Getting Fit in 2015

I'm not someone who is big on New Year's resolutions -- unless you count not following through with them.  But I do have a honest to goodness desire to get fit this year.  I have about 15lbs I want to lose but more than anything I want to firm up my jiggly bits. I'm not putting the pressure of a resolution on it but I do have a goal to have some nice abs and less Grinch belly and firmer thighs by bathing suit weather.  Everyone's gotta have a dream, right?  And it's a doable dream.

As part of my Christmas gift my parents gave me a one month membership to one of the gyms in town -- the one that is literally 150 steps from my house.  Yup, 1-5-0.  It's that close and I had never gone *hands her head in shame*.  I chose this gym because with it being so close there are no excuses for not going and a month will give me the chance to see if I like it and can stick with it.

Well, since I joined on January 2nd I've gone at least once/day (sometimes twice) to use the treadmills, weight equipment and do numerous classes from aqua Zumba (not my thing), Pilates (liked it) and yoga (love it).  I love how easy it is to zip over to the gym for the classes/gym equipment and with free access to skating and swimming included it's kinda a win-win situation.

One of the things that has helped me to keep at it is using my FitBit One.  Brad and the kids got me one for Mother's Day last year and I've used it on and off since then.  But at Christmas one of my sisters, my mom and several friends got FitBits too (my Dad is planning to get one soon too).  

There's something you need to know about me.  I have a ridiculously strong competitive streak in me.  Ya, I love to win, so the competition for daily/weekly step counts on our FitBits with family and friends is ON, y'all!!  I like being able to see how I'm comparing to my friends and family and it has really pushed me to get on the old treadmill and make my daily step goal.

The FitBit One is a small pedometer-like device that you wear that counts the steps you take during the day.  But the FitBit One doesn't just count steps.  Some of the other features that I love about my FitBit One are:

- it's nice and small.  I wear it on the waist of my pants so it's incognito most of the time (I could also put it on my shirt too).  I even wear it when I'm at work since I'm on my feet all the time

- I can set my own personal goals for number of steps, how many calories I want to burn, floors I want to climb/day, distance I want to go  ...
- It is very accurate
- I can wear it while I sleep to let me know how often I'm restless when I'm sleeping
- Using the app on my iPhone (or on their site) I can add in what I've eaten to count calories, any exercise I've done (yoga, elliptical, treadmill ...), set up challenges with friends/family to keep me motivated
- I'm a very visual person so I love that the One (not all of their products have a display!) has a digital display so I can see how many steps I've taken, staircases I've climbed, distance and calories I've burned etc
- The display also gives me little cheers now and then like "Woot Laurie!", "I love you, Laurie", "Step Geek!"
- Great customer service.  When my first FitBit One wasn't synching right or being accurate they quickly sent me a free replacement within a couple of days!

I don't want all this work to go to waste so I'm also trying to eat better too by counting calories, choosing healthier options as much as possible.  I know I'll cheat once in awhile and that's OK.  It's amazing to see how often I would eat just because I was bored.  I wasn't hungry, I just didn't know what to do with my hands (and I have a weakness for chips and carbs in the evenings). 

So that's my goal for 2015.  So far, so good!  Check back here on the blog (or on my Facebook page) for an upcoming delicious smoothie recipe that I've been whipping up after my workouts.

Note: I have not received any compensation from FitBit for my endorsement.  My comments are purely from my own experience with their product.