I bought a Garmin Vivoactive watch recently and it has changed my life.
I always thought I was pretty active: I played hockey, enjoyed walking, surfed, kayaked and did occasional endurance events like the 3 peaks challenge.
Recording my daily steps was an eye opener. Yes, I completed lots of steps when I played hockey (twice a week) or went walking (occasionally – and usually on holiday) but my daily routine of travelling to the office and working there all day led my step count to be pitifully low. When I was working with clients it was higher but still well below what it should be.
So I have started responding to my watch, or ‘wearable coach’. It buzzes at me when I sit still too long and the screen displays a really helpful and friendly message: “Move!”
When I get this gentle reminder I now go for a walk – 20 minutes along the coast path helps me to re-focus, free my mind to be creative and, hopefully helps to prolong my life. And with views like in the video below you can see how enjoyable it can be.
I’ve even started walking to work on the days I will be in the office all day – it’s only 2 miles, takes 35 minutes and helps me to concentrate and write blog articles like this one and the last one (What Is The Ultimate Question). And who wouldn’t enjoy my walk to work? It was a bit stormy on the way home last night but I got home feeling refreshed and ready for the evening having left work behind.
So, I really recommend buying this watch – we all know we have to move more and get more exercise, but it’s really easy not to and a ‘gentle’ reminder from a watch can really help motive us to do it.