Geoff Perkins
  • Home
  • Thinking
  • Travel Blog
  • Technology
  • UK 2018

Retiring a Fitbit

6/1/2018

2 Comments

 
Picture
I got my first Fitbit for Christmas 2013 and set it to work on Jan 6 2014.
​That is exactly 4 years ago today. Since then I have amassed a wonderful array of statistics. The Fitbit has been an amazing addition to my quality of life. I retire it with some sense of sadness. It is only fitting that, if only for myself, I record some of my thoughts about 4 years of Fitbit.
I set my initial goal to 10,000 steps per day on Jan 6 2014. Since that day I have managed over 10,000 steps every day except for long haul flights and a month of illness. Otherwise not one single day has been less than 10,000. 

After 12 months I cranked this to 12,500 where it remained for most of the next 3 years.
I toyed with a goal of 16,000 for 3 months in 2017 and managed. But I discovered that walking was all I did for 3 months. I cut back to 12,500 where it has remained ever since.
In 4 years I have walked a long way.
  • 5,000,000 steps in 2014
  • 4,500,000 in 2015
  • 5,500,000 in 2015
  • 6,500,000 in 2017.
21 and a half million steps with a Fitbit in 4 years. I am no athlete but I did OK. I reached the distance around the earth in May 2017. Today I am over 15,000 km according to the stats.
My biggest day ever was a day walking around Geneva. I managed 38,000 steps that day. I have topped 30,000 3 times. I have topped 20,000 steps about 150 times. 10,000 is more than 1400 times.
I don’t state this to brag. I want to record the numbers before I move to another tool. I want to put the numbers down for any who have followed my Fitbit regime.
At various times, I have had up to 30 Fitbit users following my statistics as I follow theirs. Today, as I review my stats for the last time, there are only 3 users left. In a week, I will disappear from their listings.
My original Fitbit One died in 2017. Its battery started to hold charge for less than a day. I found a new Fitbit Charge 2 at a special price and jumped right in. I did not miss a day of stats transitioning from the One to the Charge 2.
Picture
The Charge 2 offered me sleep tracking. That has been the most wonderful diagnostic tool.
I thought I was having many sleepless nights. I would recall looking at the clock at 2 am and 4 am. My mind leapt to the conclusion that I was awake for 2 or more hours each night. The Fitbit charge 2 taught me that I was in fact awake AT 2am and AT 4 am but only for a moment each time.
​I have a wonderful record of my sleeping. I know I sleep very well for an old retiree.

So, the Fitbit has reached its end of life. I have nothing negative to say about it. I commend it to all. It has changed my life habits for the better. Little things like parking all the way across a carpark before shopping. This is now a normal thing for me. Horrifying every passenger I have of course. It has to be good for my long-term health – and theirs!
The big question.
Why would I give it up? If you know me well you will guess of course. It is being replaced with an Apple Watch. The accessory I chose to add as I upgraded to my iPhone X.

The Apple Watch will track different things.
  • I will need to revisit how I do sleep tracking.
  • The battery life can’t come close to the 8 or 9 days of the Charge 2.
  • Apple watch concentrates more on KJ burnt than steps.
  • I have to learn how to close those rings.
I am looking forward to remodelling how I manage my fitness and health with the Apple Watch.
  • Aghhh. The Apple Watch tapped my wrist. I have been sitting for too long. I have to get up and move for a minute. That tells you how long I spend writing these things. Boy will that annoy everyone I meet for a long lunch.

Picture
​Quick impressions of the Apple Watch? It is very comfortable. I have the Space Grey aluminium 42mm with the dark olive sports loop. It is light and barely noticeable on my wrist.
I had not worn a watch for many years till I got the Fitbit Charge 2. Getting used to the feel of the Fitbit on my wrist was 'interesting.' I was unsure how I would feel with the much larger Apple Watch.
Well, it is much better. I notice it less. I like that.
  • Except for when it taps me on the wrist – aghhhhh!
I will miss the people I have followed with Fitbit. I now need to make links with a new community. The community of Apple Watch users. Community sharing of stats has been a key tool in making my fitness goals work.
Onward!
The Fitbit has been a most important part of my life for 4 years.
I do wonder how the Apple Watch will fare.
​Let’s see what I have to say January 6 2019.

2 Comments
Kyle
6/1/2018 14:34:48

I swapped the Fitbit out for a watch as well as you probably noticed

It’s much better, like you a bit harder to compare steps but it does a really good job to tracking activity

Viano and Michael are both on it as well

Reply
Rainer
6/1/2018 20:21:50

Hi Geoff, I'm on Apple watch as well - nothing like a bit of competition!

Reply

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    Picture of Geoff

    Author

    I worked in a school as Director of IT. Here I intend to place my thinking about IT and technology.

    View my profile on LinkedIn

    Archives

    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2016
    September 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012

    Categories

    All
    Bullying
    Facebook
    Flying
    Ipad
    Iphone
    Learning
    Movies
    Password
    Photography
    Power
    Presentations
    Selling
    Social Networking

    RSS Feed