Cool gadget for fun walks: Fitbit

I love walking, so much so that I’ve written two Toronto walking guides, but do you know what really motivates me to stroll for kilometres? I choose a decadent destination far from home and invite friends to tag along. Do you know what is the source of my two techie friends’ motivation for walking? Fitbit.

Yannick is a programmer, and Lionel works as an Adobe teacher. As the two guys behind YummyBaguette.com, a website listing all the yummy shops where you can find chocolates, pastries, coffees, teas and other treats in Toronto, they are the ideal friends to bring along for a decent walk towards a decadent place!

Last spring, we decided to visit The Artisan Baker, located at 1423 Yonge, just south of St. Clair. Our starting point was the Novotel hotel on The Esplanade, about 5 km south of the restaurant and we resumed our walk after our brunch. (See Nathalie's walk around The Artisan Bakery.)

What’s that gadget?
We were making good progress on our stroll and our conversation, then I noticed that the guys were stopping from time to time to consult each other. I asked them if there was a problem. “Not at all”, they replied. They were simply comparing data from their respective Fitbits.

Yannick took out from his pocket a tiny gadget, no larger than a USB key, flashing the words “UCANDOIT”, then “YANN”. His goal was to walk 10,000 steps a day. His Fitbit was encouraging him! With their gadget, the guys could compare the number of strides that they had walked since the beginning of our stroll. 

My nerdy friends then had fun testing their instruments’ accuracy. Because Yannick’s legs are longer than Lionel’s, his Fitbit was indicating fewer steps for the same distance covered. When they swapped their Fitbits, the smart gadgets instantly adapted to their new owner.

Fitbit options 

Both tried to convince me to get a Fitbit. One of the appeals is that Fitbit allows you to follow (on your computer or smartphone) the progress of your friends who own one and have joined your group. This way, Lionel and Yannick always know which of the two is the most active. 

There’s nothing like finding out that your friend has walked 8,000 strides before lunchtime, while you’re still in your pajamas, to make you want to get moving! 

There are three types of Fitbit pedometers. Yannick had the Fitbit One, a clip-on model worth $100. (The Fitbit Flex bracelet also sells for $100.) Lionel had the Zip, a smaller clip-on model offered at $60. 

The three versions feature wireless communication with Mac or PC computers (and also with iPads, iPhones, and a few Samsung Galaxy models). The three of them can count the number of strides and distance walked, as well as the number of calories burned.

After our lovely brunch at The Artisan Baker, we strolled back to
the Novotel, our starting point. When I said I would walk back to my home, my friends decided they didn't want me in their Fitbit group after all. Bad sports!