Death to Diets!

Yes, I am a fitness and health junkie.

Yes, I am trying to lose weight for summer.

Yes, I hate diets.

I love to eat. And that is a good thing. I refuse to limit the things I eat (with only a few exceptions, i.e. fast food). I do not diet, I have a healthy-ish lifestyle. I do slip a little, and that's okay.

However, everywhere I look I see diets. EVERYWHERE. Atkins, Slimfast, South Beach, and so many more are on websites, in tv and magazines, even sent in emails! If that's not bad enough, you get skinny rail-sized models looking at you (almost condescendingly) from those same media sources. We are bombarded with this viewpoint that skinny is sexy, and I want to put an end to it.

1. Sexy is a mindset, not a body type. Sexy is how you hold yourself, and how you project yourself to others. Skinny people can have self esteem issues too, which takes a toll on their sexuality.

2. Diets are a quick fix. I love to say, I have a diet. Notice I did not say ON a diet. There is a difference, and its HUGE. When you are on a diet, you limit calories, types of food, even what time of day you eat. But, as soon as you reach your goal weight, you stop, and you start to gain that weight back. When you have a diet, you permanently change your eating habits, and you keep those results for a lifetime.

3.Obesity is scary. All these companies prey on that fact. It not only "looks bad" but it causes a slew of health problems. Your body is not made to carry excess fat. There is no room for it, and it forces your vital organs to adjust.

The way to fix this is not to yoyo diet. You need a full lifestyle change. Work out, eat better at least 80% of the time, and you will see a difference.




To prove a point, for the next month, I will be writing down everything I eat, my workouts, and taking progress photos. If you would like to do the same, please email me, and I will help you figure out a good plan that fits your needs.

FitBit Flex review

A few weeks ago, I bought a FitBit Flex. It is a step and calorie counter, as well as a sleep monitor, silent alarm, and a way to pester your fit friends lol. It looks like this:

Sadly, it does not tell time. But, that's what cell phones are for. Which brings me to a huge thing about this product: you can track everything from your smartphone! Some phones are not compatible, so you would have to check the list on their site. If it is not, you can still use the dashboard on the site. the app looks like this:

Super easy to understand. (I'm being a little lazy today, so my steps are not as high as normal.)

So here is the actual review.

What I like: 
-I love the fact that I can hide the wristband under my jacket. It is against my work's dress code to wear bracelets, phone clips, etc. So I am pretty sure they would make me take it off. But since it is cold, I wear a jacket at all times, and this is slim enough to be worn underneath.

-It seems to be accurate. I say "seems to be" only because I have nothing else to compare it to.

-The tracker can be taken out. This will be perfect for warmer months. I can just take it out and tuck it in my pocket.

-The wristband is adjustable, and they send two. When I was shopping around, I noticed that some trackers had set measurements for their bands, so you had to guess which size you needed.

-You wear it at all times... sort of. I will explain why I say this in the "what I don't like" section.
-It's comfortable. It doesn't snag on clothing like I thought it would, and it doesn't irritate my skin like most bracelets do.

-Easy to read dashboard. Everything is laid out for you on your own personal dashboard, and you can "compete" with you friends.  There are goals for how many steps you take per day, as well as calories in vs out. The calorie intake will change depending on how much you burn each day, which is good if you are trying to lose/gain weight.

-It comes in a variety of colors. I chose black so it wouldn't draw unwanted attention at work.

-It celebrates your achievements! When you reach your daily goal (you can change what your focus goal is), the bracelet vibrates and flashes, plus you get an email congratulating you.


What I dislike:
-The tracking piece is water resistant, but not the bracelet itself. I take mine off in the shower due to my friend telling me that water got stuck in her bracelet and mildewed. This may not be a normal occurrence, but I don't want to take that chance.

-It sadly does not track heart rate... yet. Hopefully the creators of FitBit will eventually make that a compatibility, because it would help me test the accuracy of my manual monitoring (for my class).

-It has a "very active minutes" counter, but doesn't work when I'm doing an extreme workout. I'm assuming it only works for when you are running, or if you are walking nonstop. Maybe if there was a heart rate monitor attached it would be more precise when I am jumping around like a crazy person lol.



All in all, I do love this product. It has a few minor things that I am unhappy with, but I overlook them because it does a great job with everything else. I highly recommend looking into the Flex if you want a step/calorie monitor.

If you already have a FitBit and wish to add me as a friend, here is my profile!

Disclaimer: I have not been paid to write this review. This is just my personal experience, and my own opinion of a product. If you don't like it, bite me :)