It’s been a year of me using a smart watch to track activities and workouts. Let’s take a look at the numbers.
I’ve tracked 674 activities on Strava. WOW!
Some are workout snacks, like 10 minute warm ups or stretching. Others are the morning dog walk. Some strength training. Lots of cycling.
I’m definitely more consistent at tracking activities. I’m not sure I’m more active than the previous year but I certainly have more data.
My resting heart rate is slowly trending downward. It was at 65 bpm last year and now 60 bpm.
I’m getting marginally more sleep.
My step count hovers around 9,500.
One thing that I have not done is add workouts or activities to close an exercise or move ring.
If my goal is 60 minutes and my walk was 59 I’m ok with that. I’m not looking to optimize or maximize my steps or exercise. I’m going for more consistency.
My watch has definitely helped me measure that. I’m celebrating by going out for a ride this morning. It’s so nice out!
I was sick last week and started hunting around for some sort of ‘sick day’ mode on my wrist-spy (a.k.a. my Apple watch.) I was hoping to find an easy way to stop all of my fitness reminders from going off and to put my various habit and goal trackers on hold for the day.
When I couldn’t find a sick mode, I did an online search and quickly discovered that there *is* no sick mode. And that, apparently, a lot of experts feel that the Apple watch’s reminders and streak-based tracking can be harmful for people, creating an expectation that the wearers will push themselves harder and harder and that they won’t have rest days.
I totally understand their concerns. In other contexts, I have often fallen victim to the sort of pass/fail mindset that they are referring to and I can see why the streak-based tracking and the regular suggestions to increase your goals can lead to that sort of trap
Luckily, however, my wrist-spy doesn’t tip me into that sort of thinking.
(Your mileage may vary, of course, but this is between me and my wrist-spy. Please do what works for you.)
You see, my wrist-spy is spying on me FOR ME.
Its job is to keep track of things that I want to keep track of but that I struggle to write down or plan because my ADHD brain finds too boring to record.
I don’t think of it as a double-agent, pretending to work for me but really working for the fitness industry, reporting my less-than-perfect scores to some authority that will judge me against a professional athlete.
So, I use the information it gives me for encouragement and for motivation but if I can’t follow my plan on a given day then I enact the Rita Rudner rule:
credit: AZ Quotes– Image description: a photo of comedienne Rita Rudner’s face on the left hand side and on the right is a black rectangle with white text in the centre that reads ‘I never panic when I get lost. I just change where it is I want to go. – Rita Rudner -” and below that is white and yellow text that reads ‘AZ Quotes’
What does this have to do with my fitness tracking?
Well, I don’t panic if I can’t reach my planned fitness destination – I change my destination!
If I have had a hell of a day and I can’t meet my stand goal? I change my stand goal.
If my suggested fitness minutes are overwhelming today? I change my fitness goal to something that feels reasonable.
If my move goal is impossible? I dial that number back until it feels doable.
Yeah, I know that some of you might see that as ‘cheating’ but here’s how I see it:
My wrist-spy’s job is to help me see trends in my activities so I can make changes that help me feel good overall.
I feel encouraged by the trends in my fitness (and by streaks of activity) but I recognize that ‘doing what I can’ is going to look different on different days.
However, my wrist-spy has no way of knowing how I am feeling or how busy I am on a given day.
Changing my goals for that day lets me adjust for the fact that the numbers for ‘what I can’ may look different from day to day without having to lose the momentum I feel when I see notifications like these:
image description: a photo of the screen of my wrist-spy showing two notifications, one that reads ‘Achievement Longest Move Streak’ and one that reads ‘Goal Achieved.’ My left wrist and the green strap of my watch are the background of the photo.
Making needed, temporary changes in the goals that my wrist-spy tracks helps me keep my eye on the big picture, on my true goals – lots of movement, increased mobility, an overall feeling of well-being – instead of getting tangled in the idea that I have to have the same capacity every single day.
I don’t change my goals often. I think I have maybe done it three times in the 10 months that I have had my wrist-spy. However, knowing that I *can* change them lets today-me be in charge of my goals instead of letting yesterday-me make all the decisions. And for me, that strikes the perfect balance between choice and momentum without ever making me feeling like I am being dragged into something I don’t want to do.
