Fitbit produces a collection of activity trackers that record things like steps taken, stairs climbed, distance travelled and general activity levels. The gadgets are good for keeping your focus on how (un)active you are during the day.

If you set yourself some daily goals, the trackers can be a progressive and visual reminder how well you’re doing. They also provide some motivation to get your ‘rear in gear’ every day, something I often fail to do.

I picked up a Fitbit One about a month ago and bought into the idea immediately. I had been tracking my steps with a pedometer for about a year, but it got quite tiresome having to remember to record the steps every few days, before the records were overwritten by the pedometer.

With the Fitbit, it syncs with an app on my iPhone and also with an account online. Both places provide automatic summaries and graphs of my performance over time and help keep me on track. I also sync them up with a diet and fitness app called MyFitnessPal and a Fitbit Aria scale, but that’s another story.

The daily goal right now is 5,000 steps, at least 3 times a week. Some say 10,000 steps is the best goal, but for me that means walking about 5 miles a day. Perhaps some day I’ll be ready for that, but not right now. 

I have to be honest though. I’m now on my second Fitbit. Yesterday the first one stopped tracking. There was no apparent reason; it just stopped. However, with excellent support from Fitbit and Best Buy, I got a replacement and fired it up last night. The second one is working fine (for now) and I expect it was just a glitch. Fitbit has a good reputation for their products and service, so I’m sure this one will be just fine.