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Getting more active... Tracking band, apps, and hula hoops!

Getting more active is not easy right now for me.  I cannot walk or stand for very long without pain.

I love swimming but it is not always very easy to get out and go.

I got the Honor 5 Band because I needed something to track how active I am including when I swim, but most trackers - like the Apple Watch or Fitbit - made for swimming are very expensive.  After quite a bit of research I discovered 2 that looked promising - the Moov and the Honor 5 Band.

According to my research:

The Moov is a tracker and training band that does not have a display.  It is a round disc that can be put in a wrist band, ankle band, head band, etc.  People complained that the disc is so light weight that they never realised they actually lost it.  It was available on Amazon for £45.

The Honor 5 Band has a display, and can receive notifications from phone (and social media), record workouts and track steps.  It is made by Huawei and cost £30 on Amazon.



This is from week 1 of wearing the tracking band... after the first time wearing it swimming.  It recorded the type of stroke I was doing and recorded a lot of helpful information.

It also is helping me to be more aware of how active I am, as it alerts me when I sit for too long.  It also celebrates with stars on the display when I reach a step target.
The Huawei app is easy to install and use.

It displays lots of information - tracking steps, calories burned and distance, sleep, heart beats, etc.

It became clear just how much more active I am on the weekends.
The Huawei app connects to Apple Health app, which connects to My WW app to record fit points.

Since I am now working from home, and cannot always swim. I needed to find other ways to be active.  So when the band alerts me I am sitting too long, I have been trying to do housework, but even that is not always possible.  I have tried to book time in my work calendar, 10 minutes in the morning and 10 minutes in the afternoon, outside of lunch to get away from the keyboard and move. 

One of my problematic areas when I lose weight is my arms, as the skin just gets loose... so needed to find ways to deal with this.  I was watching a video of a woman hula hooping and her cat trying to catch the hoop.  It got me thinking that I could hula hoop with my arms.  On Amazon I found smaller hula hoops made specifically for this purpose.  They arrived today and all day I have been fiddling with them.  I have been enjoying them and actually have pretty good coordination.  I managed to do about 10 minutes of hooping with my arms, but inconsistent as could not keep my arms extended for very long before needing to rest them.  

I will report later on further progress and my activity levels.
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