So, last week, even though I couldn’t engage ‘sick mode’ on my watch, I didn’t let my wrist-spy’s reports get into the wrong hands. As my spy’s handler, I made the file ‘eyes only’ and managed the data in the way I saw fit.
And by all of that, I mean that I adjusted my goals to match my situation that day and it all turned out just fine.
Every month my wrist-spy* suggests a fitness challenge and I usually try it just to add a little extra oomph to my routines.
I have only been following it closely for a few months but since it has led to me moving a lot more each day (and feeling great about it!) I figure it’s worth the effort to pay attention to the challenges and to my responses.
This month, the challenge is to walk 5.4km per day for 14 days during September.
And since I am much better at doing something every day than every second day, I decided that I would aim for 14 days in a row and if I liked walking that much per day, I would continue for the rest of the month.
So far, I have met the challenge every day but some days have been quite tricky.
I get a lot of movement in my days but it’s a mix of walking and yoga and stretching and taekwondo and strength training and so on.
This challenge is just about walking. So walking around my house or running errands will count toward the 5.4km but other forms of exercise won’t.
(That other movement is good for me overall, of course, but it doesn’t meet the requirements of the challenge.)
I’ve tried getting Khalee to walk a bit further each day so I can get closer to the target distance but sometimes she just won’t. In fact, on Friday evening we walked for less than 1km because she decided she was done with being outdoors and it was time to get home out of it.
This photo has nothing to do with yesterday’s walk but her expression looks a bit skeptical, kind of like the way she was looking at me when ai returned. Image description: a photo of Khalee, my light-haired, medium-sized dog, resting on my patio near some pots of flowers. She is facing toward the camera and her expression looks similar to the way a human would narrow their eyes at you in suspicion. There’s green grass and a backyard firepit in the background of the photo
I’ve thought about trying to take her out for a walk twice a day but any time I’ve tried, she’s not so keen on it. (I swear, she looks like she is thinking, ‘Didn’t we do this already?’)
So, I’ve ended up walking a fair distance INSIDE my house just to meet the challenge. Indoor walking is boring AND I walk slower than I do outside – apparently I really need the forward movement to gain any momentum.
Ok, so I know what you’re thinking – Why don’t you walk WITHOUT the dog, Christine?
Good question.
And the answer is – I never thought of it.
Most of the time, I walk for three reasons – to walk the dog, to hang out with friends, or to get somewhere.
And all of those walks are good for me but I had kind of filed away the fact that I could walk for the sake of walking/exercise.
I mean, I guess I *do* still do that but I generally combine it with Khalee’s daily walk so I had stopped thinking of it as something I could do separately.
Until I was running an errand on Monday morning and I saw someone strolling along the sidewalk without the benefit of a dog to show them where all the good smells are and it struck me, “OHHHH! I could do my extra walking OUTSIDE instead.”
Yes, I feel a bit foolish about missing the obvious there but you know how it is when you get into a thinking habit, right? You need something to prompt you to reframe your thoughts.
ANYWAY, right after lunch on Monday, I took a quick stroll – it was a lot easier to get out the door without having to get Khalee into her harness and all. It was good to get a little extra walking in, at my own speed, without worrying if Herself was going to get enough exercise or if I was going too fast or too slow for her in the moment.
I love walking with Khalee but walking a dog is a whole different project than walking alone. It’s a different kind of good.
I mean, I had to rely on my own nose to figure out where the good smells were but that was a small price to pay for a quick walk.
Meanwhile, I think Khalee was suspicious and I am pretty sure she gave me a dirty look when I returned.
For the record, I did take her for her own walk a bit later in the day.
And it was quite easy to get my walking distance done.
*You may know it as an Apple watch but thanks to a clever friend it will always be a wrist-spy to me.
With the ongoing left knee problems I had stopped step counting. It was just too depressing. I gave away my Garmin fitness tracker and just walked as much as I could without pain.
Things have been better lately with my knee brace. I’m dog walking a bit more. And of course, I’m still bike commuting.
So recently I decided to activate Google Fit. It’s a bit much putting on the Garmin bike computer for my 5 km round trip commute but I wanted some way to quantify daily activity. So I decided to activate Google Fit on my phone. I have to say I’m impressed. I like its focus on active minutes instead of steps and I like that it counts intensity too.
