This Weak Willed Woman NEEDS FitBit

As I said in the last post, FitBit is considered to be a pedometer by most people.  A very expensive $99 pedometer.  

But it's really not.
I would call it an activity tracker. 

In other words people who are active are generally trim people.
People who are sedintary are prone to plumpness.
There are exceptions of course.
I would consider myself an exception.  
Active, but plump.

Blame all the potato chips, cheese, ice cream, nuts and wine for that.  
I love junk food.

SM pointed out to me a long time ago that my diet consisted of high calorie / high fat foods.  The only time I eat vegetables is when I pull them out of the garden.  (I'm buying more store bought veg now though.)

Anyway...A long time ago I drove the car around to estimate my walking route and determined what it takes for me to acheive 5 miles which equals 10,000 steps.

One of the biggest complaints of pedometers in general is that they have a tendancy to count any movement as a step.  The FitBit does too.  If you're standing there folding laundry, it counts the movement as a step.  Fixing your hair, putting on makeup, knitting, cooking, scrubbing the tub...It counts these as steps which is inaccurate in theory.

I'm OK with this inaccuracy since I excercise first thing in the morning.  I basically keep walking until my wristband vibrates.  That's when I know I've hit my 10,000 steps for the day.  Everything else is just gravy.  

FitBit encourages users to see your level of activity as a trend.  

You want to maintain a level of activity that helps you burn calories.  It's that simple.  FitBit allows you to customize your fitness plan with the free online app.  You can "sync" your information to the app and watch your progress.

It monitors intensity of your activity.
It monitors your "miles".
It monitors your sleep. 
But the best thing about the app is the food log.




FitBit has an easy to use drop-down food menu and portion size program.  It collects all that data and even breaks out the calories, protein, carbs, fats, sodium...that you've eaten for the day.  And then it updates how many calories you have left to eat so it's easy to see when you need to stop eating or change what you planned on eating.  (Which is perfect for me.)

You download the App without any special codes to your smartphone, iPad or computer. 

 

What's even more amazing is that you supposedly can use this App even if you don't own a FitBit.  

That's right, my friends.  If you are looking for a good online fitness tracking and diet program I would tell you to look into FitBit.  All you would have to do is enter your data manually if you don't have the FitBit unit telling the App what you've done. 

 


After 6 days of using the FitBit Flex I started to question if I really even needed the FitBit unit itself.  I thought about returning it and saving myself $99.   

I mean, really...I already walk the walk...What I need is the discipline to measure and log my food intake.

So I put the FitBit back in the box to take back to the store and then I typed up this post.

And thought about it.
And got nervous.
And decided to keep it.

Why?
It's easy.
It's fun.
But it's mostly because I'm a weak willed woman and I need to have that physical reminder to be a good girl.  And that is worth any price.

It just might keep me on the straight and narrow.

Oooo...Straight and Narrow.  I like that thought.