Is it time to break up with your fitness tracker?

I could start by saying… “more than 20% of Americans use fitness trackers”… but who cares. The point of this blog is to see if YOU need to break up with your tracker. Yes, I literally mean pack it’s things up (the charger, port, whatever accessories it came with) and throw it outside the door (like a nasty break up in a movie).

Let’s start from the beginning. Fitness trackers are EVERYWHERE now. Our phones, watches, tablets and pretty much any electronic device can track our steps, how much we move and calories burned.

But they can also give us a huge headache and make us feel worse. As much as they are supposed to motivate us to “move more often” they can actually make us feel pretty bad for honoring our body’s needs.

So, let’s talk about what an unhealthy relationship with your fitness tracker may look like. Here are some questions to ask yourself:

1.     Do you have to hit your step goal each day?

2.     If you don’t hit your step or activity goal for the day do you eat less food?

3.     Do you find yourself justifying your food choices based on your exercise? For example, do you justify eating dessert because you did at least 12k steps?

4.     Do you find yourself checking your fitness tracker throughout the day (more like obsessively checking in) to see if you have reached a higher step count?

5.     If you don’t reach your step count for the day, do you pace around your house in order to complete the step goal?

I know that some of these questions may sound normal to you, but if you answered yes to any of these questions, then it may be a sign that your fitness tracker is controlling your life. Think about it this way, if you do not reach your step count for the day or complete your activity circle on your apple watch, is your whole day, food choices or even attitude towards yourself affected by it? If the answer is yes, then we need to consider a breakup.

I get it, it’s tough to consider saying goodbye. Your tracker gives you a sense of control and measurable way to be accountable, but the reality is, it is doing more harm than good. 

Here are some tips to slowly letting go of your tracker

1.     Wear it one less day a week. If you are used to wearing it 7 days a week, aim for 6 in the beginning and slowly work down from there.

2.     Start to find other ways to enjoy movement that don’t require tracking. Maybe its going for a bike ride, taking a Zumba class or even going for a walk, but not wearing your watch. When you let go of the tracking aspect you will find yourself participating in more activities for fun than before because there is no alternative motive pushing you to complete your step count. You are doing what feels good for your body and that’s it.

3.     Talk to your watch. Yes, I know this sounds crazy, but tell the watch you are in charge. No matter how many steps you do or what your watch tells you to do, make sure you tell it that it is not in your body, it does not know the way you feel right now and you are the one who dictates your movement.

The truth is, breaking up is hard. I’ve been there too. I thought my fitbit and I were the best of partners. It was always by my side, gave me an alert when I needed to move and tracked every step I took. But soon enough, I realized that I was getting mad at myself when I didn’t reach my 10k goal, I was pacing in the kitchen to the living room to the bedroom to try to get steps in and on the days when I didn’t hit my step goal, I felt that I had to eat less. As soon I was able to recognize how this watch dictated my life, I knew it was time to let go. It wasn’t easy, don’t get me wrong, but it was one of the most FREEING experiences because I found myself walking more because I wanted to, took part in exercises that I found to be more fun (not about the step count) and found ways to add in free movement that felt good without pacing throughout my apartment.

The point is, it can be scary to let go, but the reward is unbeatable. Now, I challenge you to think about your relationship with your fitness tracker and determine whether it may be time to break up…