Just got a Fitbit- friends?

Me!! I got one for Christmas and love it. PM me your email address and I will add you as a friend.

Angie

My aunt who had breast cancer 8 years ago gave me a Fitbit in December of 2015. Walking has been her exercise program since her diagnosis and she is the healthiest person I know. I feel like I have found true physical fitness myself for the first time in my life. I get my 10k every day, and around 600 active minutes of moderate exercise every week.

I was very overweight (have lost 150 lbs since DX) and sedentary. It was hard and it seemed impossible at first, but I worked my way up slowly. After about 7500 steps per day I started to feel so much better that I wanted to continue, and now I really miss it when I can't walk. I feel excellent in every way, physically and mentally, and as a bonus it reduces recurrence risk.

I don't ever use the social features of Fitbit but we can stay in touch here.

Thanks, I have 5 lbs. to go to my goal weight.

Try Cron-O-Meter for the food tracking. It has a lot more features, including tracking micronutrients, and it will sync food and exercise with your FitBit automatically. There is a website and also apps for iPhone and Android. The basic version is free and includes plenty of features, but I have found it so useful I pay for the pro version.

You can do it! If I could anyone can.

Exercising to physical fitness was my New Year's resolution for 2016. First time in my life I ever kept one to the end of the year and beyond. I have so much more energy I am committed for life.

Top weight was 288. I had started losing weight before my diagnosis, very slowly, but I was still 270 lbs when I was diagnosed. I got 100% serious about the eating plan pretty much the following day. I knew outcomes were worse for obese women so breast cancer was a bit of a wake up call for me. I follow a modified ketogenic diet, which I have written about elsewhere on these boards. I also keep tight control on my blood sugar using a home glucose meter. I wasn't pre-diabetic before the diet but my numbers were high normal. I try not to eat anything that raises my blood sugar and I shoot for no change before and after meals. Got my A1C down to 4.9% with this approach, working toward 4.7. The lower the better for everyone, but especially if you have had cancer.

I work at home and I have a very small house so I wouldn't get enough steps on a normal work day without really making an effort. My base routine is to walk around my neighborhood for 30 minutes after each meal, which also lowers blood sugar. That gets me close to 10k. Also when I am out running errands I always try to park as far away as possible; and while shopping I will walk all of the aisles whether I need anything or not, and around the perimeter of the store a few times. Costco is great for this - you can get several thousand steps in active mode between parking on the other side of their huge lot and cruising the store aisles as fast as you can. I take advantage of any chance to get more steps, like walking to nearby appointments that I would have driven to in the past.

My stats for the week below. No one is more surprised than I am that I am getting this much activity. I wouldn't have thought it possible a year and a half ago but it really does become somewhat addicting after a certain level, in a good way as long as you are not overdoing it. I also do strength training 3x/wk with resistance bands. Walking and strength training will keep your bones nice and strong. Add stretching to maintain flexibility and you have a full workout. I still can't touch my toes but I keep working toward them. At least I can see them now!