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Fitness Trackers.

Do you use them? Do they control you? Are the accurate? Can they turn into an unhealthy obession? What do you use them for?

There are so many questions and so many opinions out there on fitness trackers. However we are going to let you know why we use them and what we love about them. Now it may not be how you feel about fitness trackers but we are not writing this blog to influence you buy one and use one, more to let you know how we feel about them and what we use them for.

Now I (Amanda) have tried several different fitness trackers over the years. Now im in my early 30’s and I remember when Special K brought out a freebie they tracked your calories. I must admit that wasn’t my healthist time in my life and I was very conscious about my weight and I must admit that I didn’t use it for good reasons. However things have drastically changed over the years.

Both Mum and I have Fitbits, that what we started with. Mum had a Fitbit zip at first a simple clip on that you wear on your waist band or in your pockets.
Then Mum moved on to the Flex 2 from Fitbit, a nice simple one that we now both have in the bracelet option, so you wouldn’t even notice it was a fitness tracker ( you can see mine in the picture above, it looks like a gold bangle). I then moved on and got fibit charge 3. A year later I need a watch that was going to give me more options, whilst the Fitbit charge gave me a lot with workouts, steps, sleep, heart rate and more, it didn’t give me enough as a trainee triathlete. So I moved on to Apple Watch 3 the only issue with this is that because mum is faithful to the Fitbit, we couldn’t challenge each other on a step count, so I invested in a Flex 2 so I would wear this as well as my apple watch, just so we could do the Fitbit challenge (more on this later). During our fitness journey mum did so well, so for her 61st birthday my sister and I invested in the Fitbit versa for her. As this had so much more than her previous Fitbits, by logging in more variations of workouts as well as so much more and the fact it meant she could also get rid of her watch (honestly she use to wear 2 Fitbits, the Fitbit zip and then her watch, so she did need to tone down the equipment she had on her wrists LOL). in October 2019 after 2 years of having my Apple watch, it decided to break, it had water damage , despite it being a waterproof watch, and this is where I have to say my disappoint came to this certain fitness tracker. My amazing Partner Ryan knew how long I had been wanting the Garmin ( the triathletes dream watch) and he brought me the new Garmin Fenix 6 which I have to say I’m in love with.

So lets get to the discussion on fitness trackers.
Fitbit – Why? Fitbit really helped Mum get on the fitness train, and also helped us bond together over something I don’t think we ever thought we would. Whilst we were in Lanzarote 3 years ago, we set ourselves on the Fitbit challenge, the workweek hustle. This where the Fitbit tracks your steps during the working week, Monday to Friday. Now this is something I don’t think either of thought we would really step up to (excuse the pun) however I didn’t realise how competitive mum was. We got our steps on, nice long walks and surprised ourselves how motivated we were to just get up and go for a walk, and also how good we felt completing the challenge. I honeslty don’t think we will ever give this up. This really was the major start to mums weight loss journey. Im sure she wont mind me saying this, but she use to be a size 22-24 in clothing and after getting on this challenge with Fitbit and me within 2 years of challenges and eating healthy options and better choices the weight dropped off and now 3 years later she is a size 12/14. And she inspires me every day to get up and get out for a walk. Now not only this, but a little bit of history here, is that mum has suffered with her knees and had replacments and plenty of injections and even her doctor couldn’t believe how well she has done and now look at her at 61 (in the end of October 2019) she started the couch to 5k and now at 62 is running 28mins non stop and those weekly challenges on Fitbit are becoming harder and harder for me to keep up with.

Apple Watch I love how it had the rings, this had movement , standing and exercise and I have to say that was great for me and really motivated me in not just going for a walk, as the Fitbit always did that and continued to do so, but the Apple made me get up and exercise for 30 mins a day, and it had so many options of what exercises I could record and being a triathlete that really helped with the variety of training I do. I was devastated when it broke and couldn’t revive it. But that is my disappoint for the Apple Watch in how it says it is water resistance/proof as long as you lock it and even though I always did that somehow, water damage happened and it died and now is in the junk drawer that we all have in our houses.

