Showing posts with label fitbit one. Show all posts

Monday, May 30, 2016

SIX MILLION STEPS

The fitbit counts steps. If the device is being worn, it counts steps. It matters not whether you are aggressively exercising or very passively walking to the refrigerator. Nevertheless, I noticed something this morning. I have noticed that I am less than 7000 steps away from logging my six millionth step since last September 3 when I purchased my fitbit. This information is likely interesting to only one person in the world. Me. As this is my blog, I decided to document this today. I should reach my ten millionth step sometime later this year. I admit it - I am a fan of dubious achievements.

Morning Elliptical: 910 calories

Late Afternoon Elliptical: 945 calories

Early Evening FIVE MILE walk with my daughter

Your Food Diary For:

BREAKFAST	Calories	Carbs	Fat	Protein	Sodium	Sugar
Quaker - Grits - Instant - Original, 2 packet	200	44	0	4	620	0
Butterball - Bacon Style Turkey, 4 slices	140	2	12	8	600	0
Egg, whole, cooked, poached, 3 large	215	1	14	19	446	1
	555	47	26	31	1,666	1
L U N C H
corndog	280	25	0	0	0	0
Fried Chicken Leg	170	1	10	18	59	0
	450	26	10	18	59	0
D I N N E R
Alaskan Salmon Burgers, 2 patty	340	4	18	40	660	0
Broccoli - Broccoli Steamed, 1 cup	31	6	0	3	30	2
	371	10	18	43	690	2
S N A C K S
Malt O Meal - Honey Nut Scooters	360	72	5	9	630	27
Nice! - Wasabi Peas, 1.0 cup	330	48	6	15	540	9
Fage - 0% Honey Yogurt, 150 g - 5.3 oz	170	30	0	13	50	29
White Chocolate Chips	210	24	14	3	60	24
Yogurtland - Frozen Yogurt	480	100	0	16	260	72
	1,550	274	24	56	1,540	161

Totals	2,926	357	78	147	3,955	163
Your Daily Goal	4,938	617	164	247	2,300	185
Remaining	2,012	259	85	99	-1,654	21
	Calories	Carbs	Fat	Protein	Sodium	Sugar
	*You've earned 3,008 extra calories from exercise today

Your Exercise Diary for:

Cardiovascular	Minutes	Calories Burned
STAR TRAC ELLIPTICAL	92	910
STAR TRAC ELLIPTICAL	92	945
Walking	65	1,000
MFP iOS calorie adjustment	N/A	153
Add Exercise Quick Tools

Daily Total / Goal	250 / 30	3,008 / 590
Weekly Total / Goal	1064 / 210	13,468 / 4,130

MID-DAY UPDATE @ 11:00AM local time

As expected, after my morning workout...I surpassed six millions 'lifetime' steps since September 3, 2015

It appears that my next milestone on my fitbit will be my 'lifetime' achievement of 'traversing' THREE THOUSAND MILES which I will surely reach within the next three weeks.

Tuesday, May 24, 2016

I AM BACK

Weeks ago when I was mired in self-pity with my hernia, I knew that eventually I would be back. I can now report that I am back. I am back in Chicago after spending 5 days in Salt Lake City. Much more importantly, it is clear that I am back regarding my recent setback, that is, the hernia issue. I am completely back. I have no residual pain. It is as if it never happened.

It amused me to calculate how much stepping I have accomplished in the past seven days in comparison to the total stepping that I accomplished in April when my injury first began.

PAST SEVEN DAYS 182,756 STEPS
ENTIRE MONTH OF APRIL 170,430 STEPS
.

I am very pleased with my physical progress. The hernia is now officially a distant memory.
Good Riddance!

