One step beyond...
Words from a Bird. Day 36
Just before Christmas, a rather energetic friend suggested to me that I should get a Fitbit. Now, there are occasions in my dim and murky past when I have been called a Fit Bit of something or other, (more of a Fat Bat now though) so once she explained to me that is was a posh pedometer, I was more than relieved. I was convinced that she was suggesting I get myself a young toy boy (at my age, I really don't have the inclination or the stamina).
So I bought one (a Fitbit, not a toyboy). Now this is a nifty little thing which clips onto your clothing and monitors every step you take. It tells you how far you've walked and how many calories you've used up (very useful when involved in a staring competition with a chocolate éclair).
So as January plodded along, so did I. Monitoring my recommended daily10,000 steps or so, I tried to increase the steps each day, regularly outdoing myself.
This was all going really well, until several members of my family got them. This is when it started getting messy. Once there are a few of you 'friended' on the Fitbits, any one of you can suggest a weekend or weekly challenge, competing against the other 'friends' to get the most steps over the chosen time.
Now I am not a competitive woman, and I found this really difficult. As January drew to a close, I was used to always being in bottom place or second bottom at a push. To put things in perspective, I was only second from bottom on one occasion. This was when my sister had only managed 9 steps on a Sunday morning after a heavy night before. My nephew and I had calculated that these steps had been chalked up via a short walk to her bathroom and then back to bed.
I was getting seriously fed up of the derisive comments such as 'Are you even wearing it?' or 'Get off the sofa lardy'. Which is why I decided to take this a little more seriously. Admittedly, it was the middle of the week, and even crawling up one step on the table was going to be very difficult at this point in the competition. But walking boots on, I hauled the dog on a massive two hour walk yesterday afternoon. We tramped over fields and through woods, not stopping once.
Imagine my delight when I synced my Fitbit when I got home.....21,839 steps and 10 miles! This was a bloody miracle, almost twice as much as my personal best, and had launched me to the heady heights of 5th from bottom. All of a sudden, I was a CONTENDER...
It is at this point, that I have a couple of words of gratitude.
To the lovely friend who suggested it in the first place - thank you for making my idle walks a matter of life or death.
And to my dog......thank you for wearing my Fitbit all day yesterday. I owe you one.
And now an apology....
Percy, I am sorry I let you run ahead for some distance, and then call you back with a biscuit so that you could re-run the same bit of path. I did this several times, so he probably had chronic indigestion all evening.
But hey, a challenge is a challenge...
Just before Christmas, a rather energetic friend suggested to me that I should get a Fitbit. Now, there are occasions in my dim and murky past when I have been called a Fit Bit of something or other, (more of a Fat Bat now though) so once she explained to me that is was a posh pedometer, I was more than relieved. I was convinced that she was suggesting I get myself a young toy boy (at my age, I really don't have the inclination or the stamina).
So I bought one (a Fitbit, not a toyboy). Now this is a nifty little thing which clips onto your clothing and monitors every step you take. It tells you how far you've walked and how many calories you've used up (very useful when involved in a staring competition with a chocolate éclair).
So as January plodded along, so did I. Monitoring my recommended daily10,000 steps or so, I tried to increase the steps each day, regularly outdoing myself.
This was all going really well, until several members of my family got them. This is when it started getting messy. Once there are a few of you 'friended' on the Fitbits, any one of you can suggest a weekend or weekly challenge, competing against the other 'friends' to get the most steps over the chosen time.
Now I am not a competitive woman, and I found this really difficult. As January drew to a close, I was used to always being in bottom place or second bottom at a push. To put things in perspective, I was only second from bottom on one occasion. This was when my sister had only managed 9 steps on a Sunday morning after a heavy night before. My nephew and I had calculated that these steps had been chalked up via a short walk to her bathroom and then back to bed.
I was getting seriously fed up of the derisive comments such as 'Are you even wearing it?' or 'Get off the sofa lardy'. Which is why I decided to take this a little more seriously. Admittedly, it was the middle of the week, and even crawling up one step on the table was going to be very difficult at this point in the competition. But walking boots on, I hauled the dog on a massive two hour walk yesterday afternoon. We tramped over fields and through woods, not stopping once.
Imagine my delight when I synced my Fitbit when I got home.....21,839 steps and 10 miles! This was a bloody miracle, almost twice as much as my personal best, and had launched me to the heady heights of 5th from bottom. All of a sudden, I was a CONTENDER...
It is at this point, that I have a couple of words of gratitude.
To the lovely friend who suggested it in the first place - thank you for making my idle walks a matter of life or death.
And to my dog......thank you for wearing my Fitbit all day yesterday. I owe you one.
And now an apology....
Percy, I am sorry I let you run ahead for some distance, and then call you back with a biscuit so that you could re-run the same bit of path. I did this several times, so he probably had chronic indigestion all evening.
But hey, a challenge is a challenge...
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