Monday Motivation: Notebooks and List Making

The notebooks in my bag today...

I carry notebooks with me all the time, I still get a thrill every time I buy a new one and think of all the things I will scrawl on the pages. I use my many notebooks for lots of things. I use my jotters for writing down my random ideas after a drive or sleeping, to organize marketing campaigns for work and to write long and short scripts. But, the biggest use of all of my blank sheets of paper is to make to-do lists. I am the Queen of Lists.

I used to be compelled to write my lists every day, I still do this at work each day but I have scaled back to weekly, monthly and yearly lists. Most of the items on my list are aspirational; they help me reach a larger goal. Others are smaller tasks or chores that need some slight nudge or push to get done. 

The single list I find most beneficial to my health is my eating plan for the week. I jot this down in my schedule during weeks when I really need to get back on track with clean eating. I reward myself with a predetermined treat if I meet my daily or weekly goals. 

Even though I love the way it feels when my pen hits the paper to start planning, I am looking to get rid of my manic array of notebooks. After buying my Fitbit I stopped carrying around my gym notebook, it now lives in a pocket of my gym bag just in case. I do not miss it, but I do miss looking back at my lifting progress. For my fitness blog please click here. 

I have always been a fan of keeping a physical planner, but I feel it will have to go as well. Last month I treated myself to a new laptop and I want to make the most of it in conjunction with my iPhone and other gizmos. 

So here is my question to you, what is your favourite app that keeps you organized? Better question, what motivates you? My lists and my little rewards are clearly my motivators, what makes you tick?  

A photo posted by Kate Bruce (@kategbruce) on Apr 29, 2015 at 8:31am PDT

Palm Desert Adventure Part 1: My First Hike!

I had to take a first hike selfie.

I am back in California once again; this is the third year in a row that I have ventured out of the snow and into the sun (it is my fifth trip to California in the last four years). I absolutely love every minute I spend in California, I dream of living here some day. This year’s trip has brought us to a new place on our California adventure map, Palm Desert. 

The little computer inside my Fitbit has been on fire this past week as we tour the area. We actually only arrived last Monday, but it has been nearly a week now. We leave on Thursday and I am already feeling the hunger pains to come back to California again. Next year we have promised ourselves we will finally get to LA, this trip has been all about desert life!

Now there will be a ton to talk about in the blog over the coming days about our stay at our new Cali-home in The Lakes Country Club, but today is all about this fit chick’s first hike!

Yes, today I went on my first hike. I have NEVER been much of an outdoorsy girl so it will come as a huge shock to many who know me that I did not hate hiking. To be clear, I am not in love with hiking. Far from it actually, I had a near meltdown in the 89-degree heat after hour number two today, but it eventually passed when we finally arrived at our halfway destination.

Let’s go back a few steps before we get into my near tear emotional moment. This trip has not exactly been what I expected it to be, I am a routine gal who works two jobs and hauls her ass to the gym at least 5 days a week. I am not great at taking time outs. I usually pump out more blogs while I am on vacation then when I am at home and I usually have a major side project to complete while I am off the clock. This year I have been approached and started a side project but have been off the blog train until now. 

To me, hiking is self-torture. It is walking to walk on land that is unwalkable (or not walkable with ease). Unless there is a truly unique view or purpose I am not down to clown around hiking. Hiking was not my thing before today; it is still not my thing. I did have fun tracking our walk with my new Fitbit Surge (I am very happy I bought it before this trip).

Today’s hike (my first hike ever) took us to Agua Caliente Indian Reserve where we actually did two hikes. The first was very easy (and enjoyable) it took us 30 minutes in the sun to trek around Andreas Canyon. I really did not mind this part of the hike, I even felt like I could get on-board with hiking while doing this walk. Then I saw a family with small children all wearing dresses managing battling the rocks with a stroller and figured out that things were way too easy to get let off the hook with a quick hike.

No, we could not hike where strollers could kind of roll; we needed more of a challenge and for the $9 a person charge to get into the Reserve Hiking Trails I think we all felt we had not gotten our monies worth with a 30 minute stroll. Both of the hikes were surrounded by beautiful desert scenery, but $9 a person is pretty crazy! We were in for a bit more of a challenge on the second part of our hike.

