FitBit Fiends

Like many women over forty, I am always trying to lose weight, or rather I am always thinking about losing weight….usually while eating ice cream.  I am constantly hoping for that next miracle product that will magically make those extra twenty-five pounds disappear.

Enter the FitBit.  A good friend of mine who recently moved away was telling me all about it.  She loved hers!  It motivated her to begin running again and if I got one she would enter me into her work week challenges with all of her friends.  She sent me pictures of all of the cute bands she had bought for it, making it a great accessory as well!  Figuring I had nothing to lose, (except 25 lbs.) I headed to Target for a FitBit of my very own.

Right off the bat, I became obsessed with this little black band!  The first week I was constantly checking the app on my phone to see the progress I was making for the day.  I walked the dog an extra block or chose a far away parking spot just to see the numbers increase.  My students would make me walk around the picnic tables at recess so that I could meet my goal of 10,000 steps for the day.  I would rejoice when my goal was met and my little bracelet of joy would vibrate three times like it was cheering me on.

The second week, like she promised, my friend invited me to join her workweek challenge.  Even though I was still reaching my goal each day, some of these girls were thousands of steps ahead of me!  How could this be?  I was trying to stay more active during the day,  I was walking my dog an extra lap each night, and I was trying to get on the treadmill for at least thirty minutes after work each day.  What was wrong with these people?  Suddenly those three little vibrations from this bracelet of doom was more like a taunt.  It was telling me I wasn’t done yet even if I was tired and it was bedtime.  Some chick named “Valerie” (not her real name) was out there and she was moving and if I watched the app I could see her step count going up every minute.  Didn’t this girl ever sleep?  Did she take power naps during her power walks?  How was she doing this?  She continued to dominate the next two weeks.

The fourth week began with me feeling great.  This was my week.  Valerie was going down.  I was headed to Yellowstone National Park for a week of hiking!  There was no way anyone could beat me when I would be spending my days walking up and down mountain sides.  Monday was epic.  I walked ten miles and over 25,000 steps.  There would be no way that Valerie or any of the other girls in the challenge would be able to catch up.  The second day brought a little less hiking, but I still met my daily goal by about 2:00 and was confident I would maintain my lead.  I checked my tracker and was shocked to see that Valerie was not only gaining on me, but gaining quick!  How could this be?  How could I be walking ALL day long and not be winning?  This trend continued until Thursday of that week.  I was ahead, but not enough to ensure a win.  Friday would be a travel day so I knew there would not be a lot of walking time. As Friday morning came and I checked our weekly progress, I was surprised to find a message from Valerie on the chat line.  “No matter what the results are April, you are the real winner this week.”  My jaw dropped.  She did not just give me a mercy win!  For the rest of the day I did whatever I could when not strapped to an airplane seat to get those extra steps in.  The flight attendants must have thought there was something seriously wrong with me as many times as I got up and walked the length of the plane to use the bathroom.  In the end, it wasn’t enough.  Valerie had won again.

Week five came with new resolve.  I didn’t know what or how, but I was bound and determined that I was going to win.  I contemplated putting the FitBit on one of the boys while they played for hours on end, but decided that I wanted to win fair and square.  As Monday progressed, I noticed that Valerie’s numbers were almost nil.  While I was closing in on my daily goal, she had barely reached 1,000 steps.  This was not like her!  The same went for Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday!  I was going to do it!  I was actually going to win a workweek challenge for the first time.  It was only then that I noticed a message that had come through on the chat line. It was from Valerie.  It said, “Congratulations April!  I have had a migraine all week.”  In other words, Mercy Win Part II.  I won that week.  But it was bitter sweet.  I had not been able to conquer my FitBit Fiend.

I am now on week 7.  I have not lost any weight, I have not won a second challenge, I have not obsessively checked my scores, and strangely I have not seen Valerie again on the last two challenges.  Maybe the migraines were due to the fact that she walked a million steps a day, or maybe her treadmill broke and she just hasn’t been able to cope.  Whatever the reason, I hope she is okay….and that she is sitting down.