wacky wednesday - step it up

About a year ago my husband and I got FitBits and it's been a love/hate relationship with them ever since. FitBits are similar to a pedometer but also so much more. Besides tracking your steps and converting that into miles, it also distinguishes between very active steps and moderate or slow steps. Some track your sleep quality based on how much you move around, track calories burned or even steps climbed.

The model we got (Zip) can connect to our smartphone or computer via Bluetooth so we, and everyone else in our group, can instantly know not just our current day's steps, but also our weekly totals, most and least active day and more. While being part of a group isn't required it can help you stay motivated. You can challenge people in your group - most steps in a day wins, for example - to make it more competitive.

I admit it is motivating to see I only need 400 more steps to NOT be in last place. And I love it when I meet my goal number of steps for the day or the week.

But there are also times when I am sooooo far behind there is no way to catch up for the day. Then I am more likely to be motivated to sit on the couch and watch tv. And I hate it when we are out shopping and my son-in-law, Jacob, logs 2000 more steps than me even though we've gone to the same place. Of course, when I stop to look at something, he "wanders around" so I guess we haven't really "gone to the same place."

It was with great amusement that I read a ZITS comic strip (by Jerry Scott and Jim Borgman) last week. It reminded me that some people work at getting their steps in (me) and others just do it naturally (Jacob).