Advice for a Newbie

[Tommybanana]

Hi

I am want to commit to my Fitbit Surge to help change my lifestyle. I am a drummer and practicing each day really adds to my wellbeing although it isnt full on exercise. I know I need to be more active and it is imperative for health reasons I lose weight and take more exercise.

When I drum the Surge is counting steps. I could take the surge off (but may forget to put it back). I could manually add an exercise type

that deletes the steps counted. I could see these steps as measuring something positive for my well being and adjust my daily targets accordingly. 

What do you recommend? Should we view steps as only physical movements with our legs or units of 'wellbeing promoting' activity?

best

Tommy Banana

[WendyB]

I dont know if this will work as I dont have Drums. Put use the Exercise Screen and the Workout mode.

Hopefully it wont count the steps.

Let us know if it works.

[YojanaFitbit]

It's lovely to see you here @Tommybanana, hope you're enjoying the Forums! Drumming is an excellent hobby. The information that I know about this activity is that according to the study, 90 minutes of drumming could raise the heart rate to 190 beats a minute and could burn between 400 and 600 calories in an hour in concert. So we can say, that it is about 7 to 10 calories per minute. It might vary depending of the MBR (Basal metabolic rate) information too. But never the less you should be killing some calories during drumming. 

Surge will take your body movements to get information about your workouts. The algorithm on ti is designed to look for intensity and motion patterns that are most indicative of people walking and running. It's better wear your tracker in your non-dominant hand to avoid getting credit for other arm movements, such as cooking, working in a desk etc. 

I think that @WendyB suggestion it's a great idea, after sync that activity you can name it as Drumming, to take advantage of those calories burned. If you prefer to "Shutdown" your Surge while drumming, you'll find the option on your Surge "Settings". But personally, I think that as you do this everyday, it'll help you to have a better record of your weight loss. 

You can also log your activities for previous days on  your computer by going to Fibit.com . 

 Give it a shot and let me know if that works! 

[Tommybanana]

Thanks Wendy and Yojana. 

That really helps give me some options and understanding.

I was wondering whether you recommended a strategy of 1) keeping the Steps data as tracking only actual steps - or 2) seeing the 'Step' as a more flexible wider tracker of wellbeing promoting activities?

in scenario one the surge's tendency to overcount will need to be blocked as per wendy's suggestion but with strategy 2 when it is thing I want to do more of then I can leave them in the total.

My instinct is to go strategy 2 but would welcome the views of people who have made this work for them.

[YojanaFitbit]

It's being a pleasure @Tommybanana! Keep posting your experience, since it also helpful for other users that might be having the same inquiry. 

I also invite you to keep posting in our Discussions board where you will find other members sharing their experiences and tips. This is a really good way to stay motivated towards your goals. 

Have an awesome day, and keep stepping! 

[Tommybanana]

Any views on this part:

I was wondering whether you recommended a strategy of 1) keeping the Steps data as tracking only actual steps - or 2) seeing the 'Step' as a more flexible wider tracker of wellbeing promoting activities?

in scenario one the surge's tendency to overcount will need to be blocked as per wendy's suggestion but with strategy 2 when it is thing I want to do more of then I can leave them in the total.

My instinct is to go strategy 2 but would welcome the views of people who have made this work for them.