It was around this time last year that I won the FitBit Flex through a contest at work. I quickly got caught up in tracking my steps, my calories, my weight and my body fat percentage. I started walking for exercise – taking breaks during the work day to stroll the perimeter of the business complex. I discovered a park tucked away in my neighborhood along with a few meandering routes I could stroll through the sub division. It was unusual for me not to hit my 10K steps at least three times a week. Then, I went on vacation in September and when I got back, it was deep fall. The days were way shorter, the night’s colder, and my enthusiasm for anything relating to walking or eating “right” winked out of existence.
At my physical at the beginning of this year, I topped the scales at 203 and my blood pressure was borderline problematic.
I’ve since gotten the weight back down to it’s usual 198. My body fat percentage and measurements haven’t changed. I’ll find out about the blood pressure in a few weeks. But in the meantime, perhaps I’ll go back to walking every day. I know from this time last year that the extra steps, the paying attention to what I ate made a pound of difference each month. So…it stands to reason if I walk a little faster, a little further, and a little more often, I might get that up to to two pounds a month and then we’ll be cooking with…er, I mean, and then we’ll be burning the….um, let’s just say I may see some more notable reductions in the numbers. lol
There is something about warmer temps, days with more sunshine, that moves me to move more. I am indeed, solar powered.
Dana Ellington, MAPW 
I got a Fitbit for my birthday – and I sound like you did at first with it. I’ve been exploring almost every day. At work, I discovered a park that I did not know existed, despite having spent most of my life living within a couple miles of it. And this morning, I found out that we live right near a nature park, with tons of trails that will have to be explored once they dry out.
Your neighborhood sounds awesome. The area I live now isn’t very walker friendly but I manage to find a gem here and there. I’m moving later this year and my new city has all kinds of hiking possibilities, not to mention kayaking which I hope to do some of. 😀
We are lucky – we live on the last street in town, and there is a nice bike path just down the road (I have actually biked and hiked on it today!). Of course, we have quite the commute to get out here, but on the weekends, it is well worth it to already be where we want to be!