STEP BY STEP

I exercise because I don't want to be fat.  

I exercise because I want to be healthier.  

I exercise because it's good for me.

I would like to say those are the top reasons why I exercise. Unfortunately, that's not it. I exercise because I don't like to lose to a virtual goal or to other people, so I wear an electronic device that holds me accountable for every step I take. Numbers and stats are the reason I exist,  if I can put it into a fancy spreadsheet then I want to.  For the last few years I've been tormented by all the wearable devices that are out there for tracking my movement.  Am I picking the right one?  Am I getting the most accurate data?

Two years ago, I started off with the FuelBand because it fit on my wrist and had a fancy LED display. It was by Nike, so it has to be good for exercising, right?? (Sadly, they are discontinuing the FuelBand.) I never had complaints about it, but I was the only person who I knew using it so I was only competing against myself in numbers.

A few months later, my brother and his wife got FitBits.  Well, there is now competition out there that I can be winning and wasn't because I was at the wrong war.  I obviously had to switch and got a FitBit One.  So for the last year and half I have been running an hour a day and walking the dog to the ends of the earth so I can win. (Which by the way, I have been until recently when summer started and I traded running for sitting at the pool.)

Healey in the meantime stuck with the UP band which I think is the prettiest, but had only iOS support and didn't have a display for my metrics. If I don't know how awesome I'm doing, am I really awesome? Also at the time when I was deciding there was a recall, so that was a setback. 

On Friday, I decided I was going to do the ultimate test, I was going to wear all 3 (FitBit One, FuelBand, and UP) for 24 hours to see how the numbers measured up.  I know the FitBit is pretty accurate because I've watched my numbers as I run on the treadmill and it came within a few steps of a mile. I never tracked the actual steps with the FuelBand because I was mostly doing elliptical workouts back then. 

There was an obvious discrepancy in step numbers.  I did not have time to do a run on Friday, so I did not get to do an accurate measurement of steps which I might have to do another time. I was sure that the wrist wearable techs would have skewed higher in steps since people do a lot of wrist movements in their daily lives. I was wrong and see that using the wrist ones albeit a lot more convenient, it might cheat you out of steps.  

FuelBand - Pro: Nice display, convenient wrist use. Con: Bulky to wear, discontinued; no friends

FitBit One - Pro: Most accurate measurement, LED display.  Con: Clip-on and have to remember to move from one outfit to the next.

UP - Pro: Convenient wrist use, nice fit on wrist.  (I borrowed Healey's so her alarms were setup on it, but I found that a useful feature.) Con: Step count is not as accurate but close, no visual display. 

So, you ask, what is your conclusion Yenny?  Get to the point, which one would you get?  Well, I definitely want to get one that has accurate step count, but I also want one that is shiny and cool  to wear and gives me the social pressure to be win. I really like the feel of the UP on my wrist and the convenience of not forgetting it seems like a plus and the new version, UP24, has Android support and is able to sync wirelessly by Bluetooth.  

For the time being I think I'm sticking with the FitBit One because it has the most accurate measurements and I have one already. The FitBit has a wristband version, but the charging and look of it isn't as nice as the UP and if I was switching I would switch to the new UP24; though it would nice that one of these I can use in a pool.  (I did use the FuelBand in the pool, even if it wasn't recommended and never had any issues with it.)

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