My class this year was such a sweet group of kids. They really were, and I enjoy having them in my life. Many came for the baby’s funeral, they really do teach me so much more than I teach them…
So, they bought me a gift for the end of the school year! Unfortunately, I was not in school for the end of the year or graduation, so I didn’t get to see them. My partner teacher said she had a gift for me from them. I asked if it was flowers or perishable, and since it wasn’t I made plans to catch up with her this week.
I got the pretty gift bag and opened it to find a great purse that I love! Small, just big enough to hold what I like to carry without it feeling like I need the chiropractor to fix me because of too much stuff in there.
I was gushing over it when she told me to look inside at a pretty package in there. It was a Fitbit Alta with HR! I was blown away, first, by their generosity and second, how well they know me and mostly because they support me on my health journey! That meant so much to me. They must have really thought hard to come up with that idea, something I never would have bought for myself!
I know nothing about these gadgets, lol, as I have never owned one. I bought my son one for his birthday, but never thought of purchasing myself one. I asked for advice from friends for best practices in using it. I got some advice, watched a few YouTube videos and thought I would just learn as I go.
I charged it up, put it on and have been wearing it a few days. And gosh, have I learned a lot about myself! And I mean a lot….Holy Cow!
First… I am way too hard on myself, no surprise there. I am always beating on myself about exercise, feeling like I am lazy, even though I run around all the time, try to make time for exercise and often have too many excuses. Turns out, I am always over the recommended 10,000 steps a day, hello! And that doesn’t count the other things I do, like Pilates, or swimming. So I guess in some aspects I am doing okay! I like the little celebratory thing at the end of the day. Makes me feel like I got a gold star.
Second, my summer sleep patterns are bizarre! I need to get a better system going. One night I sleep five and a half hours, next night, eight, next five and a half. Okay, granted I just started using it and it’s literally been three days, but I was always thinking well, I got into bed so that’s seven hours sleep. No, guess not. I guess reading, or tossing and turning from my head going a million miles an hour does not constitute sleep. Sleep affects weight loss….. need to ratchet that up a few notches.
Also it’s summer so my schedule is not its usual, but still…. I need to look at that. I am going to try to make it more normal.
There is also a really cool thing that allows you to see how your sleep is broken up. It shows how much time you spend in deep sleep, light sleep, awake and REM time. I need to read more about that. But I was average for most things but slightly higher in deep sleep time. I will read about that, and its effects in all areas.
It lets you track your water intake in the app, not on it, and other things you choose. The app is nice, easy to use but it took me a bit to figure out how to track swimming, I am still not sure I got it right.
It really was a sweet thoughtful gift, and I am enjoying it so much more than I thought I would. It measures heart rate which I need to read more about, and it can alert you to things like getting up and moving. I am going to keep using it to help me on my health journey and will get back to you on what I discover and now it helps. It’s funny how other people see it on you and show you theirs. Someone asked me to be Fitbit buddies, have no idea what that is about. Apparently there is tons to learn here.
I keep the app on my phone and iPad which is nice to keep looking at the stats. It seems to hold its charge for days which is nice too. I stopped at one of the kid’s graduation parties and showed them I was using it. They were excited that I love it….little do they know that w hat I love is that they thought sooooooo much of me that it made the little heart meter go up miles! Smiles…. love my kiddos.
Ps… I know I usually write more over summer. My grief and my daughter and son in law’s have taken their toll. I am trying hard to stay focused on my health this summer. I have a lot I need to accomplish here. Every time I sat down to write, I just wanted to go to my grief, but that isn’t good either. I know you all understand…. hugs…. trying to resume normal as much as possible.