MOWC, have you seen the new Garmin Fenix 3 watches? May just give you everything you want in one device.
Been away for the weekend in NYC–walked on the High Line plus spent part of one day at MOMA. Only walking today was 2 mile puppy walk. Don’t know my step count because I had a minor disaster at the start of the weekend-My Polar Loop 2 (activity band) fell off my wrist as my H was letting me out of the car to unload my suitcase and he ran over it! It’s a mess–no way will it come back.
Right now, I’m trying to decide between the Garmim Vivofit HR or the Fitbit Charge HR. Any opinions on which to purchase? Things I care about–accuracy of steps/mileage and length of time the tracker goes without charging. I did read the reviews on DC Rainmaker (really excellent website) but would love feedback based on personal experience.
Wow, I love all this gadget talk - a bunch of tech addicts we are!!! (I am always intrigued!!!)
I will be temped by the new Fitbit watch.
45 and sunny when I got home from work - my legs are tired from the weekend but I couldn’t let it slip by - 30 minute run.
Michael- I have not looked at the Fenix. It sounds good, but most runners seem locked into the Forerunners.
I didn’t have Vivofit HR, but I loved that I didn’t have to charge it. There were tradeoffs, though- including that the screen didn’t light up. I really like the phone call alert feature on the FitBit (surprisingly), since I keep my phone on vibrate at work and this lets me know when a call is coming in if I’m not right near the phone. I think the accuracy of step count is about the same- which is to say, so-so.
Keep it up, Romani! Sorry about your gadget crunching incident, Bromfield.
I’m already addicted to the Fitbit Charge HR and it’s been only a week! I think the step count seems accurate enough, but the distance seems to lag if I’m walking fast or running without linking it to my phone’s gps. That makes sense because it doesn’t know my stride length. Yesterday on my “hike” I ended up taking a ton of photos and walking under 3 miles. To get to my goal, I tried to cheat the system by pumping my arms and walking around while watching Downton…The FitBit recorded that activity time as being on the elliptical machine, lol. I do like the thing though, and find the sleep monitoring pretty interesting.
This morning I ran five miles. I walked more this evening (2+) at a good clip. I’m having a small dental surgery tomorrow so hopefully I’ll be able to get in another run before having activity and real food limited for a few days 
@Bromfield2, my daughter (the trainer) recommends the Fitbit Charge HR to her clients because it is straightforward, easy to use and has the features most people will use. My wife has one and likes it. I have the Garmin Vivosmart HR which is Garmin’s version of the Chsrge HR. I chose the Garmin because it is sufficiently waterproof to shower and swim with it. The Fitbit Charge HR will only resist splashing and will fail if immersed in water frequently.
5k steps!
It took a nap and a puppy mess (sigh, I dared to accidentally fall asleep after she ate dinner when I was alone) but I made it 
It’s always funny to look at my fitbit stuff because the only “friend” I have on there is my sister… who averages just under 200k steps a week (life of a waitress!).
Side fitbit story: my friend put one on her pug one day… just because it’s a pug and she was curious. He took less than 100 steps and slept for 20 hours. Seems about right
OMG I need to try that ^^^^ Haha!!!
Great job on the 5K! You know you can manage 5k a day. It might not be EVERYDAY - that is not a failure!
I’m sure we all have “tricks” to getting our steps in - and I’m not counting waving our arms up and down while we watch tv!!! At work I take one morning potty break and one afternoon potty break at a bathroom that is a brisk 5 minute walk from my office (as opposed to the one just outside the office door) - that’s 20 minutes extra each day - just going potty! Today it was nice outside so I took less than 10 minutes to take an outdoor break and walked around the outside of our building for maybe 8 minutes - all adds up! And, it feels GOOD to get out of the desk chair, away from computer and MOVING.
Good job, Romani. And that’s hilarious about the dog.
I deliver things to my boss or his admin on the next floor down in person instead of letting my admin do it. That gives me some steps and stairs. If I have something printing, instead of standing there staring at the giant printer, I walk around. I have a job that can easily become very sedentary if aim not careful.
Lol about the pug! My white cat probably does 50 steps and sleeps 23.5 hours a day. Have to give Mr. that idea!
My usual route to and from the bus stop is probably 2-2,5 miles daily, and if I add shopping, it becomes longer. I am going to check the Garmin watches to see if one of those makes more sense than a Fitbit as an all-in-one gadget.
