Healthy Weight Loss Competition With Friends Can Make Dieting Fun

Weight Loss Wednesday

Welcome to Weight Loss Wednesday! If you have been reading my blog for any period of time, you know I am a yo-yo dieter. My husband is too! I mean we really yo-yo like from 172 to 135 for me and 315 to 250. Yeah, we binge, we diet, we binge, so on and so forth. It is a never-ending unhappy cycle of crazy. So I am using the power of my blog to help people come over to the lighter side of life and learn and share weight loss tips and tricks. I find that it really is a lifestyle change and it works best if you fully commit! So I am committing (along with Kelly) to bring you a weight loss related feature each Wednesday. This week, I want to tell you about the coolest tool, the fitbit Ultra Activity Tracker, which is sold at Radio Shack. It is such a neat weight loss gadget, that it inspired me and Jeana to have a friendly little weight loss competition.

Weight Loss Competition With Friends

When you create a Weight Loss Competition With Friends you are committing yourself to them as well as to yourself. I am an extremely competitive person and I like to be on top. I keep my fitbit dashboard open all day so I remember to log my daily food intake. I have found that logging the food that I eat really helps me stay conscious of what I am putting in my mouth. It also lets me see who is in the lead on the leader board for the day. When I notice that I am not up as high as I would like to be, I go walk a bit to get my step count up.

The fitbit counts how many steps you take, tracks the miles you have traveled and even can tell you how many flights of stairs you have climbed. A little flower grows on the fitbit to let you visually see where you are in your activity level throughout the day. See how tiny it is. You can just slip it right over the edge of your pants, underwear, bra, etc so it can monitor your activity.

In the fitbit dash, there is an area where you can customize the goals that you want to set for yourself. They also have a great community board, so if you ever are feeling down or especially proud there is someone one word away to give you a pat on the back or encouragement. A few bloggers have created a group for ourselves and our readers to band together and have a healthy weight loss competition with friends. Want to join? We would love to have you! When I take my walks in the morning I often play on Twitter. So tweet me @makobiscribe your #fitbit stats and we can be fitness pals!

I loved fitbit so much, I purchased one for my husband too, now we all compete to see who can take just one more step or reach their goals first. It doesn’t have to be all about competition though. You can use the fitbit to keep track of your personal goals at a minute-by-minute level so you can make the small changes in your life that make a huge difference. Things like taking the stairs, the long way, or parking the car further away to get in a short walk. I find mine most useful in reminding me to drink more water. Hydration is the key to flushing your system of the old, used up fat cells and toxins. If you don’t drink water, you retain water weight. Yuck! The fitbit is only $79 at Radio Shack – check out their video, it is awesome! It tells you that fitbit users walk more, sleep better and eat healthier.

My Results

C’mon, what you really want to know is, “Is it worth it?” and “Does it work?” The answer is a resounding yes. Since starting with my fit bit I went from 172 pounds to 146 pounds. I was very sedentary in my life and rarely got up from my computer. Now, I walk 2 to 3 miles a day and go over to the high school so I can climb up and down their stairs. I get motivated by badges and even had my son go with me to spur me on so I could get the 50 floors climbed badge. When I just do not feel like walking, the fitbit nudges me. It literally has a flashing message when I pick it up with some sort of encouraging phrase. Before fitbit I did not want to even walk down the street, now I have found a way to enjoy and look forward to my walks. I want to lose another 20 pounds, so I will keep you updated.

It is so easy to fit fitbit into your day.

Make every step you take a step toward better fitness with the fitbit Ultra Activity Tracker. The fitbit Ultra Activity Tracker shows your real-time activity stats so you know how close you are to your goals. It’s with you every step of the day, motivating you to make small changes that add up to big results.

Features

• Accurately tracks daily steps, distance and calories burned using advanced motion sensor
• Makes it fun and easy to get more active and fit during your busy life
• Compact and low-profile enough to wear all day in pocket, on waist or on undergarments
• Lets you track your full day’s activities and calories
• Can even measure how long and how well you sleep
• Inspires you to take better care of yourself by sleeping more
• Wirelessly uploads data to fitbit.com
• Keeps you motivated, since it’s so easy to upload and see information
• Free access to fitbit.com and mobile access, where you can also log food and other activities
• No extra charge to take full advantage of online features

Did you know that Radio Shack carries a whole section of sports, fitness and outdoor equipment? You can find a variety of electronic gadgets and gizmos to keep you on the path to a healthier you! They also carry headphones that rock so you have some tunes to jam out to while you are shedding the pounds! You can connect with Radio Shack on Facebook & Twitter.