Do you think Fitness Trackers can really motivate you?

[Graybush]

So around this time a few years ago, I get and got myself a fitness tracker. Specifically, a Fitbit Charge HR. I try to wear it regularly but let's be honest, sometimes we forget to put it back on after taking it off.

Recently though, I took mine off about 6 months ago and I just... Didn't put it back on. I just wasn't feeling up to it, and I spent the winter keeping my tracker off. Going 6 months without wearing your tracker means, well, it doesn't check your progress or in my case the lack of progress.

I put it back on a few weeks ago, and it made me think.

Do you think that fitness tracker technology can motivate you? Can it make you change? It's something that's been on my mind.

 

[rgd1101]

Don't think so, but then again I mostly swim and do weight.

 

[boosted1g]

Either you are motivated to your fitness or you are not.
Wearing it might in the short run im might prompt more motivation but just like your example, a few months latter it is completely irrelevant. Then at that point you are right back to the beginning of having the same level of motivation you had before the tracker.

 

[Graybush]

Either you are motivated to your fitness or you are not.
Wearing it might in the short run im might prompt more motivation but just like your example, a few months latter it is completely irrelevant. Then at that point you are right back to the beginning of having the same level of motivation you had before the tracker.

You make a good point. Though one of the reasons I got one was so that I could see the data in my hands (literally) and be able to make changes to my lifestyle. And it's worked for the most part. I've got about 16 months of data on it before my 6 month absence. I'd probably say if I hadn't gotten one, I may not have tried so hard in the past year.

 

[rgd1101]

It usually does at the beginning, then you burn out, hit the exercise rut or hurt yourselves.
Just have to think of it as invest in yourselves. and change up the routines when it get boring.

 

[Graybush]

It usually does at the beginning, then you burn out, hit the exercise rut or hurt yourselves.
Just have to think of it as invest in yourselves. and change up the routines when it get boring.

That's a pretty good point. One of my personal goals is to watch what I eat, and when I got the fitbit it worked for quite awhile. Though for the 6 months I stopped I wasn't watching what I was eating... Hence the lack of progress.

Now that I picked it back up I'm being very careful, and oddly enough, now that the app is back on my phone I've been pretty pro-active in logging too.

 

[Havind40]

I`m still thinking about buying fitness tracker cause I walk/run a lot during a day and on fitness classes also, but I`m not sure it really helps to motivate or gives me any really useful information about my health.
Moreover, I know that it takes more charge from my phone. And this is a really big minus.

 

[bb49]

I was given a Fitbit last Christmas and it has made a huge difference in my life.
I had retired a year or more prior to receiving it and being a bit lazy by nature I had started putting on a few pounds.
Of course when I first received the Fitbit I was all gungho, but then my kids and their friends invited me to join their Workweek challenges.
Though a bit lazy, I am also somewhat competitive, so this really got me going.
It's been almost a year now and I've dropped a few pounds, brought in my belt a bit tighter and have a lot more energy.
When I first started my goal was 8,000 steps per day. I'm now up to 12,000 a day on a regular basis.
When it comes to the challenges I'm usually last but then I'm up against 30 year olds.
So it has made a huge difference. It has motivated me. I always wear the Fitbit and I'm now always conscious of my daily steps.