Fit

I’ve had Google Fit on my phone since upgrading to Android 5. I’ve used pedometers before, but for whatever reason I never was very consistent with checking them. Wearing? Not a problem. Actually learning or tracking anything? Problem.

Google Fit excels where I had previously failed. I find myself constantly checking the Android app and occasionally peeking at it on the Web too. Honestly, I probably look at it too much, because so far it hasn’t really driven me to adjust too many habits but it does lead me to remark almost every day that I don’t have enough activity.

Amber thinks it’s creepy that my phone “tells me [I’m] fat” but I think she’s mostly sick of hearing me say the phrase “Google Fit says…”

Today I made a point to work a different coffee shop, about a mile away, to see how many steps it was. The answer? 2,058 each way – about what I was expecting. The thing is, this makes me believe even less that I can actually make the time to hit 10,000 steps a day. The walking commute didn’t feel inconvenient, but the walking commute plus another 6,000 steps “somewhere” seems nearly impossible in terms of the time required alongside my workload.

So if anything, the Google Fit has strengthened to me the idea that aerobic-only exercise is probably a terrible idea for my lifestyle. I need to genuinely seek out a strength training solution to shock my muscles into change with less time.

But the walking commute and it’s 4,000 steps will probably stick around, too.