Tag: fit bit

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Fabulous living

Apple Watch Review

Hey guys!

Happy Wednesday! I’ve held off on this post for a while but I’m excited to share it with you today. 

I always love reading people’s different reviews of products. Whenever, I’m on the fence about buying a product reading someone’s review always gives me the push or pull into getting a product. I’ve always been a HUGE fan of fitness trackers, especially Fit Bit. You can read my past Fit Bit reviews here and here.

For Christmas I got an Apple Watch and while it took a little bit of getting used and trying it out, I’m excited to share my review with you today!

My new Apple Watch SE.

A few notes, this post is not sponsored at all, this is just my own thoughts and opinions on Apple Watch.

For starters, I got the Apple Watch SE. 

It took a little bit of getting used to compared to my Fit Bit Versa Lite (the set-up, the notifications and the look) but once I did , I automatically fell in love with it.

For my job, I’m always on my phone, so having my calls, texts, emails, and social media all synced to my watch is huge!

I love that I can see who’s calling or texting me from my watch without picking up my phone.  The Fit Bit Versa Lite had these features too, but I like how on the Apple Watch you can read the full text message and not just the preview compared to the Fit Bit Versa Lite. You can also respond to texts through Siri or microphone or by writing a message out. I typically don’t respond to too many texts unless it’s a one-word or short response that I can quickly type or speak using Siri.

With the Fit Bit Versa Lite you can see when someone is calling you, but on the Apple Watch SE you can answer calls from it as well. I also like how you can get way more notifications from different apps. I can see when I get notifications from social media, to emails, calendars and emails.

I am always using my Apple Watch to set timers or alarms. I also use Siri a lot more on my Apple Watch compared to my phone. I also can get a quick check of the weather without going on my phone. Major wins for me!

Besides work, I really enjoy working out. I try to workout at least five days a week if not more. I use my Apple Watch to track my work out sessions, track how many calories I’ve burned, see how many steps I’ve gotten and see how long I’ve stood. There’s different programs you can start tracking when you workout from yoga to walking, running or lifting weights. Closing my rings is always a highlight of my day. 

If you have been following for a while, you know how I have started to incorporate mindfulness and meditation in my daily routines. One of the apps on my Apple Watch tracks Mindfulness, another favorite! I practice Mindfulness at the start and end of every day.

Now that I have raved about the Apple Watch, here’s a few things that I have noticed that I don’t love about it. 

The battery goes faster on the Apple Watch compared to the Fit Bit Versa Lite. If I start the day with 80 percent by the end of a 12 hour day, it’s around 30 percent. It makes sense since I’m using it constantly and since I sleep with It on at night, but it still go faster than the Fit Bit. I typically charge it when I’m showering at night or when I’m sitting down or doing my hair in the morning.

You also need a specific charger and charger block for the Apple Watch, so that’s something else you should be aware of.

The other thing that makes it questionable is the price, or more accurately is it worth it? In my opinion …yes! Since I use it for multiple reasons, all day every day. It’s definitely worth it. But if you are on the fence about investing, I would suggest maybe starting with a Fit Bit and working you way up to an Apple Watch, just a suggestion. 

The pros outweigh the cons but A LOT! Overall, I am thrilled with my Apple Watch and I use it all day, every day! In next week’s post, I’ll be sharing some of my favorite accessories. Until then, if you have an Apple Watch, what are your thoughts on it? Let me know!

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Fabulous living

Mindfulness

Hello all! 

Happy Wednesday! It’s still warm, the sun is shining and technically summer, but it’s September, which means fall is coming. Labor Day is over which means we are making our way into autumn. I’m excited for the new season, but I’m still not ready to say goodbye to summer quite yet.

I mentioned a few weeks ago, that I’ve started to incorporate mindfulness in my daily routine. According to Merriam Webster, mindfulness is “the practice of maintaining a nonjudgmental state of the heightened or complete awareness of one’s thoughts emotions, or experiences on a moment to  moment basis.” I first heard about mindfulness in college and then learned more about it through work and stories I’ve done. I always found it interesting and these past few weeks I wanted to give it a try myself. 

If you have been following me for a while, you know I love my Fit Bit! One of the features the app has is to track your mindfulness. There’s a number of guided breathing exercises to calm your heart rate and soften your breathing. It took a while to get into a routine of doing it and just about finding time that works in my schedule to do it. What I like about the Fit Bit app is that there are a number of different guided breathing practices, they range from two minutes to 30 minutes. YouTube also has a number of guided practices too. Most of the time, I do my breathing exercises after I journal in the morning or when I am driving to work. I really like to take the time before the day gets underway to just reset and calm the mind before the day gets busy.

On the app, you can monitor your monthly mindfulness and your daily mindfulness

At this point I do my breathing exercises 7 days a week. It only takes a few minutes, and it gets my mind and heart in a good spot before the day gets busy.

Here’s some of the different exercises.

I am a routine person through and through. When I can start my day with journaling, breathing and a workout and reading, I know my day is off to a great start. 

Being more mindful and taking time to reset before the day gets started has been a huge help to lower my stress level especially on busy work days.

What ways do you unwind and relax before or at the end of your day?

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Fitness

Fit Bit Versa Lite Review

Hey everyone! Happy Wednesday! I hope you had a great weekend and start for your week. Last week, I shared that I had to bite the bullet and buy a new fit bit. I got my first one three and a half years ago, I wrote a blog post about my experience with the Alta HR here. Their life expectancy is a year so I was more than happy that it lasted this long.

I decided to go with the Fit Bit Vera Lite Edition. I knew what I wanted with a the fit bit, I wanted something that would track my steps, calories burned, exercise, sleep, and receive notifications. 

