Coming Back to FitBit

At this point in my life I have used quite a number of fitness wearables. I have owned a Fitbit One, Jawbone Up24, Basis B1, Basis Peak, and a Fitbit Charge HR. I've never owned any of the Garmin, Microsoft, or Shine products but I have never really been interested in those. 

I was left woefully unimpressed with Jawbone's platform - it was buggy and often the device would just stop syncing and the lack of a web dashboard (all the data lives on a mobile app) and the fact that because it's not popular there wasn't much of the way in friendly competition (since you can't friend someone you don't know) there wasn't much in the way of motivation. Additionally, there's not a read out display on any of their models so no matter what you are chained to the mobile app for everything. There was some 3rd party integration but it was a little buggy so if you like to participation in fitness rewards/games apps or sites it doesn't always play well.

Basis offers a solid dashboard and all their models collect a wide variety of bio metrics outside the norm. They track Skin Temperature, Perspiration and all their models track heart rate which is how it accurately determines caloric burn rather than basing it off steps, height, and weight like trackers generally do. The graphs provided are insightful and great for a person who really is in to data crunching. There are a few drawbacks though. The platform offers no socialization which means it doesn't have a competitive edge if that is what motivates you to do better and there isn't a way to track caloric intake. You can sync your data to Google Fit and then have that provide information to MyFitnessPal but overall the connection wasn't seamless. This is still wonderful device and if I wasn't competitive and was looking more to gain muscle than lose weight the drawbacks wouldn't bother me. This is better suited for a person who is already in a good place with their health and weight. This app has no 3rd party integration outside of what can connect through Google Fit which is very little. If you like to participate in 3rd party fitness rewards or games this will leave you completely disconnected.

My very first tracker was a Fitbit One that I was given for Christmas and it was the very best gift I had ever received until I got my newest tracker from Fitbit the Charge HR. My heart condition must be continually monitored so as much as I loved my Fitbit One I had to look to other trackers to have the data I needed. I love the platform, I love the competitive aspect as well as the social aspect. It motivates me in a way that none of the others have and now that they have a heart rate feature included I'm beyond happy to be back on this wonderful platform. Almost every fitness rewards or game app/site connects with Fitbit, it is probably the most universally accepted wearable and its popularity means that most of your friends are probably on it and if not you can make fittie friends over the community board to compete against if competition is more your deal. I only have 2 minor complaints with the dashboard. I dislike that when you're using the mobile app and you choose to "track your exercise" the pop up that comes up only shows average pace and time - it would be more beneficial if it showed current heart rate. However, to get around this you can choose to have it auto detect for a specific type of exercise and still see the current heart rate on the main dashboard of the app. The other thing I don't love is the limited food library, but this is easy to fix by syncing with MyFitnessPal instead whose library is massive.

Tuesday Class Pilates and Arm Dumbbells Workout

Update for the whole day:
Total Calorie Burn: 2,298
Total Calorie Intake: 1,495
Total Calorie Deficit: 803
Notes: If every day was like today I'd weigh 132.1 in 5 weeks, per MyFitnessPal

Other Stats:
Resting Heart Rate: 68
Active Minutes: 48
Longest Idle Time: 0:30
Total Time Sleeping: 6:19
Steps:16,300
Weight:168.2
Fat Percent: 28%
Water Percent: 44%
BMI: 24
Total Cholesterol Intake: 255
Total Sodium Intake: 2,090
Total Fiber Intake: 9
Total Sugar Intake:73
% Calories Carbs: 47
% Calories Fat: 15
% Calories Protein: 38

Monday Classes - Yoga & Zumba

Okay, so I burned 20 less calories this Monday than I did last Monday. I think I might starting leg weights on this day as I'm not usually fatigued following this round of classes and I never made it to that "happy burn".

Update for the whole day:
Total Calorie Burn: 2,256
Total Calorie Intake: 1,245
Total Calorie Deficit: 1,011, equivalent to 28% of a pound.
Notes: If I keep up this calorie deficit through Monday morning next week (1,011x7)/3500 I could lose about 2 lbs.

Other Stats:
Resting Heart Rate: 68 BPM
Active Minutes: 1:23
Longest Idle Time: 1:03
Total Time Sleeping: 8:34
Steps: 12,406
Weight: 138.2
Fat Percent: 28%
Water Percent: 44%
BMI: 24
Total Cholesterol Intake: 155 grams
Total Sodium Intake: 1,220 grams
Total Fiber Intake: 7 grams
Total Sugar Intake: 88 grams
% Calories Carbs: 54%
% Calories Fat: 11%
% Calories Protein: 35%

Correcting Swayback

Since going to my personal training the Sunday before last I did my own catalog of postural issues that may or have come up while training.

