For many active people across the globe, Fitbits have become a fad like no other. I have always been a very active person, but I didn’t realize just how active I was until I purchased a Fitbit. I didn’t expect to be so interested in the information it can collect. It provides insights about your overall health, not just calories in versus calories out. I have had my Fitbit for about 3 weeks at this point, and in that time, I have learned so many things about my body. In a way, it has definitely changed the way that I look at daily life- in terms of exercise and health.

 

There are several different kinds of Fitbits, some that measure more things and some measure less. The “Alta HR” measures my steps, miles I have traveled (on foot), calories burned, exercise, sleep, heart rate, weight, fluid intake, and food intake. Obviously, you can choose which to take advantage of and which you would like not to. These insights are what really shifted my perspective on my activity level and overall health.  

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First and foremost, I walk way more than I thought. Just by attending class and doing my daily activities, I walk on average 8,500 steps. That many steps roughly equal 5 miles. On days that I exercise, I average anywhere from 15,000-20,000, which roughly equals 7-10 miles. Fitbit actually creates a goal of 10,000 steps a day for you, based on a study done by the American Heart Association. You can change the goal if you want but I decided to keep it. Now I find myself more and more trying to reach that goal every day, whether it be through taking an extra walk or going to the gym. While it has shown me that I am super active in the first place, it also motivates me to go that extra mile.

 

If you wear your Fitbit to bed, it can track your sleep based on your movement and heart rate. It can even show you which stages of sleep you were in and for how long. Your body cycles through sleep; You go from awake, to light sleep, to deep sleep, back to light sleep, and then into REM before you awake up again. Each stage in the cycle does different things: light sleep promotes mental and physical recovery, deep sleep promotes aspects of memory and learning, and REM has been shown to play an important role in mood regulation, brain processes, and memory. This capability has probably made the most impact on my lifestyle. Everyone knows it’s hard to get those 8 hours while in college, especially with finals coming up.  On average, I was getting about 5 hours of sleep a night and staying primarily in the light stage of sleep. Since I have been tracking this pattern, I have made an effort to sleep more because I can see how sleeping and not sleeping affects my health.

 

The last few capabilities that I use on and off include the fluid, weight, and food tracking. I use fluid tracking more often because I tend to forget to drink water throughout the day and end up getting dehydrated. I set my Fitbit to send me reminders to drink water every hour or so. By doing this I have decreased the number of headaches I would get a week. While the fluid tracker has proven useful to me, the other two I actively try not to use. Tracking your calories and weight can be good for some people, especially if they are trying to lose a large amount of weight. However, I am not trying to lose weight. I find that when I use these capabilities I become slightly obsessive over what types of food I am eating and how much. I realized this is not a healthy way to approach food for myself, but it may work for others with different goals.

 

Overall, my Fitbit has shown some meaningful insights to how my body functions. With these insights, I have been making minor changes to my life in order to see if it impacts my overall health. Besides the changes in how I feel physically, the Fitbit makes it easier to see if these changes are beneficial. Sometimes it is hard to see change in yourself and in your body so it’s nice to see a visual representation of your changes and work. Fitbits also always have “see more” or “learn more” buttons that teach you about the different insights. All in all, Fitbit has changed my habits for the better and has taught me some very interesting things about myself. Whether you are a very active person or not, Fitbit could be a beneficial way to make you more aware of your habits.