I used to think I walked a lot in my day to day routine. Up and down stairs, from room to room in the office, doing housework, seeing patients, the grocery store, gardening, to and from the mailbox…. Was I wrong. How do I know this? My new Fitbit.
This thing is amazing and humbling at the same time. My daughter’s present to me at Christmas was this thing that looks like a plastic watch and to which I owe my new found reality. It has made me realize that I really don’t move that much in my daily routine, and some days I am an absolute couch potato without really sitting on the couch.
If you are not familiar with the Fitbit, it is worth investigating. It looks like a watch, is synched with your cell phone, and every so many minutes will remind you to TAKE A STROLL among other nice ways of saying that you’ve been sitting still way too long. The goal is to get 250 steps and hour and 10,000 steps a day. The Fitbit has a way of vibrating to make you aware that it is time to get up and get those steps in… not really that annoying, but just annoying enough.
The word on the street is that, “Sitting is the New Smoking.” As a physician and now Fitbit advocate, I totally agree. Most people lead a sedentary lifestyle with desk jobs, computers, and video games. Cold weather doesn’t help motivate anyone to get outside, just to curl up on the couch and watch TV. Being motivated to move in the winter takes a special person… with a Fitbit.
Ok, I agree, they are a little expensive. A basic model costs between $100 to $150. But what price health?? And how wonderful to just get that little vibration on your wrist every hour or so with those motivating words, WANT to TAKE A STROLL?
