Abandoned 'Bits

I'm a little sad. At one time, we were a complete Fitbit Family (Tracking the Family). All five boys, plus Mom (me) and Dad were all wearing one. We'd check in daily to see who was topping the charts. At times, I'd learn a little about other unauthorized activities (Tracking and the Teenager). I loved everyone being on board.

When #1 son left for Mexico (LDS church mission), he wouldn't have access to a computer/phone for syncing up a Fitbit tracker. I sent him with a simple step pedometer, and every week when he'd write, he'd include his steps. I'd input them manually and it was all good. Several months ago, he went through a stretch where letters were delayed. I got out of the habit of entering his steps (when the data was days late, it throws off the comparisons) and therefore he got out of the habit of sending them. I would rarely check in to see where we all stood ... so I didn't even notice when #2's Zip stopped syncing, or #5's data mysteriously stopped coming in ("oh yea ... um, I lost it"). While #4 was still a Fitbit fan (although with the recent addition of a hot tub to the family, I'd find his Charge sitting around. He'd take it off and forget to put it back on. Winter has reduced his activity as well) ... Hubs and #3 both had Apple Watches now. They both had Fitbits, they were wearing, for me ... I told them they could stop, and they both did.

I'd purchased a warranty on #2's Zip. From past experience ... Fitbit customer service is great, and will replace anything the first year. Of course ... it's often in the second year that the devices stop working. For $4 (for a $50 Zip purchase) I'd picked up a warranty for that second year. I contacted the company (Asurion, purchased through Amazon the same time as the Zip) and they sent a pre-paid box to return the defective product, and they refunded me my purchase price. Glad it worked!

The Zip Hubs was using, the One #3 had been wearing, and an older Flex that had been replaced with another model, are now laying around unused. When I do get steps from my son, and input them ... it's extended family and friends and neighbors who are there in the Top10.

I'm honestly super surprised I'm still at the top of the list! Generally, I'm well over 100,000 for weekly steps. It's been a tough time, with the holidays and everything ... but I guess that goes for everyone on the list. Everyone's steps seem down. And it's just me, #1 son and #3 son from our immediate family.

Personally, I still LOVE my Fitbit.
Both of them ... I wear the One and the ChargeHR.

... I've had my One for years now, and over the years had accepted friend requests from a multitude of people I didn't even know. As I set up my ChargeHR, I decided I would only friend/accept requests of people I AM actually friends with. I AM friends with myself (via my One) ... but I'm definitely NOT in the top spot on this list! Gotta work harder to compete with these gals!

My missionary will be coming home in February. I wonder if I'll want to go back to an actual Fitbit. Maybe put on one of the abandoned 'bits .... ha ha, who am I kidding. If he does want a Fitbit, he probably wouldn't want one of those older models, especially used (even if they were used by family). He'd want a Charge, or Alta, or Blaze or Surge ... We'll see. Maybe he'll join Dad and his brother with the Apple watch.

I guess we've got backup Fitbits ... :)

Stacked Steps

I really don't think I'm a very competitive person. When I first started wearing a pedometer, counting steps and entering them online (Walker Tracker) I must admit, some of the competitions DID drive me. That was several years ago. Now ... I really am stepping for ME. That said, it is still fun to see how I stack up to family and friends and other Fitbitters and pedometer people out there.

In the picture up top, Hubs sent me a quick snag to show he was gaining on me. He never did catch me though. #2 son (iCallahan) DID top me once, but among family, I'm generally in the #1 spot.

After four years of being on Fitbit, I do have quite a few "friends" on there. Honestly, I don't know many of them in real life (or even online life, although some are Facebook friends or blogging buddies). Unlike my family's Fitbit accounts, which have stayed limited to family and close friends, I have over 100 Fitbit friends, and I rarely see my family in those select spots the Fitbit site (it only shows seven, three above you, you,  three below). To be able to see my family together, I set up a group. For the month of March,  my 9-year old is currently in second place, followed by Grandpa (my dad) and then my other three boys (my 14-year old has stopped tracking his steps, he just didn't like the feel of the Fitbit). Then my brother, Hubs, and more family under that. Being a SAHM, not having to work or go to school does give me a bit of an edge ...

The people who know me and have me as a Fitbit friend generally think I'm completely crazy for getting the steps I do. They always tell me I'm in the top spot all the time on their accounts.

But on mine?

I'm not.

There are people much crazier than me!

I just grabbed this little snag today. It's a seven day total, so that equates to about 21,000 steps per day for me. My goal I've set for myself is 22K a day, so I'm pretty close. I'll hit 30K days, then have low step days (under 5,000) on Sundays, as I take a break.