We then went off in search of the Seven Sisters Waterfall and Murray Canyon. After about an hour and two miles we reached the waterfall. Here is where the near meltdown occurred. I was under the impression that we were on a two-mile hike, only doing double what we had already done. I was not really tired; I was kind of just looking forward to being out of the scorching winter heat (yes, it is pretty hot here right now for Canadians) and getting some lunch. We started the day rather late at 10:40am and were now at the afternoon sun’s mercy. When I was informed that we were not at the end of our journey and that we had to go all the way back the way we came I was a little heartbroken. It all worked out though, we shaved over ten minutes off our return trip because we all were so hungry and hot.

I am kind of a baby when it comes to heat; I have had heat stroke far too many times to forget how horrible it feels to get too much sun. I usually get it once a year and I try to ensure I do not lose a day of vacation day for it because I swear it feels twice as bad.  For me the sickness is horrible, my mentality is unbearable and I need to sleep for at least half a day to feel better. I swear it feels the same way the Wicked Witch of the West feels when she is exposed to water….

Anyways, it was a great challenge and an interesting way to spend a day. I would do both hikes again, but maybe earlier in the day and not both at the same time. I would also bring snacks; I’m generally a pretty happy camper when there are snacks to be had. For more on the Murray Canyon and Seven Sisters Waterfall (from a respected hiker) click here.

I have given my Fitbit a break for the rest of the day; I am currently at 15,488 steps for the day and took 11,003 steps on the hikes. Here is my hike break down:

Steps: 11,003

Distance: 8km

Calories Burned: 890

As much as I love my Fitbit I know that is an estimate and not 100% accurate. But, compared to a full day on my feet waitressing that is not too shabby! If you would like to connect as Fitbit motivational buddies click here. 

Now I have a question for you, we have explored three fitness options so far on this trip I want to know which you would pick.

A)   $9 a day hiking

B)   $10 a day access to a senior’s country club workout room

C)   $15 a day access to a busy full service fitness club

There is lots more to come from our California Adventure 2015!

Another shot from our beautiful hike this morning/afternoon! #outdoors #palmsprings #aguacaliente #California

A photo posted by Kate Bruce (@kategbruce) on Mar 8, 2015 at 6:24pm PDT

Another shot from our beautiful hike this morning/afternoon! #outdoors #palmsprings #aguacaliente #California

A photo posted by Kate Bruce (@kategbruce) on Mar 8, 2015 at 6:24pm PDT

Waitressing With A Fitbit

I treated myself this week to a FitBit Surge and I am in love. Seriously, I talk about it all the time and I am constantly checking my activity. I love it. It was a tough decision but I am very happy with my choice.

One of the main reasons I wanted a fitness tracker that could monitor heart rate etc. is because on top of my new marketing gig I am still waitressing. I was always interested to see how much activity I did in a day and how my heart rate was affected. I can now say that I just finished my first full day shirt with it and I am no longer surprised that I have had put on a little weight since starting my day job.

While working today I took about 13,300 steps, traveled about 9.5km and burned around 2,100 calories. That does not include my activity before and after work (so far). It is very fair to say when you wait tables you work your butt off, no wonder mine is a little bigger now that I sit on it all day! I still go to the gym everyday, but before I would work 6 out of 7 days of the week at the restaurant and go to the gym 6 days of the week.

I am so excited to take my Fitbit on adventure, Monday we leave for California. I really wish I would have had it for our Disneyworld trip… we may just have to pop in a quick visit to Disneyland to see our park Fitbit stats!

I bought myself a little treat today:) #fitfam #fitness #treatyoself

A photo posted by Kate Bruce (@kategbruce) on Feb 23, 2015 at 6:32pm PST

Fitness Trackers: Fitbit Surge vs. Jawbone Up3

Well I have whined here before about being desk-ridden all day and having no way to accurately track how active I am and how effective my workouts are, today my complaint is about all the websites advertising their latest fitness trackers that have not been released yet.

This rant has been a long time coming, I have been looking for the ideal fitness tracker for quite some time now and I have refused to buy one without a continuous heart-rate monitor. I am now keen on idea of having multi-sport functionality as well. I have been unable to find one that I like the look of that has all the specs I want until now. Now, I am torn between two. The holding top-spot in my brain is the Jawbone Up3 and competing for that precious real estate is the Fitbit Surge. 

Yesterday I had my credit card out, ready to make the big purchase to no avail. Literally, there were none available online.

Now I want your feedback, which would you pick? Is there a fitness monitor that I am missing that has a sleek, functional look with all the advanced features on the market right now?

Honestly, I am pretty hung up on the Jawbone Up3 but it is missing the display function that the Fitbit Surge has (making it a little less useful). Also, after downloading and playing with the apps for both trackers I am more impressed with the Fitbit app. 

