January and February are good months to re-prioritize health and wellness. Gone off the fitness wagon? Slacker? A good swift kick in the butt is what it takes to get back into shape.
I also love a good challenge… so when I was invited to participate in a health and fitness challenge with TELUS called Every Step Counts, I was IN!
TELUS hooked me up with my own Fitbit Charge for the #EveryStepCounts challenge, and to help me stay on track with my health and fitness goals. Fitbit is wearable fitness technology which motivates you to move more by tracking all-day activity like steps taken, distance traveled, calories burned, floors climbed and active minutes.
To get started, I first met with a TELUS Health Tech Trainer who is trained experts in fitness and wearable health technology. We met in a customized, one-on-one learning session at my local TELUS store and he showed me how to make the most of my new Fitbit and how to sync with my smartphone.
On Monday, February 2nd, the challenge officially began! Along with 15 other bloggers across Canada, I competed for two weeks to see who could rack up the most steps!
Before the challenge began, I didn’t imagine that I could reach 10,000 steps in a day, which is recommended. Studies have shown that people who increased their walking to 10,000 steps daily experience health benefits.
My lifestyle doesn’t seem active on paper; working mainly from home, walking to and from my office to the kitchen (yum) and laundry room (boo), running errands and ‘chasing’ after my kids, I didn’t think my steps would add up. To my surprise, I surpassed the 10,000 step goal in my day-to-day activities. Throw in workouts at the gym and was on my way to reaching the 20,000 mark!
Fifteen kilometres in one day? Unreal! The Fitbit dashboard shows a graph on your daily activity and allows you to view your progress. You can earn badges, helping to motivate you. You can also log your food, and add other food/calorie counting apps to work with your Fitbit Charge.
Charge lets you see every stat as it happens—right on your wrist, with a bright OLED display. I was surprised by the length of the battery life (7-10 days) – I only had to charge my Fitbit twice in two weeks.
The app can be dowloaded on your iPhone or Android smartphone and synced to your computer as well. Fitbit Charge lets you see your progress on-the go, and shows you detailed charts and graphs so you can track your trends over time.
Another cool feature of the Fitbit Charge is the sleep tracking. As we know, sleep is essential for a person’s health and well-being. But how much and how well are you sleeping a night? After all that activity, I was delighted to see this – probably the best sleep I’ve had in a long time:
What’s even more fun about the Fitbit Charge is that you can invite family and friends to share stats and compete. With the #everystepcounts challenge with TELUS, it’s been a great challenge competing with my fellow bloggers. It’s been fun motivating each other and taking part in a friendly competition.
I’m thrilled to say that I finished the challenge in THIRD place! *Pat on the back*
Now that the challenge is over, I’m still wearing my Fitbit and continuing to track my activity. The more active I am, the better I feel.
ENTER TO WIN
Do you want a Fitbit Charge of your own to track your steps? Our friends at TELUS are giving one lucker reader a Fitbit Charge worth $139.99. Please use the Rafflecopter form below to enter this giveaway.
190 Comments
I would love to be able to track my daily steps taken and keep myself accountable
one of these bad boys would mean training would be so much easier to keep track!
I love that it is so effortless to use. And it keeps track of calories and sleep as well
I would love to win so I could increase my fitness level!
I would love to win to help me keep track of my fitness. 😀
I got a fitbit for Xmas and love it. I want one for my husband!
I would like to win one to keep track of my fitness.
I just had a baby and I would love to use this to help me get back into shape!
I would love to win this Fitbit to keep me motivated and on track with my exercise program and sleeping schedule!
I have recently begun trying to walk every day… only a few misses so far! I started at one kilometer, and am now up to a mile AND a kilometer! I feel high as a kite when I am done – then have to have a nap! Haven’t lost much weight yet, but feel better. Anyway, the gizmo sounds like an ideal tracking device, and I am ready for a perk! Thanks for holding the contest.
It would be a great reminder to get moving!!
Because tracking a healthy lifestyle is exactly what I need to get right on ‘track.’
it would be fun to track my fitness and see how many steps I take each day
I’d like to win this because it would motivate me to get more exercise.
thank you
I would love to win a FitBit because I’ve never had one and I’d love to see how my physical activity measures up! I think it’d be great motivation too. 🙂
I would love to be able to track my steps because I am training for a half marathon.
I go jogging a lot and would like to keep track of my activity and make goals.
I used to run with my roommate who had a fitbit so she would always tell me how much we ran, and kind of track of running progress together, but now that I live alone, I would love to be able to use a Fitbit to keep track of my own progress.
I’d love it because summer is coming fast, and I can’t wait to get out and hit some pavement!
I would love a tracker like this to motivate me to exercise more.
I’d love to win so I can see how many steps I actually take a day and hopefully push myself do to more.
I’d like to win the Fitbit because I’ve gotten into some terrible habits this winter and need some motivation.
I would like to set myself physical objectives 🙂
To help work on my fitness resolution for New Year.
These sound amazing! Would love to try one out!
I feel like keeping track of statistics would allow me to get into better shape.
I would love to track how many steps I take and how active I am every day and improve on that.
I am looking for ways to improve my fitness level. This tracker would be of great help.
I would love to be able to track just how many steps I take in a day versus how many I think I take, so I can increase to the correct amount I *should* be doing.
I love the fitbit…I got one for Christmas from my son…I want one for my mom now!
I would like to get the Fitbit to stay motivated with my workouts.
I would love a Fitbit to help me continue my weight loss journey. I still have a long way to go and this would help me be more active as I reach my goal.
I would like to have a fitbit to keep me motivated to increase my daily activities and push harder.
Doc just said I need to drop some pounds, this could be the motivation I need.
Both my husband and I are trying to get into better shape. We have joined an exercise group and have been attending the past 10 weeks, but it is shutting down and we want to continue on our own. This would be a real help in keeping track of our steps, and how much sleep we actually get. Thanks for giving us this opportunity to win one.
Gosh I have been wanting one of these for so long. It would really help me to get on track after a year of illness. I am slowly starting to get back into a good routine with sleep and exercise.
They are a great tool so congratulations to whoever wins!
so I can see how many steps I actually take a day, and for training
This looks amazing. Hitting 41 it has taken a toll on the body. Seems like I look at cake and gain 10 lbs. Being a woman is tough but we have to keep going. I remind myself of that daily. There are many of us in the same boat. If it’s genetic….I got the short end of the stick! lol.