Sunday, July 15, 2012

Stampedin' with Nike Fuelband

Hello All
The last few days have flown by. So flew home on Thursday with an hour and a bit flight delay due to some miscommunication with the plane and our aviation department.

On Friday I went to the Stampede and had lots of fun. We watched a pow wow at the Indian Village watched the chuck wagon races and the Grandstand Show with Paul Brandt. I little disappointing that he preformed only 3 songs but mind you he was a guest performer. Now getting home was an adventure and a half. There was no cab to be found so I tried to take the train downtown. Well 3 packed trains went buy and I realized that wasn't going to work. Then I walked downtown in hopes of catching a cab still no luck. I found a city bus I could still take as thankfully they run late during Stampede. I got home at 12:40pm. One good thing is I never had to fear for my safety walking around by myself after midnight due to the gobs of people around. 

Now I had intended to go to weigh in Saturday but I was so exhausted when I got home that I didn't set my alarm and slept right through it.

Now I promised you my thoughts the Nike Fuelband.

I'll start with the pros:

It's a nice piece to wear as it looks more like a bracelet.
The display is great and easy to use.
The display of lights is another indicator of how close you are to  your goal as when you get closer the lights are green.
With on click on the button you can cycle through seeing your fuel, calories burned, steps and the time of day. When I bought it they fit me for it. It comes in small, medium and large. The small worked best for me with a little spacer. It comes with a spacer so you can adjust your fit. It should stay pretty still on your wrist.



So you can plug the band directly into your computer or use USB cable that it comes with. When you first get it you need charge it either via computer or I used the USB cable with my iPod wall charger. You also need to download Nike+Connect and have a nikeplus.com account. However if you've ever used the Nike foot pod with your iPod or iPhone you probably have an account already. Once that's all done you pick your goal. You can pick one of their options 2000 if you're not very active, 3000 if you plan at least one workout a day and so on. You can also set your own goal but I'd advise figuring out your rhythm with activity before you do that. It also tracks steps, and calories based on you entering your height, weight and gender when you first set up your Fuelband. You even tell it what wrist you'll wearing it on. 


Now the Nike Fuel part is a bit of a mystery it's a formula created by Nike that translates into "fuel". It has something to do with the part that tracks KM or Miles, whenever my movement comes close to 3K that seems to line up with 3000 Nike Fuel. I'm not sure how that works with those who have it set to imperial and use miles. 


I love syncing it to the free app on my iPhone because I adore this little guy:

When you hit certain milestones he shows up in an animated little feature that celebrates your success. He's shows up online as well on nikeplus.com.

Now the device itself works off your arm movement so kind of like a pedometer attached to your wrist.

So the data itself is a little iffy.


On Friday I earned 5747 in Nike Fuel and that was mostly due to clapping at the chuck wagon races and grandstand. Yes I was walking around the whole day but I wasn't exactly going fast. Earlier in the week when I was in my camp room I was super close to 3000 (which is the goal I set) so I danced for a song and managed to squeak over.

What I do really like about it is it acts like an anchor for me. I'm more conscious of my movement while wearing this for example I'll get up from my desk and take walk around the floor to encourage a bit more activity and I do get a sense of glee when it flashes "GOAL'' at me. 

So for me it's a keeper as it just encourages me more. I'll wear it and something a little more data specific like a heart rate monitor, Nike Sports watch or Garmin for half marathon training.

Now it's supposed to launch in Canada this fall so we'll see if it sells like crazy as it did in the US. When it first launched there it sold out online. I bought mine when I was last in Vegas in June at a Nike store.  Apparently they had just received a shipment. I would think they're more available now.

Hope you are enjoying your Sunday and let me know if you have any questions on my thoughts on the Fuel Band.

Hugs!!!

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