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.

Stability Ball Bouncing - Miracle?

Okay, so part of what I've been doing to help increase my fitness level is bouncing on a stability ball instead of sitting still. Healthy Living has said you can burn about 50 calories in an hour bouncing on a ball instead of sitting. Think about this math for a moment, if you work an 8 hour day and you bounce through all of it, that is 400 calories. That is about what you would burn doing 45 minutes of Zumba. Yes it takes 8 hours but what else are you doing besides sitting anyway? It's an easy thing to add into your daily routine with little effort.

Am I saying this should replace your exercise? No. Good cardiac exercise and strength training is key. This is more like supplemental exercise. Besides, it will help you remember to get up and walk which is even better! I'm sure you're wondering if you'll look silly, yeah you probably will, but you'll be smiling like a goon while doing it because who can be mad while you're sitting on a trampoline?

I got mine from a friend who purchased it from Walmart and I don't find it distracting. Like with walking in place while working (standing desk hack - lift your monitors, keyboard, and mouse with stackable shoe racks) over time you re-learn skills and get better to accommodate for the perpetual motion. I've been using mine off and on for about a month now and continuously the last 10 days and no drawbacks as yet that I can see. :)

As to the effectiveness, I ran my heart rate monitor to track my calories burned over an hour and while Healthy Living quoted 50 calories, I found in an hour I actually burned 125 calories. I might be bouncing more vigorously or It might be because of my heart condition but either way I feel like 50 calories for an hour is a conservative estimate.

Sources
http://www.livestrong.com/article/529589-does-bouncing-on-a-yoga-ball-help-you-to-lose-weight/
http://healthyliving.azcentral.com/bouncing-yoga-ball-lose-weight-10647.html
http://woman.thenest.com/bouncing-yoga-ball-lose-weight-5553.html
http://www.thehappyrock.com/2007/06/02/strengthen-your-abs-and-burn-calories-with-no-effort/

How To Shop Smart Using Apps

Okay,  these apps are my Weekly Shop Toolkit.

1. Speedway - this is the closest gas station to my house and it just so happens they offer a reward system for buying gas there and purchasing snacks there so I know before I go to complete my shop that I will go for gas if it is needed and probably pick myself up a speedy freeze while I'm there to keep cool.
2. Fifth Third - this is my bank, but if you have another bank it just makes good sense to download the app and make it a part of your561 weekly toolkit to know how much money is in the account and what bills have yet to be paid so you don't overextend yourself.
3. Flip - I like to look through all the local ads first and make a note of anything that I need to have for house replenishment and looking at the sales helps me determine my meal plan for the week. That's right I plan my meals around the deals.
4. Cartwheel - After checking out Flip I'll login in to the Target savers app cartwheel to see if there's a deal on anything I needed or might use as a meal option in Cartwheel. Bonus if it's something I can stack!
5. Snap! - This app is backed by Group on. Essentially if you buy something from the list and take a picture of your receipt you earn money back and when you reach a certain amount you get that money back! Again, use this to determine your shopping list for anything you might need or could use.
6. Checkout 51 - This app functions much like Snap! Upload a receipt to get money back!
7. ibotta - This app lets you earn money back by first taking a poll, learning a video, doing a review, or learning a fact and then if you purchase the item scan in the receipt to get money back!
8. Grocery King - I use the free version since I only use this to keep track of the items I need to buy. It limits the number of loyalty cards you can enter to 2. I haven't tried the pantry function yet to determine how many items you can track in your "pantry" yet but I will update this when I do know.
9. Shopkick - check into store locations and scan items to earn points towards store gift cards!
10. Fooducate - So you're standing in the grocery aisle staring at the section of peanut butter but you're trying to determine which is actually the healthiest, for Fooducate this is no problem. You tell it the things you want to avoid and the things you want and it will "grade" items you scan and let you know via letter grade if it a good choice for you. Heads up, the highest score you can get for a Strawberry fruit spread is a B, lol.
11. RedLaser - Say you happened upon an item that might be a good idea to try but since it wasn't on your shopping list you don't want to splurge more than you have to, this app is great at finding the same item in other locations and tells you which has the lowest price.
12. Calculator - So you can tally the cost of items as you place them in your cart, this will keep you from adding too many "extras" into the cart.
13. BeepnGo - Loyalty card holder, it scans your loyalty cards and lets you know when promotions are happening at your favorite stores. Win!
14. Smoopa - I use this as a piggyback off of ReLaser, if no one currently has the item at a price I am willing to pay you can setup Smoopa to let you know when an items fall to a certain price. Great for not necessary purchases.
15. Wal-mart - If you do end up shopping at Walmart be sure to scan in your reeipt! If there's any major competitor with a lower price they match it and give you the difference to redeem on a digital gift card.