It is possible to have such weak glutes and abs that your tilt your pelvis forward and push your butt out. Today I attempted to walk and sit properly, meaning that my stomach was stacked directly above my butt and the sensation was so foreign it felt like I was going to fall backwards and I could barely hold the position for more than a few minutes at a time! Talk about being super weak! This could explain why so many things related to balance and upper body strength and I am even lower than a novice.  It was a humbling experience to be sure.

After doing some extensive research I found a few websites that offered some exercise suggestions to help correct Swayback. Pilates and Yoga has proven to be a recurring theme.

Websites

1. IDEA Corrective Exercises: Swayback Posture
2. LiveStrong Swayback Posture Exercises
3. ePain Assist Lumbar Lordosis or Lumbar Swayback: 5 Simple Corrective Exercises, Tips For Prevention
4. YogaBack A Holistic Approach to Correcting a Sway Back Standing Posture

Tuesday Classes - Pilates & Body Works

This classes up to listed calorie burn was 710 and I burned 96% so I followed the appropriate amount of effort throughout the whole workout. Following pilates, my arms were ready to fall off from their sockets from holding out the pilates ring for so long. I busted my butt in the body works class afterwards, had to put the weights down every time after the first time that I had to put my arms straight out. Was just too fatigued. Overall I was proud of myself. I would definitely want to avoid doing any weights with my arms the day before.

Monday Classes - Yoga & Zumba

Today I did the Yoga and Zumba classes and hung out in the sauna for a bit after the fact. The up to calorie burn for these classes was 280 and 550. My calorie burn was 570.8 which is about 69% of the up to calorie burn listed for the class.

These is my short notes on the Yoga class. As a beginner I found many of the floor exercises very painful on my hands as they are not used to holding up my whole upper body and those are weak muscles for me. The instructor said over time it will grow to be more comfortable and that using a rolled over mat or soft towel where my hands are for downward facing dog should help a little in the mean time. I learned the trainer was right it is much easier to balance on the left side of my body than the right presumably because my posture on the right is a little off because of my feet. Doing the eagle pose was especially difficult so I look forward to working more in this class since there is a lot of room for growth. That might be why I didn't reach close to the up to calorie burn. Note that between 4:30 and 5:30 my heart rate stayed mostly around 90 but I did feel a lot of muscle working so I'm wondering how heart rate doing something besides cardio exactly looks like. Something to research a little later.

These are my short notes for the Zumba class. I had the same instructor as I had from Sunday morning and I found her class more enjoyable the 2nd time around since I was familiar with the music selections and routines as she seems to always use a specific routine for certain songs. I really tried to execute the moves sharply to get the most out of it since I knew my calorie burn from yoga would be less than ideal.

Following my 2 classes I spent 15 minutes in the sauna and I spoke with a girl who I had done Zumba with on Sunday and that evening about what kinds of weight machines were where and when the quietest hour was for me to look around without looking lost. Not that I really feel self-conscious about being a newb it's more that I want to be respected for my efforts and doing my due diligence. In any case while I was in the sauna my heart rate stayed consistently between 120 and 130. I sweat quite a bit but I never felt dizzy or nauseas. It was nice and soothing on my sore arms.

Sunday Classes - Body Works Plus Abs & Zumba

I took Body Works Plus Abs and Zumba classes at LA Fitness yesterday and while I didn't burn the up to amount of calories (990) I did burn 697.6.  Details below.

Now for my review on the classes. The Body Works Plus Abs class really pushed me and about half way through I needed to put down the weights because it felt like my arms had been sawed off. Obviously I am very weak in my arms and shoulders so I'm glad that I will be taking this classes a few times a week to help get stronger there. The Zumba class was very high energy but I didn't know a lot of the music chosen but when they did playa  song I knew it was infinitely more fun. Perhaps with regular attendance I will grow more accustomed to the music selections.

I had a complimentary personal training yesterday as well for one hour and overall these were the results. I have excellent posture on the my left side but poor posture on my right. My poor muscle groupings are my Shoulders, Triceps, Abdominals, and to a lesser degree my Lower Back. My range of motion is excellent overall. The trainer worked me around my heart rate zones from my watch and was cautious about over-doing it and providing encouragement on the exercises I was most weak with. I burned 285 calories over the hours I spent with them working my upper body. Overall I wish I could see a trainer at least once a week but it's beyond expensive.