I have to confess, I'm a bit of a nerd. I like statistics, and keeping track of things. Like for example, my movements.
Close-up of the flame of a purple candle, reflected by the material of the candle itself.
As a teenager, I had one of those bicycle computers that showed your current speed and kept track of your trips and total amount of kilometers travelled and such by counting the revolutions of your front wheel. That was pretty fun (I still remember the 4.21km one-way trip length to high school, done in a time ranging from 12-15 minutes depending on the weather and my energy level).
When I started my running habit in 2012, I had RunKeeper on my phone on my arm (remember those phone holders for around your arm? Phones are too big nowadays to fit comfortably...). Steps were counted on my phone and then a Pebble, synced with Google Fit and later on I got a Garmin watch when Pebble stopped existing, after trialling a Garmin band for a bit. From then on, my steps were tracked, as were my runs, and later on also (longer) walks and biking trips. Pretty great!
Things that happen in my life I sort-of record through my journaling even if it is just a 5 minutes jot. It really helps for keeping track and reading back what happened on a certain day, or when something happened or a thought occurred. This is a daily habit, kept pretty rigidly.
The same rigidness crept into my tracking of movements: I had to keep track of everything except for walking really short ends. I never take my watch off because I'm afraid to miss some steps or stairs. But why though?
Do those Garmin stats matter so much? Why do I care if every waking step was registered (or unwaking, that would at least have been interesting)?
In an almost uncharacteristic move I stopped tracking all my trips and even wearing the Garmin watch early this month. This coincided with Pebble emerging from the grave, but that's another story.
A few days in I had some anxiety when I went on a morning walk and realised I 'only' had my Pebble on me, no Garmin to track with. I had to actively shrug it off and even though I had an uneasy feeling, another part of me felt some relieve, some freedom. It was a pretty weird sensation :)
Now, I've been using the Garmin only when sporting (badminton, going on a run) and keeping track of longer walks. I don't even wear it to bed any more; sleep tracking is not that important (I am curious to when Sleep as Android supports Pebble again though, that'd be pretty neat, especially with the smart alarm clock).
Just this morning I actually forgot to stop the tracking of a walk I went on; progress!
I am still that stats nerd, and a part of me thinks it is a bit of a shame to not track how many steps I am taking in my life, but what difference does it make? I still have the itch to go outside for a walk or run when my body needs movement, so that doesn't need a counter on my wrist. Also, this way I am free to use different watches, like some neat analogue ones I still have, and of course my revived Pebble.
I thought about getting a Garmin fitness tracker to wear on my other wrist, but I trialled a band there and it was uncomfortable and I decided that there was no good point. Let those steps go to waste ;)
