iTrack: How my smartphone stops me from making dumb decisions

Motivation is different for everyone. I write this blog as one tool to keep myself motivated. I have also learned that along with motivation comes honesty. Sometimes it can be hard to stay honest with yourself about how hard you have worked out or how much you have eaten, but with today's technology our phones are all too ready to be real with us if we aren't real with ourselves.

I ordered the UP band made by Jawbone about a month ago, but I am still waiting to start using it because I got the wrong size, and it takes quite a while to get through all the customer service stuff to exchange it, so I have been using the free app Argus by Azumio for the iPhone. It is the only app I have found so far that fits into my daily routine smoothly.

Argus tracks your steps, but it appears to just go by distance traveled. It will sometimes count steps in the car when I am in stop-and-go traffic, but I'm not too concerned about that part because more often than not, I end up setting my phone down at home or work while I am doing plenty of moving. You can also track your water intake, coffee, food, sleep, and workouts. 

I like the food diary that is compiled of pictures taken of the meals you eat throughout the day. I'm not big on counting calories, but just having that picture of a cheeseburger staring at me all day can sometimes be enough to deter me. I think the water and coffee intake trackers are ok, but not something that I necessarily need. If you struggle with getting enough water, then Argus might be good for you because a reminder message pops up if you don't track any water intake after a certain number of hours. I drink plenty of water though, so that isn't extremely useful to me. I'm also not a big fan of the sleep tracker because it has to be manually turned on and off. I never seem to remember to turn it off, and I wish that it would recognize that I'm obviously not sleeping if I am walking around, but I guess there are sleepwalkers! ;-)

The workout tracker is pretty cool as far as the running goes. If you don't already use the mapmyrun app or some other tracking device, then Argus might be for you. I love that it maps out exactly where I ran, and I like that it even turns itself on automatically unlike the sleep tracker. It also continues to count steps during a run. The only thing I dislike about the automatic running tracker is that the timer doesn't always stop right away when I am done, so it can tend to throw off the time a little. It can be turned on manually though, and then you have the option to stop the timer immediately. There are also other workout choices like cycling, weight training, swimming, and others, but all those are tracked manually by entering how long you engaged in the activity, so no cheating yourself by fibbing!

All in all, I like the Argus app, but I am excited to finally get my UP band whenever that may be. There are plenty of other great apps as well if you are looking to track your intake and output to take steps toward a healthier you!

Be a Do-gooder! 

Want to do good by others and yourself? Consider using the Charity Miles app to track your distance for one of their charity partners! Do a little good for you while also doing a little good for others!

Lesson Learned

The number one reason I write my blog is to hold myself accountable. I am not some big blogger raking in the big bucks from my blog, you could say I am not monetized at all, but the fact that  people view my blog at all makes me do things that I might not always feel like doing. After my recent injury, I have really been slacking. I haven't really been working out at all. Not even Yoga has managed to find its way into my busy schedule. Hahaha. It is way worse for those who know I am on summer break. The second reason I write my blog, and it is a very close second, is to inspire other people to get moving, even if it is just for 10.

I was motivated to get out and change my current course of non-action by two of my old high school friends who commented on facebook that I have helped motivate them at one time or another. I am very grateful to the handful of regular readers I have, even though most of them are just my very large family. So those who know how all this started can probably guess how today turned out. I can get pretty enthusiastic about things. And some might say that I jump in over my head from time to time. Every once in a while, I even commit some major Fitness Cardinal Sins that are really just common sense. Well, thanks to April, Hannah, Anything for 10 Grace, and my fiance Matt, I have a story for you today.

I bought a mountain bike. Yes, I did. It is a Schwinn Ranger in purple and white. My fiance bought a bike almost as soon as we crossed the PA border, and I have been saying I should get a bike too. He rides his to work fairly frequently. My Anything for 10 sister, Grace, is a modern day hippie, and she bought a bike almost as soon as she got back to the US from Thailand. She also rides her bike to work, and anywhere else she needs to go really because she doesn't own a car. Grace bought a very nice road bike, and Matt has a nice enough hybrid. I went for the mountain bike. I was inspired to take the plunge this morning when I saw the encouraging posts on facebook. I woke Matt up, rushed around, and went straight to the store to purchase a bike. We loaded up Matt's bike as well because of course, in true Michelle spirit, I had to use it RIGHT AWAY!!!

Due to my haste and our sleeping in this morning, that landed us at the state park right about, ohhhh, HIGH FREAKING NOON. Yes, that is only the tip of the iceberg. You did know where this was going from the beginning, right? Matt could tell before we even left to buy the bike I presume because he was not very happy with me from the beginning. He knows me, and that also means that he knows I won't listen once I have decided something. I know that I should, but it is a lot harder to remember at the time. I bought a water bottle holder to put on my bike, but we didn't have any tools, so we couldn't put it on. I am very proud to say though that I did bring water with me! Obviously, it did me no good sitting in the car getting hot while we rode. I did not bring a snack, which was a huge mistake considering we got there right at lunch time. That was the exact opposite of awesome.

So we set out on our trail ride in a park we had never been to. I was a little wobbly at first, but I sort of straightened out as we went. Matt was way ahead of my the whole time and had to circle back around for me every once in a while. I had to confess to him fairly early in the ride that I have no idea what the gears are for. I mean, who really knows what those are for? Ok, well most people know, and especially the cyclists who set out on a trail ride. Yeah, I still haven't really caught on. I know low is easy to pedal but slow, and that high is harder but faster; however, I can't tell you when you use which one, and I definitely can't remember when I am in freakout mode in the middle of a trail ride at High Freaking Noon when I have no water and no snack. We only went on a 5 mile trail ride, but I have to admit, I honestly thought I was going to pass out and die there for a bit, and I just knew Matt would leave me there because he was so annoyed by the fact that once again, we were getting passed by powerwalkers. Yes, it happened again. I may have had to walk my bike up the giant hill at the end, and it may have really sucked at the time, but I am ready to go back again. Next time, I am going all Boy Scouts of America on that trail ride, and I am going to be prepared!

Heat Wave

Today was a nine mile day, and I ran 3, but I still consider it a success. I set my alarm for 6, but I just couldn't make myself get up. I decided that I could sleep for another 30 minutes, and the next thing I knew, it was 7:15. Oops! I got ready and set out with the plan to still put in the miles, and today I wanted to test out the run::walk system. I have decided that 10::2 will be a good ratio for me. That's where the success comes in. I felt very good about the run walk system, and this time I will make myself do it from the very start of the race...which will require me to remember to bring my watch. It was such a pain at my first Half without it. I kept asking other runners and police officers who were blocking the roads for the time. I was not very approximate.

And the reason I stopped after just 3 miles? It was too hot!! I knew that having a drink sitting out to take a swig from every 3 miles was not going to be enough! I felt good about the running and the ratio, but I have run myself sick from the heat before, and I do not want to experience it again. I took a picture of the thermostat outside my house when I got home around 8 am.