#4 Promoting Actifit - How I have benefited from the Actifit App + Tips for new users

Github Repository
https://github.com/mcfarhat/actifit/

A. Introduction

It's been more than a month since I started using Actifit, an innovative Dapp that rewards fitness activity! Before this time, I never gave it much thought about disciplining myself to do daily physical exercises. Only when I started using the Actifit app that I started paying attention to the number of steps I take each day.

A few years ago, a friend gave me a pedometer to track my steps each day. I remember putting it on everyday for one week and then recording the daily steps in a notebook. I was astonished by the very few steps I took each day and soon, I lost the motivation to continue on. Partly it was due to the hassle of keeping up with noting the tracking log manually. Also there was a not a community of people I could give an account to, so all motivation was lost.

Then when Actifit app came onto the scene last month, everything changed. There is a vibrant Actifit community I could interact with daily in their discord channel and on Steemit. Another thing is that the app is so efficient to use. I don't have to do any daily recording on my own which solves half my problem already. The beauty is that the app automatically tracks my history that I can view anytime to monitor my fitness status. There is also a little added bonus upvote that you get with your Steemit post once you reach the 5,000 steps per day. It is not so much the reward that I go for but rather there is the community there cheering you on to move forward each day.

B. Aiming for 10,000 Steps Eacy Day

You may be wondering: "Why 10,000 steps?" I asked that question too when I began. Experts tell us that reaching 10K steps daily can benefit our health. When I did a little research into this, I discovered that this is really not a magic number. It originated from pedometers sold in Japan in the 1960s that marketed under the name "mano-kei" meaning "10,000" step meter. The hard truth is that the number is nothing scientific at all. But in the last few decades, health experts have done studies to confirm that people who take 10,000 steps have lower blood pressure and in better health state. This information alone is a good start for me.

When I started using the Actifit app, I simply wanted to find different ways to gain the 10,000 steps. Simply adding steps to 10,000 can help you become "more active" such as the ones you see listed in the app: house chores, daily activity, moving around office, shopping and walking. In the beginning, I relied on these normal daily activities to gain the step momentum. I only managed to get about 5,000 steps per day and sometimes less. Being more active daily does provide health benefits, but there is more to gain full benefit from this fitness app.

After a month into this, what is more valuable in using the Actifit app is to push myself to reach the 10,000 daily steps through aerobic activities. I soon discover that it is not a matter of reaching 10,000 steps but 'how' you do them. It is far better doing a 30 minute of areobic paced exercises than to do plain walking. I am now more mindful to consciously plan my day by doing swift walking, jogging, running, stair mill for my daily exercise routine. This would not have been in my planning at all if I were not actively using the Actifit app. Always walk the stairs whenever you are able to.

10,000 Steps have been a goal I tried to reach and to maintain. Nutritionists tell us that completing 10K step each day can burn about 2000 to 3500 extra calories each week. One pound of body fat equals to about 3,500 calories, so by putting in some intensities in the daily 10K exercises, you can lose a pound per week. This is a side benefit that I see myself gaining as I want to lose some pounds in a healthy way.

I hope soon the Actifit app can give a higher reward to those who reach 15,000 steps per day. Health experts have noted that people who do an average of 15K steps day have healthy cholesterol levels and lower risk of health disease, not to mention, a better looking waistline which all of us desire.

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C. My Track Record in the Past Month

I've only started using the app for about a month.

As you can see, I only manage to get to 10K steps half of the time. Only 2 times, I managed to go beyond the 10K steps. I did 22,807 steps on July 24th as I went on a hiking trip with my friends. We went cycling, walking, running and jogging so it was a day of intense exercises.

My average day is a little above 5,000 steps. Without the record of the app, I probably would be doing only about 2K or 3K steps per day. Viewing the track history and pushing myself to the 10K steps have motivated me to plan more aerobic exercises into my daily activities.

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D. Healthy changes in my daily life-style

I have a full time job at the school so I plan how to reach a 10K steps per day.

