I'm trying out a few new toys this week. It makes me sound all techy, though I'm really not. I bought a FitBit Flex yesterday, and have spent the morning setting it up. It's like a glorified pedometer, and is supposed to track your steps, calories burned, sleep patterns, and active minutes. You sync it up to an online account, which is the part I have to play around with. I can't quite tell yet how much manual inputting will need to be done, versus the bracelet magically knowing everything about me. It can also be synched to My Fitness Pal, so if I get back into the routine of logging my eating online, they can work together.
What will make it a bit easier is that I also upgraded my phone yesterday. This is a huge relief! The old one kept crashing, and was painfully slow. It was time. It was past time to replace it! And now it should - theoretically - be more convenient to use apps like HIIT interval timers and stopwatches and My Fitness Pal.
The other toy I tried out yesterday, even though I had purchased it awhile ago, was the Sony Sports MP3 player. Waterproof! Which means I took it swimming. Yep. 60 laps in the pool (only 20 metres, but still), for 25 minutes, and it was still playing at the end. It wasn't as comfortable as I had hoped. Ear buds often hurt my ears, but try having huge speakers on the buds, being covered and squashed by a bathing cap, and it's not only a hilarious image to behold, it's also painful. So, I tucked the cap behind my ears (a very attractive look, lemme tell ya). Unfortunately, that made the ear buds pop out pretty frequently. It took a bit of adjusting at the end of each length, but after awhile, I got into a rhythm. It felt great to be back in the pool. It had been longer than I'd realized. Music while doing laps made it even better. The real test will be whether it keeps on playing today, after having been submerged for so long.
It's been an exciting few days, getting myself upgraded and all futuristic with the fitness. These are things I would NEVER have considered a few years ago. I think it was important to get into solid habits first, and not to rely on gimmicks or tools. The FitBit, especially, can easily go that route. It may be a short-lived experiment, but one which I will report back on after using it for awhile.
For people starting out, especially at this time of the year when quick fixes and easy answers are offered everywhere, these are not toys to buy into lightly. They aren't going to do the work for me, I know that. As tools to help me keep going, to motivate and change the game, I'm hoping that they are solid investments.
What will make it a bit easier is that I also upgraded my phone yesterday. This is a huge relief! The old one kept crashing, and was painfully slow. It was time. It was past time to replace it! And now it should - theoretically - be more convenient to use apps like HIIT interval timers and stopwatches and My Fitness Pal.
The other toy I tried out yesterday, even though I had purchased it awhile ago, was the Sony Sports MP3 player. Waterproof! Which means I took it swimming. Yep. 60 laps in the pool (only 20 metres, but still), for 25 minutes, and it was still playing at the end. It wasn't as comfortable as I had hoped. Ear buds often hurt my ears, but try having huge speakers on the buds, being covered and squashed by a bathing cap, and it's not only a hilarious image to behold, it's also painful. So, I tucked the cap behind my ears (a very attractive look, lemme tell ya). Unfortunately, that made the ear buds pop out pretty frequently. It took a bit of adjusting at the end of each length, but after awhile, I got into a rhythm. It felt great to be back in the pool. It had been longer than I'd realized. Music while doing laps made it even better. The real test will be whether it keeps on playing today, after having been submerged for so long.
It's been an exciting few days, getting myself upgraded and all futuristic with the fitness. These are things I would NEVER have considered a few years ago. I think it was important to get into solid habits first, and not to rely on gimmicks or tools. The FitBit, especially, can easily go that route. It may be a short-lived experiment, but one which I will report back on after using it for awhile.
For people starting out, especially at this time of the year when quick fixes and easy answers are offered everywhere, these are not toys to buy into lightly. They aren't going to do the work for me, I know that. As tools to help me keep going, to motivate and change the game, I'm hoping that they are solid investments.
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