Summer 2015 Health & Fitness Apps

It's been awhile since I've updated the applications I use and I've come to appreciate apps that work well together and with my existing equipment.

1. FitBit - Remains my primary distance tracker and calorie burner since I already own a FitBit One, though I was given an UP24 but I don't really see that as a good alternative for me based on reviews. Some of the new dashboard widgets on the website makes it easier to see how you're doing over not just a week but over a 28 day period. They continue to make great strides in their UI and usability so this is always a top recommendation for me. For instance their calorie tracker application now supports scan which now makes MyFitnessPal completely useless for me, but hey, one less app to manage and install, huzzah!
2. Basis Peak - I own one of their Basic Peak continuous heart rate monitors that I use to track my heart condition. I'm sure you must ask why don't you then get the Fitbit+HR, well because it's not nearly as accurate and this will also send me calendar, email, phone, and text updates like an Apple Watch and just flat out this is the one my cardiologist makes me wear and so far it works wonderfully though it's difficult to get it to sync with just any old running tracker app, which brings us to Runkeeper.
3. Runkeeper - This is the only running/walking application I've been able to get my Basis Peak Heart Rate Monitor and it will allow Spotify to play music doing your run. It shows some of the basic data following the end of an activity and you can buy premium for $40 a year to get all the extra data points but truthfully I don't need them - most  of the data points I need can be pulled from FitBit (Weight & Distance) or from Basis (Heart Rate). The only thing that might be cool is to track your pace but you can manually enter that data into Fitbit's website with a Custom Tracker if you really wanted to.
4. Digifit iCardio - If you are looking to more actively see how long you spend in each heart rate zone (think Orange Theory Fitness) then this app is more appropriate for you than RunKeeper. It will require that you have some kind of Bluetooth heart rate monitor but it doesn't seem to be very fussy about the ones it will accept to this is a good option for a heart rate targeted workout as opposed to speed or distance like Runkeeper. It's UI is a little more basic but it assigns a color to various heart rate zones based on age and weight. It also links with Fitbit.
5. Impetus - Interval Timer, create your own personalized interval timer to run in the background of your workouts to let you know when to change up the activity or intensity.
6. HealthyOut - This app is great if you still want to go out with your friends and family but you don't want to totally tank your weight-loss goal.
7. Spotify - Pre-build favorite playlists to shuffle. Better than Pandora because you can choose exactly which songs just not the order unless you pay to be a premium member. But hey stock a list with your absolute favorite jams without the hassle of downloading and transferring. Maybe check out some of my pre-built playlists ;)
8. Achievemint - An application that awards points for food logged, weigh ins, and activities as synced by other applications. Mine is set to sync from FitBit. It took me a few months but I did get the $50 Gift Card. Totally worth it!

Wednesday Review - Power to End Stoke Website

February is Heart Disease Awarenes Month and so this week my review is on The Power to End Stroke.It  is a magnificent awareness website sponsored by the American Heart Association and the American Stroke Association. Before you write it off as just another gimmick, here me out. This is a wonderful site for helping be aware of your risk factors for heart disease.

There is this wonderful tool call "My Life Check" it is a simple questionnaire, less than 25 questions about yourself and it breaks down the different risk categories and lets you know exactly how you can improve. Earndit, one of my favorite rewards apps does a challenge every month that is in honor of this group helping to raise awareness.

Please check it out, learn your risk factors, maybe donate a dollar or two if you can spare it. Heart Disease is the leading cause of death in America, more than all forms of cancer combined.

Review Wednesday - FitBolt

FitBolt is an interesting website that helps promote healthy behavior while you are at work or if you sit for long periods at a computer on your own time.

It syncs information from your FitBit but it also can sync information from RunKeeper and Daily Mile.