From the app, “Being active is important to our health, but how much or what kind of activity do you need? Google Fit worked with the World Health Organisation (WHO) to develop two activity goals based on WHO’s physical activity recommendations shown to impact health – Move Minutes and Heart Points. When it comes to your health, it’s important to move more and sit less. Earn Move Minutes for all your activity and get motivated to make small, healthier changes throughout your day, such as taking the stairs instead of the lift, or catching up with a friend over a walk instead of a coffee. Activities that get your heart pumping harder have tremendous health benefits for your heart and mind. You’ll earn one heart point for each minute of moderately intense activity, such as picking up the pace when walking your dog, and double points for more intense activities such as running. It takes just 30-minutes of brisk walking five days a week to reach WHO’s recommended amount of physical activity shown to reduce the risk of heart disease, improve sleep and increase overall mental well-being.”
I’ve set my move minutes to 90 a day and my heart points to 20. I’m still fiddling.
I like the clean interface. It’s clearly focused on activity instead of weight loss. And it automatically detects my two main forms of activity–biking and walking. I like not having to wear a watch and I have my phone with me pretty much all the time I’m walking and biking. I mean, yes I walk around inside my house without my phone but I am happy not tracking that activity.
I was getting bored with the Fitbit Charge: kind of plain and it doesn’t track my heart rate. Just having turned 50 (I think of it as upgrading to version 5.0), and having a chat with doctor, it was time to get a device that monitored my heart.
The last time I looked at the Fitbit HR Charge, $199.99, it still didn’t have an app for my Windows phone. And it’s still boring.
This is the problem with most fitness trackers, people get bored with them.
We’ve all got that friend who goes the extra distance to get those steps tracked on her fitbit or other gadget. That may even be you. But it’s not me. I can’t quite imagine wearing something that tracks my every move. I’ve nothing against it, but it’s not a strategy I’m drawn to.
It’s too much information and too much tracking. I mean, I have my Garmin Forerunner 310 info after each run and I hardly ever get around to looking at it. What the heck am I going to do with daily information about how many steps I’ve taken? And yet I know that there are areas where I could get more active.
I had an inspired (if I do say so myself) idea on the weekend that got me taking a few extra steps. And that was to act as if I was wearing a fitness tracker that recorded my every move. And just that little change kicked in a few new habits. As part of my temporary relocation, I’m living in a third floor condo instead of a 23rd floor condo. But I’ve been taking the elevator just because it’s a habit from living on the 23rd floor. Yes, you heard me, I was taking the elevator to the third floor. This is not a thing I would normally do.
And acting as if I had on a fitness tracker, I’ve now stopped taking the elevator up (unless I’m hauling groceries). My new place is a lot closer to the Y. Like, it’s so close that driving would be silly. But I almost drove a couple of times. Now, with my new strategy in place, driving is out of the question as I consider: what would my friends with fitbits do?
Worried about finding a parking spot closest to the building? Nope, not me! Why not? Because if I had a fitness tracker I would instead be looking for a spot on the outer reaches of the parking lot (forget that I’m driving — it’s just a little too far to walk and still make it to work on time unless I left super early, which no thanks because the mornings are already full enough without adding a 50 minute commute–but yes, I’m aware that the fitness tracker crowd might take that walk–baby steps).
Now, maybe this is just a variation on the old theme of adding steps to your day by doing things like taking the elevator, parking a little further from the door, getting off the bus a stop or two early, and walking over to a colleague’s desk or office instead of sending them an email message.
But in our high-tech world, that simple message doesn’t always sink in. And if I think in terms of “if I had a fitness tracker…,” somehow that gets me moving. I’m sure there’s good evidence published somewhere that people with fitness trackers cover more ground than those without.
But I think I’ve hit on a new angle for those of us who like the idea of a motivational kick but perhaps aren’t ready or willing to move into the world of 24 hour tracking. I’m a firm believer in “never say never,” so maybe one day the world of actually tracking my activity will make sense to me. But for now, I can pretend I’m tracking, and that seems to make a difference.
Do you use a fitness tracker? If you do, why do you? If you don’t, why don’t you (and do you think acting as if you did might get you to do a little more?)?
Well, counting them is easy but getting enough is hard work!
