Fitness.

One of the many mental obstacles I fight is the urge to count things.  I like statistical data, regardless of what it tells me, I love data about myself.  I however hate recording the data.

Well, back in January of this year I was given a very cheap pedometer from work.  They were promoting fitness and health, and they gave one to each employee.  The funny part of this story is that they were going to give $50 to the person who had the most steps during the 2 day training.  I was, as is usual, very anxious.  When I am anxious, I tap my feet or pace.  Well, I promptly attached this device to my shoe, and was counting my foot taps.  I learned that I tap WAY more than I thought.  More than I thought was humanly possible to be honest. 

I spent the next 2 days annoying everyone with the clicking.  I was also publicly disqualified when the owner of the company announced to the room of 200 people that I was cheating, and when asked how many I was up to after 45 short minutes I had broken 50,000 taps of my foot. 

Anyhow, this made me start thinking about fitness.  And yes it is sad that a cheap toy got me serious about changing my fitness goals.  Anyhow, I ended up coming across this website www.fitbit.com, and there line of products.  I am seriously a fan of this thing, and think that it was a great investment on my part. 

I pre ordered a fitbit Flex back in February when I got my tax return, and received it just a few weeks ago.  I have worn it consistently for 20 days, and I love the results.  I have also discovered some very interesting things about me. 

For starters, I fall asleep just like the most people.  I always thought I could never fall asleep, but in reality I am falling completely asleep in less than 5 minutes the majority of the time.  I however almost always wake up within 15 minutes and am then awake for 20 or more minutes.  I have also been rapid cycling for this whole time, and can clearly see my mood tracked on graphs for the first time in my life. 

The first week, I spent 8 hours on average in bed every night, and slept an average of 5.3 hours a night.  Then I went a little manic, and spent 6 hours in bed, and slept on average of 2.7 hours a night.  I am consistently waking up on average of 15 times every night. 

As for the fitness part of the gig.  I have the thing set for an alarm to go off when I walk 10,000 steps in one day.  I tell you, this is not an easy goal, and it feels really good to have the thing go off.  I am proud to say that I have met this 10,000 step goal 13 out of the 20 days I have had it. 

Anyhow, so far this is my stats.

1. My most active day was 19720 steps, or 9.02 miles
2.  I have so far taken 215,571 steps, or 102.44 miles
3. I have also lost 5.6 pounds. 

For the record, I used my GPS and checked the distance calculator.  It is very close in their estimate. 

I really feel better about using this to lose weight and gain better understanding on my life than anything I have ever tried.  After all, I am about lifestyle change, not fad diets.  

Sleep is also a direct measure of my mood, and it is so nice to see it on paper.  I think having this record will benefit me in huge ways.  I will say however that I did not think that the sleep tracker was accurate at first, because I did not agree with the data.  I have since learned to trust it, and feel good about its accuracy. I really like how it shows my data, and tracks it for me.  

But, the best thing is that I don't have to spend much effort to record all of this.  Almost too good to be true. 

I want more of my friends to get one, so I can compare data.  I think it would be fun.  Any takers?