Tag Archives: MyFitnessPal

Scott lost 130 pounds with Fitdigits

Posted on by
3

Scott decided to change his lifestyle

Testimonial by Fitdigits user Scott B.

Last September my wife and I made a strong and ongoing commitment to get into and maintain healthier lifestyle. I was 41 and had been morbidly obese much of my adult life. At one point I weighted almost 300 pounds. I had also been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes seven years ago and severe sleep apnea too. I knew it was critical I make some significant lifestyle changes or face even worse health risks.

We started by eating healthy and incorporating a variety of exercises, including cardio and resistance-based activities, into our daily activities. I had owned several heart rate monitors in the past and found them helpful. Both my wife and I started to use them again to track workout intensity and caloric burns. In Mid-September of last year I discovered the Fitdigits app and was blown away by its features. It quickly proved to be one of the more essential tools I used to get down to 170 pounds by April of this year and see other health improvements: I no longer have sleep apnea or have to wear a CPAP mask every time I try to sleep. More importantly, my blood sugar/glucose levels are now within very healthy levels without the need for medication! My resting heart rate went from the low 80s to upper 50s now. For the first time as an adult I can both jog and run respectable distances.

The Fitdigits app stands out from the other heart rate monitor and running apps because of the broad feature set, level of customization, the Fitdigits website, partner integration, ease of use despite the large feature set, and great support.

After getting familiar with the app and features my wife and I did the Fitdigits fitness assessments. From that we had something to measure our progress, more accurate and personalized heart rate zones, and other information the Fitdigits app uses to more accurately measure and display your heart rate related data and calorie burn. I like that the heart rate zones the Fitdigits app created support more modern information regarding optimal fat burning, aerobic, and anaerobic heart rate zones and not the old 10% increments of your maximum heart rate that have been used in the past.

The next thing I did was setup custom dashboards to display different data based on the activity we were doing. The custom dashboards are capable of displaying up to 12 items per screen, and you can have multiple screens! As an example, when I am on the elliptical I want to see my heart rate, what zone I am in, total calories burned, current calories per minute I am burning, average calorie burn per minute, total workout time, etc. If I am doing a custom workout routine I want to see how long I have left in the current zone, and how much time is left in the routine. How is all that data useful? The data is like a coach telling you how hard you are working your body, and if your efforts are in align with what you are trying to accomplish with that workout; I can look at the screen and see if I need to keep my effort as is, push it harder, or slow down.

The ability to easily create custom routines is very nice. Sometimes I just want to burn a lot of calories, other times I am doing a structured high intensity interval training workout to boost my cardio, and other times and am focusing on cardio endurance. Routines help guide you so that you stay on track with the proper intensity levels throughout the workouts.

As mentioned, the Fitdigits app has the ability to display a lot of useful data during the workout but it also stands out from other similar apps in what you can do with the data post-workout. The app itself saves all the workouts locally and syncs them to your Fitdigits account online. I find it incredibly useful and motivating to compare past and present workouts to monitor my progress. I can see very clear improvements in my cardio and running speeds on a regular basis. Doing the fitness assessments regularly and comparing those is also very helpful to track progress and ensure the cardio related settings within the Fitdigits app update and maintain accuracy.

The web site allows you to setup different types of goals so that that you can better track, measure, and get reports on your progress. Both my wife and I have found the goal related features very helpful in staying committed. We both have weekly calorie burn and workout duration goals. Since I can now run, I also have a weekly distance running goal too.

One of the other great features about the Fitdigits Ecosystem is that they have partnered with some of the other popular fitness-related resources. My favorite is MyFitnessPal. Many people, including my wife and I, use that free site to plan our meals and track food consumption. We like that our workouts get synced to the site so we can track net calories (consumed calories minus burned calories).

I previously purchased two Garmin FR-620s ($450 each) for my wife and I before Fitdigits implemented the BLE stride sensor feature. I have to say, after using my Polar HR strap and stride sensor with the Fitdigits app—the Garmin watches will only be used on very long runs. Thankfully Fitdigits has made it very easy to import data from Garmin and other companies that use common exportable data logging formats.

Overall I feel the small cost of the Fitdigits app, compatible heart rate monitor, their optional MVP program features, and taking a little time to both understand how to use the features and setting up an obtainable action plan are an amazing value and a must have investment for anyone that wants to improve their fitness.

Fitdigits “is a Brilliant App”

Posted on by
Reply

Testimonial by Fitdigits user Tom M.

