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
To keep me motivated
I want to win so I can keep track of my fitness goals.
I need to be motivated to get off my butt and move.
I’d like to win because i like the idea of being able to track my fitness and health activity. I love that everything is in one place and i feel like it would be very motivational.
would love to win this for my sister
I always thought that when my kids got older that it would be easier for me to have time for myself to workout…wrong! I would love a fitbit to help me get back on track and put myself first 🙂
What a great giveaway! I’d love to win a FitBit because it seems to be one of the best tools to get motivated and get active.
I have lost quite a bit of weight, however, I am at a standstill, and this would help me make sure I am on track with exercise
i would like to win this to keep me on track for my fitness goals
I absolutely need to win this to give myself a kick in the ass to get in shape!
To provide that extra push of motivation!
I’d like to see how much more it tracks than my misfit.
I’m on a fitness mission this year!
this is a mothers dream to stay motivated!
I would love to have one to keep me on track, and to keep me inspired! Thank you for the chance to win one 🙂
I have always wanted a fitbit to keep me motivated
I’d like to win to stay on track with my motivation. I’ve recently lost some weight and would like to keep it going 🙂
I would like the motivation and to be able to challenge myself daily to meet goals!
I’m going to be having my second baby soon and will need to get back in shape!
I want to win to stay motivated and encourage myself to be active
I need something to motivate me and keep me on track!
Would be interesting to see how much I walk daily and to keep track and step it up a notch!
As an artist who is self employed, it’s harder to take care of myself as I never leave my home-office/studio. This is an on-hand constant reminder to make sure I am putting just as much love into myself as I am into my artwork and creations. Good luck, all!
I would like to win the FitBit because I have heard nothing but great things about them! With spring and good weather coming into play, I will be starting to go on my daily runs/jogs again, and this would be really nice to have to track everything.
i would love to win this as this year i want to be more active ..this could help me be motivate
I would like a fitbit because I think having the accountability (even if it’s only accountable to a device that only I see) will really help keep me on track. It’s so easy to skip a walk or decide not to get up from the computer when there’s nothing to keep you honest.
I would like to win so that I could have some assistance with trying to be more active.
I’m trying to get back into shape after having my son. Anything the can help me keep track plus make it more fun would be welcome!
I can’t fit into 90% of my clothes. And if I have a “I need to hit X amount of movement” each challenge, I know my OCD will force me to hit that level.
No more Excuses/Procrastination – time to be accountable and reinvent the vest version of me. I owe that not only to myself but my husband/son/family & community. Visual girl – seeing figures and actual weight loss facts/calorie burn – needed to open my eyes and get healthy.
I am trying to get in touch with my body, fitness, and nutrition. I have been researching this product and think it would be a great tool to win. Plus, they all look super classy and could go with any outfit!
I want to keep track how active i have been
So fab! 🙂 What a great giveaway, thank you! 🙂 I’m trying to get back on track after some injuries, and I know sleep is definitely something I’m not doing right! I’d love any insight onto how much I am (or am not…) really sleeping. Plus, I adore how easy it is to sync; would be a great companion to My Fitness Pal.
It might help me get fitter by motivating my competitive streak to do more.
Ohhh! I want one of these. It would make it so much easier to keep track of my activity levels! 🙂
I would to win this and track what I am actually accomplishing
I am tired of being overweight and unhappy, I need something to help get me motivated
One of these would be awesome!
To see where I’m not doing the right things to make me improve on this.
so I can get on my way to a healthier lifestyle
This would be great to go along with the workout routine & keep me on track with my goals!
I need this for my workout.
I am trying to leave the car at home and walk as much as possible. I am finding it difficult to remember and track my city walking routes and think the fitbit would be ideal to be able to keep an accurate record of distance walked among many other things. This would enable me to assess my progress and improve.
I would like to win this because i have wanted one for a long time. I just graduated college and have had some luck with weight loss. My other 3 sisters have one and they do competitions with each other. I would love to be involved and be able to visually know what i am accomplishing.
Thank you and Telus for the opportunity to join in my families fitness 🙂
I would like to win because I am looking for something to keep me motivated. Seeing calories or knowing I’m sitting too long would help me realize the need for more activity in my life.
I’d like to win because I want to track my steps – motivation.
Thanks.
They’re great motivators, everyone raves about them!
it would help me to meet my daily distance goals
I would like to win so I can give it to my boyfriend for his birthday. He has wanted one for a long time.
My DH is getting older and keeping the weight off is becoming harder and harder. I think he thinks he is much more active than he is. This would be a good indicator of the kind of exercise he’s (not) getting.
Besos, Sarah
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