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 like the sleep tracker feature and ability to challenge friends and family to get more fit together
I would like to be more active and this would help motivate me to keep moving and have friendly competitions with my friends
because I lack the will power to motivate myself. This might help me with the jumpstart I need.
Been struggling for awhile now after my 70lbs weight loss. Gained some back and this would definally help keep me on the right track again! Thanks!
I would love to keep count of all of my steps and activity during each day! It would be cool to see just how much activity I do!
I would love to win this because it would help to keep me motivated and on track while trying to get healthier.
I like that its very user friendly and it can help me track my progress and help push me a bit more if I haven’t met my daily goals.
An easy way to make me accountable and keep me moving@
I’ve always wanted an activity tracker like this
My boss has one and it looks amazing! It is just what I need.
oh I need this! Just what I need to keep me accountable and help get rid of this last bit of baby weight!
I would love to win because I find myself taking care of and chasing the kids all day – this would keep me accountable & exercising regardless of my hectic schedule!
I would love to win this because I want to be up and going more often and I think the fitbit will keep me motivated and accountable!
It would help push me to get off the couch more.
to help me stay honest and keep on track with my walking
I would love to win because I have wanted one of these since they came out as well as I feel it would keep me more motivated to exercise.
I have been thinking about purchasing a FitBit – I stay motivated by competing against my own best numbers!
I’d love to win to help get in better shape to track my movements.
It’s all about the motivation. The FitBit Charge is an excellent tool to keep track of steps, calories, distance, sleep, and more. I am a visual person– I like to see the numbers, and then try to gain more progress each day, furthering my fitness goals.
I think it would be great motivation to get me moving and keep me active 🙂
I have had EXCELLENT results since beginning to use the FitBit Flex on Jan. 3rd – down 13 pounds, but I would like to get even more data collected and I love the display of the Charge! No worries, if I win, my 11 year old wants my Flex so she can track her activity, too! 🙂
I’ve been wanting a fitbit – thanks for the opportunity!
I would like to win so I can track my calories burned daily. I was using a BodyMedia Fit but mine broke last week
This would give me the motivation to get my butt moving!!
I would like to win and see my fit progress daily
I would like to get in shape and get some motivation going. Keeping track would be a great way to see my progress
I would love to win a Fitbit because I’ve been on Weight Watchers since mid-September & have lost just over 20 pounds so far. I need to start walking more once the weather gets nicer (it’s currently -44 with the windchill today, yuck!) and a Fitbit would definitely help keep me motivated! Thanks so much for the chance to win!
I need to lose weight and I just joined a gym this will keep me on track
I would use it to keep my on track and motivated to keep me fit.
So I can track my progress
I want to win so I can track my various activities.. especially steps and calories.
This would help with me getting healthier and help me burn calories when i walk 🙂
I’ve been yearning for a FitBit for quite a while – I could really use the incentive to move and exercise more!
I want to get heart healthy. Not just for me but for my husband and daughter. It’s hard to motivate myself but if I have something to help me track and be aware then I feel like it would help me tremendously
as well as tracking activity I’d like to track sleep!
I need more activity in my life and this would really motivate me.
I would Love to win to help keep me motivated =) Thank you
I have seen and heard so much about this ! would love one for myself since i just started getting into shape and getting fit last
I am starting a fitness business and I would Love to see how many calories my work out burns plus I would love to know my sleeping habits 🙂
I need something to get me motivated to get more active and this might just be it. I find I do better when I can see what/how I am doing. Would be amazing to win one!
I would love to win this for a gift for my mom – she really wants one for her birthday this coming spring.
I’d like to win it so I can challenge myself to do better and stay more active!
I would like to win so I could keep track of my movement during the day.
I would love to be able to keep track of my fitness effortlessly. It will definitely motivate me to reach any goals of mine.
I really want to get motivated , but I think I could use a hand ! This would help me keep on track !
I would like to know how idle or active I’m being.
I would love to win to help me keep track of my new goal of walking each day.
i lack motivation, i think that if my steps are visible it will be the kickstart that i need
I need this in my life,,I need all the motivation I can get to get me on track!!!!
I’d like to win this because one of my resolution’s for 2015 is to get my body in better shape and work out more!