Stepping It Up

I have a desk job and I’ve known for awhile that I need to make a point to get up and move multiple time throughout the day. Since getting a Fitbit One for my birthday, I’ve been competing against past Rachel to add more steps into my day while not detracting from my job performance.

I’ve been able to add a few hundred steps into my day by slightly changing my behavior, here’s what I do:

• park farther away. (Bonus: the farther from the door you are, the less likely your car is to get dinged by someone else’s door.)
• fill my water bottle half way. By filling my 28oz water bottle with 14-16oz of water each trip to the water cooler, I am effectively doubling my number of trips to the cooler. (Bonus #1: The FitBit lets me track my water intake with helps me reach my goals of drinking more water. Bonus #2: Refillable bottles are better for the environment)
• print to a farther printer. My office suite is not large, but I can add a few additional steps each day by printing to a farther printer.
• stop picking up the phone. Obviously I answer my phone, but walking over to the person who I need to talk to adds some steps (Bonus: I build better relationships with my coworkers this way.)
• pace. I don’t pace for the sake of pacing, but when I need to review or proofread something, I take it to the pacing zone or I take it outside if it’s nice. (Bonus: Changing my environment by even moving away from my chair helps me look at things with new eyes.)
• take the stairs. I work on the second floor in a building without an elevator, so I have no choice in the matter. But I try to take the stairs when I’m other places. It drives me nuts when I go to the Clinic and there are signs at the elevators that say “Free Exercise: Take the Stairs” then I can’t find the stairwell! And if I do find some stairs, the floor I need is authorized access only. Label the stairwells better or put arrow from those signs please!

My Fitbit One 

I love my Fitbit One. I use it to not only track my steps, but keep track of how many floors I climb, monitor my sleep and make sure that I’m drinking enough water. The sleep monitoring feature is cool and informative, but there are times that I look at the summary and I know that I was awake but it shows me as just restless or asleep. That part of the technology can probably be improved, but it also means I’ve perfected the low-movement middle of the night bg checks.

Fitbit can do a lot more than just those things and the app is tailored to weight-loss goals. Since I’m probably one of the only bloggers on the internet not trying to lose weight, this isn’t the most helpful feature. While playing with the weight loss/food plan features I found out that it won’t track carbs for me, just calories and that I can’t make it stop thinking I have a weight goal (it has me set at maintaining, so I can live with that.)

I find that I take more steps on the weekend and definitely climb more floors. Due to a combination of more housework, running errands and the fact that our bathrooms are on the second floor and in the basement.

I wish I could wear a Fitbit Flex Wristband because when I wear dresses without pockets, I either have to get creative with my One or not wear it. Unfortunately, my wrists are too small for the Flex bands.

If you’re just looking to track steps, distance or calories, Fitbit Zip  is a cheaper movement-tracking option that also clips.

How do you add more steps to your day?

I’m not being compensated for talking about Fitbit devices and Brad bought me a Fitbit Flex for my birthday, then had to return it for the Fitbit Flex due to my little wrists (that is a blog for another day). I’m talking baout them because I really like mine! But yes, those are affiliate links all to Amazon.