As part of my review of the new Fitbit Charge 2, thanks to Currys PC World, I’ve decided to write a day in the life with my Fitbit Charge 2, and how it’s helping me to move more and set some fitness goals. I chose a day when I have my 2 year old with me and it’s a normal school day. When you get your device, you download the fitbit app to your phone or laptop, and then it syncs with your fitbit via bluetooth. It’s really easy to setup and I was up and running in under 2 minutes. I can tap the watch to look at the different features and also check and input data on my phone. This is what the app dashboard look like:
A Day In The Life with my Fitbit Charge 2
06:30 – Awake, my 2 year old has decided it’s morning. My 7 year old takes him downstairs and turns the lights on, giving me about 10 minutes grace.
07:00 I go to the toilet, glance at my fitbit, it says I’ve already done 91 steps and one flight of stairs. Is it having a funny moment? Did I exercise in my sleep? Then I remember. My 5 year old woke up in the night saying she couldn’t sleep. I put the toddler back to bed, because he wouldn’t sleep until 9.30 and fell asleep with me next to me in bed. My husband is away with work – lucky git. She complained of an earache, so down I went to the kitchen to get some medicine. That explains the flight of stairs and extra steps. Toddler soon came back to my bed, don’t worry.
Sleep monitoring:
A handy feature of the fitbit charge 2 is it monitors your sleep pattern and splits it into restless, asleep and awake. I like looking at my broken sleep patterns, and actually it reassures me that I am actually getting on average 7-8 hours sleep. I could do with 9 or 10, but that’s a distant dream at the moment, and no sleep tracker will help me there, short of morphing into a virtual nanny.
08:20 Time for school, I’ve clocked up a few more stair climbs due to Phoebe wanting to wear trousers not a skirt, and forgetting/losing my phone. I usually walk to school, it’s not too far and I enjoy that little bit of activity. By the time I’m on my way home I’m up to over 2000 steps. As a guide, it’s best to aim for 10000 steps a day. Having a measurable goal like this does help, and the fitbit will give you badges and encouragement along the way.
09:00 Back home and I’m dashing around getting bits together for my Daniel’s 2 year health visitor check. I grab some toast and put some tea in a takeaway cup.
10:45 After the check I decide to go shopping, there are a few bits we need so I can set myself up for the week, my husband’s not due back until Friday, so it’s important I have enough wine, chocolate and cans of coke zero and some food for easy meals. Does the fitbit count all the weightlifting I do – carrying the toddler, putting him in and out of the trolley, carrying bags? No, but it does register the steps and activity. It recommends moving every hour, something which will be a useful reminder when I have my days working from home and I can spend long stretches at the laptop. It has little prompts with vibrations, saying ‘Take me for a walk.’ It will also tell you your total mileage.
The fitbit will help you set activity and weight loss goals, something I’m working towards. I’ve set low, manageable goals, to lose 2kg and to have 3 lots of 20-30 minute activity periods per week. You can also input all your food and it will offset your calories against your activity. At the moment I’m not putting my food in, because to be honest, that’s too much added work.
12:00 Lunchtime for the toddler and me. I go for some carrot sticks and hummus, and some leftover pork roast slices with mayonnaise. Embracing the low carbs.
12:45 – 14:30 – Daniel has a sleep and I catch up with some blogging admin and write a post. I managed to squeeze in some housework earlier in the day so I don’t feel guilty about doing this, plus it gives me some leeway if I get some done whilst he naps.
15:00 – time for the school run again, it’s raining and I’m tempted to drive, but there’s a whole parking issue plus I’m trying to be more active, so I whack on a hat and stick the raincover on the buggy. My fitbit thinks I’m doing a rather slow bike ride when I push the buggy, but it still measures the steps too so I don’t mind.
16:00 – the after school rush, everyone is hungry, thirsty and wants something from me, plus there’s dinner to think about. I manage to prep some food for me for the week, I’m into cauliflower rice at the moment, you get so much from one cauliflower and it tastes so good plus it’s low carb and one of your five a day. I blitz up a cauliflower and pop it in some tupperware in the fridge. The kid’s dinner is sausages, chips and peas. Uninspiring but easy. I’ve had a chocolate cake mix in the cupboard for a while and I promised Phoebe we’d do it, so we make that together – there’s the usual fighting over who’s stirring, licking the spoon etc. but on the whole pretty painless as it’s one of those add water and oil and that’s it.
18:00 – Kid’s Dinner done and they’re happily eating cake. It’s not a gourmet cake but they like it.
19:00 – attempting bedtime. Round up the youngest two from screeching upstairs to get in their pyjamas. Cue wrestling, bribing and book choosing. Snow white and the 7 dart frogs is chosen, one of my favourites. It starts well with both of them attentive and quiet, but then Phoebe keeps coming out of her room and Daniel doesn’t seem sleepy at all. I’m paying for that nap time now, I think I’m going to have to cut it altogether, it’s better if he’s exhausted come bedtime.
20:00 – STILL trying to get Daniel to sleep. He’s had boobie milk, story and I’ve even laid with him a while. I’m currently trying to keep putting him back in his bed. In desperation I try holding the door closed (he can open it). He seems tired. He gives up trying the door and he’s moaning on his bed. I’m exasperated. I remember the guided breathing on the fitbit and decide to give it a go. It’s really calming, it monitors your breathing and tells you to follow the circle as it expands and retracts, with a gentle vibration at the start and end of each breath. I stare at the watch and at the end of it I do feel calmer, I could have gone on for longer. I know I’ll be using that feature a lot to take time out when I’m feeling stressed, and I may even put it on William, who gets quite stressed at times.
20:30 – I’ve given up trying to put Daniel to bed, I’m hungry and William needs putting to bed. I’m ignoring him and he’s roaming around. I put William to bed and re-tuck Phoebe in who hasn’t gone to sleep yet. Daniel brushes his teeth again with William. I go down and have some food – leftover pork in a wrap with lettuce and mayonnaise, about all I can muster up, but very tasty. Daniel snuggles up with me on the sofa. I watch last weeks Undateables, fabulous viewing. I’m hoping Daniel will fall asleep but he just sits quietly with me. As long as he’s quiet I’m not going to keep insisting he’s in his room. My fitbit congratulates me on climbing 12 flights of stairs. I’ve done 9000 steps too today, and that’s without even trying. What will I achieve when I put my mind to it?
21:30 – I fall asleep with Daniel next to me, he’s finally given up but I’m drifting off so he stays with me. Good job my husband is away!
Overall, I’m so pleased with my fitbit charge 2, it measures my heartbeat, steps, mileage, sleep, stairs and activity, as well as giving me goals to work towards. I find myself wanting to please the fitbit, and it is motivating me to move more. It looks good too, and I like the fact it has a motion sensor, so a flick of the wrist will show the display. I went for the plum colour, it comes in black and other colours too. You can also set silent alarms, it will vibrate to wake you up, which I’ve tried and it’s much gentler than a noisy alarm and it still wakes you up.
Fitness Goals:
To move more and never take the easy option. Start gentle exercise again. What are your fitness goals?
Disclosure: I was gifted the fitbit via Currys PC World. All opinions are my own.
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