I have been happy with how the Versa Lite has worked out so far. The battery is long lasting, I typically charge it when I’m relaxing and I don’t need to wear it to track my fitness or steps. 

The alarm clock on it super helpful for when I’m sleeping, I still have an alarm on my phone, but having an alarm right on your wrist works great.

The bigger screen face is one of my favorite parts, when I get a call or text I can read them full message and not just a preview, like my old one. I love how my phone and my watch can sync up. I can see more notifications on my watch such as remidners or calendar. 

The exercise feature is my absolute favorite, but it’s something I need to always remind myself about. The fit bit tracks your exercise, whether it’s a work out, walk, run, bike, or training. But, the key is remembering to start the work out so it tracks it. 

I have found my fit bit to be very accurate when it comes to logging my steps and heart rate. 

I’m a competitive person, therefore, I always try to hit 10,000 steps a day, it was much easier in college when I was walking to and from my dorm to campus, but this summer I have been trying to get in a morning work out and a walk in, sometimes both happen, other times it’s one or another, my fit bit helps holds me accountable to my fitness goals. 

I’ve always been a fan of fit bit and their products and I have been happy with my new Versa Lite so far. What are your favorite fitness products and if you have the Versa Lite, what are your favorite features? 

Enjoy the warm weather this week and spend some time outside!

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Fitness

Favorite Health and Fitness Apps

No matter how long you have been following my blog, fitness and staying healthy is a huge part of my life. Whether it’s eating healthy or working out several times a week, I make my health a priority. One of the ways that I keep my health in order is with the help of fitness trackers and apps. Last year, I did a review of my Fit Bit, you can find that here.Today, I’m sharing my favorite health and fitness apps. 

Fit Bit App

 I’m going to keep this short and sweet, first, you don’t to have a fit bit to have the app, I used the app before I had the watch. This is by far my favorite fitness app. It tracks your steps, miles walked, calories burned, and how active you are. It also sends you all notifications whether it’s calendar reminders or text messages or phone calls, it’s super helpful. The app also allows you to track your food and water intake, your weight, and then one of my favorites, your sleep. Tracking my sleep is super important to me. When you wear your fit bit to bed, it monitors how long you are asleep for, and how much time you spend in light sleep, deep sleep, REM, and are awake. It gives you a sleep score every night too. I always find it interesting to see how rested I am. If these are all priorities for you, then this is a great investment. 

The Fit Bit home page with all your stats
Here’s the sleep tracker

Health (Apple version)

If you are Apple die-hard fans and like to utilize everything with Apple, then this would be the App for you. You can use it with the Apple Watch, like the fit bit app, it tracks your steps, miles walked, sleep and how active you are. You can still utilize this app without having the apple watch, I did the same but found it wasn’t as accurate without having the watch on you. For example, my fit bit is more accurate with my steps and working out because I always have my watch on, however, since I don’t have an apple watch the health app isn’t always up to date. If you are an apple lover or have an apple watch, this is the route for you.

The Health app through Apple

Sleep Cycle

The sleep tracker through Sleep Cycle

This falls into the health section of apps. Like I said, I am always intrigued about measuring my sleep. This app is great for tracking sleep, you just turn it on before you go to bed and make sure it’s near you when you are sleeping. It will track how awake you are and how restless you sleep. It also doubles as an alarm clock too. This app is free and it’s simple to use. If you don’t care as much about the fitness and want to focus more on sleep, this is the app for you. 

These are my favorite apps for health and fitness, I will admit that I use the Fit Bit app the most since it meets all my needs and I utilize everything it offers. What are your favorite health and fitness apps? 

I hope this post encourages you to get out there and be active. Have a fabulous week!

Categories
Fitness

2018 Fitness Goals

This year, besides my new years resolutions, I came up with some things I want to work on when it comes to my personal development. One of these goals deals with fitness. Last year, I made a point to go to the gym five days a week. I successfully accomplished that goal with the exception of summer when I didn’t go as frequently.

This year, I want to challenge myself more when it comes to my work outs. For example, instead of just running on the treadmill for 30 minutes, I want to change it up with jogging, walking, and adding an incline to challenge myself more.  I want to make my workouts more meaningful. I want to have a purpose of what I’m doing. Here are a few other things I want to improve with my work outs.

  • Walk 10,000 steps a day. This may seem like a lot but with all the walking I do at school to get from building to building, it shouldn’t be too hard. This will also encourage me to take more walks when I have down time. I’m also looking forward to using my Fit Bit Alta HR to keep track of my steps. After just using my phone to track my steps for years, I have finally got a Fit Bit, be on the lookout in the future for why I love my Fit Bit. But, for now, I recommend getting one.

    I always wear my fit bit wherever I go.
  • Work on my Weight Training. When I go to the gym, I tend to focus on Cardio, however, this year I want to work on weights training to add tone muscle to my body. I’ve been searching online and on Pinterest for ideas, but I would love to know your favorite workouts. Let me know in the comments below.
  • Get my time down for running a mile. As much as I love to work out, I hate running! Typically I jog or walk on the treadmill with an incline. This year, I want to work on my speed when it comes to running. I plan to spend one day a week just focusing on running as part of my workout.

My latest fit bit stats.

Whether you are a workout enthusiast, or you have never stepped foot in a gym, don’t feel intimidated.  I try to set realistic goals when it comes to fitness, I KNOW I’m not gonna run a marathon anytime soon. I set these goals to motivate myself. What areas do you want to improve in your life? Organizing? Fitness? Eating? Let’s all work together to achieve our goals of 2018 together!