Normally I take the bus to work. Ever since I started using this app, I have chosen to get up earlier to walk to school. I can't wear high heels to walk so I put on comfortable shoes to do brisk walking to and from school.

The school is about 2.5 kilometers from my home. This gives me about 1500 to 2000 steps each way. 10,000 steps is equivalent to about 8 kilmeters, so when I finish work, I still need to plan how to do more exercises to reach the 10K bench mark. Sometimes I succeed and sometimes I don't depending on how much energy I have left after work.

Fortunately I get off work quite early, around 4pm meaning that I have lots of hours before and after dinner to put in more exercises.

I really have no excuse not to exercise because where I live is very close to a jogging path along the seashore. So with this newly motivated goal of using the Actifit app, I come here and do some jogging and running. I live in one of these high rises that you see here.

Hong Kong has a service that allows us to rent bicycles along the jogging path. I registered with the Go-go company last month and started adding cycling to my daily exercises. So whenever I get tired of running, I would hop on one of these bikes that are parked alongside the fence. Though this is not a fancy bike, cycling does the work for me to give me the extra aerobic steps I need for my daily exericses to keep fit. When I get tired of cycling, I park the bike by the fence and move on to continue my jogging along the way.

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After all the cycling, jogging and running, my last activity would end up swimming in the ocean here. This is where I feel most at home when doing any kind of sports.

Right now, the Actifit app does not include swimming activities. Well, how can you strap the mobile phone onto your arm in the water? I had suggested to @mcfarhat that perhaps in the future, swimming can be counted in to include into our daily steps but this relies on an honor system.

I am so motivated to go swimming whenever I can, so in that sense I really don't need the app to push me. It is all the other activities such as brisk walking, jogging, running, and cycling that the Actifit app gives me the push to get me going everyday.

If you are not into any sports, use the Actifit app to motivate you. I now find the brisk walk and the jogging much more enjoyable. It takes time to get the fun momentum going but you need a start and Actifit is a good place to begin.

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E. Some Tips to New Users

Using the Actifit app is really health benefiting because you become more conscious of your daily need to meet a certain requirement of steps.

1. Always use the tracking history to help you see where you stand and that can give you a push when you see your low score there.

2. Remember to activate the Actifit app to get the counting to begin each day. A few times, I just strapped it around my arm when I went out the door, but the Actifit counter remained at '0' because I did not activate the app when I began. Once activated for the day, it will keep going until the end of the day.

3. Don't put your mobile phone inside the purse thinking that the phone can sense your movement. It doesn't. One day, I walked about 4K and I saw that my counter was only at 437 steps. I didn't strap it around my arm but left the mobile phone in my purse. Don't do that.

4. To get potential rewards from Actifit team, remember to post your daily record onto Steemit before midnight. Once pass midnight, the app will go back to '0' as the start of a new day. Sometimes I tend to forget this procedure. So do this right after dinner if you don't plan to go out for more exercises.

5. If you find that you are only need to put in an extra 1000 steps to get to 10K, go out there even in the evening to finish those steps. Often times, I find that I had to push myself to get out of the house to maintain the 10K if I am able to. I live only 5 minutes away from the jogging path beside the ocean shore, so I have no excuse not to get out there to join the others to enjoy the beautiful night.

F. Video Tutorial

Yesterday I reviewed a video created by my colleague @buckydurddle and he did a super tutorial to show people how to use the Acrifit app. This video will give you lots of tips on how to use the Actifit app.

G. Image Resources

All photos are taken by me and screenshots are from my Acifit app.

G. Blog Series

#1 Promoting Actifit Fitness Tracker - New Opportunity To Stay Healthy & Wealthy

#2 Promoting Actifit - START HERE

#3 Promoting Actifit - Crossing 100K SP & My Part as Ambassador

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Sign into the Actifit website here.

Download the Android app from Google play.

I hope this blog post can help all of you to use the Actifit app to improve your health also.

Thank you for your attention,
Rosa
@rosatravels

Thank you reading this post!

谢谢你的阅读！希望你喜欢。