The other day I ran 3 km, I rode my bike, and I did a bunch of housework yet when I looked at my Garmin it read a measly 5574 steps. Short of my modest 7,000 step goal. And much short of the 10,000 step goal many people set.
I confess I’ve been skeptical about the step counting thing. I walk a lot. I have a standing desk. I live in a 3 story house, filled with teenagers, and I feel like I go up and down the steps all day.
But apparently not as much as I might think and especially not on the days I run.
I’ve only been counting steps because I bought a Garmin watch for running. I wanted some way of tracking my pace and heart rate while I run and the one I chose also acts as a general activity tracker, keeping track of steps and reminding you to get up when you’ve been sitting too long. I like the MOVE! reminder.
But I’ve become extra conscious of my sloth like behavior on days that I run or ride a lot. Today, finally, I made it. I ran and I counted 10,133 Steps | 100% of Goal. Phew.
In a world in which you can buy a device for your preschooler to wear that tracks their every movement and allows you to listen to all of their conversations, it’s no surprise that personal sports gadget manufacturers have developed versions of the FitBit, and other FitBit like things, for kids. Of course they have. You could see this one coming a mile away.
On the one hand, I can see children really enjoying making a game of physical activity and movement. And that’s great. We all think children should move more and have fun doing it.
I’m not worried about the alienation of children from free play. I’m not worried about the gamification, as they say, of play for kids. They’re kids. Everything is already a game.
But I am worried about this technology in the hands of parents. It’s the spectre of FitBit as surveillance tool. Not enough steps today? No dessert for you. Or walk your way to television hours. Time to use computers and watch TV must be earned in physical activity. Some experts on child inactivity think that parental over policing of childhood play is part of the problem. Outdoor play, in particular, is seen as dangerous and risky.
And those are the reasonable parents. In this time of heightened fear about the obesity crisis it’s hard to be a reasonable parent. Almost every parent I know is worried about their kids getting fat. Children are on the front lines of the war against obesity. As we realize how hard is to change adult body weight, the focus of policy makers shifts to the young. The thought is that if we can stop obesity either before it develops or in its early stages, we can avoid the health problems associated with overweight and obesity.
Parental anxiety about the pediatric weigh in looms large. I’ve written about the fear of having fat pets. Worse again if they are your kids, rather than your Bassett hounds, for example.. You’re a bad mother or father, though more likely the former. Dads rarely get blamed.
Consider that a number of families have been split up over obesity and you can see where the fear comes from. In Canada, the United States, and England (other places too probably) obese children have been removed from their homes and placed in foster care.
Here’s one woman’s account of having strangers comment on her right to parent based on the size of her child.
“If you let her keep getting fatter, they are going to take her away from you.” Stunned, I turned to the woman who said this to me. I struggled to find words to respond as she pushed past me, out of the restaurant, and into a waiting car. Having just finished a late meal after our children’s choir concert, I did not expect to find myself explaining to my daughter what this woman had meant when she suggested that my daughter could be “taken away” from me because she is fat (though not remarkably so) and perhaps more to the woman’s point, because I am remarkably fat.”
So another tool for parents to monitor and control their kids movements, in this context, makes a lot of sense. Parents can tell the judge they were doing something. “Look, I bought a FitBit for my chubby child.”
It might not just be the parents. Schools might also get involved given that they’ve been issuing BMI report cards. In a Staten Island schools Gwendolyn Williams, 4’1 and 66 pounds found out she was overweight by peeling back the sticker on top of the BMI number. See This kid is fat.
The spectre of FitBitted teens also put me in mind of Corey Doctorow’s young adult novels. Haven’t read Little Brother? Download it from here. I loved the scene where the young teens fool their school’s security biosensors by putting rocks in their shoes so they’d walk differently. Imagine teen hackers having fun with their FitBits. Yes, of course, I ran a marathon today mom, now hand over that pizza and the Xbox.
There are a slew of reasons to be in favour of children moving more. Mental health and emotional well-being, to be sure, but even improved body composition, regardless of weight. See Fit Kids Have Better Body-Fat Distribution, Study Finds.
So to be clear, I’m not opposed to FitBits for kids. Kids love computers, games, and measuring things. And that’s great. But parents and teachers, let’s leave the kids alone and let them play. I suspect it will all work out better that way.
Well, counting them is easy but getting enough is hard work!
