My love hate relationship…

….with my fitbit. I thought my fitbit was a game changer when I first got it. It was a Christmas present in 2019.

view of AZ desert
The hiking trails across the street from our new home.

I still like some of the things as much as I did when I first started using it. I like knowing when I reach my 10,000 steps a day. I like the gentle reminders to get up and move every hour.

It feels heavy on my wrist and sometimes I wake up up in the middle of the night and take it off. Then in the morning, I check how well I slept. If I take it off, then it misses a lot of the hours that I did sleep. Looking at a poor night of sleep changes how I feel during the day. Even if I leave it on all night, and I had a bad night’s sleep, the tiredness I feel is worse than it would have been without looking at the data.

The other thing I don’t like is I’ve been riding my bike a few mornings after I walk. I often forget to press the exercise button and scroll to the bike icon. So, I don’t get the satisfaction of having my bike rides recorded. I’ve tried to log into exercise for the day and add the ride in, but it won’t let me. Then I feel cheated. This morning, I stopped during my bike ride to start the fitbit, but I guess I did something wrong and the ride was not recorded.

I may try a few days without the fitbit and see if it feels better without it. Maybe it will be freeing. Or will I miss the little celebration when I hit 10,000 steps?

A view of Mt. San Jacinto from the Wellness Park on my morning walk when I lived in Palm Springs.

Do you use an exercise tracker like an Apple watch or fitbit? What are you feelings about it? Is it helpful or not?

11 thoughts on “My love hate relationship…

  1. I only tend to take my juke box with me to the gym loaded with my favorite songs. This morning on the news they played a segment I wanted to watch but I did not have the right earbuds or access. I watched the rewind when I got home. I try to unplug with exercise when I bike or walk and just be in the moment. I am not a good fit for an exercise tracker or texting. Both drive me nuts.

      • I understand! My husband wants one and I think it is a great present but I don’t need one. We used to be very competitive with biking. He would always tell me to hurry up or he wasn’t getting his exercise. It has been too hot to bike, so we shall see how we both feel in the fall.

      • Cupcake’s husband here….My desire to own a Fitbit? Not any more. I realized the constant stress of checking to see if I was stressed would do more damage than just being stressed.

  2. My Fitbit just broke last weekend. I went about a half day without it. Then went out and bought a new one. It’s definitely an obsession

      • Yet we did do the steps! I’m reminded when we were visiting my husband’s best friend from childhood. They were comparing step counts for the year month by month. Our daughter said “Did you ever think you be so old that you’d be competitive over steps?” In high school they played football and were on the track team.

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