I feel personally victimized by my Fitbit on a daily basis. First it’s all “You need to walk more, fam.” So I walk more. But no matter how far I travel, it emails me my lowest stats every week, with a frowny face next to my weakest day. Frankly, I don’t need that kind of negativity in my life. If I wanted to be subjected to relentless judgment I would just pick up the phone and call my mother. I don’t know who this tiny little robot bracelet thinks it is, but it can go ahead and fuck all the way off.
I might as well just throw it in the garbage, because a study out of the medical journal JAMA found that people who log their daily exercise without using a tracker lost an average of 5 more pounds than people who rely on their trackers. Researchers tracked weight loss among 500 adults and forced half of them to start using fitness trackers six months into the study. Eighteen months later, those who tracked their exercise online were skinnier and happier than those who, like me, utilized Fitbits.
The reason for this is unclear, but researchers think people might feel discouraged by failing to meet their activity goals, which often causes them to call it a day. I can relate. Some days I get home and feel astounded by how little steps I’ve taken. If this office relocated the break room to the other side of the parking lot, we would have a whole different story. But it won’t, and I haven’t broken 6,000 steps since I got drunk at Mardi Gras and spent three hours wandering around the streets of Downtown St. Louis looking in search of a toilet that wasn’t a porta potty.
I guess if you’re looking to lose weight, you should ditch your Fitbit. Or stop eating whole pizzas at 2 A.M. after a night of drinking. Whichever sounds less painful. .
[via New York Times ]
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Lucky Jo
Lucky Jo is a former and current TSM writer who likes her men how she likes her coffee: way too hot and unforgivably bitter. She graduated from the University of Missouri in 2016, proving that C's do in fact get degrees. She now spends her days working for a social media marketing agency, hiking with her dachshund, and trying to bring back the scrunchie. Hate mail and goat memes can be sent to lucyjmulvihill@gmail.com.
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