A Little Bit Fit
Brian came home from work a few weeks ago with a box. The kids and I immediately corralled him in order to see what he brought home.
It was a Fit Bit.
"Oooh!! I want one!" Jaina exclaimed. And Jayce, not to be outdone by his sister when it comes to technology, said he wanted it, too.
Um, yeah. My kids are going to track their steps? More like they are going to track their inactivity watching TV and playing video games :P
Brian's co-worker had gotten a good deal on a few Fit Bit Flex bracelets when he was out of the country. He brought a few back to the US to see if anyone wanted them.
He used it for a week or two and then discovered that he won a brand new Fit Bit as a prize at work. That meant the fit bit flex got passed down to me.
And so began my love/hate relationship with the damn thing.
The first thing I realized is that I don't typically take 10,000 steps on a normal day hanging around the house playing with Jocelyn. If I was going to meet my goal, I'd need to make time to walk around the neighborhood.
I also started tracking my calories soon after logging my daily steps. This I did not like at all.
How dare that thing tell me fried mozzerella sticks are 700 calories? Or that my two cokes put me "over budget". Or that one powdered sugar donut (JUST ONE!) was 90 calories? And I hated seeing my calorie number in the red zone after eating our typical Saturday lunch at McDonald's.
Okay, okay, okay... I know I eat like crap. I like food. A lot. And if you tell me that I can't have something, then I want it 100x more. And those first two days I was tracking my food? Its like I couldn't get enough. I wanted to eat anything and everything in sight.
It took me a few days to adjust, but I finally got used to staying within a budget for each meal and picking healthy snacks to satisfy me during the day. I am going to be honest here: I'm not really looking to change the food I eat. I love bacon. I love coke. I love wine. I love donuts and brownies. I LOVE Kentucky Fried Chicken and Taco Bell and McDonald's. But, I can also tell you that I don't love that the scale says I'm the heaviest I've ever been. Or that I weigh 20 lbs more than I did pre-Jocelyn. I'm 36 now and my metabolism has certainly slowed down. I used to be able to eat whatever I wanted and not gain a pound. Eh, not so much any more.
I think the Fit Bit has been a great motivator for me. I've been unhappy with my lack of exercise and how my clothes fit for a long time now. I just didn't care enough to do something. I kinda care now. Well, I actually care more about beating my husband during a fitness challenge, but whatever works, right??
I like walking first thing in the morning, before all of the kids wake up.
Its cool, not humid, the light is GORGEOUS, and its so quiet and peaceful in our neighborhood. I've split the neighborhood up into three sections: Front, Side, Back. Each section has its pros and cons. I used to be able to walk all 3 sections in just under an hour, but that was 4 years ago. I'm now happy just to be able to walk one or two at a time.
We've got some serious hills in our neighborhood. This isn't like walking around a track.
Sometimes I have a walking buddy. I'm not exactly thrilled about pushing 30 extra pounds in the stroller because it seems as though the Fit Bit doesn't give me as much credit for that as walking by myself. Grrr.... I'm almost certain a mom didn't create the app.
When Jocelyn is with me, we usually listen to Megan Trainor. When I'm by myself, I typically listen to Jump Little Children, Guster, Ben Folds Five, 311, Mumford and Sons, Pearl Jam, Jason Mraz, Tori Amos, or Sara Bareilles. My tastes very a lot.
Who knows if I'll keep this up. I still have a three year old that sleeps through the night 90% of the time and then has nights where she's up several times a night. Mom is tired.
But for now, I'm enjoying the start of a less sedentary lifestyle. I don't think I'll be running any 5ks any time soon, but it's a start :)
It was a Fit Bit.
"Oooh!! I want one!" Jaina exclaimed. And Jayce, not to be outdone by his sister when it comes to technology, said he wanted it, too.
Um, yeah. My kids are going to track their steps? More like they are going to track their inactivity watching TV and playing video games :P
Brian's co-worker had gotten a good deal on a few Fit Bit Flex bracelets when he was out of the country. He brought a few back to the US to see if anyone wanted them.
He used it for a week or two and then discovered that he won a brand new Fit Bit as a prize at work. That meant the fit bit flex got passed down to me.
And so began my love/hate relationship with the damn thing.
The first thing I realized is that I don't typically take 10,000 steps on a normal day hanging around the house playing with Jocelyn. If I was going to meet my goal, I'd need to make time to walk around the neighborhood.
I also started tracking my calories soon after logging my daily steps. This I did not like at all.
How dare that thing tell me fried mozzerella sticks are 700 calories? Or that my two cokes put me "over budget". Or that one powdered sugar donut (JUST ONE!) was 90 calories? And I hated seeing my calorie number in the red zone after eating our typical Saturday lunch at McDonald's.
Okay, okay, okay... I know I eat like crap. I like food. A lot. And if you tell me that I can't have something, then I want it 100x more. And those first two days I was tracking my food? Its like I couldn't get enough. I wanted to eat anything and everything in sight.
It took me a few days to adjust, but I finally got used to staying within a budget for each meal and picking healthy snacks to satisfy me during the day. I am going to be honest here: I'm not really looking to change the food I eat. I love bacon. I love coke. I love wine. I love donuts and brownies. I LOVE Kentucky Fried Chicken and Taco Bell and McDonald's. But, I can also tell you that I don't love that the scale says I'm the heaviest I've ever been. Or that I weigh 20 lbs more than I did pre-Jocelyn. I'm 36 now and my metabolism has certainly slowed down. I used to be able to eat whatever I wanted and not gain a pound. Eh, not so much any more.
I think the Fit Bit has been a great motivator for me. I've been unhappy with my lack of exercise and how my clothes fit for a long time now. I just didn't care enough to do something. I kinda care now. Well, I actually care more about beating my husband during a fitness challenge, but whatever works, right??
I like walking first thing in the morning, before all of the kids wake up.
Its cool, not humid, the light is GORGEOUS, and its so quiet and peaceful in our neighborhood. I've split the neighborhood up into three sections: Front, Side, Back. Each section has its pros and cons. I used to be able to walk all 3 sections in just under an hour, but that was 4 years ago. I'm now happy just to be able to walk one or two at a time.
We've got some serious hills in our neighborhood. This isn't like walking around a track.
Sometimes I have a walking buddy. I'm not exactly thrilled about pushing 30 extra pounds in the stroller because it seems as though the Fit Bit doesn't give me as much credit for that as walking by myself. Grrr.... I'm almost certain a mom didn't create the app.
When Jocelyn is with me, we usually listen to Megan Trainor. When I'm by myself, I typically listen to Jump Little Children, Guster, Ben Folds Five, 311, Mumford and Sons, Pearl Jam, Jason Mraz, Tori Amos, or Sara Bareilles. My tastes very a lot.
Who knows if I'll keep this up. I still have a three year old that sleeps through the night 90% of the time and then has nights where she's up several times a night. Mom is tired.
But for now, I'm enjoying the start of a less sedentary lifestyle. I don't think I'll be running any 5ks any time soon, but it's a start :)
My FitBit tells me to move sometimes. I'm like, "Excuse me?" I try to hit 10,000 steps a day. Sometimes it works out. Other times it does not.
ReplyDeleteI have a fit bit, but haven't worn it in a while. I got pregnant and didn't want to worry about tracking my progress on it. I just wanted to eat what I wanted to eat lol. Now that I had my baby a week ago I kind of want to wear it again just to see how much sleep I'm not getting :)
ReplyDelete