Make the most of your fitbit

Have you noticed fitness trackers on the wrists of all sorts of people recently? fitbit is the one that is most popular with my clients and that I use.
You see, fitbit and I see eye to eye on the need to track, analyze and challenge with facts and figures. It holds me accountable and tells it to me straight.
 
     “0 active minutes? Get up and MOVE IT!” - fitbit said on Sunday
or
     “Over 10,000 steps, keep it up!” -fitbit said yesterday
 
My fitbit of choice is the Flex. Simple, small and not too expensive. I’m seriously eyeing the Fitbit Charge HR but haven’t made the jump yet. Partially due to my investment in bands, more on that later.
 
Here are 5 ways make the most of your fitbit:
 
1. Wear it constantly.

The only reason to take off your fitbit is to shower or swim…or charge it. By keeping your fitbit on you can use all of it’s features. Period.

Keep it moving tip: Charge it when you shower and you’re a multitask-er.

Invest in a few colors or styles of band to mix it up.

Dress it up by pairing your fitbit with a few bracelets, it’s in style now to wear multiple bracelets.

---

 2. Use the built in peer pressure

Find friends on fitbit.
Click on “friends” on your app or webpage, then on “find friends”. fitbit will search your contacts or facebook account to find others with fitbit. You can also email people directly to invite them to be your fitbit Friend. Fitbit "find friends" tutorial link.

Where do you rank?
Once you have friends, look at your feed and see where you rank with steps per day compared to your friends. Then see if you can over take someone today, maybe 2 tomorrow. A little competitiveness is good for ya!

Challenges.
This is a super fun feature. Challenge your friends to a Workweek Hustle or a Weekend Warrior challenge. Within the challenge you’ll see a list of each friend that accepts, how many steps they have AND be able to cheer or message them throughout the challenge.

When you win a challenge, I highly recommend you taunt your friends by posting a screen shot of your "You Won" message on facebook.

---

3. Track It

There are a number of stats that fitbit automatically tracks for you. You can not enter or edit them, you just have to do them.

• Steps
• Mileage
• Calories burned
• Active minutes…see them on your dashboard. Check it often through the day.

There are others you can manually enter to track. Use them!

Track your water. Click the water glass each time you finish a glass or bottle of water to enter the ounces. Being hydrated is one of the most over looked ways to improve your health. You’ll feel more energized, flush out toxins, feel less as hungry and your wrinkles will show less…if you don’t have any yet, you will.

Track your weight. Weigh yourself once a week and add it to the tracker. Facts keep us honest.

4. Connect your Fitbit to other apps

1. If you also use Lose It to track food, MapMYRun to track runs or Strava for rides, connect the accounts to fitbit.
2. These will then automatically update fitbit. Active minutes will be updated on fitbit, and food you logged in Lose It! Shows up on your food log automatically.   
3. Fitbit has a tutorial on 3rd party integration

Keep moving tip: Only log things in one app. Log runs on fitbit, log food in Lose It!, not both. Use the primary tool so you don’t end up with double credit it.

5. Set alarms

Your fitbit will vibrate and lights will blink when an alarm goes off. This is sooo awesome, because no one else realizes your alarm went off. I love this when I get up before my husband for a workout, it doesn’t wake him to like a regular alarm would

Set an alarm for reminders

• Set an alarm to remember to pick up your kid from school (yes, I do, don’t judge I love my work, time flies).
• Working on snacks every 2-3 hours? Set an alarm for 10 and 2.
• Remind yourself to move. If you work at the computer, hours can go by (see note about picking up my kids). Set an alarm every hour then stand up, stretch, do some squats, walk the hall, move.

 
Fortunately or otherwise, I have called into customer service several times. They always teach me something I didn’t know before, and have even sent me a replacement, actually 3 times. If you don't know how to use a feature look it up on the help page or just call fitbit.
 
Research all the features your "toy" has, try them and let them motivate you to move more and eat less.
 
Bottom line is, to get your money’s worth and motivation from your fitbit use it.

What features do you like on fitbit? What do you use your alarm for?