Walk

My Fitbit was the best thing to ever happen to my children. Or the worst. It depends on the day.

Before Fitbit (or BFB), I would routinely send my children to do little chores in the house for me-- run out to the garage freezer for bread, go fetch my slippers, run the recycling out to the bins. After Fitbit (or AFB), I would do those things myself in dedication to -- nay obsession with-- reaching my 10,000 step goal each day. So now I heft the garbage out to the bins myself (66 steps) or run down to the mailboxes to grab the mail (224 steps). Flipping the laundry brings in another 64 steps while grabbing my glasses from my bedside table nets me 57 steps.

BFB I would drive to the arena to watch my son play hockey and send him with neighbours to walk to school while I stayed nestled on the couch with my cup of tea and laptop. Now I strap on the runners and drop him at school, carrying on to walk the 3 km loop of the Drive and adding 4835 steps to my daily tally. And I make my daughter walk to the rink for games, especially on days when my step count is low -- that earns me 7446 steps round trip. Then there's another 3675 steps that gets me to the Superstore and back (which is great as long as we don't have much to get). I "make" them go on walks and hikes, all the while Ben grumbling that my obsession shouldn't punish them too and Carmen stoically accepting her fate.

There may be something to it. I am a bit of a slave to this little strip of rubber on my wrist. I check my totals compulsively throughout the day, estimating how many steps my errands for the day will eat up to make sure I get that ever-so gratifying buzzing when I've hit the mark. And if, at 11:00 pm I haven't felt that celebratory vibration, I pace the house like a caged polar bear, counting the steps between kitchen island to ottoman until that 9,999 turns over to 10,000.

If it's off my wrist and charging, I am loathe to move at all, not wanting to waste steps that won't count toward my total. And I get around the Fitbit not registering steps when pushing a shopping cart by tucking the band into my sock so it still counts my steps. Again, I'm not interested in walking for nothing.

The worst of it is that then when the clock strikes midnight, the step count is back to zero and I have to start all over again -- no carrying over extra steps from the day before, no cheating. In the nearly a year since I've had it, I've only missed my goal a handful of time. Impressive? Pathetic? You be the judge. I will say that once that 5th digit appears on my screen and I have accomplished my goal, I can sit guilt free on the couch and do nothing. Until midnight anyway. Then I'm back on my feet, ready to walk.