Do you have a fitness monitor? What is your preference and why?

Help a sista out! J

For more on the Fitbit Surge click here. For more one the Jawbone Up3 click here.

Midwinter New Moves Fitness Challenge: #1 Deadlifts

In my last blog I talked about all the dope stuff that was under my Christmas tree and why I am motivated to sty fit in 2015. It has been a busy month with my new job, my old job and the puppy but I have still been in the gym every week (or playing sports) 5 out of 7 days each week. New Years Eve I actually worked one job and then went to the gym, had a healthy lunch and then finished the day at my second job. It was a very productive day.

Going from working at a restaurant in the evenings to working 9am-5pm everyday has been a struggle. I used to have all the time in the world to workout everyday and maintained a very specific training plan. Things have changed; now my workouts have to fit in between work and supper, most days supper comes pretty late in my house. 

Now my workouts have to be quick and thorough. One thing I am doing is breaking out of my comfort zone more and moving away from single muscle group exercises. I am challenging myself to do new workout moves that are more productive for my body. As I mentioned in the previous blog I am easily intimated at the gym and now that I am becoming more comfortable at my new gym I think it is time to learn some new moves for my new lifestyle.

In December I started doing squats and now they are one of the key parts of my training routine. I see and feel the impact squats have on my body. I am so happy I moved past the short-term awkwardness and now can feel the long-term gain.

January has been all about deadlifts. Again, I am so happy I have added the deadlift to my program. I had been disappointed with my efforts over the first few weeks of working my new job and fitting in time at the gym. Now with squats and deadlifts added to my training plan I am feeling like I am gaining back what I lost.

Here is a great video of some tips that helped me feel comfortable enough to try deadlifts for the first time at the gym. Check it out.

From now until the end of February I am going to try to do something new every time I lift.  I am thinking that will be about 20 blogs. Give or take. For example today I should have soccer and would not be having a full weight lifting session and at least two days a week I work both jobs (making it impossible to get to the gym).  I’m hoping to not get sick again (I am sick at home right now, moping around because I was too sick to go to work). Also, I will have to have my wisdom teeth removed over the next month or so too.

New Move #1 -> Deadlifts

New Move #2 -> Lumberjack Squats

Check them out here:

 

I’m a girl in love with squats right now so I am pumped to try doing Lumberjack Squats! That’s what it is all about right?

Also, I love the “Buff Dudes” channel on Youtube. I like these videos so much that I am able to get past being called a “Dude”.

Welcome To 2015! Happy New Year!

I do not consider myself one of those people who are obsessed with fitness. I work two jobs and on the days where I only end up at one of my two work places I hit the gym; normally about 5 times a week. I take pretty good care of myself and watch my diet without really ever feeling like I am missing out on anything.

At one point I was very unhealthy and overweight, it started in my 4^th year of university and ended in halfway through my 1^st year of trade school. That year of binge eating whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted with little to no exercise was worth the lesson it taught me about life. Unfortunately no one really told me I was getting fat. I was 200 lbs and felt super hot. Usually because it was because I was winded from walking up stairs or moderate movement in general, but I never felt ugly.

I went into radio school bigger than I had ever been in my life. I started to realize what was going on with my body when I looked at my photos from my first trip to Disneyland in California and finally when visited Value Village and stepped on a scale for the first time in over a year. Late night snacks, quick drive-thru trips and 7/11 sugar rushes were adding up... fast.  

After deciding that enough was enough I started with the smallest step possible. Something manageable that I could do everyday, every morning I woke up with enough time to drink a protein shake before heading off to class. This was strategic, protein early in the morning helps you feel fuller later in the day and it was easy to do. Waking up early in the morning really was not my jam. Doing something quick and easy to start the day in the right day was key. I had been starving myself for the first half of the day and then fueling myself with something quick and easy for lunch at school. Unfortunately quick, easy and cheap is not a good combination in a school cafeteria.

My protein shake breakfast started during the winter months of 2012 and it is hard to believe it has been almost 3 years! To this day I have a shake for breakfast on mornings that I have to rush out to work and I still hate waking up before the sun.

That one easy step helped me drop weight quickly. The first pounds seem to be the easiest for me. I cleared out my stock of high carb food and scheduled my first cheat day. I have been doing this ever since.

