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Fitness Feedback, The Sleep Monitor
June 10, 2015
— 2 Comments
sky
The systems now available to measure and monitor health are mind blowing. This slice of health care/technology is growing more popular each day. I started using Fitbit last fall to increase my movement. It is effective motivation to see performance increase over time, complete with graphs. I recently became most interested in the sleep measuring ability of my little wrist band.
MY SLEEP LOG
As you can see I am frequently awakened during the night. My dog needs to go out and I must walk down a flight of stairs to do the task, so it does disturb my slumber. I am working this week to push back towards longer deeper sleep by using honey. Last night on the 3rd trip down with the dog I drank a shot of honey and warm milk, which seemed to work pretty well. I am also napping after lunch when possible because at that time I zonk out easily. I do not pay for the advanced membership to Fitbit that provides constant reports and comparisons to your age group in the population. However, I am taking advantage of the offer to create a one week report for free. My results will be final on Saturday, and graphed. I feel very competitive and funny about this challenge. I want to see an improvement in my sleep in one week. This may prove to be irrational as a goal, but I am still trying it. I wonder if I can will myself to be a better sleeper in the long run. Over the last three days I have managed to increase my total time, but without the naps it would not have been the case. This is one challenge for which gearing up is against my better interests. How does one become a sleep champion?
Do you use any fitness monitoring devices or apps? Have you found the feedback helpful in changing your habits? What kind of sleep secrets have you learned, gentle reader? I am on a quest for better rest.
Fitbit Frenzy
September 13, 2014
— 6 Comments
I am so thrilled with my relationship with my new Fitbit. It arrived two days ago and changed my life. It is everything I hoped it would be and much more. It synchs with your computer (Phone/device) to give you a complete picture of your daily activities. It shows graphs that measure your steps ( and or exertion) in real time, and your calories burned. The food log is simple to use and includes all foods I have eaten so far on a menu with calories counted upon entering. The activity log is available if you care to detail which you have done when . Hiking, biking, running, walking and swimming are listed. You can also create your own categories. I have made a Floatli category because I can’t wear the Fitbit in the water (separation anxiety does occur), but I can record the time I have spent on my computer log. It is brilliant!
This weekend we are planning a pizza party for ourselves and maybe others. I will need to earn the pizza slices that will greatly effect my graph. We decided to put it off until tomorrow, and I am pleased because I can burn baby burn today to be on my goal. The Fitbit is making me think ahead to calculate a plan eat pizza rather than banning it forever and indulging impulsively by jumping off the prohibition of pizza wagon. I love it. It makes me feel the need to deposit calories burned before I eat them!!! I have tracked food on a list and divided into food groups before, but this data is so complete and visually compelling that it makes writing it down seem primitive. The deal in fitness and health is that if you are not having a good time you will not act in your own best interests all the time. Movement, exercise, whatever you choose to call it, is just using the body you have to enjoy life. Measuring it gives you a powerful motivation to improve. Some folks join groups, or compare their performance to the entire population using the Fitbit. I don’t need that because I am most competitive with myself. I have become inspired and enthused to keep all my graphs green and my steps increasing daily.
My Fitbit Flex model also measures my sleep. Last night I had a particularly unsound sleep pattern. The night before I had a few restless seconds and a three short times awake during the night. Last night I spent a long time awake, during 9 different sessions. I was aware of it at the time, and was thinking this will look bad on my sleep graph. I think that in itself is pretty funny. I am even concerned about how my Fitbit scores my performance when I am in bed at night. I think most of my nights will read like my first one, since I do sleep well. The other funny thing about night time is that upon awakening I saw that the gin and tonic I poured for watching television which we do in bed) was almost full. I instantly thought how sad, I wrote that down in my food log and didn’t even drink it. All this concern could make a person crazy, but I believe this is a good crazy. I recommend this kind of crazy to anyone.
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