The gal at the top of MY friends list (I wasn't sure anyone would ever beat her, but it has happened a time or two) AVERAGES over 41K a day! 

I'm generally in the top 10 on my account unless I'm sick or on vacation. Occasionally, I will see #2 son make an appearance on my list. Hubby made it on there once. I really like when I see people I actually KNOW.

On the picture to the right, I do actually know Jane (mom to one of my son's basketball buddies) and Terrilynne (a neighbor). I'm always happy when I see a friendly face appear on my Fitbit friends tile.

The numbered ranking is constantly changing, as your steps sync, as other add their steps to the mix. It changes daily, even hourly!

Fitbit has recently added "Challenges" to their program. You can invite people to specific step challenges and compete. I've only done it once ... like I said, I'm mainly  just competing against myself. But that said, it is fun to see where I stand, and know how others are doing with their step counts too!

I recently bought a Fitbit Charge HR ... as you can't have two Fitbits on the same account, I set up another account, and I wear them both (my new Charge and my original One). I'm the only friend I have on that account *Ü* Truly only going against myself. My Charge is lagging behind. Most people seem to indicate they thin the arm styles OVERestimate, but that isn't the case with me.

Walker Tracker

I've been a pedometer person for about eight years. Ever since I first lost weight back in 2006. I kept my daily numbers in a handy-dandy excel file. At the end of 2008 ... I discovered Walker Tracker.

Walker Tracker is basically just a website where people can enter their step numbers. The site has cool graphs and can foster a lot of social interaction.  When I first joined, December of 2008, it was extremely motivating to me. I made many online friends, participated in challenges and my steps reflected that. 

Things change over the years, as they always seem to do. In 2010, I got my Fitbit. On Walker Tracker, I had to enter the numbers from my Omron pedometer manually. With the Fitbit, everything was automatically updated. Fitbit was SO easy. One of the things I loved about Walker Tracker were the many graphs, but Fitbit had some cool (and similar) graphs as well. The Fitbit site also ranked you against your friends for competition and comparison. I found myself drifting a bit from Walker Tracker, even though Fitbit never really had the same level of social interaction that WT did. I have many Fitbit "friends" but I  have never really exchanged any conversation with most of them. I was very social on MFP when I joined that last year (but again, drifting ... although still tracking my food every day). I've been tracking activities on Daily Mile too. How many trackers and social sites does one need/want ... or can one even keep up with?

There were a few times I gave up on Walker Tracker. I still had my excel file. I had my Fitbit graphs. I'd get behind making my entries and then feel overwhelmed when I'd try to catch up. Yet ... I would. I came back to Walker Tracker every time. Why can't I just make a break?

I do LOVE Walker Tracker's graphs ... and I have my information there from December of 2008. I am a numbers gal, and I do love to look at my trends, especially over YEARS. This next graph is looong, but the information in it is so valuable to me ... I KNOW I faltered in my exercise and activity at the end of 2012, and the start of 2013, but these numbers really shine a spotlight on the drop!

I could come up with these numbers on my own (my monthly total steps, and my average) but I just don't know if I would get around to adding it up myself. Here on WT, I enter my stats everyday (or catch up at the end of the week) and then it calculates these numbers for me. It's interesting to compare year to year, watch for trends in certain months, etc.

 I had been VERY behind in my Walker Tracker entries. It's June now, and I had only entered through April ... nothing since then. I decided to get caught up ...

 I'm looking pretty good for June ... Over goal as of now.
(I was sick in December - I'll be happy when that dip is gone from graphs!)

I have used the graphs in my monthly updates here on the blog.

I like this "Day of the Week" focus too. It's interesting to see visually how your days average out as far as your activity. Sunday is my slow day, not surprising ... Thursday surprised me, I thought I was a little MORE active the day before official weigh-in! I have been doing a lot better on Fridays/Saturdays since I started doing Zumba on those days too.

I think there is a beta program in the works, that will automatically sync with Fitbit (as mentioned, I haven't been very active on the WT site to keep up with what new things are happening) ... which would save me the time of the manual entry. As of now, I actually still use my Omron numbers (yes, I still wear my Omron pedometer too. I like that it gives me "aerobic step" numbers, something that Fitbit actually doesn't do, but that is a separate number that Walker Tracker keeps track of. It's interesting to see how many of my steps are from "exercise" and how many come from regular daily activity.

Just thought I'd give a little shout out to Walker Tracker today. The tracking program I can't quite give up on. Maybe some of you out there might like to try it out. Linking up with WOW and the Hump Day Blog Hop.

