It started off as a good idea and a ‘bit’ of fun. Having a sedentary job for so many years I was curious to see how long it would take to reach the arbitrary 10,000 steps a day. As I have mentioned in a previous post, housework could add to this daily step count so would serve a useful purpose, but the jury is still out on this!
That was the theory. Alas, in practice, that is not the case.
Fitbit is not human and ‘his’ programme does not allow for having a meal, reading a book, writing my blog, or just sitting! My arm will suddenly vibrate and, what is fast becoming as irritating as nuisance phone calls, a message will flash up on the screen to ‘feed me’.
So this is one annoyance! There is another. I usually achieve the ‘required’ 10,000 steps but if Fitbit shows 9,000 before I have my evening bath, I have been known to run up and down the stairs until I feel the vibrations and get huge praise heaped on me for achieving my daily goal. Self-satisfied, I have my bath and go to bed!
But unfortunately, it gets even worse. If I don’t quite make 15,000 or the amazing and seriously smug zone 20,000 steps, this is when I need to make a stand and fight back!Easier said than done because the applause and vibrations I receive for 20,000 steps is really worth it! So last night saw me running up and down the stairs to reach this very significant goal!
But there Fitbit came into ‘his’ own! I didn’t get any applause when I reached the magical number. Completely exhausted I gave up and sat down. I checked the step total and was horrified to see that I had completed 20,450 steps with no applause and no vibrations. All I got was a warning to recharge the battery!
So hopefully I have learnt my lesson. The total steps I achieve each day will end when I run my bath water. I shall not be dictated to by a mindless robot! I don’t need praise heaped on me for exercising! I won’t be irritated when ‘he’ shouts for food! I’ll treat ‘him’ with the contempt he deserves! 👠
Jenny Burrell 