A month of wearing the Misfit Shine every day (and night)

I've been wearing my Misfit Shine every day for a month. It's always on my right wrist. I've worn it swimming. I've worn it while sleeping. I've worn it to the beach. I've worn it while traveling.

I now have a month of data on my daily physical activity (or lack of) and this device hasn't missed a single moment. I can look back on the last month and see when I was really good about exercising.

What I really appreciate about the Misfit Shine is that I never have to take it off. I sleep with it on my wrist. When I wake up, it's already on me. I don't have to worry about recharging it since it uses a coin battery that's designed to last 4+ months.

Although the instructions tell you to place the Shine on the iPhone screen, I simply hold my wrist right up to the device and tap the circle with my finger to sync. This way, the Shine stays on my wrist the entire time.

If you've never worn an activity tracker, you'll experience an interesting phenomenon the first time you put it on. You'll feel a sense of obligation to move more. You'll want to move more so that you can see how your physical activity gets measured and displayed on the app. You'll feel more motivated. People will ask you, "what's that on your wrist?" You'll want to have a good story about how you've been exercising more.

So, I'm going to share my progress report from last week:

You'll see that I was very good until Saturday. That's when I was on a plane for 6 hours, so I didn't get to do much walking or running that day. I made up for the lack of exercise on Sunday when I reached nearly 200% of my daily exercise goal.

Wearable self-tracking gadgets like the Shine can be powerful behavior motivators IF you wear it. The key is to find a gadget that you'll commit to wear every day. They are not nearly as useful if you casually wear them periodically or if you forget to wear them consistently. But, if you wear it every day, they can sustain behavior change that can ultimately translate into a healthier lifestyle. They can provide a level of social accountability that will keep you moving and exercising.

The Misfit Shine on my wrist has become a part of me now. It's on me every day because it motivates me to move, exercise, and eat healthier. It may seem a bit sad to think that I need something on my wrist to remind myself to live a healthier active lifestyle, but if it works, then I'm going to continue wearing it.

My review of the Shine by Misfit Wearables #QuantifiedSelf

I'm an early adopter of wearable technology and fitness gadgets. I still have my original Fitbit Classic. Unlike some others, I haven't lost my Fitbit and I haven't accidentally thrown it into the wash with the rest of my laundry. I've also tested the BodyMedia FIT armband, the Nike+ FuelBand, and other self-tracking fitness gadgets/pedometers. I was even a Zeo sleep headband user (but they closed their company).

Most recently, I have been wearing the Shine by Misfit Wearables to track my daily physical activity. This is one of the newest self-tracking gadgets to hit the market. The Shine is a small, round, smooth metallic device that has 12 LEDs that light up to tell you about your physical activity progress and to indicate its sync status. The Shine syncs with my iPhone and it also tells time in 5 min increments since it has 12 dots that light up.

You can wear the Shine using a magnetic clip/clasp or on a wrist strap. I've been wearing the Shine on my wrist, but at times I've clipped it on my clothing when I've been in more formal/business settings.

Here's how the Shine basically works:

1. You set a numeric daily activity goal. The default setting is 1,000 or approximately 1.5 hrs of walking, 35 min of running, or 25 min of swimming. Sync with your iPhone by placing the Shine on the screen of your iPhone (I also found that it will sync if you hold the shine close to your phone and tap the circle on the screen).

2. Wear the Shine all day. Tap it twice to see how you are progressing towards your daily goal. You will see the LEDs light up to show you how you're doing. Once you meet your goal, those LEDs will do a little dance for you and you'll feel all jazzed up! That's enough to get you motivated to move every day.

3. Sync with your iPhone to see a graphical representation of your activity levels throughout the day.

4. Want to go for a swim? Set your "activity tag" for swimming and tap your Shine 3 times. That will let the Shine know that you're about to go swimming and the device will track your progress through that activity. You can also set your activity tag to cycling if you're a biker.

5. At night, you can change your activity tag to sleeping and then triple tap your Shine before you go to bed. Shine will know when you wake up.

I've been wearing my Shine throughout the day and night. In fact, I never take it off because I don't need to (unless I'm going through airport security). That's definitely one major difference compared to my Fitbit. I don't wear my Fitbit in the shower or when I'm in the pool. I also don't wear my Fitbit during sleep since I charge it at night.

The Shine is unique because of these key features that distinguish it from other self-tracking gadgets:

1. Waterproof for swimming. I have been swimming with it almost every day and it works really well to track my swimming progress. You can either clip it to your swimwear or wear the Shine on your wrist. If you're wearing it on your wrist, you don't need to be worried about getting it wet when you wash your hands.

2. Uses a common coin battery that lasts 4-6 months, so I don't need to recharge it. I can wear it all day and all night (it tracks your sleep too).

3. It syncs using a proprietary wireless technology. It's not WiFi or NFC. Can you guess how it works? It's ultra-low power.

4. All-metal construction with aircraft-grade aluminum. No buttons to push or that may break off.

5. The design is so elegant that you can wear it to business and formal functions. In face, the Shine is the most "wearable" self-tracking fitness gadget that I have ever seen.

The Shine has replaced my old Fitbit and has become my new daily fitness tracker. I really like the fact that I can wear it when I swim and that I really never need to take it off.



Learn more about the Shine here: http://misfitwearables.com/

Jawbone Acquires BodyMedia

I have a BodyMedia arm band. I also have an original Fitbit, along with several traditional pedometers. I don't have a Jawbone Up or a Nike + FuelBand, but those items are on my Amazon wishlist and I'm waiting for the 2nd or 3rd generation devices before I make a purchase. 

Jawbone is making a serious move into the Quantified Self (QS) movement of self-tracking gadgets and they are acquiring BodyMedia for over $100 million.  BodyMedia has had more than 80 patents issued, so it's a valuable company because of its technology and its people.

Do you wear a fitness gadget or use a fitness tracking app? If you do, then stay tuned because a host of new gadgets like the  Misfit Wearables SHINE and many other new gadgets will be coming in 2013. 

Misfit Wearables announcing the Misfit Shine

We recently heard that Jawbone released a new version of their UP wristband that contains better hardware and software. Their first attempt with the UP ended up becoming a major product recall last year due to failing hardware.

Now a new company called Misfit Wearables has released a brand new product called the Misfit Shine. Unlike other self-tracking devices, the Misfit Shine is waterproof (use it while swimming), it syncs with your iPhone when your device is in airplane mode (with all wireless antennas off), and its all-metal construction is unique and novel.