What’s the great part about ACT | The App Association’s We Wear It? Even if you lose (a challenge) you still WIN! This challenge is about setting personal goals, improving your health and getting out of your fitness comfort zone. It’s about trying new things and hopefully finding a few new, exciting activities you enjoy.

Here are my experiences…

First, let me say that I entered this challenge with all the trepidation of my nerdy, awkward, glasses-wearing, teenage self who was continually shamed in my athletic endeavors.  I was the girl reading on the bench in softball hoping not to be called up lest I be hit on the head with a softball one more time. (It really hurt!) My glasses were destroyed more than once by my more advanced colleagues passing me a basketball and me “catching” it…in the face. Let’s just say it’s remarkable that I did not die of embarrassment by the age of 15.

That being said, I’ve never been a sedentary person. My activities of choice include golf, yoga, running, and swimming. My husband gave me a Fitbit Flex for Christmas, but I hadn’t really kept it up – typical of a new user.

So where was all of this pent-up anxiety coming from?  The competition aspect and reporting of statistics scared the crap out of me. Would I always be dead last? Would people think I’m not in shape? Hey, if we were having a wine-drinking competition I would straight-up win that sucker. Just sayin’.

Then we started the challenge. I demo’d the Fitbit Flex and the Lumo Lift.

  • The Fitbit tracks the steps, activity, weight, diet, and exercise you do each day.
  • The Lumo Lift is a posture correcting device that also tracks steps.

The combination and comparison of these two devices has been fun to analyze. It got me thinking about different ways to get in more steps, log more active minutes and generally build more activity into my daily routine.

I took it easy the first week and used the devices to form a base-line of where my fitness level was currently.  Then came the big moment – I had to report back to my colleagues and face the ultimate fear of being shamed by my measly number of steps. These people are hard-core walkers, bikers, runners of marathons, and moms who are chasing toddlers. It’s serious competition!

We did a quick check-in the Friday before our contest would be complete.  I was (almost) last. As disappointing as it was, my motivation somehow tripled and I doubled my steps over the weekend. Instead of sitting on the porch with a glass of wine before dinner, I went out and walked 12,000 steps.

So did all this activity get me a win? Hardly. My steps for the week were more than doubled by our Policy Counsel who must run all the time – even in her sleep.

But guess what else? I had a new goal and I considered this a win for me.

The next week, I set a goal of 10,000 steps a day and 4 hours of good posture a day.  I gave myself a rest day after taking a fall on my back stairs walking my dog. Be realistic. You can’t conquer the world in one day.

And I started to discover that I was able to layer in more activity than I thought.  I started a 30 day plank challenge. I switched up my walking with bike rides and kayaking.  I started using a mini elliptical at my desk during that mid-afternoon slump in the office.

I became empowered. For me, this was the key.

The Lumo BodyTech people have a great balance of encouragement and inspiration. Their daily emails included updates on my accomplishments, showed me trends of when I was more active or sedentary, provided stretching routines and daily mini-challenges. It was a gentle nudge in the right direction.

I also really enjoy my Fitbit. This is the classic “welcome to the world of wearables” device. It measures everything important, but isn’t overwhelming in detail. If you’re looking for a way to get started, this is a great way to go.

Now, a few weeks in, I have increased my overall daily activity by about 40 percent with just small changes. So as of now, I have not won a challenge but I am pretty excited about my own personal wins.

To close, here’s my advice: be gentle with yourself. Let these devices be an encouragement and give yourself major props for your small wins, because they will quickly add up in the not-too-distant future.