my head. I do know, on a day I don't work out, I actually feel more run down than on the days I put in miles on my machines. I rarely take a rest day. It takes a lot for me to stop working (out) ...

Not so with my Omron pedometer ... this morning I went to put it on and saw the little flashing battery light. At least it did happen in the morning. It's so frustrating when it dies mid-day and I lose all my data! It is always a bit of a chore ... 10 minutes or so I hadn't planned on devoting to this task. Finding a small screwdriver (that usually takes at least 5 minutes on its own), finding a replacement battery (luckily I do have several on hand), and then resetting the stats on the device. The good news with THAT at least was I was able to put my weight in 20 pounds lower than it had been set at previously. 

My Fitbit has a rechargeable battery ... I just slip it on the charger while I take a shower. I don't need to do it every night, just every few nights and it stays ready to go. I've never had my Fitbit die on me. The little Fitbit Zip has a replaceable battery like the Omron ... I think I personally prefer the rechargeable one. 

Wouldn't it be great if we could just plug ourselves in for an hour or so and get completely recharged? Or simply replace our battery with a new one when we wore down?  I know many people take a rest day to recharge. Do you?  Personally ... I have a hard time taking a scheduled "rest" day. I always need to do a little something. I'm the Energizer Bunny ... and here I go!

The Irony of my Omron

When I first started walking, I went through MANY cheap little pedometers. They varied in accuracy and were quite easy to lose.  I looked over all the reviews and upgraded to the Omron Pocket Pedometer and it served me well for a long time now. It is a bit big and bulky ... through the years I've had people ask me what it was, or mistake it for a diabetic pump. Even when I bought my Fitbit ... I just couldn't give up my Omron. I continued to wear it. It was my "watch" and it was a little easier to check my steps on (as I usually had my Fitbit on under my clothes). It also came in handy for those odd times I would forget to put one of them on ... I had the other as a backup.

The other day, the clip broke ... the pedometer itself was fine, but without the clip, I couldn't fasten it to my pocket or waistband.  I wondered if perhaps, it was time to let the ol'Omron go.

I keep all my numbers in an excel file. I have my Omron steps and my Fitbit steps, Fitbit is almost always just a bit higher.  I went ahead and put June's daily step counts into a graph ... you can see that the two pedometers are actually very close. It makes me feel pretty good about the accuracy of both devices *Ü* and as the numbers ARE so similar ... I really should be able to get by with just the Fitbit. Right?

The Omron does have one additional feature that Fitbit does not ... the counting of "aerobic" steps. 10 minutes or more of consecutive steps. I don't know how important that really is to know, but it's an interesting statistic, and between the Omron and Walker Tracker, I've been logging my aerobic steps and aerobic minutes for five years. It's just a little hard to let go of.

So ... the Omron  is called a "pocket" pedometer. The day after the clasp broke, I removed it from the plastic case and slipped it into my pocket and wore it that way. Guess what? I like it SO much better! Without the case, it isn't nearly as bulky. You can't really even see it (although I can easily take it out to check the time or my numbers). I can't believe in all the years of wearing my Omron I didn't ever try taking it out of it's case and putting it in my pocket rather than have it dangling off my pants. Now granted, I don't always have a pocket, and the case is still needed for those times. I did happen to find an extra case laying around (from an older Omron that had died) so I'm still set no matter what I'm wearing. But now ... I'll be taking it out of the case and slipping it into my pocket whenever that is a possibility.

... it only took me six or seven years to figure it out.