Talk About Tech - Fitbit Flex 2

With being ill I’m not always as active as I would like to be. In fact, exercising often makes me feel a lot worse. I’m tall and I’m fairly thin but I’m certainly not in shape. I’ve always tried to, gently, walk and I like to kayak and swim (in the summer) but that’s about it for physical activity. When I was young and didn’t carry around a medical card listing several conditions I liked to play tennis and job and be active but that isn’t the case now.

My Mom got a Fitbit for her Birthday (which was yesterday, on the 18th) last year and I’ve seen a huge difference in her but I didn’t really think much about it until she got my Dad one for their 30th anniversary this year.  The change in him has been remarkable. He is getting up and getting moving more than I’ve seen. He is also ill, with cancer among other conditions, and seeing him working to achieving his Fit Bit goals has been better than any advertisement the company could ever dream of creating. So, I got one as well.

I’ve never been really interested in wearable tech before now. I don’t know why except there’s something that really bothers me in an intrinsic sort of way. It seems so wrong to wear technology on your person to me but here I am wearing a piece of tech on my wrist day in and day out and it isn’t the end of the world. I am so appreciative of how hard this little pink piece of silicone wrapped around my wrist is making me work for steps, miles, and goals in a gentle buzzing kind of a way.

Like I said above, my illness makes me kind of lethargic. It’s not an excuse but I do tend to sit and/or rest when I should be moving because I don’t feel well. I’ve also always had this weird thing where if I decided I’m going to be more concerned with fitness I hop on the treadmill and walk a few miles at a pace that my body doesn’t like. I either do nothing or I push myself too hard and myself sicker than I already am.

My Fitbit Flex 2, however, encourages me to walk at whatever pace I can at least once an hour. I proactively seek out my steps but if I’ve slacked off it will remind me at ten to the hour to get my 250 in, which is great when I get sucked into Buzzfeed or get lost writing about beauty products. It also helps me drink more because I’m competitive, even with myself, and I want to reach all of my daily goals, whether it’s getting in my 75-fl. oz. of water daily or meeting my goal of 10,000 steps or just simply making sure that I get my 250 steps during each hour.

If my family and I are watching TV at night and we have been sitting we all get buzzed at the same time and one of us will shout, “MARCH”! We’ll all get up and march around the house to make sure we get out 250 steps in for that hour and often we’ll do more just so we can add some more steps to our daily count. It’s so cool and it’s especially nice that the whole household has one.

There are a lot of different versions at different price points but we chose to go with the super basic Fitbit Flex 2 and it works for us. It also comes in some pretty cool colors. I have the Magenta one, my Mom has Lavender and my Dad has the black one. The silicone strap is comfortable and doesn’t get in the way, which is something I thought would be an issue.

You can also use it for sleep tracking, which my parents do, but I haven’t tried it for that. I don’t like having any jewelry or accessories on when I go to sleep. You also get the option of having it alert you to phone calls and texts, but again I don’t use that feature like my parents do. I strictly use it for activity tracking and step reminders but you’re free to use yours however you want to.

It encourages me to be active and get my blood flowing without pushing me so hard that I’m left in pain or too exhausted to do anything else. I love how it’s getting me going. I think it’s safe to say that this technology-phobic old lady is now a fan.