I’ve had an Apple watch for over 5 years and before that I had a Fitbit and a Jawbone (anyone remember those?!). Basically I’ve worn a “tech” type watch for the past 10 years. I love health devices, tracking stats, and investing in products that improve my health. However, lately I’m feeling like a need a break. You know how some people experiment with taking a break from coffee because they feel like they are over consuming it (I could never break-up with coffee)…that’s how I’m feeling with my watch. I need a break from all the stats, pings, and notifications.
I feel like I need a break for a few reasons:
I want to simplify tracking my workouts/physical activity. Honestly all I really care about are my steps. Steps and walking are important to me and I preach about the health benefits all the time on the blog, so I really just need something to track steps.
Tracking a workout like cycle, barre, or yoga and seeing how many “active calories” I burn is not important to me anymore (it used to be) for a few reasons. First of all, I don’t think it’s all that accurate (and I have the newest watch) and second I workout for other reasons than burning calories. Sure, I workout to stay in shape, but it’s also the absolute best thing I can do for my mental health. I don’t choose a workout based on what is going to burn the most calories on my watch. I choose a workout based on factors like what sounds enjoyable, how does my body feel, where I’m at on my cycle, what I did the previous day, etc. So for example, when I do a 30 min Peloton yoga class I barely burn over 50-60 calories according to my watch. So that sometimes makes me feel like it was a “waste” when in reality it was EXACTLY what I needed and felt so great. Sometimes I feel pressure to choose more high intensity workouts to meet my activity goals, but in reality that isn’t what is healthiest for me that day.
I’d prefer to go by how a workout feels vs. how many calories my watch tells me I burned. I know when I get in a calorie burner workout and I know when I have more chill and lower output day. I now realize I don’t need a watch to tell me that.
I also want to disconnect from my phone more and my watch makes that difficult. I get texts, IG notifications, and other alerts on my watch all the time. While sometimes it can be useful to be able to send a quick voice text from my watch, I think it will be good for me have breaks from being so connected and responsive to alerts.
Another reason I want to try and ditch the tech watch is that I miss wearing a CUTE watch! I haven’t bought a non tech watch in YEARS, so I’m asking my husband for a new watch for my birthday 😉
Lastly, I now have my Oura ring. I’ve had it for about 2 months now and I have been comparing its health stats to my Apple Watch. When I first got the ring my stats were whack and couldn’t be accurate, but over time it’s really gotten to know my body and the step count seems so much more accurate and in line with my Apple Watch. I plan to use my ring to continue to monitor steps, sleep, recovery, and its period predictor is on point! I will ignore the information I’m trying to let go of like calories burned.
So for the month of March I’m not going to wear my watch and reassess after the month if it’s better for my mental health to not have the watch or the benefits of the watch outweigh the cons. I think I will miss being able to voice text a reply when I don’t have my phone on me and I’m busy with the kids. I will also miss being able to ping my phone to find where the heck I’ve left it…literally it’s best feature.
xx, A
