the information is only as reliable as the source

You may remember me referring to my FitBit as an accountability partner. I bought it January 2020 and it worked admirably until fall when my discipline bottomed out and I lethargically, at best, checked in. I still wore it. I still looked at it and the record it kept of my steps and activity, but derived absolutely no motivation from it. Or anything else. Not even when the numbers on the scale began heading the wrong way. 

You also may recall me beginning January 1, 2021 with a new accountability partner. Again, nothing with flesh and blood, just a calendar I got free from a local market. I put a sticker on it every day that I get in 30 minutes of outside exercise. It's working. I haven't missed a day this year. Today I am celebrating 34 days.

I also have gone back to relying on my FitBit for some bits of information. It has never recognized cleaning as exercise but I've gotten used to that denial. I shoveled snow the other day, thinking that would definitely count as my outdoor exercise. I was concerned walking might be hazardous. I thought I'd been out more than 30 minutes and looked down-only 22 active minutes. I shoveled the neighbors walk. Had to be close to 30 minutes. I looked at the exercise log. Zero minutes. I did learn early on that active minutes don't always count as exercise. I was confused. If shoveling snow isn't exercise I don't know what is. 

I investigated a little more on the daily exercise log. Something wasn't working right, but I made excuses. Last Wednesday it counted my walk as an aerobic workout. Thursday's 35 minute walk was recorded as 13. Friday's exercise was 19 minutes of elliptical. (That never happened.) Saturday and Sunday's walks registered normally.  Monday's walk was broken into three sections. The middle one was counted as aerobic and I did the same thing the whole walk. Only 12 of 30 plus minutes from Tuesday's walk logged as exercise. For the past two days the screen has been stuck on the last of three screens, showing the time, stairs climbed and active minutes. The only way to access my number of steps or cardio minutes or anything else it tracks was to look at the app on my phone. This afternoon I resigned myself to the fact I'd have to purchase a new FitBit if I was going to continue relying on it. 

As I sat down to write this post I looked at the face of my FitBit. It looked odd. After a moment I realized it is working perfectly fine. I can access all three screens, each with their own reliable information...or is it? 

This experience has made me stop and think about what/who I trust. A track record of reliability is good, but I need to be wise and alert. When something is "off", I need to acknowledge there is an issue and investigate rather than accept or make excuses for things that aren't right simply because of past history. Past history should also come into play when someone or something I trust is called into to question. Information really is only as reliable as the source.