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Your Food Diary For:

BREAKFAST	Calories	Carbs	Fat	Protein	Sodium	Sugar
Cliff Bar - Chocolate Chip, 1 bar (68g) 2.4 oz	250	45	5	10	150	22
Wendy's Artisan Breakfast - Biscuit Sandwich With Bacon and Eggs, 1 sandwich	400	38	19	19	820	5
Nugo - Vanilla Yogurt Bar, 2 bar (50g)	340	52	5	22	300	26
	990	135	29	51	1,270	53
L U N C H
Apples - Apples, 4 medium apple	320	88	0	0	0	64
Lundberg - Organic Koku Seaweed Rice Cakes	420	98	4	7	525	7
	740	186	4	7	525	71
D I N N E R
Homemade - Lasagna	760	50	24	38	1,000	20
Caesar salad - Salad, 1 plate	200	10	14	5	380	2
	960	60	38	43	1,380	22
S N A C K S
Nabisco - Southwest Airlines - Plane Cookies	390	63	12	6	270	21
	390	63	12	6	270	21

Totals	3,080	444	83	107	3,445	167
Your Daily Goal	2,989	373	99	150	2,300	112
Remaining	-91	-71	16	43	-1,145	-55
	Calories	Carbs	Fat	Protein	Sodium	Sugar
	*You've earned 1,059 extra calories from exercise today

Your Exercise Diary for:

Cardiovascular	Minutes	Calories Burned
Walking	72	894
MFP iOS calorie adjustment	N/A	165
Add Exercise Quick Tools

Daily Total / Goal	73 / 30	1,059 / 590
Weekly Total / Goal	73 / 210	1,059 / 4,130

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HUMOROUS SIDENOTE:

When I returned to my home, the doorman in my building was advising me to take it easy as I was managing two suitcases. I explained that I was completely healed from my hernia. She asked me if I had the hernia removed. I tried to explain that it doesn't quite work that way. But there was no convincing her - she was steadfast in her belief that I should have had a hernia removal. Technically, it may not have been removed - but it is gone.
.

Monday, March 14, 2016

HOW DOES FITBIT CALCULATE CALORIES?

This information was provided within the fitbit app on my phone.

How does Fitbit estimate how many calories I've burned?

Your basal metabolic rate (BMR) is the rate at which you burn calories at rest just to maintain vital body functions like breathing, heartbeat, and brain activity. Your BMR usually accounts for at least half of the calories you burn in a day and is estimated based on the physical data you entered when you set up your account: gender, age, height, and weight.

The calorie burn estimate that Fitbit provides takes into account your BMR, the activity recorded by your tracker, and any activities you log manually.

Your tracker's calorie count will reset each night at midnight and begin counting immediately thereafter. BMR is the reason your tracker starts the day with calories already burned—you've still burned calories even if you haven't gotten out of bed yet.

HOW EASY WOULD IT BE TO BURN CALORIES IF ALL ONE HAD TO DO WAS LIE IN BED ALL DAY? The problem with this theory is that people still tend to have hearty appetites and the rate that one would burn calories would not keep pace with the rate that one would consume food. This is why it is either a good idea to eat less and/or spend some time exercising to turn up the internal calorie furnace up a notch or two. I have seemingly conquered the desire to be a couch potato. In fact, I have slayed that 'dragon'. I have not yet conquered the desire to (over)eat. And perhaps conquest of that particular 'dragon' may be beyond my abilities - but I will never give up trying to tame it. And that's my story, and I'm sticking to it.

Your Food Diary For:

BREAKFAST	Calories	Carbs	Fat	Protein	Sodium	Sugar
2 Egg Omelette With Ham and Cheese	383	2	21	32	810	2
Bacon	320	0	24	24	1,400	0
	703	2	45	56	2,210	2
L U N C H
Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwich	520	70	30	18	700	26
CHERRY VANILLA GRANOLA	360	60	11	8	90	23
	880	130	41	26	790	49
D I N N E R
Teriyaki Salmon Steaks, 6 oz	270	3	8	47	365	5
Spicy Curried & Kale Walnut Salad	540	54	39	9	690	0
Beet and Carrot Salad	300	38	12	8	0	30
	1,110	95	59	63	1,055	35
S N A C K S
Chocolate Hazelnut Pirouttes	360	57	12	3	180	30
Red Delicious Apple, 2 medium	190	50	1	1	4	38
	550	107	13	4	184	68