Almost tripped over Mr.'s 35-lb kettlebell when I got home and ran up the stairs. He parked the blasted thing at the bottom of the stairs, so every time he walks up and down the stairs, he carries it for an added benefit. LOL.
Last week I ran a total of 15+ miles, plus lots of walking, Arc machine, etc. Somewhere along the way I must have pulled/strained a muscle on one side of my lower back. I felt it Friday morning, but went ahead and ran anyway. Saturday morning I did a long walk at the beach (we went down for the weekend) and then a shorter dog walk in the afternoon. About 2 hours later things really tightened up and I was in pain! I took Sunday and yesterday “off” and feel better. I’m on my way to the gym now – which hopefully won’t aggravate anything.
Count me as a fan of the Fitbit Charge HR. I know I get false steps doing things like vacuuming or scrubbing the shower, but I’m OK with that. I look at it as a trend tracker/indicator. I definitely needed something on my wrist that tells time; the phone call alert is an added bonus that’s great when my phone is on vibrate. I really don’t care about the sleep tracking and hardly ever wear the thing at night. My circle of “Fitbit Friends” is fairly small – I’m forever chasing D and her fiancé in step count since they don’t have a car and walk all over Boston.
I’ve had a FitBit HR for about a year – I really love it, but it does have problems sometimes getting an entirely accurate step count. Like everyone else, I figure it evens out, and is certainly accurate within 10%. I had a SVT (tachycardia) episode and my DH likes that I can check to see if my heart is racing, or it’s my imagination. The app is super-easy to use and you can connect it to various calorie-counting apps. My FitBit friends include far-away relatives and it has been entertaining to see how everyone is doing any given week – my 80+ yr old uncle is walking circles around the rest of us!
Parenthetically? I did get an online trainer/coach. And since early January I’ve actually lost a few pounds, and have been exercising about 50 min. a day. Woo! and Hoo!
I’ve never even bothered to try and hook up to any friends on Fitbit - I’m even tech introverted!!!
I’m “friends” with my son on Runkeeper - that’s about it so far!
Thinking of trying the Whole30 diet after lurking on the other exercise thread (even though I’m hardcore).
I have my fitness assessment today and hoping I get some good recommendations.
I ran 3.6 miles last night, my first attempt at doing intervals. After a short warm-up, I sprinted for .1 miles then ran at my normal pace for .3 miles, and then repeated for the rest of the run. I am not a sprinter! But I think it was a good workout for me and is probably the kind of thing I need to do in order to get faster. I don’t know if .1 mile sprinting and .3 miles at normal pace is the right timing, but since the trail conveniently has mileposts every .1 miles, it works for me.
Romani - Yay for getting 5K steps yesterday!
BunsenBurner-I love Mr. B’s idea of the kettleball for the stairs. I might have to mention that to H. Hmmm… I go up and down the stairs 10x more than he does - always doing laundry or something - so maybe not such a great idea after all!
Plantmom-I hope your dental surgery goes well today. I have to say I hate anything dental related, I am a wuss. So props to you for getting extra exercise in yesterday ahead of the surgery.
abasket and MOWC-I do lots of those kinds of things with extra steps. I work on the 4th floor and always use the restroom on the first floor - extra steps and extra floors. I walk every day at lunchtime and I have noticed a lot more lunchtime walkers beginning in January - it looks as if Santa must have brought a lot of Fitbits.
C3- If I used the restroom on another floor there could be some problems! I get so busy by the time I get a chance I’m usually sprinting to the closest one and hoping I don’t see “Closed for Cleaning”!
Ohio- just a caution. The first werk of Whole 30 and even beyond can negatively impact your training. That’s the one thing my daughter didn’t like about it.
Spinning class today; it was a new instructor, who was good. Music was not as loud as Soul Cycle. I swear my ears were ringing for two days; also walked the puppy before class (about a mile).
3.1 miles before work today. We are supposed to have a bad storm system moving in (rain and possible tornados-- not snow) and I wanted to get outside before that hits.
Motivation, can’t muster it up today. I really, really needed to get outside. The weather was not cooperating. I tried to get on the treadmill, wasn’t happening. Then I got dressed to go outside. Black ice and it’s been too warm to ski.
I kinda lost the mojo, it’s cloudy and not nice out. Winter storm advisory. It felt so depressing to run in the dark basement.
Anyways, what do you do when things don’t work out? How do you find motivation in the middle of winter?