I think you’re okay, Michael…carrots and oatmeal are healthy, right?
Pilates workout this morning, added new exercises and continued working on my rollover, which is happily improving. Also got some tips on spin class from my trainer who used to teach spinning. They are thinking of adding some rowing machines and bikes to incorporate into training. I would be all for that!
Interesting article, NRE - I think recently I saw that Oral Roberts University was requiring freshmen to wear a Fitbit and achieve 10,000 steps…for a grade. I think there are some types of credit cards with a chip that will notify certain stores if that customer has arrived in the store to shop - like the big spender AMEX cards. I do think about how our data is used - it’s not necessarily that one piece of information that worries me but rather the combination of all pieces of info! Yes, I’m neurotic.
Well the Whole30 diet lasted for 1/2 day. My wife had already made pierogis for dinner. Happy wife was more important than the diet. Starting day 1 again today.
“So for the new study, which was published in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, the McMaster researchers rounded up 40 overweight **young men **who were willing to commit to an intensive weight-loss program and divided them in half.”
Interesting article, Pizzagirl. My concern is the limited number of study subjects, as usual, and the fact that they were not representative of the entire population that wants to lose weight. The researchers plan another study with women. I would say, how about they use a bunch of middle-aged female CCers who want to lose weight as guinea pigs and devise a plan for middle-aged folks?
Lol, abasket! I am still researching this gadgetry stuff, and they keep making new models?! They will totally lose me then. I am still on iPhone 5 and Surface Pro. Lol.
Convinced me! I am in 2 1/2 weeks of prerace training. Have cut back on my typical overeating, but time to increase the protein. Maybe I will use that powder.
Well, my homework for tonight is to do gizmo research! Although I think I might be already locked into the Fitbit network… I like their dashboard. Mr. is ecstatic that he can log his biking exercise in there. He took the garbage can out to the street last night… on the way back, his Fitbit counted 3 flights of stairs as he walked up our drive. It is a nice little hill - and I can use it for hill exercise in the spring!
I’m going to pre-order the Fitbit Blaze (their watch) today, not waiting for H to get his. I like the looks of the Alta that they just announced today but I like the smart watch features of the Blaze.
The regular band for the Alta looks to me like the press-fit closure that the Flex and Force had. I was never a fan of that closure - too hard to get closed and would open too easily. I like the regular watch band type closure that the Charge has much better. However, the Alta has a stainless band available (for a mere $100) that looks pretty nice and I’m sure the Tory Burch bands that are coming will be really nice also. I love that the Alta will have the “Get Moving” feature. I am guessing that will get rolled out to the other Fitbit products eventually. I think that feature would be a firmware change and not a hardware change, so if they can put it in the Alta I would think it could be made available on the other models. Or at least I hope so.
Please let us know how you like the Blaze when you receive it - I’ve been going around and around about what I think I want/need - every time I think I’ve decided something else pops up on the horizon.
We’ve had pouring rain and isolated areas of flooding here today. I’m so ready for spring - this gray haze is just wearing me down.
I read DCRainmaker’s review quickly, but I think he said the clasp on the Alta is very secure. My Charge strap is better than the ones that used to spring off, but not quite as secure as I would like. I think the Alta is slightly different.
The good news is that while these things aren’t cheap, they are not as pricey as $300-400 Garmins that get updated…
Stores that grab the broadcast bluetooth identifier will be able to identify you and thus allow companies to track where you go and what you purchase. I don’t care to have someone tracking me like that.
Being able to spoof the data stored on the web sites is a big deal because this data has already been used by law enforcement. Suppose someone hacks the data to show that you were somewhere you weren’t? You’ve just been framed for killing someone…
If this data ultimately winds up in the hands of an insurance company, it could affect your coverage. Insurance companies regularly check your credit rating before offering you insurance. What if they can now check how much you exercise? Or maybe the credit bureaus will decide people who walk 10,000 steps a day are a better credit risk. Is it fair to get punished because you only walk 8000 steps a day? Or maybe a company won’t hire you because you are not “fit” enough, and will raise their insurance rates or think you will be out sick more than average.
The backend sites of these devices probably do not have the most rigorous security - who cares about how many steps someone takes, right? Well, suppose a hacker manages to steal the login credentials of its users. Many people, even though they should know better, use the same id/password everywhere because then they only have to remember one thing. If you use the same credentials to do your online banking, you are now potentially in big trouble.
There are so many ways this kind of data can potentially be abused. Privacy is pretty much dead, but I try to at least be aware when my data is going to be collected and how it will be used. I’ve been known to actually read the privacy policy on a web site.
I used to do consulting work for a company that ran health care improvement programs for other companies’ employees, and worked with on-site fitness centers. This was pre-activity trackers, but a lot of people shared your concerns. OTOH, maybe you should get a break on your health insurance if you can prove you walked 10,000 steps a day (or whatever).
Was going to take it a little easy today because I had a twinge in my back yesterday that seemed to get a little worse as the day went on…but I felt pretty good all day and my planned 30 minute walk turned into a 32 minute slow run - that and my steps for the day. Yippee - glad I got that exercise in, now I don’t have to drag my gym bag to work tomorrow!