Totals	3,243	333	157	149	4,238	153
Your Daily Goal	4,582	573	152	230	2,300	171
Remaining	1,339	239	-5	81	-1,938	17
	Calories	Carbs	Fat	Protein	Sodium	Sugar
	*You've earned 2,652 extra calories from exercise today

Your Exercise Diary for:

Cardiovascular	Minutes	Calories Burned
STAR TRAC ELLIPTICAL	92	1,582
STAR TRAC ELLIPTICAL	92	1,569
MFP iOS calorie adjustment	N/A	-170


Daily Total / Goal	185 / 30	2,981 / 590
Weekly Total / Goal	1266 / 210	19,740 / 4,130

total calories consumed 3243 calories

total calories burned (elliptical) 3151 calories

total net 92 calories

. . . . . . . . . . .

fitbit day 193

25121 steps

. . . . . . . ....

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Thursday, September 17, 2015

DEMISE OF DOWNTIME

It is hard for me to believe my own response to the littlest 'toy' that I have ever purchased for myself. Once again, I am speaking about my fitbit. I can give two examples that show how this little tiny device affected my behavior just yesterday.

Yesterday afternoon I picked my daughter up at school. I arrived approximately 45 minutes early and scored a parking spot close to the school. In the past, I would have sat in the car for the 45 minutes listening to the radio and/or playing video games. This is how I would have spent my downtime. Nowadays, I have a new way to spend downtime and that is by proactively doing something constructive. During the 45 minutes of 'downtime', I walked around the neighborhood and I calculated that I walked an additional 2 miles prior to picking up my daughter. This is what I call the demise of downtime. There is always an opportunity to do something constructive. There does not have to be downtime.

Last evening, there was a meeting at my daughter's school laying out the various events approaching as the year unfolds. The school is just shy of two miles from home. In the past, I would have only considered driving to the school for the meeting. Once again, the tiny 2" fitbit called out to me to travel by foot and log the additional steps. So I did. The irony of walking is that it barely takes any longer. A two mile drive in the city of Chicago still takes about 10 minutes with all the stop signs, traffic and traffic lights. Once one arrives at a destination, one must budget time to find a parking spot. Therefore, in order to drive to the school to be there at a specific time and park the car one must budget nearly 30 minutes. A two mile walk can easily be completed in 30 minutes. The walk is more constructive, it is healthier and it reduces wasted downtime.

You may ask, "Why is it only now, with the fitbit recording your steps, are you walking so much more?" The answer is simple. That little device brings so much joy when the steps taken accumulate and get recorded. It seems silly, but the thing is very effective. This must explain why so many people around the world use the darn thing!

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 Wednesday MENU

breakfast Raisin Bran (dry cereal, no milk) KIND BAR 770 calories

lunch SUBWAY ROAST BEEF SANDWICH, apples 830 calories
dinner Campbell's Manhattan Clam Chowder, Snacksquares 390 calories
SNACKS DANG TOASTED COCONUT, BEEF JERKY, date pieces 1269 calories

total calories consumed 3259 calories

calories burned

elliptical machine, 92 minutes, level 20 2028 calories

TOTAL CALORIES BURNED 2028 calories

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Wednesday net calories 1231 calories

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SUBWAY: FOOTLONG 9-GRAIN WHEAT BREAD ROAST BEEF (NO CHEESE)
LETTUCE, TOMATO, CUCUMBER, ONION - 640 CALORIES

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fitbit day 14

26697 steps

Friday, September 11, 2015

MAKING LEMONADE FROM LEMONS

When I have an appointment, with anyone for any reason, I tend to be on time. In fact, I am usually early. I don't do late. (That's been my personal motto)

Yesterday morning, I had an appointment at 9AM at a Yarn Shop that usually does not open for business until 11AM. This is an ideal time to visit a store, before they open for business, as the number of interruptions are minimal. That is, if the person that you are meeting with remembers to show up.

