Motivation

Motivation, there's that word again. Merriam-Webster defines motivation as:

•  the act or process of giving someone a reason for doing something;

•  the condition of being eager to act or work;

•  a force or influence that causes someone to do something

We all have motivators. Whether our motivators are internal, just that drive to get things done, or external. External motivators can come from several different places. In fact, there are external motivators all around us - that snicker from the stupid individual who moos as he walks by you, that glance in the mirror that isn't very satisfying, putting on a piece of clothing and finding that it doesn't quite fit the way it used to. These can all be motivators. Another type of motivator is electronic. But, I'm getting ahead of myself.

So, I wasn't feeling all that great this week. Battling some kind of virus (self-diagnosed ) But, basically I've been feeling a little run-down, slight temp, one-sided sore throat and ear pain on the same side. Well, you can imagine where this is going -- no fitness minutes. Oh, I walked a little, just so I could say I got up out of my favorite chair, but it wasn't heart pumping, sweat inducing, muscle straining exercise. Unless you call the finger cramps I got from being on my laptop muscle straining exercise? I mean, my hands did hurt a little yesterday

I spent the last few days researching. The last time I went down this weight-loss road, I used Sparkpeople and a community chat board on another website to motivate myself to get up and move. Both of these "tools" helped me to get out, exercise, eat right and lose weight. Tracking my food intake, my activity levels and chatting with others about their successes and failures was the incentive I needed to achieve my goals. As I discussed before, I didn't maintain all of my weight-loss. I came back from vacation 3 years ago and lost my motivation and couldn't find it again.

Research - I research things to death. I mean, I will search and search and search a subject, product, location, service, well - you get my drift - until, I think, I know more about the stuff than the company or person who created whatever the dang thing is. I have a disorder (similar to the aforementioned cheese). What was I researching, you might ask? And what does this have to do with motivation? Well, I was researching activity trackers.

I need external motivation. I don't have a loud enough voice inside my head to scream "Get off your fat a## and go to the gym!!" or "Don't eat that bowl of ice cream -- you already had too many calories today!!" I need something to tell me that I need to get off my over-sized patootie and get moving.

I just got a new smart phone. I had a Samsung Galaxy Note (version 1) prior to my new phone and I loved -- LOVED - my phablet. I loved how big it was - loved the ability to use a stylus to write on the screen. It was fun! But, alas, my battery was failing and to be honest -- it was several years old and I'm all about gadgets. I wanted something new and flashy.

I picked up the Samsung S5. Mainly because it's got some nice camera features and it's a bit smaller (don't need to haul a rolling duffel to carry my phone anymore) than the newest Galaxy Note. I mean, let's face it, the size of the Galaxy Note harkens back to days of early cell phones. Yes, I was around during the time of the dinosaurs and huge cell phones. While the ability to have a cell phone back in the early 90s was cool  -- it wasn't Maxwell Smart Shoe Phone cool. Those cell phones were huge! (Okay young ones -- "Get Smart".) Anyway, the S5 has a fitness tracker built in. It's fairly basic - you can only really monitor running, walking and hiking. But, it has a pedometer and I tried it. While I haven't walked a full ten thousand steps yet (did I mention I've been sick?) it is inspiring me to get up and move a little more. It actually converts my steps into calories burned and that's where I start to see my motivator . I like knowing that those steps are having a positive effect (or negative calorie count) on my weight-loss journey.

Well, if a simple app on my smart phone can spark some motivation, how about a REAL activity tracker? This business is really starting to boom and there is no shortage of choices out there, with many more in the pipeline. I could have purchased a Samsung Gear Fit when I got my phone - in fact, I was offered a $50 discount when I purchased the S5. But, I don't think I need all of the "features" that come with the Gear Fit. I just want an activity tracker, not another "smart phone" on my wrist. I don't need to take calls or be able to text from my wrist - although that is Maxwell Smart cool! So, that left me with only 100 choices instead of 101. Okay - maybe not quite that many - didn't really count - but there are a lot of choices available!

I won't go into all of the different options out there -- you just have to Google the terms "activity" or "fitness tracker" and you'll get pages and pages of search results along with a plethora of reviews, comparison charts, etc. I chose the Fitbit One. While I would love to have something with a heart rate monitor, I'm not sure about "strapping one on" before I exercise. The Fitbit One seems to fulfill what I'm currently looking for: it counts my steps, my calories burned, my distance traveled, and a few other things. I like that it syncs with my S5, my laptop, and with several of the apps (or websites) that I already use such as Sparkpeople, Loseit, Myfitnesspal, and many, many others. I also am very pleased that it costs less than $100 on Amazon.

So, my external motivator will arrive sometime Monday. I'm looking forward to working with my new electronic gadget. I love gadgets, by the way, but that's another blog topic! I know that it won't necessarily tell me to get up and move. But I feel the visual stimulus of instantly seeing where I am, at any given point of the day, (via wireless sync with my S5) will really give me the motivation to get where I want to be. Which will be off this chair!