More Fitbit: Staying Motivated on a Slow Day

Suddenly I have several people asking me questions and wanting to know more about the Fitbit One (I had a little group around me yesterday after church,) so this is for their benefit...and yours, if you're interested!

Yesterday was DAY 2 with the Fitbit One.  Sunday.

Sunday is not a very active day if you're someone who goes to church all afternoon. 

I did 40 minutes of very relaxing, Zen-like yoga in the morning, ate 2 eggs and a piece of toast with no butter (sob!) gave Hubby a haircut, got ready for 1pm church, and then I was pretty sedentary for the next 3 hours.

On Saturday I hit 10,000 steps by 4:30pm.  Yesterday I was at about 5,000.  Yikes.

Fitbit, based on my activity, was estimating I burn around 2,100 calories per 24 hours.  I don't remember where I was after church on my calorie burn, but it was nowhere near that.

I came home, did my normal activity of changing out of church clothes into sweats, ate dinner early and sent Hubby off to bed with a bad cold at 5:30pm.

I checked the Fitbit.  5:30pm and I was at 6,500 steps.

Two choices:  veg on the couch in front of the TV, or be active in front of the TV.  We've been having a Frasier marathon around here, so I just kept on going.  I put on my socks and tennis shoes (which I keep downstairs ready for the next morning's workout,) got off my behind, and started moving.

Two and half episodes later of doing a lot of Jane Fonda's Walkout (levels one and two) moves (which I have memorized from doing it so many times), or simply walking around the room or marching in place, I hit 10,000 steps.  I added another 1000, just for good measure.  Woo!  Nailed it.

***By the way, those are links up there. So click on them to get whisked off to YouTube and watch part of the Walkout video.  I think it is great for beginners or if you want low impact aerobics.

What was kinda fun was that I just held my phone in my hand and watched the numbers change on the app.  Hee hee.

This is where I was at 6:30pm yesterday after marching around like a doofus.  But you know what?  When you have a goal and numbers to gauge that goal it really does motivate you.

Then my mom and I talked on the phone for 2 hours (not unusual.)


 So...close to that 15,000 step mark!  i.e. more marching:

Notice the 9:27 time stamp.  But, I did it!  Also notice calories burned!

 OK, so let's talk calories with the Fitbit when you do what I did last night.  With the "Kinda Hard" food plan that I chose I was allotted around 1400 calories for the day.  Starving yourself is not encouraged.  Look below:

This is the end of my day yesterday because I ended up earning more calories to eat after my little family room Frasier jog.  Not something you want to do on a daily basis.  Getting that dial in the green is perfect, because then you are eating enough to stay satisfied and burning enough to lose. 

But, I was a "champ" for burning more calories than necessary for my Food Plan.

Holding my mouse on the top calorie burn gauge turned it to this one, which showed that I burned 11% more than required. I still could've eaten more, but I burned a lot of those calories after an early dinner and I have a "no food after 6pm" rule for myself.  (I did this even before I began this adventure.  My tummy thanks me.)

As you can see here, my evening exercise earned me approx 400 more calories (from that earlier 1400 allotment) that I had no intention of consuming.  Good to know, because if you are having an extra munchy day, just do more exercise and earn the calories to munch.  Then you can still stay within your Food Plan.

Here are a few other things you can see, like my 15,000 badge from last night and my 10 flights of stairs badge (handy when you live in a 2-story house.)  Also my activity.  Sorry, my BMI is off limits.  Ha.

(Seriously, how did we live without screenshots?  Or modern day technology, for that matter?) 

Another thing yesterday's activities taught me was that, after 2 months of eating better and exercising 7 days a week (without skipping one day) I think I have the discipline to do the "Hard" Food Plan, which should put me at my goal in July instead of August. So I switched.

I'm already 1/3 there after 2 months of hard work, so the last 2/3 of the way in 4 months should, in theory, be a workable plan.

I am curious to know what will happen when I reach that goal and how I will use the Fitbit then. I'm sure I still will, though.  Calorie counting is so tedious, but SO much easier this way.  We usually eat the same types of food anyway, so we get used to knowing the amounts.  And we know ourselves.  I'm not really a snacker, but those calories really add up at meals if you aren't careful.

Lastly, I was reading reviews for the Fitbit One on Amazon--the negative reviews (there were very few.) It is helpful to read them to see possible problems that might occur.

1.  People complained that steps were being counted in the car while driving.  More recent reviews said they think that problem has been corrected.  I would agree.

2.  People complained about losing the device or having it pop out of the holder.  Personally, I blame that more on individual carelessness, but it can still happen.  It really is best to wear it with the clip facing OUT and the device facing IN.  And, of course, clips can break eventually with daily use, but there are replacements for all of the individual parts on the Fitbit.com Store website.

Still, I'm thrilled with my choice.