Basically it is either a Firefox or Chrome Plugin, Desktop Application, or you can run it in your browser if your company does not allow you to install programs or add ons to your computer. A timer will go off every 30 minutes with a random exercise. This site promotes holistic health so it won't always be something like mountain climbers for 35 seconds. It can be anything from in chair stretches, quick exercises, health reminders, posture corrections and even diet pointers. And the best part is that if it offers you an activity that is not appropriate for your workplace you can always rate it a thumbs down and it won't appear again. It also accou

Studies have shown that extended sitting at a desk creates long-term health and posture issues and with this FREE, yes, FREE site you can limit how much sitting at a desk affects your life.

Check out this nifty InfoGraphic about health in the workplace if you're not convinced this is a fabulous idea.

Get Paid to Work Out

There are a number of awesome applications and websites that reward you for your fitness. Some of these include:

EveryMove is an excellent resource for working out and getting rewarded with real life rewards. You select a reward to work towards and there are few very cool ones like Free 6 Months of ActiveAdvantage which was the very first reward I claimed and I absolutely love it! One of the very cool things about this site is that even if you don't necessarily have an activity tracker (Like FitBit, Nike+, or BodyMedia you are not down for the count. However if you do have an activity tracker it's really easy to rack up more points without having to log in frequently. You can manually enter activities that you do all day long like cleaning your house, swimming, cycling, weights, shopping, really just about anything. On very active days you earn bonus points and can share them with friends. Great right? You can reward yourself and friends. The Takeaway is that the points are easy to get so reward yourself already! Available on application and online. This is one of my very favorites I would give it a 5/5 for functionality, usability, speed at which you earn rewards, and quality of rewards.

 

Steps is a relatively recent development.The site existed before as Walk with Walgreens to earn you special coupons to earn in the store but with the creation of their Balance Rewards Card you can now make your mileage count towards your Balance Rewards Points which can be redeemed for in store credit. You get 20 points for every mile walked or ran and 20 points whenever you record your weight for the day. While syncing a device is not necessary to log your runs and walks you do get a 250 point bonus for doing so and it is easier to automatically earn points without frequent logins. You get $5 for every 5,000 points. You are however capped at 1,000 points per month so it is slow going but hey it's better than nothing right? Available online only - no application. I really enjoy this site I would give it a 4/5 for functionality, usability, and quality of rewards.

Nexercise has long been a part of rewarding its members for fitness. There are three ways to earn real life rewards with this program. Whenever you log a workout you will earn mPoints and sometimes when you click to get your mPoints there will be a video or survey worth additional mPoints. You also earn Pocket Change with each workout logged, these are little less awesome because they are more like discounts than free items but occasionally you'll see something really cool on there. Maybe I need to rephrase - they offer really awesome free stuff but you need an impossible amount of Pocket Change. Also everytime you submit a workout you will get a Kiip offer which is sometimes just a coupon or sometimes its a free small side item at a food place. Either way free stuff. :) Note all three reward systems are used across multiple applications (not always fitness related so its worth looking into and raking it in. Also note, you do not need an activity tracker but you do have to be good about remembering to log your workouts and this is available on application only. I enjoy this app, I give it a 3/5 for functionality and usability.

EarndIt is relatively new but it doesn't keep it from being awesome. You sync up activity trackers or applications that function as activity trackers (though there are a limited number of ones they will sync too) and it gives you points for your activity. Most of the rewards are deals/coupons but some of them are really great and they give you a chance to try new things without going all in full price especially if you end up hating it like with healthy food items. You can participate in challenges where points amounts give you entrance into raffles of if you win prizes. You can even create your own challenges where folks have to pay to enter and you can earn a gift card for the amount of everyone's entrance fees (minus 10% service fee) You can set up free challenges but there's no prize beyond the accumulation of points you get by working on the challenge. Available online only. I enjoy this site, I would give it a 4/5 for functionality, usability, and speed at which you earn rewards.

Fitocracy is also a longstanding application used to reward fitness however this one is a little less amazing as it only does the Kiip rewards which are basically deals/coupons which are given at random but hey you just never know right? I am a little sad more isn't done with their rewards system but I still enjoy using it and I give it a 2/5 for functionality and usability.

New Phone Means New Fitness Apps!

I purchased the HTC One last Thursday when I made the change from ATT&T to T-Mobile to save $60 on our monthly bill. Since then I have gone install crazy trying to find the most useful applications to monitor and reward my fitness activity since my Wannabe Hubby shot down my own reward program citing that the plan was too expensive for this year. This is not a slam - it is just a fact. Buying a house bankrupts you, just saying ;) All that being said the following are the apps I have found I enjoy used and easy to use.

