I hadn’t previously seen the usefulness of spending $100+ on something that was going to tell me how many steps that I walked through the day - I mean, what’s the point of that, right? Quickly after discovering the Fitbit Charge Wireless Activity Wristband ($139), my opinion has changed, as I’ve learned it does much more than count your steps.
Alarms | Every day, I have to remind myself to put the no bite nail polish on Olivia, and most of the time I forget so she is still biting her nails. The silent alarm that vibrates on my write is a reminder for those things that you mean to do during the day, and forget to do. The silent alarm is also one of my favorite ways to wake up in the morning, as the subtle vibrations are enough to wake me, but not enough to disturb the small kids that are sleeping with us. I’ve got a 6:30 Alarm set for the weekdays, a 12:10 alarm set to remind me that the Kindergarten bus is going to be here, and a 12:30 alarm set for the no bite nail polish.
Caller ID | My phone is on silent through the better part of the day. If not, it would be constantly sounding notifications and reminding me that I’ve got emails to answer, and texts to respond to. Never understanding wearable tech, I get it now. A quick vibrate on my wrist lets me know if someone’s calling, so my phone isn’t attached to my hand throughout the day.
Taking the Stairs | I can’t really say that I’ve ever thought about the amount of steps that I’ve taken in a day, let alone the amount of the flights of stairs that I’ve chosen to take - until I started wearing the Fitbit Charge. Now, I’m making more of a conscious effort to get those steps in, and taking the stairs - walking around while I’m chatting on the phone, or actually running up the hill while the kids are playing on sleds at the park, with the kids. It’s made me more conscious of getting in those extra steps, and making sure that I’m getting ‘active minutes’ exercising, to track in the app.
Sleep Tracking | Curious about the accuracy of the sleep tracking, I’ve found it to be quite accurate. There was a night when I had been restless from Nightmares, and had woken up too hot, or out of space from Violet sleeping in the middle of us, and this showed in full throughout the night with a full breakdown of periods of restlessness. The amount of tiredness that I felt the next day made perfect sense. The next night (ensuring that the sleep tracker is set on normal, not sensitive) registered a better sleep with only three occasions where I was restless through the night). I like the sleep tracking, as it’s caused me to take my awareness of not only when I’m going to sleep, but how I’m going to sleep. Tracking is automatic, so you don’t even have to set the app when you’re going to sleep.
Water Tracking | One of the biggest short term goals that I’ve got set for 2015 is to drink more water. With the easy water and food tracking built into the Fitbit app, it’s so simple to track water and food, along with exercise. It’s one of the easiest fitness apps that I’ve used, and definitely the most inclusive activity tracking app that I’ve used.
Seriously though Fitbit Charge? Why aren’t you waterproof? I mean, this seems like a clear oversight. I don’t like having to take everything off if I quickly hop in the shower, or take the kids swimming - the next time around, when it comes time to replace this Fitbit, I would love to see a water resistant option.