So in order to be a true foodie you really have to be okay with indulging. In order to be okay to indulge and not gain excessive amounts of weight, you have to try to stay fit! Lately activity trackers have been all the rage, so obviously we had to see what the hype was all about.
Over the last year, the both of us decided to invest in Fitbit activity bands. Sheena has the Fitbit Flex and Gajra has the newer Fitbit Charge. Basically the bands are meant to be worn at all times in order to track your activity during the day and your sleep at night. The device has a (fancy) 3-way accelerometer that converts body motion into digital data. The data is then converted into user-friendly metrics such as step count, distance traveled, calories burned, and active minutes. The activity band can be used in conjunction with the Fitbit app which can be downloaded for free on your smartphone.
Sheena's Band: The Fitbit Flex
The Fitbit Flex was released in 2013 and is among some of the first activity bands Fitbit released.
The Band
The activity band consists of a small chip that is inserted inside of a slim band. When you initially set up your Fitbit, you must choose whether your primary goal is steps, distance traveled, calories burned, or active minutes. The band has a small LED display which has 5 dots that light up when tapped to show how you progress towards your goal throughout the day.
The band can only show progress towards your goal in terms of 20% intervals, but the smartphone app will display the complete stats for all 4 metrics. I chose my goal to be 10,000 steps a day.
My favourite part of owning a Fitbit is reaching my goal and the celebratory vibration of the band. Gives a nice sense of accomplishment! Besides monitoring activity progress, the tracker can monitor your sleep and be used as a silent alarm to wake you up or remind you throughout the day. The Fitbit app also includes additional functions such as a food log and the capability to add friends that are also part of the Fitbit community which can help foster some friendly competition.
 |
| All green which is encouraging to see! This is a screenshot of the dashboard the Flex provides on my iPhone. You can see in top right, there is a battery symbol which is telling me I have about 50% left. Pretty handy! |
The tracker needs to be charged approximately every 5 days. Since my goal is steps, I usually charge it overnight. An e-mail notification is sent every time the battery gets low and that really helps minimize any downtime where all your activity is not calculated. Every step counts when you have a goal in mind.
Aesthetics
The nice thing about the Fitbit Flex is that it gives off a nice, sleek look versus being overbearing and clunky on my wrist. Another neat aspect of the Fitbit Flex is that the band comes in a plethora of different colors. The tracker can easily be moved from one band to another. Even Tory Burch has a pretty alternative that you can wear to really dress up!
Price & Customer Service
The Fitbit Flex sells for $100 at most electronic and large-scale sporting good stores. I have been wearing it for the last 5 months and besides a minor hiccup in the beginning it has served me well. The band is fairly comfortable to wear and barely noticeable. The only thing is that initially the clasp is not very strong and easily falls off. Just 3 days after I purchased the Fitbit, I lost it while out dancing. After mourning the loss of my investment, I e-mailed the good people at Fitbit about how I had lost the band. They quickly responded and agreed to send me a new one...for free! A couple weeks later after getting my new Fitbit in the mail I gave it another chance. I was extra paranoid this time about making sure it was on my wrist at all times. After a month of wearing it everyday the clasp eventually became more dependable.
Gajra's Band: The Fitbit Charge
.jpg)
The Fitbit Charge was released in November 2014 and is a remodel and upgraded version of the Fitbit Force that was recalled earlier in the year.
The Band
This activity band in fact does not have a removable chip, but instead is built into the band itself. When setting up my Fitbit, I was presented with similar options as Sheena was to choose what my main goal wanted to be - steps taken, distance traveled, calories burned, or active minutes. The Fitbit Charge has the additional option of choosing flights of stairs climbed as a metric. Similar to Sheena however, I also chose my primary goal to be 10,000 steps per day. The key difference between this band and the Flex is that this one has a larger display which allows for additional functionality. By pressing the small button on the left side, I can tell the time, see how many steps I have taken, my distance traveled, calories burned and finally the number of flights of stairs I have climbed. Since all these metrics are shown to me on the band in actual numbers, I rely less on going into the Fitbit app on my smartphone.
 |
| Almost all green across the board! Crushed it. This is a screenshot of the dashboard on my iPhone when I wireless sync my Charge. I had gone running with a friend which is why my step count exceeded my goal and normally how much I do... |
 |
| All these features are also available in the Fitbit app. Sadly I never use them, but they do seem handy! The food log has an extensive list of foods/dishes available that you can log based upon what you eat that day. The Fitbit app can also be paired with other popular apps such as My Fitness Pal and Run Keeper! |
 |
| This was one of those days that I was lifting weights at the gym so my activity did not truly get measured. It's okay though since I can log my exercise in the app and make a mental note that I did strength training that day. |
Based on the pictures in this blog, you may be somewhat confused as to what the different colors on the dashboard statistics mean. It's okay, you are not the only one. Sheena only recently educated me on what they mean. As you start the day, 0-32% complete of any given metric will be shown in blue, 33-65% will be shown in yellow, 66-99% will be shown in orange, and finally 100% or more will be green!
Aesthetics
Aesthetics
.jpg) |
| I put both the bands on my wrist to clearly show the difference in size between the two. It is a pretty sizeable difference, but it depends on whether you prefer aesthetics or functionality! |
Last year when I found out the band was going to be a revamped version of the recalled Fitbit Force, I was extremely excited because I thought it would be as sleek as the Flex but with a bigger screen. Upon recieving my Fitbit Charge in the mail however, I was a bit disappointed to see that it was quite a bit bigger in size. Though I have now grown accustomed to the size, I still wish the Charge was as sleek as the Flex. The Charge comes in 4 colors - black, slate, burgundy and blue.
Price
The Fitbit Charge can be purchased for $129.99 at most electronic and sporting good stores. This is pretty comparable to other trackers out there with similar functionality, so no complaints!
Overall, both activity bands boil down to doing the same thing which is reminding to get moving when are too busy sitting on our couch and watching Netflix. They are a great source of motivation and have helped us adopt a somewhat healthier lifestyle. When we are close to our goal, the tracker is motivation for us to walk home from work instead of taking the train, or take the stairs instead of the elevator. More active throughout the week means more beer on the weekend right?
Until next time!
Until next time!
No comments:
Post a Comment