NUDGYBONES
Cindy Maddera
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I've had a few people ask me what I think of my JawBone Up. I've been wearing it for almost a month now, so I think I've had ample time to decide on how I feel about it. How are things going between me and Nudgybones? Well, I think we're getting along pretty well. I've lost five pounds and I don't really feel like my ass is taking on the shape of my chair seat. When I've been sitting too long, I'll get a gently vibration on my wrist. Then I'll get up and walk around the Institute and stick my head in some microscope rooms and check on people. It is recommended that I take at least 10,000 steps a day. I have not struggled to accomplish this, but usually end my day with well over 10,000 steps.
The app for Nudgybones is easy to use with all kinds of notification options. I've left things set so that I get a few notifications throughout my day telling me how many steps I've walked. This keeps me from constantly checking my phone and obsessing about steps. Also, the app is very encouraging. It's always saying that I'm doing a great job. On New Year's Eve, it told me that I'd earned an evening of fun, stay up late and sleep in the next day. I thought that was really nice. The only time I ever feel like it's scolding me is when it talks about how I'm sleeping. I'm either sleeping too much or not sleeping enough. It does this back handed complement thing where it will say "hey, you're bedtimes have been so great this week. try being more consistent in your weekend bedtimes." and then it will give me a suggested bedtime for Saturday night. This is usually when I say "fuck you, Nudgybones. You can't tell me what to do." Really, the audacity of giving me a bedtime. I am a grown up. Plus it's usually a miracle I make it to Saturday Night Live any way.
In fact, the only times that Nudgybones and I don't really seem to get along is on the weekends. I may get up early on Saturdays to go grocery shopping and run errands, but surprisingly enough, this involves less walking than one would expect. I have started parking the furthest away from the shops to add in some steps, but even with all of that I think I only managed about 4,000 steps on Saturday. Sunday was even worse. I sat on the couch Sunday morning watching CBS and writing. I had taken Nudgy off because it gets in the way of my keyboard. It was sitting next to me on the couch and every once in while I'd hear a buzzzzzit. Every time I'd reach over and check my phone thinking I'd just gotten a text or something. Then I'd remember that it was just Nudgybones telling me to get my ass off the couch. Occasionally, I'd yell back at it "It's Sunday!" Nudgybones doesn't understand the concept of Day of Rest. Not that I was a complete sloth on Sunday. I did laundry, dusted EVERYTHING, and vacuumed. Nudgybones was not all that impressed though.
For the most part, I think Nudgybones and I have a great working relationship and maybe we just need a break from each other on the weekends.