Monday, Monday

I haven't been around much lately.

I haven't been writing here, I haven't been reading here, I haven't been here at all.

It's not because I went off the rails, quit trying, and gained a bunch of weight.  It's because the impact of writing this blog affected an area of my life that is important to me: My Writing.

The responsibility of trying to be here and straight up writing about losing weight, writing about trying to get healthy stole my writing joy.  I didn't write for a while...at all.

It's back though...it's like an addiction.  A need for me to put pen to paper and express how I feel, or just feelings in general, bubbles right underneath the surface, I have to feed that need.  It's a healthy addiction.

I have considered that maybe the strong focus on losing weight sometimes makes me dislike myself. 

Maybe I can't see the forest for the trees due to my laser focus on one particular area of my life.

We all know that you can workout and eat right and do everything right and one day you will reach your goal...but will it fix what got you here in the first place?  I don't believe that everyone has a deep seeded reason they gained weight, but I believe I do.  I believe this because the same struggles I fight with losing weight are the same struggles I have in not reaching ANY goal I set.

I am still here.  I am still fighting.  I am still writing both here and around.  I am not sure right now if my two writing worlds have a relationship they plan to take public.  I am not going anywhere.  This is still a priority to me.  It just can't be THE priority.  It has a place and an implementation, but it has definitely carried unnecessary focus since I lost my job.  The phrase that pays should be "Healthy Body, Healthy Mind." 

Fitbit vs. Slimcoach: A Winner

When it all comes right down to it, Fitbit is victorious.  When it comes down to a reason...it's because of convenience.

Slimcoach is just a hassle.  It has been knocked off of me getting in and out of the car, walking with my kids,  and getting out of a movie seat.  I have had to make numerous calls to stores, restaurants, and movie theaters to search for it.  I have sent many a child to the wall for repeatedly pushing the button to make the light come on, therefore my children, nieces, and nephews HATE it.  :)

Besides that...fitbit is conveniently worn while I am sleeping.  I never forget to put it on.  Slimcoach is too clunky to sleep in and if I tried, it would fall off in bed.  With a busy schedule it gets left behind all the time and this skews its reporting. I am increasing my steps daily, but my inability to remember to put the darn thing on forces slimcoach to give me a reading indicating that I am a waddling penguin with an inactive lifestyle (actual graphic).

Fitbit only needs to be charged like every 6 or 7 days.  If need be, I can charge it during one night of sleep and since I wear it on my shirt or bra...I can easily remember to put it on.  I have also gotten into the habit of putting it on the charger while I shower, eliminating the need for it to be charging for an extensive period of time.

I have also noticed a difference in step tracking between the two devices.  Slimcoach always ends up reporting a significant increase in the number of my steps compared to fitbit.  Sometimes as many as 1,500 to 2,000.  I have no way to know with which device the issue of accuracy lies, but knowing what I know about myself and the fact that I want to get healthy, I am going to err on the side of caution and go with the lower number. 

The Slimcoach website is only free for the first year. Fitbit is free whether you have the device or not. The user interface online for Slimcoach has a lot of really nice features, but the clunkiness and inconvenience of the device itself, outweighs the good.

In the end, fitbit is more user friendly, convenient, the website is free.  Losing weight is hard enough...no need to complicate it.