What is new, is my recent acquisition... a Fitbit, an Alta HR to be exact...like I'd know the difference between it and another. What convinced me to purchase this new toy was a friend who showed me the data on her recent sleep patterns. I was intrigued as I've wondered what my sleep is like. I usually go to bed about 10 p.m., watch the news for 10-15 minutes and usually fall asleep relatively soon after lights are out. Typically I sleep until around 6 or 6:30 though can be up a couple of times during the night and the cats will wake me earlier.
What I have learned is that I spend most of the night in light sleep. Most nights I'm awake more often than I recall, and I spend very little time in deep sleep. Most information I've read indicates 20% of a night's sleep should be deep sleep, I rarely get more than 10-15% a night. An article I read indicates, "deep sleep is crucial for physical renewal, hormonal regulation, and growth. Without deep sleep, you're more likely to get sick, feel depressed, and gain and unhealthy amount of weight." Ah ha, now I can blame lack of sleep for my weight gain...or not. I suspect it has a lot more about what goes in than how much or how little sleep I get.
When I told my daughter that I've learned I'm a light sleeper, her response was, "that explains why I couldn't move at night without you hearing me". Hmmm, perhaps being a single mom all those years caused this pattern.
In any event, I'm finding other benefits to the Fitbit. For example, on a normal day of doing housework and yard work, I can easily reach 7-8 thousand steps. However, housework is rarely recognized by the app as "active minutes", with the exception of vacuuming. Gardening, on the other hand does count. I believe it determines the activity level by heart rate. I'm still not at 10,000 steps a day every day but my average for the last two weeks is over that number. All it takes to reach the target is a walk around the neighbourhood. I just have to get more regular with these walks.
There is also an option to track what one eats and drinks, calculate the calories and pointing when one has over eaten (only once in 14 days). What I have learned is I have far too much sodium in my diet. This is a concern because of my family history of heart and stroke so I'll definitely need to work on that. For example, for dinner this evening I had chicken strips with a side salad at the local Denny's restaurant. According to the app that meal contained almost 1200 mg of sodium! The daily recommendation is 2300 mg. Once I added in the cheese and salad dressing I had in my salad at lunch (nearly 600 mg), and the sausage with cheese on an English muffin for breakfast (760 mg) and I'm well over the daily limit. I understand sodium is used as a preservative, hence there are high amounts of it in salad dressing, in processed meats, and cheese. I do take some of the numbers less seriously as, for example, grilled chicken is shown as high sodium. I don't salt my meat that I grill but rather use a Mrs. Dash, a non-salt added spice mixture, however I usually marinate the meat in a oil based salad dressing. I'm definitely going to have to start reading labels more closely and try to find options that will be a little more heart healthy.
Do you have a Fitbit (or some other tracking device)? It's relatively new to me so I'm quite fascinated, is there something you've learned with the device that you can share?
Speaking of sleep, it's time to head to bed. Have a good weekend everyone!
I do have a Fitbit that will track sleep. I wore it for what, 5 or 6 months starting at the end of 2017 and into May or June last year. It's easy enough to get 7K+ steps in a day, or even the 10+K for me, because I walk and bus everywhere, but wearing it and challenging myself is what caused, IMO, the plantar fasciitis in my left foot (I already had/have it in the right). So I stopped wearing it for a long time, did recharge and put it on again last fall or winter...can't remember. I remember posting about small goals, though. LOL. Anyway, like you, I found that most of my sleep was spent in a light state, very little deep/quality sleep. No surprise, I already knew that.
ReplyDeleteFor me, the interest in tracking steps and sleep has waned (well, I'm not doing it anymore). I know I sleep poorly and I know the distances between points, so know pretty accurately how much I walk. I'm still not up to full walking as I used to be and might never be again, not in one shot. One foot or the other will let me know very quickly when I've pushed things too much!
Have fun with yours! I did enjoy it until the foot problem arose. If not for that, maybe I'd still be using it.
I used to have one... but it's in a drawer now. I learned the same thing as you did about my sleep. I don't sleep very deeply! I also thought that the step counter on mine was not right. Jiggling it while doing other stuff like riding my bike made the step count skyrocket! But, it was a general gauge of how active I was. Perhaps I should go back to it for the sleep monitor. I am terrible about not getting enough sleep... Have fun!!!!
ReplyDeleteI have the Garmin version and I got it like you to see how I was sleeping. Rarely get 8 hours but over half my time is in deep sleep so I hope that helps. I don't worry about the steps being 80 yrs old. I'm lucky to get 5000. It is a useful toy.
ReplyDeleteI have too many electronic devices in my life already. And I know I don't sleep long enough, though I suspect I sleep well enough. Last night was a record, though: two hours! I plead extenuating circumstances...
ReplyDeleteI've had that exact model for two years - love it! There is only 1 drawback. As I wear it every day all the time the straps break down. I ended up getting 2 replacement straps in the year it was under warranty. The 3rd time it wasn't under warranty I didn't want to spend the money for the proper fit bit replacement band - so I ordered a generic one that is meant to fit on amazon (was highly rated). Now 6 months later is is still perfectly working and was only $12
ReplyDeleteMy entire long long comment just flew out the window. I watched it happen. I saw it just wipe out.
ReplyDeleteI will say less. I have both Fitbit and iWatch. I wear them on either arm. I love them both and wouldn't feel right without at least one of them. Hey...I can do the Goal Day with you. I can challenge you to achieving whatever your goal is, and I must do my girl too...we have fro the time it is issued till midnight. It's fun, no making you feel badly. I'd have to have you on my friends though to do it Or you, I. I can get a good 5 thousand or more 7 thousand steps on deeper cleaning days. Vacuuming included. My straps are fine..never broke and I clean it with rubbing alcohol every few days. Straps only..not the back of the "watch". As a heart patient. I like to see what I do every day...and challenge the kids or friends to achieve their goal for the day. Mine is low...so I can achieve it. Only 7000. I usually get about 14-15 thousand steps tho.
goal..not girl. Sheesh.
ReplyDeleteNo fitbit (daughter has one). But I have my iPhone and it monitors steps and sleep (can do more, but that's all I keep up with). I also go to bed around 10pm, read until about 11:30 when I get an alert that says "time to go to sleep" (funny). And although I'm up several times during the night (which may keep one from getting deep sleep), I usually wake around 7:30. One of our 3 cats sleep with us... and she demands to be let out of the room between 3 and 7 on most days.
ReplyDeleteI do have a Fitbit and I'm hooked on it from the first one I got at least 5 years ago. When this one goes, I'll get another. I love it! I find it pushes me to move. If I look at it in the daytime and I've only walked 2500 steps, I get up and go for a walk. When I was really lazy, mine notifies me every hour that I need to move so I would actually get up and walk 250 steps. Seriously! I'm a nut! But physically better for it. My sleep habits are fine but I was interested also. Not much of my sleep is deep either but I'm not concerned about sleep nor do I keep track of the food. I did once but it was too much of a chore recording it on line. I hope you like it! Mine is an Alta HR also and I love the interchangable bands. You can order them in different colours from Amazon at great prices. :)
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