Wednesday, June 9, 2010

Gadgets and data.......oh me!

For the last 12 or so years, I've been crazed by all the techno gadgets.  I partly have my business partner to thank.  He had a MacIntosh computer on his desk in the early 90's (nope, they didn't call it "Apple" back then) and was always into tech stuff.  Starting with the PalmPilot; I had to have every new version.  I had one of those electronic notepads that you write on and then download to your computer.  Great concept but it never worked.  The SmartBoard - had that.  Then I moved to the BlackBerry which first started out looking like a pager and progressed thru many versions.  Now to the iPhone and who knows what's next.  I'm not gettin the new iPhone that's for sure.  I really want the iPad but how can I justify that?!  Please someone give me one good reason!!!!

Now enter exercise and fitness.  Once Dan, my coach, said "monitor your heart rate"....you can probably guess what ensued.  We drove all over Atlanta; me driving, him looking for the right HR monitor for me.  That led us to our Internet search.  My first heart rate monitor was a Suunto.  I didn't keep it long; couldn't really see the #s that well and way too complex for me. 

Next a very basic Polar that gave me my HR and the time of day.  Hmmmm....I wanted more information because if you don't know already, I'm a data junky.  I've tracked my workouts since I started in February 2009 and I have journaled my eating every day since then as well.  For me, journaling keeps me on track and is a key. 

My next and current is the Polar RS300x combined with the Foot Pod (pedometer) and the Flowlink (allows me to download to My Personal Polar account).  LOVE THIS.  From this, I get my HR, time, pace, distance and I don't use all the functionality either.  I then download the info and can track my activity by day/week/month.  Crazy!

Awww but it doesn't really stop there.  Enter the Gruve.  I wear the Gruve everyday to track calorie burn.  It's a cool tool and the concept is to ensure I'm movin alot!  It projects colors and the goal is green.  Not easy but a good challenge. 

More importantly is WHY do I use, do all this?  I'm a competitive, goal oriented and data driven person.  Put that all together and I use my journal, my HR, my time, my distance, my calorie burn to encourage & inspire me to keep going, to celebrate progress or a great day, to recognize a not so great day and get with it the next day.  It's my own personal formula.  As in everything, it's not one size fits all so each person should find what works for them and then go for it with gusto!

14 comments:

  1. Thanks for listing all the techno gear you use.
    I will be checking it out.

    When you compare and contrast all your techno gear to a site like livestrong.com~ your techniques do seem to be more superior.

    Good luck on losing the last 3 1/2 lbs.

    ...if you are reading this - do 100 jumping jacks-for no reason- just doing my part in aiding your weight loss goals!

    Keep the writing coming.

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  2. I am also very freak of these new technologies and always want to change me gadgets when ever I see new ones.

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