The funny thing is that other than being off by 30 minutes, my Fitbit functions perfectly! Maybe it decided that I simply need more minutes in my days and slowed down the clock. 
Hey everyone,
I’m finally back to some semblance of normalcy. We got back from our B-I-G trip to Asia 2 weeks ago, but we’ve been pretty busy ever since. I did just spend a couple hours quickly skimming all the posts I’ve missed, though. Congratulations, condolences, hugs, and hurrahs to all those in need, as appropriate. I like your “prison bars,” @MomofWildChild. 
The trip was phenomenal – especially the time we spent with our son. I don’t know about the rest of you with sons, but ours is not at all good about staying in touch. This mama needed some face-to-face, in person communication! We really enjoyed both South Korea and Japan. Fortunately there were lots of English speaking, helpful people in both countries. I can get by with my rusty French and Spanish in quite a few countries, but clearly not anywhere in Asia. We had great weather – only 1 day of rain. Spending 4 days in HI on the way home made for a much easier adjustment coming back across the International Date Line – we actually got to enjoy Friday, May 6 twice! It didn’t really sink in before we left on this adventure, but we “bookended” World War II by visiting both Hiroshima and Pearl Harbor. Plus we visited the United Nations Memorial Cemetery in Busan, Korea (for United Nations Command casualties of the Korean War) and the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu. Very, very sobering, especially with a son in the military. Far too many men (and women) dying in wars/conflicts.
ANYWAY, now we’re back and have “relocated” to our place at the beach in RI. We’re pretty much in a pattern of 6 months in MA and 6 months in RI – with a number of trips back and forth as needed. Last weekend we were actually back in MA hosting our good friends from Boulder (we went to Spain with them in the fall) who were town for a wedding. My ladies golf group has started league play for the season. My first outing last week was a bit of a disaster, but I did much better this week.
Oh, right – this is the D/E/H/W thread… We walked tons during the trip, averaging 18 - 20 K steps per day. We visited many, many temples and palaces, all of which had tons of stone steps to climb. No stair climber needed! I should have the strongest glutes ever! I actually lost weight during the trip – no white flour carbs in either Korea or Japan to play havoc with my diet. Gained a very small amount back while in HI, but still came home down a couple pounds.
To add to the comments re: Fitbit. While we were gone, a piece on the back of my Charge HR broke off, making it very difficult to charge the band unless things were balanced just right. (Someone else posted about the same issue; can’t remember who …) When we got home, I had an online chat with Fitbit Customer Service. They guy looked up my records, saw the band was still under warranty, and immediately sent me a replacement. He said to just “recycle” the old one. This is the great customer service I was expecting, based on D’s experiences. Not sure why you didn’t get that, @abasket. If that hadn’t worked, I would have contacted LL Bean, since that’s where mine came from, too.
Since returning I’ve been been alternating running days with Cybex Arc days, plus the usual pup walking. I’ve gotten my gyms (1 in MA; 1 in RI) on my “6 months in each place schedule,” and it’s all working.
Hope everyone has a great weekend.
That sounds like a fantastic trip, and I agree that sons aren’t the greatest at staying in communication!
Sounds like you got to be very active, too.
I bet the pup was happy to see you, CBBB! That sounds like a wonderful trip. I am so jealous of all these wonderful trips people take but yours sounds wonderful. You need to tell us about the food so we can live vicariously!
Welcome back, CBBBlinker! What a fantastic trip! Yes, the food report, please! Isn’t having kids working abroad a good excuse for travel? I have a kid who always wanted to study abroad or do an internship in Asia. She did make it to Asia - sort of, if you count the central part of the continent. I visited her during her two years in her Ubekibekibekistani city, and it was a great experience.
My Fitbit One is 2.5 years old at this point, and I’ve not had any problems with it, nor with the website. I put a carabiner (one of those cheap keychain ones, not a real one) through the clip when I first got it, and use that to attach it to things. I charge once a week, and it seems to be very accurate. I have a Garmin 235 for running and I use both when I run (because I just always have the Fitbit) and they correspond very well on steps.
I had a good workout at the gym with my trainer last night, although my back and shoulders are sore today. I am really happy that we have no actual plans for the long weekend! I have lots that I want to get done - 12 yards of mulch is being delivered sometime today - but no social functions or other obligations for a change!
CBBBlinker - welcome back, it sounds as if you had a fabulous trip. I always lose weight when I go to Asia. They just seem to eat more healthy, there are very few sweets available (my downfall!), and there is always lots of walking involved in most anything you do. It sounds as if you saw some wonderful sights, and how wonderful to spend time with your son. (I completely agree on the communication from the guys!) Good job on jumping right back into the swing of things now that you are home and at the beach, which sounds wonderful.
I have also never had an issue with Fitbit, and between H and I we have had 6 with no problems. Started out with the Fitbit Force, then upgraded to the Surge, and now have the Blaze. All of them work well, thankfully.
Edited out discussion of moderation
ED
My search unearthed that my Fitbit issue is a firmware update problem when the clock is set to run a few seconds an hour slower and uhm… the Fitbit forums do not have any recommendations other than syncing (done that) or doing a restart (tried a couple of times). Step count and other functions are just fine.
Glad you’re back safe and sound, CBB. So interesting to hear your comments about eating and weight while traveling in Asia. Someone here has had the opposite experience 
It was my Fitbit that fell apart. The back that holds the charger on and has the button snapped off. Today I had to use a plastic chip clip to hold everything together on the charger to get the electrical connections needed to charge the thing. Delivery of my replacement won’t be until next week.