40,000

I got this email from Fitbit last night. I was expecting it. I earned it! After a very long day, I went down to my elliptical, with my Fitbit app open and watched as I added the final few hundred steps I needed to earn this little ol' badge. Step, step, step ... 40,000 and stop. *Ü* Ahhhhh.

I have actually exceeded 40,000 before. June 3, 2010 (Pedometer Personal Best). 43,564 steps according to my Omron. I HAD my Fitbit then, in fact, as my Omron and Fitbit aren't always the same for steps ...

I SHOULD have the 45,000 badge from Fitbit. 

See this graph? 45,9110 steps!

I'm not sure when the "badge" system started up ... I think perhaps it was just in this past couple years, and awards were not post-dated, even though the data is in the system. Perhaps I should inquire. Regardless ... I've been at the 35,000 badge for quite a while and was happy to finally change that up yesterday! *Ü*

I got in 90 minutes/9.6 miles on the elliptical yesterday. Four 20minute sessions and one 10 minute one. That added up to about 11,250 steps. I went to Zumba ... 5700 steps there. I jogged a mile on the treadmill for another 1800 steps. I rode the stationary bike for 30minutes/8.1 ... only 2100 "steps" for that activity.  I'd really done enough for the day, but when I took #2 to his basketball game in the evening, there was a track above the basketball court.I could easily walk and watch ... so I did. I got in almost 11,000 steps.

I'm counting my new badge as my non-scale victory for the NSV LinkUp this week (although a little victory DID show on the scale this morning. Hopefully it sticks around for tomorrow's official weigh-in).  I really do love my Fitbit, and it does motivate me to move more. I'm constantly checking it throughout the day. My SIL received the 45,000 badge the other day ... she'd taken her Fitbit off before doing the wash (try NOT to wash your Fitbit) and left it on the dryer for the rest of laundry day. She was NOT expecting the email and did not really earn the badge (the shaking of the dryer added the steps) but it made us all laugh that day. I'm not sure when/if I'll add another 5000 steps to earn the next badge up ... I guess we'll see.

Linking up with Thinking Out Loud Thursday.  What are you thinking about?

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.

Step History ...

... I've tracked my daily steps for YEARS. I started in 2006, and in December of 2008, I joined a site called Walker Tracker, a social site for tracking steps and connecting with other pedometer people. There are competitions, and that was a big motivation for me then (I've gotten less competitive through the years).  In 2009 and 2010 I'd hit 30K days with regularity. Twice I topped 40K. Walker Tracker has a lot of nice graphs too. The graph above is a pretty good visual representation of my past year. In 2011 and 2012, I had been staying pretty close to my revised goal of 20K a day. I got a little discouraged around Oct/Nov ... my activity went down. My weight went up. It was mid-May when I joined MFP and started tracking food. I also upped my activity again. You can see my June and July jump ... I plan on keeping it up there!

Just a few more numbers from past years ...
2012 average of 16,305
2011 average of 19,902
2010 average of 25,503
2009 average of 25,161 

Pedometer Personal Best

 ** I'm a pedometer person. For the past few years I've worn a pedometer and recorded my daily steps. I set a new personal best, just topping a high from about a year ago. 10,000 steps is about five miles, so throughout my day, I got in just over 20 miles. I actually wear two pedometers. My Omron (shown in the picture above) shows me my total steps, as well as my aerobic steps (steps taken continuously for 10 minutes or more). My Fitbit gives me a visual graph which is fun to follow - the image below was my day ...

Got up and did 20 minutes on the elliptical (first spike) then got the kids of to school. Then some short bursts of steps (laundry, walking the little one to a neighbor's for a play date) then another 20 minutes on the elliptical. Then the walk to school to pick up #4 from kindergarten (twenty minutes each way, with a small break in between as the kids enjoy the playground before we head back home). Make some lunch, get in another 20 minutes on the elliptical. Play with the kids, mow the lawn, a couple quick 10 minute elliptical sessions. #3 has a baseball game ... there's not a lot of parking, I always have to walk a quarter mile just to get from my car to the field (as I'm a walker ... I don't really mind). Then rather than just sitting and watching the game, I walk and watch. From the edge of left field to the edge of right field, back and forth ... the games last about 90 minutes ... I usually get in five miles. I was pretty much done for the day, got the kids to bed and was ready to head there myself when hubby got called away on an errand ... so, I went down and did 20 more minutes on the elliptical (just to go ahead and break my personal best record). Hubby gave my poor tootsies a foot rub ... they needed it!

**This post was originally added to the family blog June 3, 2010