I have been using Fitdigits on and off since October 2012, however in the past year this has grown to almost daily. I am currently in my second year of study in Exercise Physiology. Fitdigits is by far one of my top apps, and at a great price, there is so much that you can do with this. It has many functions that allow you to extrapolate the data that it records. I am using the Polar H7 chest strap, as it is not bulky and easily hidden under a shirt. Also, it is great if you happen to be weight training, as it leaves your appendages clutter free to allow full Range Of Movement.

Fitdigits allows users to obtain very accurate caloric burn and it also pairs with MyFitnessPal app, which is fantastic for calorie counters as there is no longer a need to guess or manually input energy expenditure for a workout. It also allows the user to monitor how there body is coping with stresses placed upon it. Interval training, in my opinion, is able to be maximized with the use of this app. Being able to have heart rate (HR) thresholds to be met instead of time cut offs is very helpful. An example of this is working as quickly as you can to get close to 90% of Maximum Heart Rate (MHR) then returning to 60-70% of MHR, before repeating.

There are two other fantastic features of this app that I enjoy, the first being that you aren’t locked into a particular piece of hardware. The user is able to chose one that suits them and their training needs. The other is that if you get stuck in life’s busy rut and are unable to exercise, it doesn’t nag you like other apps do, it does remind you but it’s very subtle and polite about it for example “come exercise with us”, or “Let’s take a walk”.

All in all this is a brilliant app and most of my friends have it as a result of its brilliance. You can see in the HR data I have attached below how I have physically adapted to some weight training, this is a result of my cardiac adaption to stress, and an increase in cardiac output as a result of aerobic conditioning. Thanks Fitdigits!

I went from a size 16 to a size 4!

Posted on by
3

I was ready for serious change

Testimonial by Fitdigits user Heather K.

I am a 43-year-old, married mother of two. I had my children in my early 30s and was able to get back to my pre-pregnancy weight pretty easily. My weight had stayed pretty level through my 30s, hovering around 135 despite my bad eating habits, until around 38 when the female metabolism typically starts to slow down. It snuck up on me at first. Then it was obvious I’d been gaining weight, but I still did nothing to help myself, so the weight gain continued. In November 2012 (the date of the picture on the right), I was just about to grow out of yet another size, and I’d had enough. I was 5′ 3″ and around 179 pounds. I started making small changes, but I wasn’t really serious yet.

January 2013 rolled around, and I made my annual “I’m going to lose weight” resolution, only this time I was ready to make some serious changes. My weight at that point was 174 pounds. I found MyFitnessPal via a news article about highly-rated weight loss apps. My intent was to do this the “right way” — I didn’t want to do a special diet that I couldn’t maintain long term, and I didn’t want to use any pills or gimmicks. I needed to do this in a way that would be healthy and sustainable, and I really believed that meant a combination of diet and exercise. The first step was a reset of my perception of food portions and how many calories were really in the food and drink I was consuming. MyFitnessPal made it easy to record intake and see at a glance how good or bad I was eating. And I could eat what I wanted, keeping my calorie goals in mind. That didn’t mean I could hit fast food every day, like I used to, but it did mean I could have it occasionally.

Not too far into this plan, my husband purchased a heart rate monitor that interfaced with an app on his phone. I thought it was a pretty cool gadget, and I borrowed his HRM a couple of times before deciding to purchase my own. I purchased the Polar H7 in early February, and I discovered it would interface with Fitdigits, which would then feed the information back to MyFitnessPal. Easy peasy! While it was a little depressing at first that the HRM showed fewer calories burned than my elliptical did, I felt it was better to have real data based on real effort than a result based on assumptions. Seeing clearly how many calories I was burning in Fitdigits allowed me to better determine how long I needed to work out. Or whether I need to step it up or dial it back a bit, depending on my heart rate and calories burned. I used it also to track my weight training.

In July, I started running. At first, I hated it! But I was very sore the next day, so it obviously worked different parts of my body than the elliptical did. That was probably a good thing, so I continued running. With Fitdigits, I could track my routes and know exactly how far I’d gone and how fast. Seeing my progress real-time motivates me to go just a little bit farther each time. Last weekend, I ran 6.25 miles straight! Considering I was “dying” less than 1/2 mile into my first run, that’s real progress.

Eventually, I added the Fitbit to the mix. It also interfaces seamlessly with MyFitnessPal, so it seemed like a no-brainer. My job has me sitting all day long, and knowing the Fitbit is tracking my steps motivates me to get up a little bit more during the day or move more at home at night.