The weight that I lost just by keeping an eye on my diet did more for me than I ever imagined. I had energy again. I had been napping every day since I was in high school and struggled to stay awake every day; that ended after about a week of smarter eating. I liked to look at myself again. Even though it never bothered me seeing photos of myself when I was overweight once I realized what was going on it tainted the moments a little bit.

It took a little over a year for me to feel comfortable enough to go back to the gym. I had been regularly going in the fall of 2010 but as I learned about health and my body I realized that my intense cardio workout were part of my problem staying committed to the gym. I knew as I was dropping weight from a healthier diet that I was going to have to change the way I exercised my muscles.

The first time I visited a gym after dedicating myself to eating properly was in the spring of 2013. I learned how to properly schedule my workouts and a variety of new diverse things to do at the gym. It was very intimidating. I was back in the gym that I had stopped going to when I started to gain weight but using a completely different floor with new machines. I did things wrong and it scared the shit out of me to be told that maybe I should tweak things to do them a more effective way but I kept at it.

My mother owns a tanning salon in a gym so growing up I spent a lot of time in a gym. I started lifting weights when I was in 8^th Grade in the weeks between seasons when I was not playing sports. As I got older my workouts changed into being straight-up cardio sessions. Why? It was easy, mindless (for me) and there was little chance that someone would approach me to correct my movements. I hated it which made me think it must be what I needed to do to lose weight and have a kick-ass body. Cardio was all my friends wanted to do when they went to the gym and there were rarely women downstairs on the weight lifting floor.

It was a big change to program workouts, track progress and lift heavy things. I still do cardio; I just do it differently and in conjunction with lifts.

Changing my thought process regarding working out has been the most challenging part of my weight loss story. I do get bored with my workouts some times and my schedule has changed multiple times since I started working out. These things have taught me another valuable lesson about being healthy and fit; willpower is a muscle you have to train just like any other part of your body.

In 2013 I made it about 15 weeks straight hitting the gym. I moved across the country during this period, finished post-secondary education and internships. When I was offered a job in British Columbia it brought me into the 9-5 fold and I was thrown from my fit routine. It took me about 9 months to get back into a gym after the move.

That was 40 weeks ago today. Yes, I keep track. That is one of the key things for me. I am a nerd who carries around a notebook at the gym so I can proudly tell you exactly what I did the last time I was there and how many times I have visited the gym since I started going back. It has been 40 weeks and 165 gym sessions and I feel great. I feel better than ever actually. I would be going to the gym today if it was open, I could write a massive rant about why the gym should be open on New Years Day but I decided to start 2015 on a positive note.

Back to willpower, it is a “muscle” that always can use an extra set. Even on the days I do not feel like going to the gym (which is pretty much every weekday after working at my desk job) I go. I put an hour on the clock and go hard. I let myself do some mindless cardio and rock out to my music. I prove to myself that my mind is as strong as the body I have spent so much time to build.

Now, to be clear I do not have the perfect body. Not even close. Especially coming out of the holiday season. That is not why I go to the gym. I go to release the energy that I now have from eating and sleeping well, I go to get out of the house and see people, I go because I like to binge watch television shows and I go because I LOVE to eat. And sometimes when I make the turn to go home instead of to the gym I think about seeing myself on the TV monitor while I was taking Radio and Television Arts and seeing my bloated face’s headshot. I think about how crappy it felt to not want to watch myself on TV, something I has wanted all of life. That for me is the kicker, the thing that gets my ass into the gym and helps my willpower kick in when it needs to at the grocery store.

We all have motivations and things that drive us to be the person we want to be. I like to think I had a kick ass 2014, I hope you did too! As great as the past year was, lets make 2015 even better!

This year I am not setting New Years Resolutions. Not one. There are things I would like to keep up on, but I will not be beating myself up to get them done. I would like to continue to learn; so I have gifted myself Lynda.com access. I would like to continue to be fit and healthy, so Santa has brought me 40lbs of protein powder and 4 boxes of Quest bars to go with my year gym membership. I have also gifted myself a new gym outfit from Fabletics. Nothing feels as good as slipping into new workout gear after a day in heels and business attire!

The most challenging thing I would like to do in 2015 is to continue to create. Working two jobs I find I have no time to write a blog or something witty for radio and that is the big thing I would like to exercise my willpower on this year.

So I’m going to sum up how I would like to see 2015 in my mission statement right here:

“2015 a year of learning, exercising and creating”

What would you like to happen in 2015?

All the best and Happy New Year!

