Last minute gift idea for your fitness fanatic or to help with your own New Year’s resolution – FitBit

I love FitBit. I’ve lost an undisclosable amount of weight with the device, which I have been using since April. Suffice it to say I’ve gone down three to four sizes. The women out there can figure out the math.

I went to the doctor in July, when my fitness regimen of walking with my  buddy was not doing the trick. I told him I thought my metabolism might be at issue. He asked me what I ate on any given day. I told him. He asked me how often I drank wine or beer or any other alcohol. I told him. He said, matter-of-factly, “Your problem is that you eat and drink too much.” And so it was.

I cut out bad carbs and followed something resembling the South Beach Diet through the end of September. I cut out wine entirely for the first rhree months. It was my alcoholic beverage of choice. I easily gave up beer, since I have it two or three times a year at most. Hard liquor only makes an appearance when egg nog rears its ugly-yet-sublimely-tasty head – right about now, as a matter of fact, in December.

By the end of November, I had reached my doctor’s target weight for me. I *might* want to lose some more weight, but we shall see if it continues to come off as easily as it has to date. This is about health ore than vanity (although vanity certainly plays a role.) Here are before and after pictures:

Why does FitBit work?

1. It asked me the right questions. How much weight did I want to lose? What was my activity level? By answering these simple questions honestly, I was able to see how many steps I needed to take each day and how many calories I could consume.

2. It set achievable goals. For me? 10,000 steps a day, which i easily achieve (I’m a mom. I have an Australian shepherd and a Jack Russell terrier. 10,000 steps is not difficult.) 10 sets of stairs, which, in hilly Colorado, is also easy. I did notice that, when I visited family in Alabama, those ten sets of stairs were more difficult to come by.

3. It encouraged me in whimsical and frequent ways. FitBit gives you badges for achievements as mundane as walking 5,000 steps. Now I’ve walked over two million. Booyah. I would not know that if not for FitBit. My BMI went from the obese range to 24.5, perfectly normal. I would not have known this if not for FitBit.

4. The upgrades made sense and added value. I bought the Aria scale. It kept me honest by automatically updating my weight wirelessly every time I weighed in. I upgraded to the Pro membership and logged my sleep and food. I get a nutritional report on demand, a personal trainer analysis, a sleep analysis, and an exercise analysis (sedentary, low effort, and high effort.) All of this was useful. I could print out the results and take them to the doctor for my monthly weigh-in, should I so choose. (I never needed to because, after the first month of rapid weight loss, I lost between two and three pounds a week.)

5. The community option was there if I needed it. I’ve been a member of Weight Watchers. It worked for me as a teen. It did not as an adult because, perhaps, I am less vulnerable to peer pressure. For whatever reason, I did not need community support. But I knew I had it if I did.

I highly recommend FitBit.    It is a great product. It has produced results for me. It is accurate, inobtrusive and handy. I  definitely consider myself a FitBit success story.