50 pounds lighter and feeling great!

So we come to today. I’m around 124 pounds and feel like I have so much more energy than I used to. My BMI is firmly in the “normal” zone, which is such a great feeling. I also feel so much stronger. It’s amazing to me how far I’ve come from the couch potato of last December. I’ve lost 50 pounds since I got serious at the beginning of January and went from a size 16 (almost 18!) to a size 4/6. I’m not sure when I last wore size 4/6! My original goal was to lose 40 pounds, but once I got there, I knew I could continue. I’m currently in “maintenance mode” in MyFitnessPal, and I still exercise 4-6 times a week: elliptical/weight training during the week, and running on the weekends, using Fitdigits to track it all. My friends tell me I’m an inspiration to them, which makes me feel good.

I’m honestly not sure I could have made it this far without the help of technology. If I hadn’t been using the HRM and Fitdigits, I likely would have been overstating my calories from exercise, based either on what the elliptical told me or some generic formula found on the internet that can’t possibly know how hard I worked (or didn’t). Since the exercise allows me more calories in a day, that might have really slowed my progress (assuming I ate all the extra calories). I feel like I have a better handle on what I’m doing and what I need to do with the real-time feedback from Fitdigits.

The only downside to all of this has been the many shopping trips required for smaller clothes! New clothes are fun, sure, but somebody has to pay for them! Small price to pay for a healthier life, I suppose.

I need a new wardrobe!

Counting Calories – The Fitdigits Way

Posted on by

How does Fitdigits count calories? This question pops up more often then a Whack-a-Mole from those who care about the balance of calories and is touched on many times by others who are just curious. For example, many question why the calories on a manually entered workout are so different from that on shown on a Treadmill or during a workout where heart rate is used.

Background / Overview

  1. Everyone is different. Yep – even though we share 99% of the same DNA and makeup, that 1% is a doozy of a difference.
  2. Everyone changes constantly – the more we seem to stay the same, the more we change. A wise man once said “No man stands in the same river twice”. As your fitness level and health changes, so does the number of calories you burn on a constant basis.
  3. Women and men burn energy (calories) differently. Sorry girls – you just don’t burn calories as quickly, all other things equal.
  4. Younger people tend to burn energy (calories) more quickly.
  5. When tracking caloric intake (with a great app like MyFitnessPal) and true calories burned (with a great app like Fitdigits) you’ll get the most accurate, scientific approach to weight management. The most successful people use this method – check out some of the success stories

Things That Affect Calorie Burn

  1. Your weight – bigger people burn more calories, all other things equal. It takes more effort to walk an 18 minute mile for a 200lb person than it does for a 150lb person.
  2. Your Gender (see #3 above).
  3. Your Age (if you are not using heart rate and have not taken a personal Fitness Assessment).
  4. Your fitness level. Fit people have fine-tuned their bodies into calorie burning machines, and are just plain better at burning calories.
  5. What type and the intensity of your workout. This can be represented in a number called a “Metabolic Equivalent Table” (MET) number
    -OR-
    This can be more accurate with Heart Rate Monitoring– your heart rate actually is WAY more accurate at determining how hard your system is working than guessing at a number located in a table generated from generic testing.
  6. Time. How long did you workout?

 

Show Me The Numbers!

OK. Let’s look at a couple different scenarios.

 

(Bad) Calorie Calculations by Gym Machine Calculations / Activity trackers

If a machine, like a treadmill, knows nothing about you, they will probably use this formula:

Total Calories Burned = Duration in Minutes x (((MET – a number representing the type and intensity of your workout) x 3.5 x 70)/200).

So for an hour long jog the formula would be

Total Calories Burned = 60 x ((5 x 3.5 x 70)/200) = 367 calories.

The MET is a number they guessed, like 5 (from a range of maybe 3 to 16, based on speed) as a guesstimate of how hard you worked and 70Kg (154lbs) is their guesstimate of how much you weigh.

 

(Better) The Fitdigits Manual Calorie Calcs

When you have a person’s weight and can measure basic workout intensity either through self-reporting or by looking at speed/pace, you can start to refine the calorie calculations a bit. The formula is:

Total Calories Burned = Duration in Minutes x (((MET – a number representing the type and intensity of your workout) x 3.5 x your weight in kg)/200).