Kate

PS

A BIG THANKS to CanadianProtein.com for all of the awesome deals on my Christmas gifts. Yes, I know where Santa shops. It is my favourite place to order pre-workout, protein powder and protein bars. Click here to check out CanadianProtein.com.

One more shutout, this one goes to Fabletics. I am obsessed! I used to be all about Lululemon and saving up to treat myself to a new piece of workout clothing. Now I shop at Fabletics.ca and get an entire outfit for the price on one of the Lulu shirts I bought at a Lulu Outlet! Check out Fabletics here.

PS. This is my new outfit! I love it! At 50% it was $56.00 with shipping and taxes. 

"Savage"

"The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business" by Charles Duhigg

Would you like to quit smoking? Start working out regularly? Follow a healthy eating plan? Or kick a nasty habit like biting your nails or hitting the snooze button every morning? The empowering read you are looking for is "The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business" by Charles Duhigg.

I have known for a long time the power of habits and routine. For example, the only times I have been successful (in my mind anyways) at being a healthy adult were during times when I could establish a proper routine and develop good habits. Right now I am in one of the "cue, routine, reward" loops that Duhigg describes in the book, I have been going to the gym now for 33 weeks straight (minus one week while at Disney World) and have worked out 184 times. It is all because I made going to the gym and working out part of my daily routine and it eventually became a habit. 

It all started for me when I returned home from my previous vacation. While visiting San Diego for a week in February everyone made time to go to the gym but me. I had been working on a side project at work and in was consuming all of my down time on vacation. All of a sudden my Grandfather passed away while I was on the other side of the planet enjoying the California sunshine. My Grandfather's health had been an issue as long as I could remember, so I made a pact with myself that on my first day back at the station after vacation I would hit the gym for my lunch hour. 

I had been religiously going to the gym before I started my "grown-up" 9-5 job. After moving to British Columbia I found I had no time to go to the gym and for eight months focused on my new job and my new home. On the first day back from California I joined Peak Physique in Castlegar, British Columbia and hauled my ass to the gym every workday (and some weekends) until my next move at the end of July. 

I knew it was going to be a struggle when another move popped up, but I have continued to venture to the gym at least five times a week even when in different provinces and forced to use hotel fitness facilities. For me it was never about a number, how much I weigh is not really something that bothers me and loosing weight is definitely not my focus. Going to the gym and eating properly has always been better for me mentally than physically. Feeling good on the inside translates to looking good and hitting the gym helps me curb some of my anxiety and burn off extra energy. 

Everyday I wake up and I hit the gym. My cue is sliding out of bed and into workout clothing. My routine is drinking my pre-workout, driving to the gym and then working out. My reward is a little time in the sauna reading, enjoying a protein shake and that post-workout high. 

An area that I need to start applying the "cue, routine, reward" theory is with my online life. If you follow my blog you can tell that I really do not spend much time writing right now, my website needs to be revamped and well my social media pages are pretty dull. Moving across the country has really killed the amount of time I spend online. While working at the radio station I spent lots of time online at work and while I was at home but now I have lots of other priorities that do not include looking for hot topics to talk or write about. Right now I am working "offline", I am not intentionally avoiding the internet but just do not have the time for the things that were really important to me at this time last year.

It has been a nice break but I am looking forward to figuring out a way to include more time for writing and creativity in my new routine. Any tips? I have always been big on lists and charting my goals, this is something I need to work into my new living situation. I have always created little nooks and areas in my living spaces to do my work, this is lacking from my new house. Maybe my first reward for blogging everyday for a month could be a new desk? Hmmmm... or I'm thinking a coffee everyday on my way home from the gym to help the creative juices flow while writing my daily blog? We will see... that could get expensive. 

What did you do to kick your nasty habits?

If you have yet to figure out how to start a new routine for yourself or quit a habit or addiction I recommend "The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business" by Charles Duhigg.. I have always been a fan of buying books at the airport and this book was up there on the list of my favourites. It was incredibly easy to follow and I could not put it down. I actually read over half of the book while on my flights from Orlando back to Halifax. 

What Have You Done For Your Body Today?

Happy National Women’s Health & Fitness Day!

I do not normally blog about fitness because lets face it, these days everyone who lifts up a dumbbell occasionally feels the need to tweet, blog and Instagram their fitness exploits.

Honestly I try not to, it is just not me. If it keeps you in the gym and on the right track, right on! Keep it up! To each their own.

Today I celebrated National Women’s Health and Fitness Day by kicking it off with a big Canadian Protein order. It has been a long time coming and I am so excited for the Quest bars that I have treated myself to.

