What My Misfit Shine Has Taught Me

Activity and fitness trackers are all the rage these days. Almost weekly I see friends in my Facebook feed asking for advice on which one to get. I’ve had my Misfit since May after I met some of their marketing team at Mom 2.0 blogging conference in Atlanta and have been wearing it everyday since then. I’m not a fitness fanatic and honestly I don’t really make working out a priority most days (I know I should…I know!!).

My Misfit Shine has actually taught me a lot about myself, my daily activity, and even a little about my sleep patterns. Thankfully, I’ve learned I’m not always a lazy bum!

1. I’m not lazy! OK, well not every day at least. Being a mom, working full-time, taking care of the house (hahahaha, yeah right), running kids to school and extraciricular activities, and shopping actually keep me more active than I ever imagined. My least active days are usually Monday and Tuesday when I’m strapped to my computer for hours trying to catch up from the weekend off work. I set my personal goal at 600 points each day which is equivalent to a 1 hour walk, 20 minute run, 30 minute swim, or about 2 miles in steps. I usually end up meeting my goal about 3-4 days each week just by completing my normal routine. The days that I miss my goal are the days when I didn’t grocery shop or take an evening walk with the kids. Now, on the weekends I’m usually meeting or exceeding my goals and when we’re “on-the-go” visiting theme parks, playing at the beach, or on vacation my numbers are through the roof! We’ve been in Vegas for 4 days this week and each day I’ve come close to doubling my goals just by walking around town. My record is 15382 steps (2308 calories and 5.4 miles) which I accomplished on Wed. when we arrived in Vegas. Sure there’s room for improvement on a regular week but it proves that I’m not lazy!

2. I don’t sleep well! Actually I’m terrible at sleeping and really need to put more effort into going to be earlier, shutting down electronics, and finding ways to relax better in the evenings. The Misfit Shine tracks your sleep patterns, the number of hours you sleep at night, and how many of those hours are “restful” or deep sleep. I set my goal as 8 hours of sleep and I RARELY sleep 8 hours. I usually get somewhere between 6–7 hours of sleep and only about 2-3 hours are restful sleep. This does NOT surprise me AT ALL! The only thing I wish it would track is naps. Right now the app will only track one consistent sleep each day and will delete any prior naps you’ve taken during the day. Now I don’t take naps often and usually only on the weekends but it would be nice to be able to monitor my total sleep time.

3. I’m only mildly competitive! The Misfit allows you to follow your friends activities as well. You can sync it with Facebook, Twitter, or your email contacts and find friends who are using the same app. You can also compare yourself to the “average” Misfit user and find out how your activity level compares. While I don’t tend to “compete” with my friends; I do like to compete with my husband who also uses a Misfit. His goal is much higher than mine (he loves to workout at the gym 4-5 days a week) but I take pride in those days when my activity level is higher than his. It doesn’t happen often though.

4. I like to color coordinate my Shine! They actually come in a rainbow of color options like Topaz, Sea glass, Wine, Storm, and Jet (to name just a few). I think that was the hardest decision I had to make when I picked out my Shine. Of course I went with sea glass since it’s a nice pale shade of aqua (#aquaholicsanonymous) and matches almost everything that I wear. There are days when I wish I had a few different colors so I could coordinate them with my outfit of the day. Maybe one day they’ll come out with Misfit-skins that would allow you to change up the color.

5. I’d cry if I ever lost it! Actually this did happen once and I may have had a slight panic attack while I scoured the floor of the restaurant until I recovered it. Unfortunately the Shine may pop out of the watch band and you may not notice it missing. After reviewing the @Misfit Twitter feed this is an all to common problem for owners. I’m not even sure how they could correct this with the current design but I’m always very conscious of it when I’m away from home.

6. My kids WANT me to achieve my goals! My kids are always wanting to tap my Shine and see if I’ve met my goal. They encourage me to take a walk with them in the evening if I need a few more steps for my goal.

I’ve never used another fitness tracker so I can’t really compare it with the other popular brands and models. I am 97% happy with the Misfit just the way it is. I love that I don’t have to recharge (it runs off a watch style battery) because I’d never remember to do that. I love that it’s waterproof and that I don’t have to take it off in the shower, pool, or at the beach. You can wear it as a watch/bracelet or you can magnetically attach it to your shoe, waistband, or bra strap. It actually took me a few weeks to realize that it’s also a watch. I never wear a watch because I have my cell phone but there are times when it comes in handy. Oh, and if you’re really fashion forward, they even have a few necklaces that will hold your Shine for those days when you want to dress it up a bit.

Travel Tip: Be sure to sync your Misfit to your phone app when you change time zones so your clock with be on the correct time.

You can find Misfit at Target, Best Buy, Amazon

Do you have a fitness and/or sleep tracker? Are you looking for one? What features are most important to you? Leave your questions or comments below!! If you have a Misfit be sure to add me to your friends list and follow the #misfitmom hashtag to see updates from others! (@Calley)

Thank you Misfit for sending me a Shine to review. It’s changing my life for the better.

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