Vera Lye, writer and mom of two, has been amazed at how quickly technology (and data) can quickly alter one’s life, since banding UP on her wrist a month ago.
Being raised in a country obsessed with statistics, numbers, competition and being one-up on your neighbor, I realise I am the perfect user for Jawbone’s UP24 (pictured left).
The first thing I do after my UP vibrates to wake me up, is to reach for my phone and check how much sleep I clocked and how many hours of deep sleep (optimum) I achieved through the night. I’m still underperforming in that area (see chart below).
Then I read “insights” that are personalised for me – some are health information nuggets – 1.5oz shot of espresso contains just about half the caffeine as a 12oz coffee (really?!); others are challenges – sleep by 10.25pm, drink 8 glasses of water today, etc. And the clincher? When I’m told my average for steps and sleep for the week is below the average for UPsters in my demographic field. That definitely kicks me into gear.
Then I start to consider how I intend to clock in my 10,000 steps for the day (run, play tennis, brisk walking?).
So that’s a lot of doing before I even climb out of bed. But it gives me motivation to stay fit and healthy day by day.
If you haven’t caught on, fitness tracking bands such as the UP, Fitbit, and Nike Fuelband, are all the rage now. These bands that you strap on your wrist track your every move, count your every step and even claims to analysis your sleep patterns. Syncing the band to an app on your phone, you can see how many hours of light vs deep sleep you had, how many times you got out of bed, how long it took for you to fall asleep, and of course, how many steps you take in the day. You can even clock your meals in and count calories.
In three weeks, I’ve honed habits around the use of the band – some are good and others not so. The good habits developed means I’m now a regular runner/walker, I sleep more, and I’m more conscious of being idle when I am. The bad habits? The constant need to check in on my UP app on the phone, stressing over meeting my goals, comparing data with my team mates.
Clearly I’m not the only one who has found her life revolving around this tracker after acquiring one of these bands – I have found blogs written on life after UP (I’ve clipped one on how to lengthen my deep sleep). I do feel fitter, more alert (sleeping longer) and am better informed about myself (how could you not? I even get regular email updates from UP showing me my weekly performance set against my previous weeks’. This week’s update is entitled – never too late!).
The jury is still out on whether this band is truly improving my life. But for now, I do feel motivated to exercise and sleep well. And for those two things alone, my UP band has, I believe, proved worthwhile.
