I'm really into techy gadgets, so when I saw a review on this Jawbone UP bracelet earlier this spring, I was intrigued. My sons, Chris and Andrew gifted me one for Mothers day and it has changed my life in a way that I never dreamed.
Let me tell you what it does...... it logs my steps and it logs my sleep. It sync's with my smart phone through the free UP app and I can upload throughout the day. My goal is to walk 10,000 steps a day and I find myself pushing to achieve that goal every day, and more often than not, I'm reaching 12-17,000 steps a day. I can link with friends for accountability. The other day I noticed that my best friend (also my UP friend) had logged in 19,000 steps (like 8.5 miles), so I could send a "way to go" message, and also say "what???? how did you do that?" As it happens she walked her grandson in the stroller in the morning, and then got some "me time" reading her tablet while on the treadmill before dinner. The rest of her day's normal activity is added as well.
My favorite thing to do now is to walk on my treadmill in the morning while it's cool upstairs and read on my iPad. I can walk between 3.0 and 3.5 miles an hour and still read beautifully if I increase the type on the iPad. I walk for an hour, which works out to 3 or 3.5 miles, giving me about 7000 steps. It's a great start and gives me a lot of latitude to still reach my goal by the end of the day. You can see that I got 12,150 yesterday.
Let me tell you what it does...... it logs my steps and it logs my sleep. It sync's with my smart phone through the free UP app and I can upload throughout the day. My goal is to walk 10,000 steps a day and I find myself pushing to achieve that goal every day, and more often than not, I'm reaching 12-17,000 steps a day. I can link with friends for accountability. The other day I noticed that my best friend (also my UP friend) had logged in 19,000 steps (like 8.5 miles), so I could send a "way to go" message, and also say "what???? how did you do that?" As it happens she walked her grandson in the stroller in the morning, and then got some "me time" reading her tablet while on the treadmill before dinner. The rest of her day's normal activity is added as well.
My favorite thing to do now is to walk on my treadmill in the morning while it's cool upstairs and read on my iPad. I can walk between 3.0 and 3.5 miles an hour and still read beautifully if I increase the type on the iPad. I walk for an hour, which works out to 3 or 3.5 miles, giving me about 7000 steps. It's a great start and gives me a lot of latitude to still reach my goal by the end of the day. You can see that I got 12,150 yesterday.
This is my days activity yesterday.
Notice above that it gives me a reading on how many calories I'm burning. I also have it set to buzz me if I'm idle for 30 minutes.... it's telling me to get up and get going! I can also enter my food consumption, but I haven't used that much yet. Honestly, with what I do for a living, if I don't have a handle on what I put into my mouth yet, I'm in trouble!
Most of the friends we have in the Baby Boomer generation are more interested in the Sleep cycle recording. I found that interesting, but there are so many people in the US who don't sleep well.
Most of the friends we have in the Baby Boomer generation are more interested in the Sleep cycle recording. I found that interesting, but there are so many people in the US who don't sleep well.
Last night's sleep cycle
The light blue is "light sleep", the dark blue is "deep sleep", so you can see that the app tells you how much of each you got through the night. The orange is awake time. I got up to use the bathroom last night at 4:32 and went right back to sleep. I have noticed that I have way more energy the next day if I get more than 50% deep sleep, and I get an "atta-girl" from the app if I get more than 60%.
The bracelet allows for timed activities, like cycling, yoga, running or a stationary bike. It won't log steps on a timed activity, but it will account for the energy spent in the calorie count. Pat now has a bracelet and notices that he gets about 8,000 steps playing tennis or mowing the lawn.
You can also set it for a power nap and it will wake you after your allotted time. A friend of ours in Pat's office sets her bracelet to wake her in the morning during a time when her body is coming out of a light sleep cycle, which is a very natural way to wake up. She gives the app instructions on the time she wants to wake with a 10 minute window.
Pat and I charge our bracelets up about every 5 or 6 days. The instructions say to charge every 10 days, but I notice that the battery life shortens if I upload more - and I like to keep track of what I'm doing.
His bracelet is black, mine is bright blue - there are several colors to choose from. Everyone asks me where they can purchase one, and how much it costs. Ours came from Amazon, but you can find them at the Apple Store, Best Buy, or on www.jawbone.com. I notice that the website has a promotion on the new orange color (I'm sure they were thinking about the Boise Bronco's) where they donate $20 to a charitable cause. They retail for $129 and the price on Amazon is the same.
We aren't any different in our house than everyone else in America. We have purchased all kinds of workout equipment over the years and it gets use for a short time, then NOTHING!! I have to tell you that I have had just 3 days since May 8th that I failed to reach my goal, and I seem to still be picking up steam!
PS. Since I wrote this, we gave our daughter in law, Jen, a bracelet for her birthday. Granted, she's 30 (young), but the first day she walked and ran 8+ miles! She's also entering all her food intake so that she can see the difference between calories burned and consumed.
I'm going down to Salt Lake City next week for the USANA Annual Convention. It's not abnormal for us to walk 5 miles before lunch, so I'm excited to see how many steps in a day I rack up!
The bracelet allows for timed activities, like cycling, yoga, running or a stationary bike. It won't log steps on a timed activity, but it will account for the energy spent in the calorie count. Pat now has a bracelet and notices that he gets about 8,000 steps playing tennis or mowing the lawn.
You can also set it for a power nap and it will wake you after your allotted time. A friend of ours in Pat's office sets her bracelet to wake her in the morning during a time when her body is coming out of a light sleep cycle, which is a very natural way to wake up. She gives the app instructions on the time she wants to wake with a 10 minute window.
Pat and I charge our bracelets up about every 5 or 6 days. The instructions say to charge every 10 days, but I notice that the battery life shortens if I upload more - and I like to keep track of what I'm doing.
His bracelet is black, mine is bright blue - there are several colors to choose from. Everyone asks me where they can purchase one, and how much it costs. Ours came from Amazon, but you can find them at the Apple Store, Best Buy, or on www.jawbone.com. I notice that the website has a promotion on the new orange color (I'm sure they were thinking about the Boise Bronco's) where they donate $20 to a charitable cause. They retail for $129 and the price on Amazon is the same.
We aren't any different in our house than everyone else in America. We have purchased all kinds of workout equipment over the years and it gets use for a short time, then NOTHING!! I have to tell you that I have had just 3 days since May 8th that I failed to reach my goal, and I seem to still be picking up steam!
PS. Since I wrote this, we gave our daughter in law, Jen, a bracelet for her birthday. Granted, she's 30 (young), but the first day she walked and ran 8+ miles! She's also entering all her food intake so that she can see the difference between calories burned and consumed.
I'm going down to Salt Lake City next week for the USANA Annual Convention. It's not abnormal for us to walk 5 miles before lunch, so I'm excited to see how many steps in a day I rack up!
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