I was bit on vacation. I had an itch and so I scratched. I thought I could contain it to just my overseas stint. I was wrong. Before we arrived in Scotland, I had purchased a Fitbit . Using the wifi on the bus, I ordered through Amazon.com. I wanted it at my Chicago home upon my arrival. I didn’t want to lose a step. This bite isn’t going away soon.
Three weeks before I went on vacation, I started working out with Josh, my personal trainer. I thought about waiting until my return because of the two week break from routine. I’m glad I didn’t. First, I absolutely love working out with Josh. I already have this heightened awareness of my muscles from the intensity of the strength training. Second and more importantly, knowing your fitness plan is being monitored is highly motivational on vacation.
Josh’s plan for me was a daily 20 minutes on the dreadmill (incline up to 7/speed up to 3.5). My plan was try to workout 5 times a week: his dreadmill prescription plus sun salutations. Neither of our plans worked. Only five of the 10 hotels even had gyms. I only worked out 5 times total: twice in London, once in Killarney, once in Dublin, and once in Stratford. Killarney’s gym even was in kilometers and I had to guesstimate the conversion based on my huffing and puffing. Also, sharing a hotel room with two sisters and their luggage made additional sun salutations impossible.
Jenny had recently started using a Fitbit. It tracks your steps. Her goal was 12,500. I was intrigued and started stepping with her. It was a great way to see more of the multiple cities. I let Josh know we were hitting ‘our steps.’ He told us to up our goal to 15,000 steps. We did and we did! Our best days were the second day in the same city. In Dublin, we went over 17K. In Edinburgh, we went over 18K. I got into the Fitbit system. I’d constantly ask, “where are we now?” At the end of the day, she was quick to say, “tell Josh.” We had both evaluation measures pushing us forward. It also helped that our Aunt Laura and Aunt Peg were in the Fitbit community too. Nothing says “keep on walking” like family competition.
So, I was bit on vacation. And now I might even be contagious. Last night, I went to a play. I’m still trying to get my internal clock adjusted. I had been up since 3am. And at 10pm, I wanted to crawl into a cab. I couldn’t. I had steps to complete. I walked about 8 blocks until I buzzed. And then, I hailed a cab feeling satisfied with my 15,409 steps as my official start into the Fitbit community.