I'm going to continue on the theme of fitness tracking apps that I started on yesterday. A couple of years back I used Google Fit for a long time to track my steps and record specific activities as they were occurring. I decided to play with it again.
Oddly none of the apps I've used have ever tracked the things I do daily — no entry for going out to feed livestock, put up or tear down fences and pens, chase loose animals, trudge through mud (walking just doesn't describe that activity adequately 😊). I've never found a listing for pumping or hauling water, hauling hay, or carrying a basket of wet laundry then putting it on the line. Daily Activity, House Chores, or Other as catchall activities fail to capture the diversity of those tasks. I'm not complaining. It's just a silly observation.
What would be cool in a fitness tracking app is a much more extensive list of real activities — including even more exercise and formal workout options — but with the ability to customize the list. No one likes scrolling for miles through a list of (to them) irrelevant tasks. That's my morning musings as my coffee brews.
Anyway, I thought I'd experiment by having Google Fit record everything I do today. I started with my walk up front to feed goats and open the front chicken coop then return to feed my chickens a morning snack. I recorded that as Walking — which it primarily was. Here's my goofy notated map from the app:
Then I chose "Other" and I'm letting it track my day. Of course Actifit is running concurrently.
Whew. Afternoon was spent in greenhouse then hauling stuff from one spot to another over and over again. What I lacked in speed and distance I made up for in sweat and dozens of tiny walks.
Had my phone & smartwatch counting steps all day long. Of course they don't agree but very close:
VeryFitPro-9010
Google Fit-9023
Actifit-10,125
Just when I thought I was done for the day I got an invite to a neighbor's place for a crawfish boil. That added quite a few steps to my day and more exertion as I pulled kids and leftovers home in a wagon. Good eating and conversation. Just glad I wasn't the one having to corral 5 tired, mud-covered kids into the bath.
Hope you had a great, productive, fun day too. Good night.
This report was published via Actifit app (Android | iOS). Check out the original version here on actifit.io
