Jessa Tries It: FitBit & FlipBelt

Let me begin by saying, this is no weight loss journey I’m on. True, I could stand to lose some weight, but this is not the goal for what I’m doing. I’m actually pretty happy and comfortable in my skin for the most part. I’m truly just trying to be healthier and more active. I sit at a desk most of my day at work, and my eating habits are akin to a college kid…except I’m 27 and have a family.

For the past few months, I’ve been struggling with managing my stress, generally just not feeling that great, and I’ve noticed symptoms that I typically get when my blood pressure is high. Tight chest, headaches, sleepiness, lethargy. I had a severe enough episode one day that It scared the crap out of me I finally did the grown-up thing and found a Primary Care Physician and scheduled a doctor’s appointment. Blood work and one precautionary EKG later, he confirmed what I already knew. My blood pressure was a little high, and I needed to eat better, lay off the caffeine, and get more active more often.

Fast forward a couple of weeks, and I’m in Target buying a FitBit.

Okay, yeah, it was a little bit of an impulse purchase. I didn’t start the day intending to buy a FitBit, but I have been wanting to purchase an activity tracker for some time. Now felt like good a time as any–I needed to start some healthier habits, right?  I had been resarching the different activity trackers on the market. There are quite a few out there. But all the people I know that have activity trackers, have a FitBit. I figure there’s got to be a good reason for that. I asked the Target employee in electronics, “What do know about all these activity trackers?” He answered pretty honestly, “I don’t know much about them, but the FitBit is definitely the most popular. That’s the one people come in and buy the most.” Good enough for me. That’s the way I was leaning anyways.

It is a SUPER fun little gadget! There are a LOT of cool things this can do, but here are the highlights:

• Tracks your steps, heart rate, distance traveled, calories burned, & flights climbed. All of these stats can be viewed in real time as you go about your day by a tap on the device, or by pressing the single button on the side of the wristband. Also viewable on the wristband is the time/date, and any alarm you have set.
• Silent alarm feature. As mentioned above, you can set an alarm on your fitbit. I kind of love this, because I hate alarm clocks and ringtones. Since I wear it at night to track my sleep anyway, I set my alarm, and it vibrates in the morning to wake me up. I can tap the device to snooze, and it will vibrate again in a few minutes.
• Sleep tracking. The sleep tracking feature is also pretty awesome. I sync my FitBit to my app on my phone in the morning when I first wake up, and it logs my sleep–when I fell asleep, when I woke up, and every time I woke up or was restless in between. I’d imagine folks who suffer from sleep apnea would get a kick out of this feature.
• Log your workouts & see stats in real time. Press and hold the single button on the device to begin tracking a workout. Begin your workout, run, bike ride, whatever, and the fitbit will track and log your workout. When you’re done, just hold the button again to end the workout log.
• Track and log calories & water intake. I don’t take advantage of tracking my food, but I do usually track my water intake. According to the stats I gave the FitBit app, it reccomends 1,893 ml (around 60 ounces) of water per day for me! I typically don’t have a problem with meeting that goal as I ALWAYS have something to drink at my desk at all times.
• Plus, the FitBit app is fun and easy to use. You can add your friends who have a FitBit, see where you rank among your friends with your average steps for the week, and even challenge each other. The app is where you can see your all your stats for the day and over the long term. This is where you can customize pretty much everything.

I seriously love this gadget. It was most definitely money well spent. Seeing those stats from a day or a workout in real time…it keeps me motivated to stay active. If there’s one thing I could use more of, it’s definitely motivation!

My sweet hubby also scooped up a FlipBelt from Brookstone for me on the DL during a day date for the two of us to the mall sans munchkin. I freaked out a little when I saw them in the store. I had seen them on Pinterest forever ago, but had long forgotten what they were called or where I could find them. Then, boom, there they were! However, the store was packed with customers and, by the looks of it, only one employee…and I’m not a patient gal. So I walked out without my precious FlipBelt. Fast forward to when we flopped down in a restaurant booth shortly after and he asked “How much do you love me? A whole lot?” and slid the Brookstone bag across the table to me. He must have went back and bought it for me when I was wandering aimlessly around another store. Sneaky and sweet. I  suppose he’s a keeper.

But anyway, back to the FlipBelt itself. Imagine the waistband on your yoga pants were sewn flipped down, AND HAD POCKETS FOR YOUR CRAP. Well, that’s basically what a FlipBelt is. It allows me to go on my runs hands-free. I start up my music and Couch to 5K app on my phone, put it in my flip belt with my keys, and go. It is so awesome. Now more than ever since I’ve become a mom, being able to do something, anything truly hands free is a luxury I don’t get often. This alone makes my runs and workouts about 8,000,000,000 times more enjoyable.

Do you use a FitBit or similar activity tracker? What keeps you motivated to workout or be more active? Leave me some love in the comments!

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