I've lost 6 kilos thanks to my FitBit
Over60 community member, Beryl, 62, from Currumbin in Queensland, shares her story of how a FitBit encouraged her to rediscover her fitness motivation and help her to lose six kilos.
“A few months ago now I was constantly complaining about not being able to lose weight and I had lost all motivation to go walking. To my surprise my husband came home one day with a present for me – a FitBit. He wanted to give me something fun that might help me revive my drive to exercise.
He was right! I never leave the house without it now. I also have quite a few friends who have one too, and we can see each other’s progress during the week. It helps keep me motivated to get moving. I try and reach my goal of 10,000 steps every day.
A FitBit, if you haven’t heard of one before, is a fitness tracker that you wear around your wrist much like a watch. It tracks your steps throughout the day as well as your weight and sleep. You can also input information about calories and water consumed. Once it’s all setup on your computer or phone, that’s pretty much it. The rest takes cares of itself. It generally needs a charge once a week, and only needs to be plugged into the computer for about an hour for a full charge.
With the inclusion of some fitness classes and a healthier diet during the week, I have lost six kilos in three-and-a-half months. I’ve also noticed a big difference in the way I approach walking and exercise. I didn’t realise just how stationary I had become. Now that I have my FitBit, I’m always trying to reach and beat my daily goal of 10,000 steps. If I’m close to my goal sometimes I will just walk around the house a couple of times so I can reach it! Sounds silly, but it gets addictive – in a good way.
There are some great features on the FitBit but I especially love the sleep monitor. I used to suffer from insomnia and wake up a lot during the night. It’s been really interesting to see the differences in how much better I’m sleeping now I’m exercising more and eating better.
Lastly as some of my friends also use FitBits it provides me with a little bit of healthy competition – no pun intended! It’s great when I’m travelling and walking a lot more, because I’m generally on top of the leader board with my steps. It motivates me to try and remain as close to the top as possible.”