Okay, so I’ve been trying to be more active lately, you know, less couch potato, more…slightly-less-lazy potato. I have a Fitbit, and I remembered this “Reminders to Move” feature. Figured I’d give it a shot.
Set up the thing
First, I opened the Fitbit app on my phone. It took a few seconds to sync, It always took a few seconds. Then, I tapped on my profile picture, it is in the top left corner, then tapped the picture of my Fitbit device.
I scrolled down and find this “Reminders to Move” option. It was off, obviously. I tapped it, then you will see a switch.
Customize the settings
I can set the start and end times. I made mine from 9 am to 6 pm, because that’s pretty much my workday. I work from home, so those hours, I sitting at my desk, mostly. You can also choose which days of the week you want the reminders. I just went with Monday to Friday, weekends are for, hopefully, not being glued to a chair.
Wait the reminder
Basically, every hour, ten minutes before the hour is up, the Fitbit’s will buzz if it can’t detect you walk 250 *’s just a little vibration and a message on the Fitbit screen that says “Feed me steps!” or something similar. I have already set up. And then I just…wait. And it really work.
Real using
The first few times it buzzed, I was like, “Oh yeah, right, move.” And I’d get up, walk around the house for a couple of minutes, maybe get some water, and sit back down. It’s not a huge workout, but it’s better than nothing.
- It’s surprising how often I get sucked into work and don’t realize how long I’ve been sitting.
- It’s easy to ignore. I could just keep sitting there, but I feel a tiny bit guilty if I do, so I usually get up.
- It doesn’t magically make me super fit, but it’s a good nudge.
So, that’s it. My super exciting experiment with Fitbit’s Reminders to Move. It’s a simple thing, but I think it will helpful. I have been using it for a week, I do feel like I am less stiff when I did not use it. If you have a Fitbit, or maybe other fitness trackers have something similar, try it, it could be useful.