Garmin, So being a triathlete I love the way the Garmin works, it gives you so much data, more than what you really need for the day to day needs, but for me this helps my training and is a complete different way of motivating me, now it doesn’t have exercise goals as such, and you can challenge others with a Garmin. For me my love of it is the training effect it gives me after a run, the pacing, and also the fact it has triathlon mode, so I’m not fiddling trying to change discipline during a race.

So neither of us are qualified to tell you which tracker is better and what each individual watch can do, but there is so much information on the web and Amy Lane @wellness_ed has an amazing podcast and she has a talk on their with someone that tests out fitness trackers, its well worth a listen find it on #wellfar can be found on any podcast platform.
Also strangely enough when I put out on Instagram @amanda_Sheila_Motivation that we would be writing this blog Charlie Launder the Founder of Bumps and Burpees put a post on her stories about fitness trackers, check that out as well because that has taken the words out of our mouths as it is exactly how we feel.

Yes I (Amanda) use the trackers for my training programme being a triathlete, we are not overly obsessed with them and we both do not compete or use them at the weekend as that’s time off and we don’t always look at our steps. Also we both don’t get down if we don’t make the step count of the day, because things happen, you might be at the desk all day, or my nephew or niece might be around more my baby niece where you sit and cuddle them all day, but again that is all fine. It is about getting up and moving no matter what that is and for us a lot of it is mental. When we get out for a walk or a run be in on our own or with others its our time to chill, and clear our mind and its honestly just amazing what it can do for our mind sets and if we get things done in the morning, it sets us up for the rest of the day.

For us the Fitness trackers have changed our minds on moving, its made moving fun, competitive (when we want it to be) and also helps us get that calm and during all of this you really can see the health benefits.

Answers to the questions in our blog and Instagram posts.
Do we religiously use them? No.
Do we use them for motivation? Yes. we love a challenge it definitely motivates you when you see someone on the Fitbit Challenges or Garmin over take you or get the notification of how many steps you are doing
Do we use them for training programmes? Yes, Love these for my triathlete training, it just makes things so much more interesting and really helps me stay motivated during the hard times of training
Do we use them for challenges? Yes. Love the Fitbit challenge the Workweek Hustle – we can use it during the week Monday to Friday and relax come the weekend.
Do we use them everyday? No and we have had breaks especially if we are ill or unable to walk due to different circumstances and we never do it when we are on holiday
Do they control you? I think they can but for us they don’t and its about how you use them and we use it for motivation a lot of the time.
Are the accurate? This is a funny one because I can say no they are not accurate just because when I wear the Fitbit and the Apple they differ, HR straps differ to the watches and the Garmin also differs too. I don’t think they are 100 percent accurate all the time but that is why you cannot live your life by them, they are there as a guide.

It’s that time of year where everyone is posting about them getting into fitness and what to do to get a 6 pack, or how to move and intuitively eat, or body confidence and now this year im seeing, no new me but instead same me new year. While I look at all this on my feed on social media platforms I also feel this puts pressure on us average Joe’s, to be like all the other influencers and live a better life, which is what we all ideally would like.

This year after 2 years of work, Mum and I decided to wait a few days to launch this blog. We actively decided this because of all the fitness fluence’s out there launching products, deals or plans.

Both of us have never used a PT (all though I am one myself) nor have we stuck to training programmes or the so called diets as none of them are sustainable and eventually leave you bored and in a place of doubt.

Our Goals and Plans this year like every year is to look after ourselves and put our selves first. With both of us struggling from depression at points in our lives the walking and now running really help us focus and clear our mind during that 30-60 mins a day or every other day. We also feel that with how we motivate each other it doesn’t feel like a chore to do, because over the 2 years of building this up we have learnt that by talking to each other and sharing what we have done makes us feel proud.

This year will be like the previous 2 year for both mum and I but the difference is that this year we will be sharing it with you, via our blog and our Instagram page – amanda_sheila_motivation

So back to the Goal and Plans, We plan to be as open and honest with you showing what we have been up to each day and taking you along the ups and downs we face as well as the days in which we just do nothing and chill. As this is so important with our daily life stresses, be that at home or work. Mums goal is to do a 5k race this year at the age of 62, her first running race (to which I am beyond proud of her to even think of doing on) and mine is to go back into competing with in triathlons and keep motivating mum and those around me to get outside and walk/run and enjoy their own fitness journey that they will love.