Activity tracking now that I can walk…

Now that my hip is fixed I figured I’d better keep it that way and, because I can move again and be mostly pain free, it was time to up my activity.

I saw one of the super Kindle deals for a Misfit Shine about two weeks ago and picked one up for $20 (usually $99). It was really okay and could track cycling (though you had to manually kick it into that mode and put it on your shoe or in your sock, etc.).
Well they have the #%#$@!’iest band system around and it popped out somewhere in 6 days. I may still find it as it is in my home somewhere, but only God knows where.
Still I’d gotten hooked so….I did a bit of research and since I already own other Garmin products settled on the Vivofit. Here are some links to decent reviews and advice by a techie guy using DC Rainmaker as his handle:
I like it. It’s not perfect but it does what I expect. Basically I just wanted to track movements and be reminded to move. I also didn’t want something I had to charge every other day – I tend to forget. This has a battery that’s supposed to last 1 year or more.
The reminding this is sort of okay, About every hour (or maybe a bit more), it shows a red band in the display reminding you to go get some exercise. As i can easily sit at my desk all day unless I have to pee, this is a good thing. Turns out walking around my block takes about 750 steps and 8 minutes. That keeps my device quiet for a while.
It does interface with my Garmin heart strap and can show my heart rate. I don’t use that all the time of course, only during actual exercise or bike riding.
There is an app for both IOS and Android. I think the IOS version is probably better but hey, I just want to know a few things. In addition it can all hook up the Garmin Connect software which then can combine my Oregon 400 GPS unit (which I need to pull out again), the Vivofit, and heart band.
For calorie measurements check out http://myfitnesspal.com. It integrates into Connect as well, as does MapMyRide and some other things.
Connect is a bit clunky, not up to Fitbit standards I guess, but it does what I want and, as I’ve said, I have other Garmin stuff.
That’s it. There are other trackers out there and more on the way this coming winter. As I said it’s likely I’ll upgrade when one comes out that can do cycling (not GPS necessarily, just recognizes the motion), heart rate, and such all in one device – I’ve seen this:
There you go.
BTW – None of these companies pay me anything, but darn it, after reading this email, they should. 🙂

 

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