My first day with the Fitbit Flex

I lucked out yesterday by finding out that Best Buy had my much anticipated Fitbit Flex in stock.  I called while on lunch break and had them put one on hold for me.  I raced over there after work to pick it up.  I let it charged and synced it with my mobile app and MyFitnessPal, the app I use to track my food...sometimes.  Before I went to bed, I put the Flex in sleep mode.

FINALLY!!

I woke up to the gentle vibration of the Fitbit Flex at 6:00 a.m.  I was surprised that it actually woke me up.  I tapped it twice to exit sleep mode and quickly fell back asleep.  Oops.  When I woke up at 7 and started moving, the Flex started it’s tracking.  Before I left for work I checked my Fitbit dashboard, I slept 7 hours and 34 minutes last night, waking up nine times.  Fitbit considers that 97% sleeping efficiency.  Not sure exactly what that means but I'd consider a pretty good sleep.  I felt rested!

Anywho, I was surprised by how many steps I had accumulated just by walking around my small condo and making my way to my patrol car.  I kept a close watch on the app and the step count matched me step for step.

One of the things that I was most interested in was whether or not the Flex would count steps while I drove.  I’d read various reviews that said the Fitbit One did this and users had to enter their time driving in the app to counteract any unearned steps.  This was a HUGE worry of mine.  I spend a majority of my 10 hour shift driving from call to call so I was anxious to see how the Flex reacted.

(Insert gigantic smiley face here)  The Fitbit Flex did not track a single step while I was in the car.  Not one.  All day long.  I would check my step count prior from leaving point A.  When I got to point B, it had not changed.

As for step accuracy, I checked frequently to see if my level of activity was matching my step count.  When I look at the chart of steps, I can tell exactly what I was doing with each spike through the day.  

Based on spikes and no movement, my day looked like this… wake-up and get ready for work, short commute to PD, shift briefing, commute to crime scene and crime scene processing with dips in movement while collecting certain pieces of evidence, commute to PD around 12:45, logging evidence, commute to a vehicle accident, working accident until 4:30, commute to home for lunch, walking around and taking dog outside, commuting to a traffic complaint, working traffic complaint, and commuting back to PD, dropping off paperwork, commuting home.  The big spike at the end is getting home and taking the dog for a mile and half walk.

This is a great representation of my day and the amount of activity, or lack thereof.  I hit my 10,000 steps just outside my door after walking my dog.

I did sync my Flex with MyFitnessPal and it sent an additional 340-ish activity calories to my daily allotment.  This is key.  My BMR is 1900 calories.  That’s 1900 calories to maintain my weight.  I don’t want that. Like everyone else, I’m trying to lose weight.  So, I set my calorie burn goal on Fitbit to 2400 calories and my food diary goal in MFP to 1400 calories.  That’s 1,000 calorie deficit (2lbs/week) each day ONLY if I hit my 2400 calories burned goal and my 1400 MFP goal.  Remember, 1900 is my base metabolic rate, so anything beyond base that Fitbit credits me for, I’m eating back.  Today for instance, I’m up to 1740 calories allotted to eat.  And that sounds much more reasonable than 1400 or even 900 if you cut it that far.

I digress.  My first day with the Fitbit Flex has been everything I hoped it would be.  It has been eye-opening and motivating.  I don’t always process extensive crime scenes like I did today.  Because of that, I got extra steps that normally would not have.  My count would have been much lower on a normal day.  And without the walk, my average count would be in the ballpark of 5,000.  EYE-OPENING!

I made it!

I wanted to reach that 10,000 step goal so instead of plopping on the couch and being content that it was a true Friday for me, I leashed up the dog and took him for a walk.  I would NOT have done that if this slate wristband with magical tracker had not been on my wrist.

I’ve been grumbling for far too long about being able to run for two hours at a pop and not lose a pound.  It’s the forest, not the tree the matters.  And even from day one, I can tell the Fitbit Flex is going to paint a better picture of my forest.  In the next few weeks I will probably have a lot of revelations about just how inactive my life really is even though I can run 5ks on a whim and be a back of the pack half marathoner.

I’m ready to give this activity and calorie tracking a whole-hearted effort.  Clearly, what I’ve been doing is not working!

And one more note about the Flex - I used the silent alarm function at various hours throughout the day.  I set them using my app.  The Flex would vibrate with the intent to remind me to drink more water.  Every time, even in the middle of carrying equipment through a slushy, muddy mess requiring concentration, I felt the Flex’s gentle reminder to be conscious of what I’m doing to my body!  I love that!

Keep in mind, the alarm will repeat twice more every nine minutes unless recognized with a double tap.  The Fitbit manual says this is one way to help extend the battery charge!!

Ok, well, that’s all I have for now!!  I hope others who picked up the Flex have enjoyed their first day as much I have.  Any questions??  Fire away. 

Evening Walk