Check-In at the Gym, Earn Real Life Rewards!

I saw on Twitter this morning a new Foursquare add-on service at EarndIt.com.  Apparently, if you sign up for an Earnd It account, and integrate your Foursquare (and Twitter or Facebook, if you like), whenever you check in at the gym on Foursquare, you earn point, which you can then apply to actual merchandise.

That's pretty awesome!  My one trip on Monday already earned me 15 points. For 400 points, I can get a $50 gift card to Shoecrush.com.  You can also earn "trophies", which I'm guessing are much like badges.

I think this is a brilliant idea!  I've been meaning to set up a reward system for myself for pounds lost, but this is great, too, as it rewards your fitness efforts -- it gives you a reason to go to the gym if losing weight or getting healthy isn't quite enough to get your ass in the car.

Now I'm bummed I skipped the gym this morning (wasn't feeling well, did yoga instead), but will definitely be going in the morning. I want shoes!

Here's a list of the current Earnd It rewards.  I must admit, the rewards are pretty slim pickins as of now, but that's likely because they're new.  Hopefully, over time, the rewards catalog will become a little more robust or I can't see it being very motivational. 

It looks like in addition to Foursquare, it works with Nike +, Garmin and soon Fitbit! I wonder if I can get double points by checking in at the gym while wearing my Fitbit...

What do you think?  Does this motivate you? Would Earnd It be something you would be into... assuming they had more reward options?

Fitbit Launches Premium Memberships

You know I love my Fitbit... when I can remember to wear it.  It's totally unobtrusive, I love all the stuff it tracks and it's been fun to use... if you're one of those people who is retentive like that and likes to track things. I am one of those people.

So far, the Fitbit memberships have been free to one and all -- and they still are, so don't panic. But they've also released a very reasonably priced premium service that I may check out.   At only $49.95 a year (not a month, which is what I thought it was at first and almost fell off my chair), you are able to track pretty much whatever you want. In addition to all their awesome free services, you can also create custom tracking (i.e., if you want to track how many cigarettes you smoked  -- assuming you're trying to quit! -- or sodas you drank or sit-ups you did -- you can make a custom tracker for whatever you like!), "benchmark" yourself against your peers (others in the Fitbit community -- if competitiveness is your motivational thing), and apparently, get more "in-depth analysis" of your data than you do with the free version. AND, you get a Fitbit trainer, which takes your activity level and calculates a 12-week fitness program to help you meet your goals. Fancy schmancy!

There's a free week trial of the Fitbit premium services, which I think I'll check out and see if it's worth the $50/yr.  I've been considering putting my Weight Watchers membership on hold temporarily because at $15/mo, I just don't use it as much as I do my free Fitbit profile. I feel the exercise is more accurately tracked on my Fitbit (WW crushes my juju when I sweat for 30 minutes and only get 2 measley Points® for it ) and find logging food in two places is becoming tedious and time consuming. 

Don't get me wrong, Weight Watchers is a wonderful program and I lost a lot of weight on it. But when you do it for a long time, sometimes you just need to shake things up a little.  Fitbit's calorie-counting lets me see at a glance how I'm doing and look at food in a more reasonable, matter-of-fact way. I'm less obsessed with Points and counting and cutting corners to squeeze out an extra half a Point so I can have that Giant Fudge Bar later tonight.  I am enjoying the more simplified "calories burned/calories consumed" method right now.  Counting calories used to be such a pain in the ass, which is why Weight Watchers is so great, especially for new dieters. But now with tools like Fitbit (and it's similar competitor, Bodybugg), it's not as much of a production.  What I've been calling Calorie Reality™ has been effective for me lately. 

Whether I keep my WW membership active or not, I'm definitely going to keep using my Fitbit.  I don't use my sleep tracking as much as I thought I would (I tend to remove the wristband in the night and found myself being concerned I'd lay on my wrist and turn off the recording), but I like that it has the option if I want it.  And with more features being offered by Fitbit, it's looking to be a strong contender in the fitness market. 

Do you have one? Do you love it? Do you think you would try the paid membership? Yes, no?

[I am not paid by Fitbit or anyone, for that matter, for my product endorsement -- at least not yet!  And even if I were, I'd never endorse something I didn't believe in. I dig this product, simple as that.]

Fitbit Sleep Analysis: Normal vs. Sensitive?

I wasn't sure what kind of sleep setting I needed to have on my Fitbit.  It seemed like having 90%+ sleep efficiency was really high for me, considering I often feel like I toss and turn or am up and down all night. I thought, "Maybe normal is a 'one-size-fits-all' setting and I should try the sensitive."  Well, that made it seem like I was doing the merengue all night long and didn't sleep a wink.  I was confused about what the 'sensitive' setting really meant, so I emailed the fine folks at Fitbit for their explanation.

We have done experiments with numerous subjects testing our algorithms and comparing them to research found in sleep labs. What we have found is that the vast majority of users seem to move in a very specific pattern when they sleep. A small group of users tend to make dramatically smaller movements throughout their sleep. The same algorithms work on both users, however a smaller movement on these very still sleepers indicates something different than a similar movement on an average sleeper. For most users regular is just fine. If a user writes in that they are staring at an alarm clock for an hour and the Fitbit Tracker shows them as asleep, we have them try the sensitive mode.

Sincerely,
Amy McDonough and the Fitbit Team

So, what I get from that is if you tend to lie very still or make minimal movements when you sleep (I don't, I'm a roller-over-er... is that a word?), try the sensitive setting. If you're an Average Joe, who moves in the usual sleep motions and not lay like broccoli, use the normal setting.

Carry on!

Fitbit - Small, But Mighty

As you may have seen me mention a dozen or so times, I finally got my Fitbit in the mail this week.  For those not familiar with the Fitbit, it's kind of like 24 Hour Fitness' Bodybugg®, only much smaller, can clip anywhere and it's cheaper*.

First, let's talk about the "smaller". I love that I don't have to wear a belt or an armband to use this device. I clip it to my collar, tank strap or my sportsbra when I'm walking around or at the gym. Its about the size of a portable USB thumbdrive and looks like a wee money clip. They provide an additional plastic clip it can slide into if you want to strap it to a thicker belt or strap. It also comes with a soft elastic wristband that the Fitbit clips onto (and slips into a protective sheath, as well) so you can track your sleep.

You heard me. Track your sleep!  That was the big seller for me, even above the price.  This doodad can track everything the Bodybugg tracks... my steps, my calories burned, my activity level (and on the website, my food intake, mood and more) and it can track my sleep patterns. I just get in bed, hold down the little button on my Fitbit for 2 seconds until I see the word 'start', then I just lie down and get my Z's on.  In the morning, when I wake up and am ready to get out of bed, I simply hold the button down again for 2 seconds until it says "stop" and go about my  day.  When it syncs with my profile, it'll tell me what time I went to bed, how long it took me to fall asleep, how many times I was 'active' during the night and ultimately, how much actual sleep I got. It also can be set more sensitively if you really want to see every time you rolled over or whatever.   Totally. Rad.

I give this 5 donuts.