In this scenario, Fitdigits uses a sliding scale of MET values based on the type of activity chosen and the speed/pace of the workout, cross-referenced with the gender, age and estimated fitness level of the individual (or calculated fitness level/VO2 Max, if they have done a Fitness Assessment), applied to the standard MET tables. It does assume a flat surface, which isn’t always reflective of reality though, but does get much closer to a real caloric burn number. If there is no speed/pace (due to no GPS), then calorie calculations are done based on the user-specified Intensity, cross-referenced with the users gender, age and fitness level, if it exists.

 

(BEST) Calorie Calculations Using Heart Rate – Fitdigits with Heart Rate

With heart rate information, we can actually get very close to real, honest caloric burn numbers.The accurate calculation of calories burned by heart rate is optimized for the heart rate to be between 90 bpm and 150 bpm. The drivers are: Gender, Weight (kg), Height and VO2max (Fitness Level). The VO2max number is an estimate of fitness level based on a persons age and self-reported fitness level, or a calculated, much more accurate number if an Assessment has been completed.
The formulas are:

Men: C/min = (-59.3954 + (-36.3781 + 0.271 x age + 0.394 x weight + 0.404 x VO2max + 0.634 x HR))/4.184

Women: C/min = (-59.3954 + (0.274 x age + 0.103 x weight + 0.380 x VO2max + 0.450 x HR)) / 4.184

Note we actually show CPM – Calories Per Minute – on the results dashboard and in some in-workout dashboards (you can add it with Custom Dashboards). Kind of neat to see how your effort affect burn in a more standardized way!

 

Note: Exercise burn formulas are built around total caloric output during exercise — which typically includes BMR.

 

So now you know how we come up with accurate caloric burn data for you. Now what?

 

 

MyFitnessPal

The final piece of the equation is MyFitnessPal. MyFitnessPal takes inventory of everything you eat. Enter in your meals using MyFitnessPal’s enormous library of foods, and it will tell you how many calories you ingested. You can also set weight loss goals so that MyFitnessPal will instruct you on how many calories you can eat based on how much you are working out. Set a goal and reach it with Fitdigits and MyFitnessPal!

 

 

References:

http://www.calories-calculator.net/Calories_Burned_By_Heart_Rate.html
http://www.calories-calculator.net/Calculator_Formulars.html#burned_by_hr
http://www.shapesense.com/fitness-exercise/calculators/heart-rate-based-calorie-burn-calculator.shtml

 

Exercise, Nutrition and Activity: The Weight Loss Triad

Posted on by

Losing weight is hard. I do not need to throw on a stethoscope and a white lab coat to break that news to you. It takes discipline, motivation, dedication and a game plan.

In order to execute without guessing all over the place, you need to gather information. Armed with the proper weapons in the battle vs. the bulge, you will be able to appropriately plan both how often you workout and what you eat. You might as well call Fitdigits the forbidden tree in the Garden of Eden because we are straight dropping knowledge on all you information seekers.

We call it the Weight Loss Triad, formed via the perfect partnership between exercise, nutrition and activity. When properly utilized, you will be able to see the exact deficit between how many calories you eat and burn. For example, one pound of fat is equal to 3500 calories, meaning in order to lose an entire pound of fat you will need to burn 3500 more calories than you eat. If you want to burn a lb of fat every two weeks, that means on average you will need a caloric deficit of 250 calories a day. That is where the Triad comes in.

Exercise

Use Fitdigits to track all of your workouts. If you want the most accurate calorie count, it is essential to use a Heart Rate Monitor along with a Fitdigits Fitness Assessment. Now you will have custom heart rate zones and a Fitness level that will help get incredibly accurate caloric burn during workouts. Fitdigits also will act as the central data collecting hub for Nutrition and Activity Trackers.

Activity

Choose from one of the many Fitdigits compatible activity monitors to track your daily activity, so when you walk around the grocery store or do chores around the house, you will get credit for the steps you took and calories burned. Fitdigits is compatible with Fitbit, Jawbone, Misfit, Withings and Garmin Vivofit devices, as well as the apps that come with most iOS devices (Apple Health) or Android (Google Fit). You have quite a few options to work with, including those that are free with the phone you bought.

These trackers works great in conjunction with the workout data collected by Fitdigits. Begin by linking your Fitdigits account with your activity monitor. Now all of your Fitdigits and activity monitor calories will be collected in one spot. Don’t worry, you can wear your monitor while also recording with Fitdigits and the calories will not count twice.

