Becoming Accountable

We've all been there. You've had a long day, you are mentally and physically exhausted, and all you want to do is couch surf and zone out when you get home from work. But what happens when this becomes a pattern of behavior? Weight gain...that's what happens. I won't pretend that I have too much going on, or that there are not enough hours in the week to accomplish everything I should on a regular basis. What I will tell you is I have gotten lazy and unmotivated when it comes to working out. 

I, like many, go through regular cyclical phases where I am super active, love the gym, and can't wait to dive into a salad. Unfortunately, there is an ugly side to that cycle where I don't move nearly as much, eat crap, and generally just don't want to work out. I work a desk job which makes it even easier to slide into this "comfort zone." What I needed was to become aware of my lack of inactivity and to find a way to become accountable. I have a coworker that started using a FitBit to track her steps, activity, and make her more aware of how little she was actually moving. This sounded like a great idea because what's more motivating than seeing you have only walked 20% of the steps you should be walking in a day? I finally pulled my head out of my butt and bought one last week. 

 What you get in the box:

- FitBit One Tracker
- Sweatproof silicone clip
- Wristband to track sleep/silent alarm use
- Wireless dongle to sync the tracker 
- USB charging cord
- How to download the user interface & app

FitBit One Screens:

- Steps Taken
- Distance Walked
- Calories Burned
- Not pictured : steps climbed













So far one of the things I like most about the FitBit One is the online interface/app that easily depict your progress through the day. The clean interface and graphs help to see what you have accomplished and how much more you need to do. 

Hands down though, the coolest feature of the FitBit One is the sleep tracker & silent alarm. You wear the wristband provided and slip the tracker onto it. This tracks how long it took you to get to sleep, the amount of time you were asleep, number of times you wake up, periods of restlessness, and takes all that information to calculate the actual time spent sleeping. The silent alarm feature allows you to set an alarm and be woken up by gentle vibrations from your tracker rather than jarring loud beeping first thing in the morning. 

I am really excited to start using this thing to it's full potential. All ready I feel like I have to answer to this little machine for not moving my derriere enough. How do you stay motivated and accountable? I'd love more ideas on staying active!