Step away... and away

November 19, 2015

A few weeks ago I got a Fitbit Flex. It’s one of those little gizmos you wear on your wrist, like a watch. It counts your daily steps and sends the info to an app on the device of our choice. I have the app on my cell phone because it’s always handy.

 

The app tells you all sorts of things. It ties into MyFitnessPal.com and together the two apps will drive you nuts provide steps walked, how many miles walked, active minutes, calories burned, how well you slept and how many pounds to go until you reach your weight loss goal (if you set that one).

I told myself I wasn’t going to get all caught up on the craze to take 10,000 steps a day.

Aye. Right.

It seems I like the daily challenge of feeling the gizmo vibrate on my wrist. For the past week, starting with last Thursday, my totals are:

Thursday    (11/12)            11,574

Friday         (11/13)            10,659

Saturday     (11/14)               5,480 (rain)

Sunday       (11/15)            10,664

Monday      (11/16)              7,875 (homeowner “stuff” needed done)

Tuesday      (11/17)            10,125

Wednesday (11/18)            11,194

That’s not too shabby for a woman with a desk job during the day and a writer gig in the evening. A quick twenty-minute walk before work, and a good thirty-ish minute walk during my lunch hour puts me within striking distance of 10K. The incidental trips around the building, up and down the stairs, picks up the rest.  But now I’ve discovered - there’s more.

I just found out there’s a 15K step badge you can earn. Maybe I need to step away from the gizmo before I hurt myself. 

KC Kendricks
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10,000 steps

October 26, 2015

Sooooo I bought into the Fitbit craze and got a Flex. So it was $90 I probably shouldn't have spent, but hey. I don't have any serious vices. Why not have another fun gadget? (Maybe gadgets are a vice - who knows?)

I work in an office setting, plus I write. That's a lot of time at a desk. To counter that I generally take a walk in the park on my lunch break. The first full day of having the Fitbit, I logged 5047 steps. Whoa, baby. Really? I did that many without varying my routine at all? I rather impressed myself. Halfway there without actually trying. 

Being a pragmatic sort, I realized right then and there that 10,000 steps a day, every day, might be out of range. I set a goal of 5500 for the next day and added five minutes to my lunchtime stroll. I ended up at 5322 for the day. 

Okay. That told me I needed to add a purposeful walk around the office building, once in the morning and once in the afternoon. This is over and above going to other offices to check on my charges. This would just be a flyby. Let 'em wonder what the hell the office manager is up to.  The added five minutes and two flybys got me to 6686. 

At this point I'm not sure the Fitbit is adding correctly. That's a quite a jump. 

Friday. A twenty-seven minute walk in the park, two flybys and bowling night. Total=7944.  Hmm. I would have thought bowling would add more, but it is what it is. 

Fast forward to the next Friday and the same routine got me to 8790. By now I'm really confused about the way this gadget measures steps. 

Saturday, October 24. Great weather. I made up my mind I was going to hit TEN THOUSAND steps or fucking die trying. 

As it happened, we had quite a To Do list for the day. First up - an early morning pantry run to Wal-Mart (yeah, yeah) to restock the larder. After that a few chores in the yard including climbing up and down a ladder a few times and a trip to fill up the gas cans and get diesel for the John Deere. All of that and I'm at about 7000 steps. Fine. I set out for a walk in the woods, taking the two-mile loop. It's almost four o'clock when I get home and the Fitbit says I've only gone 9467 steps. Fuck. Me.

I can do this. I can go another 500 or so steps. I CAN DO THIS! I walked down to my mailbox and back. That's 975 feet out the lane and 975 feet back in. I know it's that far. I measured the distance when I had to pay a contractor to scrape off the topsoil and put the first one hundred ton of stone down back in 1981. I look at the read-out on my phone and it says 9989. 

BITE ME! 

A few steps around the house and the Fitbit gizmo vibrated. According to modern tech, I'd made the whopping big total of 10,007 steps and it was still daylight. By the end of the day I'd registered 10,539 steps. I got the badge. 

What's my take-away from Saturday's exercise? I'm not crazy enough, or obsessive enough, for the Fitbit craze. If I don't get 10,000 steps a day, who the hell cares? Not me. I'll continue to play with my gadget because, admittedly, it's a way to remind me to take those extra strolls around the office and add a few minutes to my mid-day walk when possible. But from now on, I'm counting along with the Fitbit.  

KC
www.kckendricks.com
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