The Fitbit Challenge

I'm in this Workweek Hustle Fitbit Challenge with some coworkers in offices across the country that starts on Mondays and ends on Fridays. Now we already know that Fitbit hates on CrossFit and I hate to lose. All the other people in this challenge must be running fiends because their numbers are over 10,000 on a daily basis. So in order to compete, poor Frank has been going on a lot of walks.

This morning we went on a run in matching outfits. This is the only picture I got with him looking into the mirror so pardon its blurriness. Frank kind of sucks walking on a leash, but he's turned into a pretty spectacular running partner.

Want to start your own challenge? Check out the instructions from Help at Fitbit.com

• Tap the Challenges tab.
• Tap the challenge you would like to start.
• Tap Start Your Own.
• Tap the friends whom you would like to invite to the challenge, then tap Start in the top right corner. You're not required to invite friends, meaning you can run a challenge with yourself as the only participant.

Cheating

This post is about food - cheat meals, cheat days, cheat months, whatever. I frown upon all other forms of cheating, including cheating on your hairdresser. Nothing good ever comes of it.

I think everyone has an opinion on cheating and their diet. (I'm interested in your opinions so please comment and let's get a discussion going.) Some folks go with the cheat meal once a week, others have dessert at one meal every day. One of my favorite coaches and his girlfriend eat incredibly clean except for about once a month when they celebrate that month's holiday. (It's actually pretty cool - you can go through the calendar and actually find a major religious or cultural holiday that warrants sugar cookies and booze each month.) My boyfriend eats like a saint Sunday through Friday and then Saturday is a hedonistic free-for-all of Doritos, ice cream, and whisky. (He has some of the best ab definition I've ever seen so clearly this works for him.) I try to follow his example but I'm a work in progress.

I've been a lot more consistent since I moved to Georgia. I have a protein shake that I split between before and after my morning workout. I eat some bacon after my morning shower. Lunch is Caprese Greek yogurt with a tuna packet or 3 oz of Boar's Head Ovengold roast turkey. For dinner I've been eating 3-5 oz of steak with steam in the bag broccoli and cauliflower with a tablespoon of Kerrygold butter. I might also have another protein shake. But then fun things pop up, like the Professor was in town for work and we had a delicious dinner that involved fried asparagus fries. And yesterday I ended up staying at the office later than I had planned and I picked up some sushi and a packet of Raisinets. I took today off from CrossFit, completely throwing off my autopilot morning routine and forgot my Fage at home. I went to Publix, where I could have purchased a Fage, and instead walked out with 8 pieces of fried chicken, a slice of key lime pie, and a half-gallon of unsweetened iced tea*. Best damn 1,400 calories I've ever had.

The FitBit Hates on CrossFit

I love my FitBit Flex. It's probably my favorite accessory and I've got an Hermes bracelet so that's saying something. (Yup, I went there.) I wear it everyday and it is a consistent reminder to get my ass moving. If I need to go down to the Tech Shack, I'm walking the 7 floors, even if I'm in heels. If I want my 44 oz iced coffee from the East Norwich Deli - whelp, time for a stroll outside. I really like seeing those little lights light up.

The FitBit is an accelerometer, which means it measures acceleration and that means it does its thing best when you are moving forward. This is great if you're into running, less so if you're on a spin bike. FitBit uses algorithms to approximate calories burned based on your movement, and they do a pretty solid job of using feedback data to update their algorithms, but since it is not a heart rate monitor, it isn't very accurate at calculating calories burned from other forms of exercise.

This leads me to stand behind my statement that FitBit hates on CrossFit.

Let's take a look at what FitBit calls Very Active Minutes. FitBit's Help site says,

"You earn 'very active minutes' when you wear your Fitbit while doing cardio workouts and high-intensity activities like jogging and running. Note that your active minute count will be lower for activities that are not primarily step-based, such as weight lifting, cycling, and rowing."

I'm pretty sure CrossFit is the definition of high-intensity activity.

Now let's take a look at my FitBit dashboard for April 15, 2014. I had 3 Very Active Minutes and you know what the WOD was? ONE HUNDRED FRICKIN BURPEES FOR TIME. It took me over 10 minutes. Where are my other seven very active minutes?!

It doesn't matter how hard you work or what barriers you break - if there is no running in the WOD, be prepared to be told that you lay prostrate on the floor eating macaroons all afternoon. You can override the thing and input your own exercise but there's no CrossFit option. The generally accepted substitute on MyFitnessPal is Circuit Training but I don't bother to change it. Normally I'd advise you to wear your HRM to get an idea of calories burned during a certain activity but since no day at CrossFit is exactly alike, that's not going to provide you an accurate number.

My best advice is to remember that the FitBit is not supposed to provide you with an accurate number of calories burned but should rather be used as a motivational tool. It's really hard to justify taking the elevator when it's midday and you're only on your second light.

Post-Rhino Workout

First off, let me say how thankful I am to be able to move my body. I chose to have an optional surgery that will hopefully improve my quality of life, and I knew going into it that I would have to give up some activity for a while. This week has taught me what a gift being able to get out and move around is and I can't imagine the sacrifices our armed forces must make when they are injured while protecting us and go from peak performance to bedridden. I am in no way comparing spending a week in bed watching soap operas after a nose job to the sacrifices of our injured soldiers. What I am saying is that if five days in a bed made me feel the way I did, then I better start doing more for those who are facing much more serious recuperation. One thing I can do is start using Charity Miles more often to raise money for the Wounded Warrior Project. It kills your battery but I think that's a small sacrifice we can all make.

I've got goals dammit.

This morning I felt like a brand new person. A brand new person whose nose keeps bleeding and can only breathe through her mouth, but at least this person could logically string thoughts together and stay awake for more than 30 minutes at a time. I was up at 7 AM and ready to roll.

I bought myself a Fitbit Flex today. I've been coveting one after spending a weekend in Atlanta with my friend Ryan. Honestly, if he took the dang thing off, I'd have probably stolen it. Ryan uses a combination of MyFitnessPal and Fitbit Flex to track his nutrition and fitness goals. Friday night in the airport I'm teasing him to live a little as I'm sitting there eating chocolate and pistachio gelato and by Sunday, I'm downloading the app and weighing Flex color options. (I went with black.) Ryan's been a good health influence on me since we went to high school together. Senior year, my two hour exercise routine was heavily influenced by Ryan. Granted I ended up semi-expelled and in an eating disorder rehab clinic soon after, but strangely enough, the two are barely related. I digress.