Apple Watch encourages wearers to get up and move
Last week I promised to tell you about the one feature that makes the Apple Watch indispensable to me. I won’t keep you in suspense — the feature is Activity, with its three concentric rings.
Before I explain how Activity works and why I think it’s great, allow me to provide some context. I have struggled with my weight since time immemorial. Since college, I’ve fluctuated between 185 and 270 pounds but have usually been closer to 270 than 185.
This January, I weighed 230 pounds and decided to do something about it once and for all. I know several Apple Watch users who are noticeably more fit since they started using the Watch’s Activity features, so my New Year’s resolution for 2018 was to obey the Activity rings every day until I get down to my target weight of 185.
I’m not there quite yet, but after seven months of slavish obedience to the rings, I’ve logged more than 1.6 million steps (nearly 800 miles) and have lost close to 30 pounds (I weighed 198 this morning).
The concept of the Activity rings is simple. The three rings are Movement (red), Exercise (yellow) and Standing (blue). In the morning, the rings are mere dots at the 12 o’clock position. As you move, exercise and stand, the rings grow into circles. When a ring completes its circle and touches itself at 12 o’clock on your watch face, you’ve closed the ring by meeting or exceeding that goal.
I use the Activity watch face, so I’m mindful of my rings all day and night. That’s motivating by itself, but the Apple Watch encourages me every day. In the morning, I receive a progress update with messages like, “Perfect Week! Close all three rings for the next three days, and you’ll earn a Perfect Week award. You’ve got this.”
When I don’t fill my rings as quickly, as usual, my watch alerts me that one or more rings are usually farther along by this time of day, gently encouraging me to find some time to get up and be active. Finally, when I sit at my desk for longer than 50 minutes straight without standing, the watch gently chides me to stand up for a minute or two.
I started the year with my Movement goal at 400 calories a day, then upped it to 450 and am about to increase it again to 500 (or maybe 600). The Exercise and Standing goals are preset to 30 minutes (minimum) per day for Exercise, and one minute of standing for every hour you spend sitting.
And that, gentle reader, is why the Apple Watch is indispensable to me, and why no analog watch will ever come close.