I woke up pretty sore and since we are being honest here I really did not want to go to the gym. Yesterday morning I worked back and biceps and then had my first ice time for hockey in well over a year so my body’s muscles were sore from all the skating.  I could have made excuses; my boyfriend stayed in bed (still sore from hockey) and I worked late last night and was on my feet until 9:30pm. But, I exercised my willpower and chugged my pre-workout and got in my car to head to the gym as quickly as possible. Sometimes as strong as our bodies are from working out our lazy minds can still win the battle to be active.

Today I pushed it. I trained legs and shoulders with intervals of intense cardio between supersets. To adjust to my soreness I cut my heavy lifts by one set and during my cardio intervals listened to my favourite gym tracks. I treated myself to half an infrared sauna session after to sweat a little more and relax with my book after my solid gym session.

Someone once told me that you will never regret getting up and going to the gym; you will regret not going. I really took that message to heart. It may sound silly buy my cookies and cream protein shake tastes better when I know I have had a successful workout.

I am now off to throw together a great reward lunch, a spicy chicken salad (you can see that below) with a FOLDit Chicken club sandwich.

Remember: Crap in, crap out! If you are expecting your body to perform physically fuel it properly! Just like at the gym you only get out what you put in!

Today marked my 28th week since I returned back to my training plan, today specifically was workout 156. 

The Goat's Daily Dose of Weird: June 27, 2014- Murphy The Not So Chubby Police Horse

I managed to get this up on Soundcloud yesterday but forgot to post it here on my blog. Why? Well I was feeling inspired to get over to the gym before it closed and it was a crazy day. I will write about my adventures at the gym soon; for now let Murphy the formerly overweight horse inspire you!

Murphy was tipping the scales at 1,900lbs when recruited to join the Portland Mounted Patrol Unit and was too large for all of the saddles. Last week Murphy made his first arrest after losing 200lbs and completing the required training to become one of Portland’s four-legged finest.

This is his story.

To check out pictures of Murphy the commit to fit police horse click here. 

Fitness App: Breeze Motion and Activity Tracker for iPhone 5s

I am pretty excited right now, spring has sprung in the Kootenays and people are back into being outdoors! We have had beautiful April weather so far this month, until recently it felt more like summer it was so hot!

Don’t get me wrong; the weather is very exciting here. While other parts of Canada have been finishing winter we dove straight into summer. But, I am super excited to have a new smart phone after a couple of months off the tech-sauce.

Now that I am back on the grid I have been checking out new apps. Now that I am back in a fit phase to get ready for summer I have been concerned with the amount of steps I have been taking. Working at a desk most of the day I do what I can to stand as much as possible, but I still think I take a relatively low amount of steps in a day.

My new iPhone 5s has been helping me out with tracking steps. I downloaded the new app called Breeze to see how many steps I would be taking over the Easter Long weekend.

So far I am impressed, Breeze uses the motion coprocessors in the new iPhone 5s that are used for tracking the motion of the phone to track your movements throughout the day.

Whether you are walking around the house or going for a trek into the mountains, Breeze will keep tally for you! The app averages out your daily steps and sets goals for you based on the steps you have taken in the previous days. It even coaches and motivates you to continue walking and adding to your daily step count (without being annoyingly pushy).

Breeze can total the total amount of steps you have taken as well as the total time you have spent

moving and it can also determine how you are moving (running vs. walking). The app keeps telling me it can tell me what animal I move like (I’m hoping the highland cow pictured here is not my spirit animal) too! The polls are still out on this, when my iPhone gives me an answer I will let you know what I move like.

The only thing is that I keep expecting there to be more with Breeze. More than a simple motion meter to keep track of my steps and the exact route I take on my weekend walks. The app is absolutely free so there is not much more I think I can ask from it, but it feel like it should be building into more… calorie tracking etc.

I think this is what the Lose It! App should aspire to develop their pedometer into. To be honest with you, I will not be upgrading Lose It! for more stats for $$$ when I can use the beautiful Breeze app for free.

If you are interested in upping your body movement check out Breeze! I am aiming for the common goal of 10,000 steps a day outside of the gym.

Right now the Breeze app is only available on iPhone 5s.

We used Breeze to track our steps while at Disney World and everyday we took over 30,000 steps! It was so nice to have the info from the app telling us how many steps we took and the amount of time we spent moving around, it made us feel better about all the less than healthy food we ate that week!