Nutrition

The final piece of the equation is tracking nutrition with MyFitnessPal. MyFitnessPal takes inventory of everything you eat. Enter in your meals using MyFitnessPal’s enormous library of foods, and it will tell you how many calories you ingested. You can also set weight loss goals so that MyFitnessPal will instruct you on how many calories you can eat based on how much you are working out. If you already have linked Fitdigits to your activity tracker, then all you need to do is link your activity tracker account with MyFitnessPal.

We have found that linking Fitdigits with activity tracker, then the activity tracker with MyFitnessPal is the best way to link the three partners. If you try to link them a different way, problems will occur. For more details, read our blog post on Linking MyFitnessPal and Fitdigits.

With these three tools you are in the drivers seat when it comes to weight loss. All you need to do is turn the key, shift into drive and get started!

Click to download MyFitnessPal from the App Store

Click to download MyFitnessPal from the Google Play Store

Linking Fitdigits & Our Partners

Posted on by

In Fitdigits we partner with many great health and fitness solutions. From our partner section (Menu > Partners), you can link accounts to share information across portals.

We group partners into Daily Activity & Steps Platforms, such as Fitbit, Google Fit or Apple Health, Nutrition, such as MyFitnessPal or Lose It! (iOS only), and workout sharing partners that we will post workouts to their portal, such as RunKeeper or TrainingPeaks.

For Daily Activity platforms, we can post activities recorded by the app to them, and/or read their data to our portal / apps.

You can link multiple platforms and we will post to each, but you are limited to only one Preferred Partner that we will read and display their activity data such as steps, active / sedentary calories, and other metrics depending on the provider. You can change your Preferred Partner in your Partners section on the web or in-app (Menu > Partners).

 

Daily Activity Platforms

Apple Health

Link your app with Apple Health, and Fitdigits will be granted access to any of the data you approve during the linking process. This could include metrics like reading from them calories, steps, daily activity metrics, etc., and writing to equivalent areas in Apple Health with Fitdigits data recorded within our app.

Fitbit
Link your Fitdigits account with your Fitbit account, and Fitdigits will automatically receive your caloric burn totals based on your Fitbit daily activity. You can find this information in the apps under (Home) Menu > Health > Steps, or on my.fitdigits.com on the dashboard and in Health > Daily Activity.

Fitdigits will also send all Fitdigits workouts to Fitbit so the calories are included in your Fitbit daily total. For more information on the interaction between Fitbit and Fitdigits calories, read here.

Please note we are not compatible with Heart Rate on HR bands (see more).

Garmin Vivofit
When you link your Garmin account to Fitdigits, we will receive your Vivofit steps and other data with our portal. Please note this now includes Garmin watches and other Garmin Connect compatibility, including basic workout information.

Google Fit
When you link your Google Fit app to Fitdigits, we will receive your steps and othe supported data. Please note we aren’t sharing TO Google Fit at this time, but we plan to have more integration soon!

Misfit
When you link your Misfit account to Fitdigits,we will receive your Misfit steps and other data with our portal.

Withings
When you link your Withings account to Fitdigits, the next time you sync the app (Results -> Sync) all of your Withings steps, weight entries and blood pressure data will be automatically updated.

 

Nutrition

MyFitnessPal
When you link your Fitdigits account with MyFitnessPal, the calories burned during your Fitdigits workouts will be automatically sent to MyFitnessPal. No button pushing required! Just sign in and get accurate calories total added to your MyFitnessPal daily allowance.

 

Workout Sharing

TrainingPeaks
Share all of your workouts to TrainingPeaks. Log in here, and after completing a workout share to TrainingPeaks using the “Share button” on the results page.

Strava
Share all of your workouts to Strava. Log in here, and after completing a workout share to Strava using the “Share button” on the results page.

RunKeeper
Sign in to RunKeeper with your username and password, and now you can share your workouts to runkeeper.com with the tap of a button under results.

Dailymile
Sign in to Dailymile with your username and password, and now you can share your workouts to dailymile.com with the tap of a button under results.

 

Link MyFitnessPal and Fitdigits

Posted on by

Fitdigits is now partners with MyFitnessPal, and we could not be more excited! All you have to do is link your Fitdigits account with MyFitnessPal, and you will be able to see your Fitdigits calories count towards your daily allowance from MyFitnessPal. To link accounts:

1. Open Fitdigits and go to Menu > Partners > MyFitnessPal
2. Tap “Link Account”
3. Enter in your MyFitnessPal username and password, or link with Facebook
4. Tap Allow, and then tap Done

Now, after you complete a Fitdigits workout the application will automatically send the amount of calories you burn to your MyFitnessPal account!

