The Fitbit Ultra
This nifty little pedometer does so much more than count your steps for you (which will explain the price difference, I promise!). This piece of technology as a basic workout buddy seems great to one who does not workout. It counts steps, elevation (floors climbed!), distance, calories burned, how active you were (it can sense how fast you're moving at different times of the day and break it down into % Sedentary, Mild, Moderate, Active!). Honestly, these things are neat but not what my primary use for this device is. I use it to track sleep.
Yes, I took a nice and not-very-cheap pedometer and I track my sleep with it. No, really!! It comes with a wristband to do this for me! How?? Well, if you are in a deep sleep, you don't roll, lift your arm to swat something, bring your hand up under your chin as a pillow, etc. If you are getting the deep sleep you need for your body to recover, you will lay still much more of the time than tossing and turning. Seems pretty basic, right?
Over a year ago I had a medical sleep study done. I spent two weeks with a wristwatch strapped to my arm and you press a button to tell it when you are going to sleep. You do not press it when you climb in bed but when you turn out the lights after putting away your computer, the tv, your iPad, your books, etc. You press it only when you lay your head on your pillow and close your eyes in an attempt to sleep. The watch process was followed by an overnight study in the sleep clinic with wires and electrodes glued to my body and head....lots of fun. The results however were less fun than peeling glue out of my hair for the next couple days. I have a sleeping disorder with no discernible cause. I spend significantly less time in REM than required by the average person. I can sleep for 16hrs+ and not feel like I have had 4hrs yet. My brain (according to electrode readings) wakes up an average of 13 times per hour in the night but I remain 'asleep' for them.
All-in-all I am basically constantly sleep deprived no matter how much time I spend asleep. Fun, right?
Well, I stumbled upon this Fitbit gadget while looking for some neat gym tools for my hubby. I had no idea something out on the market would measure my sleep like that watch did for the doctors...and I was excited! I didn't think I'd ever get to track how I'm sleeping on my own short of filming it and watching every night for movements to get some idea of my sleep patterns.
The Fitbit has a thirty day return policy so I decided it was worth a shot to compare how it reads to how I know my sleep roughly goes. It works just like that wristwatch for the user--press that button when you sleep and when you wake. That was slick and the wristband that it goes into for nighttime tracking is pretty comfy too so I have no issues wearing it at night (comparatively I cannot stand to wear a watch or bracelet normally even if I'm laying down with my toddler to watch a movie). When it came to tracking the sleep info, you get that online. Their site has their trackers free with the purchase of the device (there are upgraded features if you buy the annual membership that seem worth the price if you are using this for tracking workouts and diets too but I figured I'd wait until after my pregnancy to start that stuff and hold off on paying the membership until then too).
I decided to start on the "normal" setting for sleep tracking first to get an idea of how well it tracks. The first week I used it was interesting in the results. It said I was sleeping very well. Every tracking that it registered me as 'awake' I could remember. That means I was both mentally and physically awake during that time. A few of them were bathroom trips or rolling over to get my back comfortable again, others were during the time that my hubby was getting ready for work or whatnot. This was quite accurate but not what I needed from the tracker (but I started loving the pedometer features during this first week too). I kept it on the "normal" setting until last night and nothing really changed during my "normal" trial time. I remembered most of the 'awake' times. Now I am switching to the "sensitive" setting and last night it showed me that it is very similar to that wristwatch! I am excited (and sad) to say that the results were very similar to those the doctor went over with me a year+ ago. Now, last night could have just really sucked, or it could be exactly what I'm expecting because I haven't felt THAT different that I could be sleeping with 90%+ efficiency instead of the 50%'s that are typical for me.
I'll let you know how this next week or so goes but overall, I am super impressed with this product and wanted to share it with everyone in case you might be looking for something with any of these benefits...
**This is my own opinion of the Fitbit Ultra and I received no freebies/discounts for a review. This blog is not affiliated, endorsed, supported, or sponsored by Fitbit or any related companies.**
*I purchased my Fitbit Ultra from Best Buy where they happen to carry almost the whole line of Fitbit products.*
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