For my 9AM appointment I arrived early, as I always do and waited until 9AM for my customer. At 9:15AM I was still waiting. by 9:30AM it became crystal clear to me that my customer forgot our appointment. I had already paid for parking for two hours, besides, it seemed likely that if I simply waited until 11AM - eventually the store owner would show up. Since I had some time to kill, an idea popped into my head - and it revolved around my fitbit. I was in a three story building, (four story if you count the basement) and I decided that I was going to walk up and down the stairs and give myself and my fitbit a workout. By the time that my customer arrived at around 10:45AM I had walked 74 flights of stairs. I was soaking wet with perspiration. What I was not - was angry. How could I be angry? My customer did not steal time away from me - in fact, I made great use of the time. No one was bent out of shape over my perspiration - and my cheerful attitude insured that my customer was in a great mood too. It turned out that this store placed one of top five orders of the year with me today. Not only did I get much accomplished from a business standpoint - I also snuck in a bit of a workout. I made lemonade out of lemons.

During the afternoon, I rode my bike to the YMCA for my two hour session on the elliptical machine. After my workout at the YMCA, I rode my bike to the park where my daughter belongs to a swim team and watched her for a bit. After I rode home, I decided that I needed to build upon the 74 flights of stairs that I had climbed in the morning. I spent an additional 150 minutes walking up the 24 flights of stairs in the building in which I live. I climbed up. I reached the top floor and took the elevator down to the ground floor and climbed up again. I repeated this until my fitbit recorded that I had climbed a total of 400 steps for the day.

I am increasingly confident that I am in shape and ready for my climb up Half Dome in Yosemite Park in three weeks. There are plenty of variables that I have not trained for including the higher altitude and the effect of the lower concentration of oxygen in the air as well as the fact that when I am hiking I will be carrying a big backpack. I will have adrenaline and enthusiasm to power me through the day. I truly believe that I am ready. I know that I am as ready as I am going to be.

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 Wednesday MENU

breakfast center cut bacon, oatmeal, poached eggs 585 calories
lunch spinach salad, asparagus, tomato, CLAM CHOWDER
dark chocolate bar 991 calories
dinner spinach salad, asparagus, tomato, CLAM CHOWDER
multigrain rice cakes 648 calories
SNACK MULTIGRAIN TORTILLA CHIPS 700 calories

total calories consumed 2924 calories

calories burned

YMCA PRECOR elliptical machine 125 minutes, 4:3 interval training 1693 calories
THREE HOURS CLIMBING 400 FLIGHTS OF STAIRS: a bunch of calories, who knows?

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WednesDAY NET CALORIES 1231 CALORIES

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fitbit day 7
31572 steps
400 floors - stair climbing
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There is tremendous power in these 'badges' issued by fitbit. After I had climbed a total of 200 'floors' yesterday - I could have easily convinced myself that that was enough for one day. 'Unfortunately' I was aware that my friend, Bob, had once earned a badge for the achievement of climbing 300 'floors' in one day. This appeared doable to me - so I did it. Once I had reached the plateau of 300 'floors' - it occurred to me that 400 'floors' was doable - so I did that. Once I reached 400 'floors' it occurred to me that that was enough. And that was where I stopped for the day.

400 'floors' earned the CANYON BADGE

I 'earned' more badges in one day yesterday than my daughter had earned in five years of GIRL SCOUTS! Sadly my badges are not the types that one can sew on - and besides, I don't have a snappy vest to sew them onto!

STAIR CLIMBING BADGES EARNED YESTERDAY
LIGHTHOUSE BADGE for climbing 50 floors
FERRIS WHEEL BADGE for climbing 75 floors
SKYSCRAPER BADGE for climbing 100 floors
ROLLERCOASTER BADGE for climbing 125 floors
STADIUM BADGE for climbing 150 floors
BRIDGE BADGE for climbing 175 floors
CASTLE BADGE for climbing 200 floors
WATERFALL BADGE for climbing 300 floors
CANYON BADGE for climbing 400 floors