My Journey With Weight Loss – Are Fitness Trackers Helpful?

Only day 2 of the week and I have already done 8 hours of walking/running (today of course was a training day). It is not because I wanted to up the ante but rather that I know on Thursday I will only get one workout session in so I thought I’ll do some extra work on the other days to make up for it. Really this is not because I need to do it, one session does not make any difference but to me I like to see me hit all my numbers for the week.

That brings me to today’s discussion, are fitness trackers helpful? Well, since this journey is quite individualized I guess my answer would be it depends on you. I admit I am a little obsessive with my Fitbit. Once I started walking I set my goals for distance, km’s, calories burned, days of exercise, weight and steps (hmm, writing that makes me think I may have been a little excessive in having so many goals to track). Most days I meet all of the goals with the exception of calories burned which I don’t normally hit on Sundays which is my only day I don’t do at least one full workout. Most weeks I even exceed the goal of exercising at least 30 minutes 5 days a week. I like having goals to achieve each day as it helps me to stay focused. I should note, I treat all of the goals I have set as the minimum, exceeding them always gives me a boost. It was also a great way for me to learn my original fitness level so that I had a starting point.

The major downside I see to fitness trackers is being obsessed with them. I have confessed that I am but I do it in a managed way. Yes, I check my progress after every workout. Yes, I analyze the comparison of week to week. Yes, I go a little crazy when my Fitbit is on the charger. Having said all of that, I recognize it is but one tool in my toolkit for this journey. I like having my Fitbit vibrate when I have met a goal for the day, that gives me encouragement. And while obsessed, it is in a positive way. When I don’t meet a goal (such as when I took that circuit breaker week) I don’t berate myself, I knew I wasn’t going to hit the goals over that period. I still, for my own information, checked what I did accomplish each day but regardless of the results I was satisfied.

I think the upsides to the fitness tracker are more important. For example, it tracks my resting heart rate which (according to my Fitbit) is very good to excellent for a woman my age. I also have the premium app so it tracks my sleep which I find can be very helpful to me as someone who has difficulty sleeping. I like it when my Fitbit sends me ‘badges’ for the amount I have walked. Right now I am up to achieving the Monarch Migration badge which means since I started wearing my Fitbit in January 2020 I have walked 4,023 km (ok, these may seem silly but I think they are fun). I also earn badges for hitting milestone steps during a given day. My top one is the Hiking Boot which means I walked 35,000 steps in a given day. These are all small things that have a big impact on me to help keep me motivated.

So, your choice. If you think a fitness tracker is going to help you take that next step then go for it. If you don’t think it will do you any good then spend the money on something that will.