It's well known my love for technology. Much to my family's irritation my trusty iPhone never leaves my side. Contained within my laptop are irreplaceable pieces of my past like pictures of my son's first runs with me and my running log dating back to 2002. My iPod plays the music that's sped me through two sub four hour marathons. My Garmin running watch has scratches all over it, much of the writing has rubbed off, it looks like it's been through a war. I've said it before, but out of all of my beloved technological devices my FitBit is the one of the ones that I cherish the most.
I've owned my FitBit One for about three years now. This particular version isn't one of the wristband models. It's the clip on "One" model and now that I'm used to wearing it, it's become almost like an extension of myself. Don't get me wrong, it took what seemed like forever until I didn't accidentally leave it somewhere like on a locker room bench at my gym. Or I've forgotten to take it off my running shorts before I threw them in the washer. Thank God the company has outstanding customer service and sent me a replacement free of charge. I've even lost it at places like my chiropractor's office where it got wedged in his adjustment table.
In my career of law enforcement they train us how to spot if someone is wearing a concealed handgun beneath their clothing. Many times a bad guy will unconsciously put their hand on the spot on their body where the weapon is hidden to make sure it's still there. Policemen at my local gas station are always eyeing me up when I'm just making sure my FitBit's still there! I hope I haven't jinxed myself. Haven't misplaced it since last summer!
I've discussed what FitBit products do previously so I'm not going to go into great depth here. But I'll mention what it does in case you're unfamiliar with these types of devices. FitBit and their devices started the trend of wearable fitness trackers. Their devices act like pedometers on steroids tracking data like steps taken, floors climbed, miles traveled, calories burned and can also rate the quality of your sleep. Some of their newer models even track heart rate and display a caller id when linked with your smart phone. When using their smartphone app you can also enter your daily meals to track calories eaten. After creating a free account with their online website all of this data is displayed in easy to read graphs and charts. They even have a social aspect where you can compete with your friends.
Being a distance runner who's a techie my FitBit was the perfect companion to analyze everything I did into my day whether it included actively training or taking the dog for a walk and put it into an easily understandable fitness snapshot. It helped me discover some things that I could improve, helped me to loose some excess weight and made some of the more mundane aspects of training fun and interesting again. All of that being said, when you run 30 or more miles every week, have a running streak and cross-train in the gym twice a week you don't have to be too worried about your weight or health. I was already doing the work and I got pretty used to being at the top of FitBit's leader boards easily surpassing most of my friends on any given day.
As the saying goes, you don't know what you've got until it's gone. After being sidelined with my back injury I had to take almost three months off from any sort of serious training. It was depressing to see all of my stats drop to almost nothing. But I continued to wear my FitBit for the simple reason that I felt awkward without it. Most days though I just couldn't bring myself to look at any of the data. Being out of work and not active made the days sometimes drag endlessly on. Right before beginning running again I was at my lowest point and I don't know why, but I took a look at my fitness information for the entire time that I was laid up. Surprisingly I found that I wasn't as inactive as I thought I was during those seemingly endless weeks. I was active and I began to use my FitBit as a way to grade my progress as I got back on my feet with regards to running. Something that I once thought of as a toy became a powerful inspirational tool to help me through those painful first weeks.
I'm happy to say that the running program continues to improve on a weekly basis. I'm still not back to the type of condition that I once was. But with a little more patience and time I'll be back on the top of those dang leader boards. If you're injured or need a kick in the butt consider getting one of these handy little tools. I guarantee you'll love their products and their customer service is the best I've ever seen in a company. It won't do the work for you, but it'll sure make everything a little more fun! If you're interested let me know and I can point you in the right direction. Hope everyone's having a great week!
Being a distance runner who's a techie my FitBit was the perfect companion to analyze everything I did into my day whether it included actively training or taking the dog for a walk and put it into an easily understandable fitness snapshot. It helped me discover some things that I could improve, helped me to loose some excess weight and made some of the more mundane aspects of training fun and interesting again. All of that being said, when you run 30 or more miles every week, have a running streak and cross-train in the gym twice a week you don't have to be too worried about your weight or health. I was already doing the work and I got pretty used to being at the top of FitBit's leader boards easily surpassing most of my friends on any given day.
As the saying goes, you don't know what you've got until it's gone. After being sidelined with my back injury I had to take almost three months off from any sort of serious training. It was depressing to see all of my stats drop to almost nothing. But I continued to wear my FitBit for the simple reason that I felt awkward without it. Most days though I just couldn't bring myself to look at any of the data. Being out of work and not active made the days sometimes drag endlessly on. Right before beginning running again I was at my lowest point and I don't know why, but I took a look at my fitness information for the entire time that I was laid up. Surprisingly I found that I wasn't as inactive as I thought I was during those seemingly endless weeks. I was active and I began to use my FitBit as a way to grade my progress as I got back on my feet with regards to running. Something that I once thought of as a toy became a powerful inspirational tool to help me through those painful first weeks.
I'm happy to say that the running program continues to improve on a weekly basis. I'm still not back to the type of condition that I once was. But with a little more patience and time I'll be back on the top of those dang leader boards. If you're injured or need a kick in the butt consider getting one of these handy little tools. I guarantee you'll love their products and their customer service is the best I've ever seen in a company. It won't do the work for you, but it'll sure make everything a little more fun! If you're interested let me know and I can point you in the right direction. Hope everyone's having a great week!
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