On wearing a FitBit and destroying self-delusions

About 3 months ago, I took the plunge and bought an expensive bracelet. It’s not the prettiest one I’ve ever worn, but up to this point in my life, it’s been the most important bracelet I’ve ever worn.

It’s a FitBit.

If you aren’t familiar with FitBit, it’s an exercise tracker. It tracks the number of steps that I make each day, and syncs with an app I have on my phone, as well as an online account. It’s not necessarily meant to be a social media thing, but I can add friends and we can encourage each other by cheering each other on.

But to really understand the title of this post, we have to go back in time. When I fill out any kind of online test, I’ve come across this question:

How active are you (choose one)? 1. Sedentary 2. Moderately active 3. Active.

I’ve always chosen the middle option. I mean, I don’t just sit all day…I get out and do things. I move….right?

As I’ve been wearing this fitbit, I’ve been amazed at how little I actually do get out there and move. I can tap the little display to see flashing lights that tell me where I am with my step goals for the day. The five dots each represent 20% of my goal – about 2000 steps.

On an average day, I get four dots – but just barely.

So that kinda blows my activity level delusion out of the water. I aspire to be a very active person. I enjoy being an active person. I just end up choosing my desk over getting up and making it happen.

Let’s take a moment here and have some real talk. We all believe lies about ourselves. You’re ugly. You’re insignificant. You’re stupid. You’re too fat/thin. You’re never going to be able to achieve your dreams. You’re not worthy. You’re [fill in the blank with a lie that pierces your heart]. But I would say that just as bad is believing lies that make you think more positively than you need to. There’s a healthy balance, to be sure – but it’s not found in thinking that I am actually a pretty active person when I am plopped down in front of my desk nearly 50 hours a week. It’s important to not get caught up in lies, no matter what they are.

Reality is a nice place, and I really want to live there.

That said, the FitBit is gonna be a pretty important bracelet. The idea of it is to be able to see an accurate level of how much you move, and then push you to move further beyond that. You can connect with friends, and cheer each other on with their progress – as they achieve their step count, their weight levels met, etc. Basically, it’s pulling some aspects of community together to help with achieving activity levels.

For me, it’s all about exploiting my weaknesses – pride and competition – to be able to push myself towards better things. My pride is kinda hurt realizing I’m not the wonder I thought I was. I’m not getting out there and racking up the steps … yet. Competition doesn’t like the idea of someone doing it better – and if that will make me run around just a little bit more, then I’m all for exploiting that.

Got a FitBit? Wanna cheer each other on? Here’s my profile.