Awesome that your daughter wants to run, Gertrude! I hope the younger one is inspired to join you.
And ditto the communication scarcity with the sons.
Roller skating for PG! By golly she’s creative with her activity. I’ll now have a certain song stuck in my head for the remainder of the day!
After yesterday’s running I’m taking a rest day today. Easy walking with the big camera’s about it for me. I’m still playing with the Garmin. It’s a bossy little watch! While I was sitting down to eat lunch it buzzed and told me to move. On tonight’s menu for semi-healthy eating is a Caesar salad with chicken sausage and avocados.
6.5 miles AlterG today. 3 miles @ 5 min pace - 70%/80%/90% weight. Last mile 5 min mile @90% weight I was at Max HR (184) for the last 400 meters. It’s all about weight. Going for a shower/sauna, a little food and ONE 64 calorie Miller beer now.
I was going to suggest 2 Millers, but then saw that it sounded as if you wanted to run an effortless 5-minute miler at the end of the training run - at 100% weight… So make it ONE Miller… Just sip it verrrrry slowly. Great run!
Thanks everyone – even though we had an awesome time, it’s good to be back.
Welcome back CBBBlinker and Fireandrain - it sounds like you both had great adventures!
Feeling very sluggish. Got to the gym today for weights and a swim, and walked around a lot this afternoon. This is a very busy weekend for us – plus we’re hosting a party on Sunday and traveling on Monday to a family memorial.
The good news – I redid my blood work and heard from my osteoporosis specialist today. My larger dosages of Vitamin D seem to be working – my Vitamin D levels are up and my PTH levels are significantly lower, which is good news. It will be interesting to see if these levels stay this way for the next year, whether there is any change in my bone scan.
Just went through a bunch of recent posts to catch up with what I missed.
Gertrude, I am happy to hear that a whole size bigger shoe seems to be working for you! I tell the helpful sales folks that my feet flatten out when I run if they insist on a smaller size. Speaking of shoes, I just bought a shoe stretcher and a bottle of spray. My old (new) leopard heels can be worn again! My feet did get a half a size bigger in dress shoes with age, so maybe it is time to revisit my running shoe buying strategies.
Sabaray, I hope you like the melons. I am lucky that I can eat a whole one in one sitting (and then of course suffer because of the swollen stomach, lol). I just downed a whole bottle of Smartwater. I begin to like it more than Pelegrino, but Mr. needs his bubbles, so we now buy both.
It is SOO hard to catch up here when after being gone a day let alone a couple weeks! Welcome back to all the travelers!
BB, I had time issues before too. Can’t remember exactly what worked but it was a reset or something - or something I had to manually do with the app…??
All the Fitbit troubles at least makes me feel not alone! My new one just shipped but I probably won’t get till later next week - ready to say goodbye to this Charge HR!
Rollerskating?! I couldn’t hardly roller skate as a kid. I’d be too worried about falling and breaking something now. No thanks!
Had a quickie trip to the beach where I helped husband pour a new concrete pad for some nice adirondack lounging chairs overlooking the beach and water. Lots of hauling buckets of beach sand and gravel up steps to the pad. D2 and i tackled the job of putting 2 adirondack chairs together - that was a mind exercise for sure - I HATE following printed directions!
Lots of beach walking in the short time we were there. Another weekend road trip tomorrow to D1’s house. I’m tired of driving!!!
Thanks, abasket. I tried the tricks offered on the forum - nope. Don’t have the app to reset! My phone is a 5 with very little memory. 
In health news… Oh wow!! I am amazed:
I did some roller skating as a kid but then in my 30’s did a lot of roller blading on neighborhood streets, often with large hills. Going up was incredibly intense. Going down a total adrenalin rush. Had my share of falls but my wife would always have a supply of Second Skin bandages around the house. She seemed to buy them by the case for some odd reason. She would go to our local independent pharmacy and tell the pharmacist that “Crash Katz” had done it again, lol.
Today was a good day. Started training a new client, a recovering drug addict who has turned his life around and now wants to make fitness part of his lifestyle. Should be a great experience; has the commitment to behavior change down cold. Then did a great workout of my parallettes routines and and the usual other stuff I do afterwards that I’ve written about before. My arms are so dead that I can’t lift them above shoulder height, lol. There is nothing like deadlifts for a whole body exercise. 3x 8 reps at 160% of my body weight. Legs, abs, glutes, hip flexors, arms, shoulders, back.
Tomorrow should be interesting too. Doing a 60 minute nutritional counseling session with a 250 lb stone mason who wants to get down to 180 lbs but build muscle and maintain his energy levels for work and workouts. No intermittent fasting for him!
Am also taking delivery of a new piece of equipment tomorrow. It’s a push/pull sled. Picture a short version of a dog sled. Load some weights on it and off you go either pushing against the upright handles with your arms while driving with your legs or attaching a vest harness and pulling it. Incredible full body workout. Wonder how long it will take to carve ruts in my lawn as I circle the house. I don’t know how my wife puts up with me ;).
It looks like you have your challenges planned out for tomorrow, Michael. Wow, 250 to 180 is an almost 30% weight drop. My bet is that he is a beer fan, and that habit has to go. The guy might have to settle for 195-200, which IMO is doable if he replaces some of fat tissue with muscle. Then he will be able to eat well and still fling those stones like feather pillows. I am sure idad would have been all ears about your adventure in nutrition counseling!..