I Think My Fitbit Is Judging Me

I bought my Fitbit 3 years ago and first of all, surprisingly it is still working perfectly - I had heard stories that they fell apart after a year, right around the time of the 1 year warranty deal. I got one because I was curious as to how many steps I did a day and how many I should be doing and it seemed like an overall good thing so I bought one and let it judge me daily and I was totally happy with it and let it keep me company on my daily walks and only cursed it mildly when it beeped at me to tell me I was being lazy and to get up and move for awhile. 

My friend at work has one too and we would pop into each others desk to ask, "where you at?" during the day, to see the step count -  then we'd race around the meeting table to try and outstep each other.

Note about steps - so there is a thing that says you should be taking at least 10,000 steps a day to stay healthy. Yeahhhhh - ok, that is GOOD but only if the 10,000 steps are um, quick? They can't just be the slow meandering around the house steps in other words.  It is better to have 6000 quick, working for it, steps. I aim for 6000 a day but they are working out and getting my cardio up steps. I digress.

A few months ago, I thought that maybe the Fitbit wasn't working correctly anymore because there was no way my heart rate was 78 while I was just sitting down and reading. NO WAY! I was in total denial that this was correct.

It was totally correct.

I realized that I hadn't really done any sort of exercise in.... *hangs head* months... like 5 of them.  I had stopped doing the 250 steps an hour to keep myself moving during the day when I was stuck at the computer and I also stopped daily lunch walks.  I also couldn't remember the last time I did any Yoga, which my Fitbit thinks of as non-exercise but I know better LOL

Anyway, around March I hit the peak of freak out with my RHR (resting heart rate) and decided I couldn't do this anymore. So. I assessed the situation. I didn't need to lose any weight, I was at the time 98 pounds and I am still between 95 and 100 - I am 5.1 tall, and have always weighed around 99 pounds. So I really only needed to do 2 things. Firm up what I had and OMG get into cardio shape because that RHR was not something I was happy with.  

Health adult RHR is between 60 and 100 beats per minute. 

So, I started joggling again - that is jog walking in Christy speak. I did that for a month with no real Fitbit progress and it ticked me off. So, I got a Cardio Fusion Strength training dvd as well as a Belly dancing dvd and started a program and kept that up for 2 more months. At first it was discouraging because you don't see an immediate change in RHR, it is cumulative and that sucks LOL  But I knew even if I didn't see any progress, I was getting my cardio health into a better place and I kept going.

I do strength training 2 x a week.
I balance that off with cardio fusion and belly dancing every other day and stick in a rest day after the strength training. I also make sure to get up and walk during the day if I am sitting at the computer a lot.

After waiting for my monthly cycle to start - RHR goes up during PMS - I woke up to this today:

*happy dance*

I have also noticed that when I am sitting and reading my heart rate will sit about 56 or so. I feel much better and in fact, if I can't work out for whatever reason, I feel sluggish and don't sleep as well. 

I can actually SEE visible muscles and firmer bits of skin too.  I don't really watch what I eat, I mean I don't eat crap, and I rarely eat sugary things but I do love my french fries. So this all makes me feel very good about things. 

Also - I think my Fitbit has stopped being so damn judgy LOLOL No, actually, it still beeps at me but I like to think it's in a kinder tone ;)