Usually I just look at Valentine’s Day as an annoyance, since the holiday makes restaurants extra busy. But this year I actually had a Valentine to celebrate with, and I do love indulging a cheesy holiday when appropriate, so I didn’t mind the crowded restaurants. I just made sure to make a reservation!
Red Hook and Manhattan. (Photo by Jeff)
It’s been so long since I did a Thinking Out Loud post that I wasn’t even sure if Amanda’s link-up was still a thing. But I had no overall theme for a post today, just random stuff, so I thought I’d check. Sure enough, Thinking Out Loud Thursdays are still going strong, so that’s what you get today.
I did something I never thought I’d do: start wearing a Fitbit. It was gifted to me by a friend and I figured, why not give this a shot? I normally make a point of avoiding numbers. I don’t look at nutrition labels, I cover up the torque and RPM in Flywheel, and I’ve never had interest in wearing a heart rate monitor during my workouts. But I’ve also been doing a good job ignoring numbers when they are put right in front of me (like when I housed Shake Shack last weekend despite the calorie counts blatantly being posted on the menu board). So I set it up last week.
So far I like wearing it. I do feel a little guilty when I don’t hit my step goal, but to be honest, the Fitbit Flex is not that accurate when it comes to tracking overall activity. For example I wore it during a CorePower Yoga Sculpt class, which is one of the hardest workouts I have EVER done, and afterward the app stated I’d only been active 19 minutes. Excuse me? That was an hour long workout in a 96 degree room. I may not have hit my step goal that day, but I know and am confident that I definitely hit my own personal activity goal, and did not let numbers tell me otherwise. It is fun though to try to hit step goals or just realize how many steps it takes for me to take normal routes, like from work to home.
January came with the opportunity to try several new fitness adventures here in Boston, and that’s really helped me stay fairly on track when it comes to consistent workouts. Today I’m sharing my experiences at Cyc in Back Bay, Barre & Soul in Harvard Square, and Community Rowing in Brighton.
I’d previously been hesitant to try Cyc because I heard it involved a lot of time spent out in third position, holding onto the handlebars with one hand while keeping a weight in the other. This just isn’t my kind of spin. I like songs with arm action, but nothing too out there. Still, when I was offered some classes as part of the Calories for a Cause program (hate the name, love the support for the Challenged Athletes Foundation), I decided to experience Cyc firsthand and help a good cause at the same time. (For every class I take, $1 is donated.)
Cyc offers complimentary shoe rentals, but I prefer the clips on my own pair!
I’m a 28 year old full-time working girl living in Boston (previously lived in Connecticut). I’m passionate about food/drink, restaurants, self-love, fitness, and the ever-present search for balance. I write about that journey on this blog – I hope you enjoy!
