Having a Fit(bit)

It has come to my attention that I am living a somewhat sedentary lifestyle. Having had classes at two separate schools every day for the last 6 years of my teaching career, often traveling between several classrooms and wings at a single site, I did a lot of walking. But since I retired, although I am always busy with my “whimsical projects”, most of them do not involve walking. Well, none of them. So, this month I decided I needed a Fitbit.

first fit bit — I actually already had one like this, that I had gotten myself for my birthday last September.

I wore that one for awhile and was happy to see that in one day I had walked 3,000 steps. Then I saw a chart online that defined under 5,000 steps per day as a “sedentary lifestyle”. The recommended number of steps per day, it appears, is 10,000. My heart sank. Did this mean I was going to have to work my way UP to a sedentary lifestyle? How embarrassing! But I was determined to succeed. I was amazed at how few steps I was actually getting per day.

866 — I once looked at my clip-on Fitbit upside down and was excited to read “998” steps. This is the info that appeared on my phone from the Fitbit app. If it’s any consolation, this wasn’t the total for the whole day. (As far as I can recall…)

Up till now, I hadn’t wanted the kind you wear on your wrist because I thought it would interfere with my watch. Then I looked on Amazon and realized that the wristband one has a watch on it, plus it monitors your heart rate and sleep stages. So in my quest to become more cognizant of my daily activity, I got one.

In addition to my new Fitbit wristband, I also invested in a little trampoline, so I could get steps without leaving the house. Very handy, I thought, for when the heat is in triple digits, or for when it’s cold and rainy outside.