If you also have a Fitbit or other daily activity partner linked (for the sake of this discussion we will use Fitbit as the primary example), we have found that linking Fitdigits with Fitbit, then Fitbit with MyFitnessPal is the best way to link the three partners. If you try to link them a different way, problems will occur:

1. Link Fitdigits with MyFitnessPal, and MyFitnessPal with another Daily Activity Provider (Not recommended)
You will need to take your Fitbit off when using Fitdigits, or you will get a double-dose of calorie adjustments – Fitbit giving you “some” credit for the exercise (especially if running or walking), while Fitdigits also would give you total credit for the exercise. Also, when MFP posts activity burn to Fitbit, it doesn’t transfer the distance. The worst part, though, is that if you don’t wear Fitbit while exercising/running/walking, it means you wouldn’t get credit for the steps you do during those exercises and that is probably the biggest bummer!

2. Link Fitdigits with BOTH MyFitnessPal and with another Daily Activity Provider (Not recommended)
If you want to live in a world of delusion, this will give you a huge caloric intake capacity as it will double your calories everywhere you look and give you a false sense of accomplishment on a regular basis. However, we have found living in a world of delusion, while fun for a little while, can have results that don’t exactly match the real world!

I Don’t Diet. I Exercise and Lead an Active Lifestyle.

Posted on by
Reply

Testimonial by Fitdigits user, Loren C.

After gaining 30 pounds last year due to various stresses in my life, I decided that I needed to lose weight. On August 10, 2011, I weighed 252 lbs, which was 67 pounds overweight. I decided to join Team Weight Loss at Lifetime Fitness in the Bloomington North facility.

Loren at Lifetime Fitness

Part of its program is journaling what you consume and your exercise. However, I had a problem keeping the journal up to date because I did not carry it everywhere with me. I was using the polar heart strap and watch, but started to experience problems. I decided to start searching for heart monitor alternatives.

I carry my iPhone with me all the time, so I started looking for apps that would help. I found MyFitnessPal, which took care of the journaling. I kept looking for ways to use polar with my iPhone, but I never found a solution. Then I found Fitdigits. Fitdigits is an iPhone app that uses a transceiver (Fitdigits Connect) that plugs into the dock connector of the iPhone. I upgraded to the Garmin Premium Heart Rate Monitor which uses ANT+ technology to communicate with Fitdigits and picked up the transceiver, too.

Once equipped with Fitdigits, I was able to track my food diary (MyFitnessPal) and my exercise progress. I also wanted to make sure that my heart rate zones were accurate, so I had a CardioPoint* fitness test. The information from the CardioPpoint was uploaded to the NewLeaf website. Fitdigits synchronizes with NewLeaf and downloads the heart rate zones into the phone.

I am an information junkie. The data feedback that Fitdigits provides helps me track my progress. I get to see my heart rate during my workouts. Not only that but the information from those workouts is share with NewLeaf, Facebook and friends. I can see that I am making progress and I can quantify that against my program. I am not on a diet, but I have made significant changes to my lifestyle that have improved my overall health and fitness. I am still enjoying the occasional beer, but I am more conscious of the effects it has on my fitness program

Working Hard Using Fitdigits

I added a FitBit to my program on January 30th, 2012. This tracks all of my movement throughout the day. The wonderful thing about the Fitbit system is that the website awards you badges for your level of daily activity. When I look at my total activity for the day I am always motivated to do just a little more activity in order to get the next badge. At first I was reaching 50 floors in a day, but then I wanted to see if I could get to 100 floors in a day. Then I tried for 150 floors. Then 200 floors. When we had our first warm day of the spring in Minneapolis I wanted to go reach another achievement level for the paces per day. I was able to get to 40,209, which allowed me to receive highest badge you can receive in a single day, the 40,000 pace badge. The trail system in the Minneapolis/St. Paul is excellent. I have been making use of it and will be continuing the use of the trails throughout the spring and summer.

I started in August 2011. As of March 8, 2012, I have lost 30 lbs and have 35 more to go.

*CardioPoint is a cardiovascular fitness test available at Lifetime Fitness that determines key cardiovascular training markers including anaerobic threshold, aerobic base and V02. It identifies optimal heart rate zones and the best zone for the most effective exercise. It also provides a more accurate caloric burn formula.