I Actually Don’t Need a Fitness Tracker – Giving Up My Apple Watch

Thank you, Apple’s Apple Watch website as I screenshot the header photo. Last year’s post is about obtaining my Apple Watch, and this most is mostly about giving up the Apple Watch. 

Why I Got an Apple Watch in the First Place

It was rather fun seeing how many steps I got in a single day or throughout a month from my phone, but it was such a hassle to carry my phone around for it to count my steps. I got an Apple Watch last November on sale, and it was pretty good at first since it tracked my steps without my phone directly on me and I missed fewer calls due to the watch notifications.

The Discomfort – Both Physically and Emotionally

Unfortunately, the watch became a semi-obsession where I felt I must reach whatever activity and stand goals it “assigned” me. The watch was also not that comfortable and clashed with the bracelets that I liked to wear. It suddenly became “in the way” such that I had to work on letting it go. I’d find myself moving a lot in the mornings to get the bulk of my activities done with earlier on in the day and ditching the watch completely after my activity rings were closed, which was usually around 5PM, or later if I need more time to close my activity ring if I’m having an extremely busy work day. The watch was making me go, “ugh” more than it made me go, “yaaay,” so I decided to phase it out.

Trips were Always Good

I stopped wearing the watch when I wanted my bracelets to shine, which was probably about twice a week, or when my wrist itched too much from the watch the prior day. I’d put on the watch the days after though, but whenever I need to go on an overnight trip, giving up the watch was extremely easy. I’m a cheap-o when it comes to flights so if no carry-ons mean a significantly cheaper flight ticket, I don’t bring a carry on bag. Apple watch means additional charger, so forget that. It’s too much of a hassle to bring an additional charger and to take off another piece of item during security check.

STEPtember – Great Time to Wear

I was in process of giving up the Apple Watch in August, and then STEPtember came along. The competitive side in me and not wanting to let down my team kicked in, so I wore the watch from morning – evening everyday in STEPtember to ensure each step it recorded gets uploaded and counted toward the team steps. 

No Apple Watch This Month

I quickly tossed the Apple Watch somewhere after STEPtember was over, and didn’t touch it at all this month. Steps are still definitely needed and I’ve developed a good idea of how much I need to walk to hit 10K steps each day. I try to do a workout each day, but I admit that I was a lot more active in September for the STEPtember event. My wrist feels so much better without the watch on, and I could rock whatever bracelet without the watch in the way. I mentioned that I’d miss fewer calls with the watch on, and I do miss that, but if it’s important, they’ll leave a voicemail, right? The other stuff on the apps on the watch are pretty nice, but I’ll do the whole heartrate monitoring thingy when my doctor tells me to. For now, I’m fitness tracker free. Until next STEPtember event, or when my doc recommends that I wear one.