Fitbit - It is no secret that I love Fitbit's website and tracking device. While you cannot sync to your Android phone (boo iPhone!) It does tell you how many steps taken, floors climbed, miles traveled, calories burned, hours of sleep, food plan, and water consumption since your last sync in relation to your goal. Allowing to plan accordingly throughout the day. You can log activity that cannot be measured with the wireless tracking device, you can log food, you can add weight tracking information, you can log water, if you have friends on the site it shoes you the ranking, and you can log sleep. So all in all pretty dang functional and the ever present practice about being mindful of your health. You can view my profile and add me as a friend HERE.

Nike+ Running - It's no secret I love their site and use my iPod Nano in conjunction with the site. While I don't use the Android Application to log my runs - since I have my iPod - but I do use it for the widget that shows how many miles total I've run and how many days since my last run. A nice way to motivate myself. Additionally it compares your most recent with your last run to see how much shorter/longer you ran and the time difference. If you have a goal setup it will also show your percentage to goal.You can also set up a run reminder in case you just can't muster the motivation on your own. The profile page shows all your stats that are available on the site but it is nice to carry those stats out for motivation or bragging rights ;) You can also view your entire activity history. I have not added any friends on Nike+ but it shows you comparative stats with your friends as well. You can view my profile and add me as a friend HERE or search for Rookie_Runner.

Nike Training Club - Okay so I log my walking and my running, but how do I log all my other training efforts or plan them? Using this! There are tons of workouts to choose from and you can select your activity level and time or focus group making this an easy addition to any cardio workout. You can log in with your Nike+ Account if you have one to add Nikefuel to your account for more than just running. You can save workouts you really like so they are easy to find again for the next time and it will also track your progress. You can view my profile and add me as a friend HERE or search for Rookie_Runner.

Nexercise - I love being rewarded for fitness. I use the Nike Apps to monitor my runs and workouts and then I manually log them to earn rewards - you don't earn as much for manually logging them but I don't want to run with my phone since it's not as practical as my iPod Nano. I could theoretically have the app running in the background while using Nike Training Club - if that works I will re-post with the update. As a note - you have to log the activity within two days it will not let you post further back. You earn trophies which can boost your motivation and again serve as bragging rights if you've enabled the social aspect but adding friends. You can earn rewards 1 of 2 ways. Through mPoints which you get by logging exercise, by viewing advertisements, taking short surveys, fulfilling basic achievements, or sometimes completely at random for logging in. You can spend these mPoints on sweepstakes, gift cards, or charitable donations. You can also earn rewards through Pocketchange which you earn by logging in and logging activity that can be used towards gift cards - these are a little harder to earn but the rewards are better since ad viewing doesn't come into play at all. You can add me by posting a status to Twitter asking for friends and commenting below with your Twitter name so I can accept the invitation.

Fitocracy - I love making fitness a game.  You can select quests to complete to earn more points from them and "level up" There is no rewards system in this game so unless your highly competitive you have to bring your own motivation but it is definitely self-satisfying to bump levels. You can add me by searching for me as Rookie_Runner.

Charity Miles - This app just makes you feel horrifically guilty if you skip a day of walking, running, or cycling. You earn 10 cents per mile for biking and walking and runners are 25 cents per mile You can select from a number of charities. I tend to always donate to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society due to a close relative who has Stage 4 Lymphoma. I would also consider the following charities in the future - Stand Up To Cancer, The Nature Conservatory & ASPCA. I love their motto - Because changing the world is a team sport. You cannot add friends with this application.

LA Fitness Mobile - I use this app because this is where I have my gym membership and it lets me know the class schedule and if any classes get cancelled to save me the trip .This is a just a useful tool. It can also set reminders to your phone to attend a class thereby holding you accountable to attend. You cannot add friends with this application.

Fitsby - Compete with friends by how many times you check into the gym .This is a lot like GymPact in that you can make a wager where the winning party earn the pot and the loser pays into it if they cannot keep up the bargain. However, you have the option to enter free competitions - not as motivating but again like a game so this might be enough motivation for some people.

Active - This application doesn't monitor or reward fitness in any way but you can view feeds of local activties (categorized by interests you select) that are close to you. They also feature articles about the topics you selected. This is great because you can filter out activities you don't have an interest in and you can save articles you enjoy to peruse again later. You cannot add friends.

