Tackling Fitness Like A Boss.

It’s no secret* that I am an enthusiastic fan of Fitbit, the little wireless fitness trackers that monitor your steps, sleep and activities.  My husband bought me my first one in 2010, and I’m now on *ahem* my fourth.  I like to think that the company and I have been growing up together rather than focusing on the fact that I washed two of them and wore the other one out, but I digress…

If you’re thinking about tackling your fitness goals in 2014, you might consider a Fitbit as your ultimate coach and training companion.  Here’s what I love most about this family of products:

• The Fitbit is like a pedometer with dozens of bells and whistles, including the ability to track steps along with calories burned, distance and flights of stairs climbed.
• The accompanying website lets you set daily and overall goals and visualize trends and progress.
• A robust food database (like MyFitnessPal or LiveStrong) allows tracking of calories consumed/burned alongside fitness data.
• Activity data syncs wirelessly to your computer or phone (huge improvement over the first iteration) and you can set goals and prompts.
• It harnesses competitiveness: you’re motivated to go for a walk, workout harder or take the stairs at every opportunity.
• You can compete with or support friends and workout buddies (through private groups) as you work to achieve milestones.
• Best of all (and nobody gets this at first), the sleep tracker reveals startling truths about your less than stellar sleep habits.

Despite knowing all the incomparable benefits of the Fitbit as compared to simple apps alone, gym memberships and workout videos, I’ve definitely fallen off the wagon since my itsy bitsy baby triathlon triumph over the summer (Why I Decided To Tri), and the results are not pretty.  I’m about to upgrade to the Fitbit Force:

I previously had the first generation Fitbit Ultra followed by the Fitbit One.  I loved them both and heartily recommend them, particularly if you are a bit more responsible than me.  My problem was that I always wore mine clipped to undergarments, resulting in them twice being thrown into the washer, which was quite devastating.  So, I’m finally making the switch to the Force since I like both the lower likelihood of a plunge (it’s water resistant) and the idea of a silent alarm clock on my wrist.  You can check out all the product offerings from the $60 Zip to the $129 Force here on the Fitbit product comparison site.

The Aria scale is also high on my covet list.  Hello, beautiful:

Tell me about your fitness goals for 2014, and let me know if you’re using or considering a Fitbit.  I’d love to link up and make some beautiful progress together!  Lace up your sneaks and join me using Fitbit like a boss.

*So much so, I might add, that I serve as an affiliate, which means that if you purchase a Fitbit through a link on my site, I’ll earn a small commission.  Because, frankly, enough people said to me as I enthused tirelessly and prattled on about Fitbit: “You should be earning a commission on those!”  Which is exactly how it should happen – love a product, rave about it and reap the benefits.