Move over Stella & Dot bangles and Cartier love bracelets, there’s a new arm party in town.
Fitness-tracking bracelets are finally mainstream. Nothing says, “I’m healthier than you and I know it,” than a black, flexible, and durable elastomer material bracelet designed to track your steps, sleep, and calories burned. This simple black jewelry has been gracing the wrists of famous models, like Karlie Kloss, since day one, but it has taken a while for these healthy trackers to take off with the average soccer mom.
With a variety of fitness trackers to choose from, consumers become overwhelmed and fear that
they may not be purchasing the right fitness tracker to suit their needs. Personally,
I use the FitBit Flex. It’s slim, it’s (sort of) stylish, and it gets the job
done. Essentially, the FitBit Flex tracks my steps, distance traveled, and
calories burned during the day. At night, it tracks my sleep quality and even
wakes me up in the morning through a series of light vibrations. FitBit also
sets a daily goal of at least 10,000 steps, which can be challenging when you
spend all day in an office, sitting behind a computer, typing away.
This is where
the addiction comes in: at 10,000 steps the FitBit Flex vibrates. This is a
kind of congratulatory sensation that you’re not a lazy incompetent fool. I
should preface that I never thought of myself of a lazy incompetent fool prior to
my ownership of the FitBit Flex. I thought I exercised a pretty decent amount
and accomplished far beyond 10,000 steps every day. Needless to say, I was
wrong.
On a typical day, without excessive exercise, I can clock nearly 7,000
steps. Most people would consider that pretty good! Not me, though. I’ve gotten
into the habit of jogging in place around my room at 11:45 p.m. just to get to
10,000 before the clock strikes midnight. On my days off, I choose to walk
everywhere. Need to pick something up at Walgreen’s? I’ll walk. Want to get a
bite to eat? I’ll walk. Call me crazy, but I’m definitely not alone in this
habit. David Sedaris, humorist and author, notes that when his FitBit broke he, “was suddenly free, but also bereft.” Instead of celebrating his
newfound freedom, he ordered a new FitBit within five hours and had it express
shipped.
There’s a lesson
to be learned from new technology: it’s addicting. Even when this technology
makes you healthier, physically, it is unhealthy when it becomes an addiction -- like running aimlessly around your room trying to rack up steps. My solution
to this addiction? I’m still figuring that out. Perhaps I need to accept that
some days I’m just not as active whereas others I can score 10,000 within the
first few hours of my day. Sure, getting to analyze my every movement both day
and night is exciting and beneficial, but there comes a point when quantifying
everything I do becomes unhealthy. Until then, however, you can catch me
rocking a black nondescript bracelet on my left wrist 24/7.
man running in forestPhoto by 