DietPoint - Also not a fitness application but what you eat plays into how healthy you are. I like this application because it comes up a week long plan for what to eat and after answering a few questions tells you how much weight you can expect to lose over a period of time. You're limited in which plans you choose if you want to keep it free but they are a number of free options that are just fine. Also if you go pro it will auto make a grocery list for you but honestly unless you're supremely lazy there's no reason you can't slip through the days to determine how much and of what to buy. You cannot add friends.

Lose It - Food diary that allows you to select a weight loss goal. This is a nice application because you ca pair it to Fitbit and there is more uploaded food information on Lose It so you're not constantly creating foods if you don't always buy name brand or you eat out a lot. You can search for me by me email address but please PLEASE do not spam  me. You can comment below if you would like to add me.

Running Day and Vera Bradley Travel Belt

I ultimately decided I'd rather use the fitness Nike + App on my iPod  it is still accurate and I don't have to keep checking my phone to see how much distance I've traveled. As you can see I have't adjusted for Daylights Savings yet on this device lol and I didn't do nearly as well this time around and that is probably because I slacked off Thursday-Saturday trying to get the house in order to move. Sucky timing.

"Don't wait until you're ready. Start now. The circumstances will not be perfect and you won't get it perfect. Start now, however, and you will get it done...Do you want to waste your time and energy on elaborate excuses or would you rather invest yourself in achievement? Get started now and get the achievement well under way" - Ralph Marston, The Daily Motivator

I found this nugget on Mindbloom.com which is a way to get yourself psyched for life balancing your life with things you want to do and "rewarding" you for completing tasks to better yourself. After finding this quote on there I went to his blog The Daily Motivator and is is a great tool to inspire you each day. In fact I like this blog so well I think I've just decided on the first relevant blog to put into my blogroll. :)

Anyway, back to my terrible workout. I'm going to break down what worked today from what didn't. First things first the weather was not on my side today, nor do I expect it to be until October which is thankfully when the race takes place and also thankfully at night. :) The humidity was at 55% and it was 90 degrees. I prepared as best as I could, I wore a tech shirt and tech capris, my hair was up, I was well hydrated but the sun still gave me a massive headache and sapped my energy. I imagine it's a matter of just getting used to it at this point. You can see how my energy started flagging in the last quarter.I will run a separate review of the Nike+ Website later since I've only just started using it I'm not really familiar with all its capabilities yet.

I also chose to run around my apartment complex to save the gas from driving all the way over to the trail in the next town. The end result of this was less motivation. I know it's petty but I do enjoy passing people and because no one else uses my complex as a circuit (though really its perfect) there's just not as much motivation to push myself. I did find a pace timer app on my phone but I'm hesitant to use it since it's unlikely I will hear it over my iPod and as previously mentioned I don't want to have to keep pulling my phone out to check since it'd done in increments of seconds. I don't really have a quick fix for this other than maybe to wear a cheap wrist watch with a stopwatch feature so I can peak at it without stopping. Actually that seems like a really good idea! Go me!

Timex Women's 1440 Sports Watch, Blue Resin Strap @ Wal-Mart for
$14.88. It has a whole list of pretty much pointless features (at least for me) which include Indiglo night light, Stop Watch (the only feature I intend to use), 24 hour countdown timer, 24 hour chronograph, daily alarm, 2 time zones, calendar, day and night display, water resistant to 165'. I will probably wait to get this until next since this week I blew the extra grocery money on a used Vera Bradley Travel Belt that I found at Plato's Closet for $16.

 I decided on this particular "fanny pack" "runners belt" "hip bag" "travel belt" (yes there are that many ways to refer to the same item) because it can be washed, cheaper than specifically designed runners belts, more organized than fanny packs, and was skinny like a travel belt that even when bulging remains mostly flush against your body. I choose to wear mine on my back rather than on my tummy because my vanity can't reconcile wearing a bag on my waist lol. It might look bulgy in the picture but I assure you it's just my butt ;P

 I fill this bag up like I would POST work out so I don't forget to take everything with me and carry it into the house so I don't have to play the where did I leave it game. In the front little zip pocket I have put my iPod Nano and my ear buds which fit very nicely there.

 This is a snap shot of the inside. I have 3 card slots and an ID slot which work out nicely so I can carry my ID, debit card, credit card, and insurance card in case I have an accident or emergency. I also have room for my inhaler. I'm know exceptionally known for asthma attacks brought on by physical distress but it has happened on occasion - which it did today - really glad I had it with me. I also have room for my keys and I mean ALL my keys. My car key and apartment keys are massive.

