I got a Fitbit after I registered me and Austin for one as a wedding present.

Correction: I did not register for anything.  I owe my life to Chelsie, my bridesmaid, who, when I was overwhelmed registering, went to Target and she registered me for everything I needed, with a few requests from me.

So once I got the Fitbit, the Fitbit Flex, I was absolutely hooked to that thing.  At $99, it wasn’t a huge investment, but it really shifted the way I did things.  I synced it to my computer and my phone, and immediately started adding friends on their network.  Though I was already pretty active, I was able to actually visualize how much movement I was getting throughout the day.  I could figure out when were peak times for me, and what tough times were for me (Sundays when I didn’t meet my running friends and wanted to watch Bravo all day.)  I started getting really competitive with my friends and was really impressed with how good the customer service was when I lost my Fitbit drunk twice.  Once at my sister’s wedding afterparty, and once at Elon Homecoming.  Hence the sober month I’m taking right now.

After my time with the Flex, I upgraded to the Surge.  I felt like it was sort of weird to wear my Flex at the same time I was wearing my Garmin – like I just had too much on.  The Flex boasted GPS as well as step tracking, so once I got it, and witnessed personally how quickly the Surge hooked up to satellites, it really rendered my Garmin pretty obsolete.

The case for wearables/should I get one?

I’m already active.  But a Fitbit, or similar products (Garmin has ’em, Pebble, and Jawbone are some of the big players in the game), really, to me increases your awareness.  You may think you’re active, when in reality, you get one 25-minute run in a day, and sit at your desk the rest of the day.  While your run is excellent, it’s not going to cut it always, and you have to keep moving around to meet your daily minimums.  These tools are awesome for figuring out where you are, and where you might need to go.

So are you a person that loves apps?  Do you love data?  Do numbers really speak to you?  Then a “wearable” is for you.  If that stuff isn’t really your jam, I always encourage figuring out what your “love language” is as it pertains to working out and keeping yourself on track and accountable.  But for me, counting, visualizing, and competing works.

Do you use a wearable?  Wear a Fitbit?  

How long have you been wearing one?  

What do you like/dislike about it?