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I was talking with someone the other day and he asked if I had a Fitbit.
“I do, but I never wear it,” I replied.
Before he got a chance to say another word and go into why I’m not wearing it and all that, I said, “I don’t wear it because I lie to it.”
The conversation turned to laughter as I explained my lies to my Fitbit.
Yes, that’s me. I lie to my Fitbit. Well, I lied to my Fitbit and then stopped wearing it.
Now, who in the world lies to the Fitbit? If I am alone in this, then so be it.
But I lie to it. They aren’t the little tiny lies either that don’t matter.
I mean, according to my Fitbit, I’m like 5’9” and oh, about 25 years old and oh about 125 pounds. Now in reality, I’m 5’2”, more like 46 and oh give or take more lies about 135 pounds, lol. Oh and according to it, I eat a lot of apples and drink way way too much water.
So seriously, it’s sitting on my desk. It’s not massive like a piece of exercise equipment taking up a ton of space or anything, but it has that same nag. The “should be doing” nag.
So here’s the thing. The conversation really got me thinking to move more and I’ve been ignoring it.
So I’ve decided that I will no longer:
Give my Fitbit to my 14 year-old to wear at track practice
Give it to my husband to shake and wear also when he goes somewhere. Contributing steps are now no longer acceptable.
Program in a banana for a slice of pizza.
Program in an apple for ice cream.
Tell it I am sleeping when I am not.
Add two glasses of water for each one I actually drink.
Find the lowest calorie food on it and choose that no matter what
I mean honestly the list of lies I have told this Fitbit goes on and on and on and on. I probably should change up the height and weight – oh ok the age too.
I am way too comfortable in my pants that are stretching with me and my Fitbit is on. My goodness not only am I lying to the Fitbit, but that translates into lying to myself or really having an internal nagging feeling that I need to be healthier. It’s a super bad sign when you have to buy bigger stretch pants!!
The other day, our youngest son met with a trainer at the track. Now, my old gymnast self knows the track well. My older self knows it well too, but has been ignoring it for a bunch of months now.
Our son came back from meeting with his trainer, Omar Kingston, and was all excited to have run the 60 in 6.83. My reaction was not only sheer joy for him, but hidden in the background my brain went back to the Fitbit lies and I thought (to myself, while driving home) “Crap, he needed my Fitbit on. That was a whole hour!!! Better yet, I could have put my fitbit on Omar! What a day that would be. Like 40,000 steps ~~"
Bad mom, Bad mom, Bad mom, lol!!
So after a real conversation with myself that wasn’t joking or lying to my Fitbit, I decided to put on the Fitbit and go to the track. Decision made. All great, ready to go, but the Fitbit battery had run out. Delayed. Charged. Ready to go.
I’m leaving and one of our older sons says, “Mom where are you going?”
“To the track. I’m going to do four laps around and see how fast I can do. I haven’t done that in a while, “ I said.
“I’ll bet you can’t do that in under 20 minutes, “ he said.
“You’re on, “ I said.
Ok so I’m up at the track. Outer circle, not paying attention to the marks. I’m going four laps around. My first lap just walking slow, not challenging myself at all, comes in a 3 minutes on the nose. I think to myself, “I am doing this in under 20 minutes.”
I see I am coming in at 20. Time to adjust. I start jogging.
Better 2.5 minutes that lap.
Time to walk again. Another one in 3.
Step up the pace 3 minutes again.
11.5 minutes. Ok, I just lied. It was really 18.5 minutes and each lap was around 4.5-5 minutes. Not horrible, but the funny part was coming in under 20. During the 2nd lap, Quinn’s challenge went through my mind so I started to run it. During the last lap, I could see my time was under 20, but by how much? I ran that one too. 18.5 minutes.
Got a lot of work to do….
Today my time was 16.5. No really it was and it was me wearing my Fitbit.
But for now, I’m moving again and I don’t have to lie about it. If you would like to borrow my Fitbit, let me know though. There’s always room to improve :)
Hugs and Love,
Elizabeth
Elizabeth Hamilton-Guarino is a best-selling author, speaker, trainer, entrepreneur and a recognized leader in personal development and optimal mindset strategies. For more than 20 years, she’s been teaching entrepreneurs, educators, corporate leaders, and people from all walks of life how to illuminate their light within and help them reach their highest, best potential. As an expert in mentoring people to market their strengths and achieve brand excellence, Fast Company magazine, in 2011, named Elizabeth a "Top influencer," and The Shorty Awards recognized her in 2013 as "Top 3 - Best in Social Media". Elizabeth has been ranked in the Top 50 Social CEO's to follow on Twitter by Strategic Objectives since 2013. (@BestEverYou)
As the founder of the Best Ever You Network, she created a brand with more than a million followers in social media and is on a mission to inspire you, to raise awareness and to promote greater excellence within each of us and in the world. Elizabeth is the author of Percolate - Let Your Best Self Filter Through.