This picture is a little bit of an elaboration on the last because you can't really see it in the last one. In a flat pocket that is about the size of the whole bag which is probably meant for passport and money holds my Nokia Lumia 920 (Windows Phone) very nicely which is a suprise since it's one the largest and heaviest phones out there excepting the new Note ;) I also have my Belkin iPod ArmBand in there and they both fit with room to spare so if I need to carry something else this baby can handle it all. :)

One of the things I like most about this bag is that it is 100% adjustable so if I lose the inches off the waistline that I hope to it will still work nicely for me and if you place the belt right at your hip, literally right over your hip bones it stays stable and does not move or jiggle all over the place at all which would've been my biggest pet peeve with any other bag. I guess what I mean to say its large and small at the same time - like so many Vera Bradley bags. :)

Review on the FitBit One

I got The One as a holiday gift this last year by some wonderful friends so I have had it for about 5 months now. The One is a wireless activity and sleep tracker. its about half the length of your pinky finger and fairly inconspicuous when you wear it. It comes in two colors black and burgundy. 

You have the option to have a silent alarm - what this means is that when you're wearing the wrist-let with a pouch for the tracker (so it doesn't get lost in the bed) it will vibrate your wrist and wake you up silently which is great if you share a bed so they are not jolted awake by you're alarm. I was skeptical about this feature at first because I'm a pretty heavy sleeper but it works phenomenally well it has never failed to wake me up. 

It's very accurate as a pedometer and it shows you how many calories you've burned and your activity level for the day displayed as tiny leaves - the more leaves the more average of activity you've had that day.It a visual reminder to get up and move around like none other. I had made it a personal challenge for 2/3 of the bar to be shown by the end of the day as well as 10k steps. It also displays the number of stairs climbed as they have a different calorie burning ratio.

The device has one design flaw in that you slide the tracker into a rubberized holder and with consistent use this can lead to it escaping from you. You can replace the holder for $8 online and if you lose the tracker they ship you one back within 7-10 business days. That being said this design flaw was corrected in the new full time bracelet version which is more conspicuous but if you want the peace of mind the newer model might be worth it for you.

You ask how is it wireless? It comes with a USB dongle that serves as your charger and another USB piece you leave in the computer so that it can wirelessly sync the data from your tracker when your close to your computer. Set up is super easy and user friendly for even the tech illiterate.

The best feature about this is the website (which is free - you don't need a FitBit to use this) Your dashboard shows your activity level - number of steps, calories eaten, and the number of steps climbed.  It calculates the total distance you've traveled and your number of very active minutes as opposed to regular walking throughout the day, and the sleep tracker shows how many times you've woken up in the middle of the night - yes even if your're not aware of it. Its odd that for me my average is something like 12 times a night! By changing the way I ate, exercise, and doing a bedtime ritual this number has gone down to 6 and I sleep much better. But probably the best feature is that it tailors you expected caloric intake by your activity level so that's right lady you exercise to earn the right to eat that serving of ice cream after dinner which is so motivating!

You ask how can I use this without having a FitBit one? You won't get the pedometer part obviously but you can enter in your activities for the day and it will generate a calorie budget for you and you can enter in your foods which is very easy.

The food tracker even breaks down your calories, fat, fiber, carbs, sodium, protein,and water which is a great tool for helping you to avoid certain foods as you see how it affects your body.

There's an optional heart rate, blood pressure, and glucose trackers if you have a way to get your numbers so you can use it long term track your numbers which is great. I use the heart rate and blood pressure checker every week when I go to Wal-Mart to check my numbers since it's free.That being said I carry alcohol wipes to wipe it down and then my arm afterwards since I've become a little crazy about germs.

You can choose to get premium which is $50 a year to get special content which includes benchmarks which measures your % to goal and you can compare yourself to friends beyond steps.For food it projects your expected weight change with your eating habits, macronutrient balance - IE what vitamins you're missing out on, distribution of calories by meal. For the activity part it gives you a customized training plan which is not available in any form on the free version and it changes as you progress towards your fitness goal.The last premium feature is the ability to export your data into excel. For me these features we're worth it to me so I haven't sampled them. There is a free trial which I'm saving for about a month before the race. The trial lasts a week. If you've used this feature please leave comments if you liked it.

Apart from the tiny design flaw - which is easily corrected - it is a wonderful device and a great tool to keep track of your physical health.