Fossil Q Hybrid Watch

I've been wanting one for awhile, and there happened to be a 40% off sale at the same time a little cash was burning a hole in my pocket, and pixels were dying on my VivoFit 3, so now I have a Fossil Q Grant.  It's just as bulky and heavy as a full blown touchscreen smartwatch, having 3 stepper motors rather than a touchscreen, but has the classy look of a traditional watch and a one year battery life.  Since my primary purpose in having a smart watch is to track my steps and sleep, not having to take it off for a charge cycle is valuable to me.

I've been wearing it for a couple days now.  As a watch, I like it.  It's comfortable on my wrist, and although a bit large is otherwise a classy watch.  It has the analog display of my goal % at all times.  I don't have to plug it in, I don't take it off, so I don't forget to wear it.

As a smartwatch, the jury is still out.  I'm not fond of being overly notified, I want my phone to serve me, not the other way around.  It didn't take long before I turned off notifications for my messaging app, but I do appreciate vibrating alarms.  (My Garmin VivoFit 3 had a vibrating alarm, but didn't have weekday variable settings, so I didn't use it.)

There are not a ton of options for configuring the buttons on the watch.  I set one button to the "find my phone" feature, one to mode switching, and one to stopwatch mode.  Mode toggle is useful for reviewing the last notification or checking the date (note it will indicate day of month, not the full date, like most of the analog watches it is emulating.)

The most disappointing thing so far is the data display in the Fossil Q app.  I primarily wanted this for steps and sleep tracking, and all I have to show for it is a bar graph.  Maybe some more options will pop up when I have more than a week's worth of data, but I'm not impressed.  It is compatible with Google Fit, so I can see more of my step details there, but it doesn't display the sleep data, and the FAQ clearly states there's no way to export that data.

Fossil Q App Steps

Google Fit App Steps

Fossil Q Sleep Tracking

I'm still happy with my decision, I have a more comfortable and stylish watch, and given the sale I only paid a little more than the current VivoFit option.  (And given that my last VivoFit screen started dying before it's second battery change, I probably would have switched brands anyway.)  I'm not sure though that I would have paid full price for another model not on sale.  $70->$95 is a bump I can easily stomach for style and comfort.  $70->$155 is harder to swallow, might as well go for the $255 for the full smartwatch (which I would do if I had any faith in wrist based HR devices) which can run a fitness app with better display options and do many other things.

Earthing: Gets you to the right place with the wrong reason

Now and then when one is researching minimalist shoe products, you come across the concept of earthing.

Earthing is bunk.

I do highly recommend proper grounding for all electrical appliances.  Low powered appliances are grounded through the neutral line, high powered appliances have an additional grounding plug.  A simple outlet tester should tell you if your house wiring is behaving correctly.  Stray voltage is no joke.

Another possible source of stray voltage is static.  This is almost impossible to avoid in indoor heated environments.  Even the best "earthing" shoes will do nothing because most indoor flooring is an insulative material.  The stray voltage you pick up with static is way less than stray voltage you can get from bad wiring and isn't a huge concern unless you're playing with a Van de Graaff generator.

From Wikipedia

Even if you were worried about proper "grounding" the earth isn't all that conductive, proper electrical grounding requires rods be sunk into the ground.  Electrical fences generally use three six foot rods for proper grounding.  Home systems are grounded with one eight foot rod.  Just touching the earth is not likely to do the trick.

That isn't to say that you won't experience an improvement in health if you try earthing.  Barefoot and minimalist shoes may help some people with gait issues through reducing constriction of the foot and leveraging the nerves in the foot that are muted through cushioned shoes to improve gait with biofeedback.  Sleeping on a hard surface with no pillow may have postural benefits for relieving back tension and even sinus issues.  Spending time outside increases your exercise level, sun exposure and Vitamin D production.  Soil also contains beneficial bacteria that you can alternatively pick up through gardening.  If earthing got you there and it's helped you, good for you, but it's probably not the actual earth contact doing the trick.

So if earthing helps you, but you're miserable in winter, get some good wool socks (insulative) and thin leather moccasins (water resistant), build yourself a platform bed with minimalist padding, take some Vitamin D supplements, get some exercise, bring in some plants potted in local soil, and enjoy being warm in winter.

(Amusingly this hits just about all of my non-diet blog labels.  Even endocrine, since Vitamin D is as much a hormone as a vitamin.  Earthing does touch on a lot of real benefits even though the reasoning is all wrong.)

Flare-up

It's a bad week.  Thursday I had a big pile of blueberries with honey on them, and got a sugar high and crash.  For desert that night I had blackberries with honey.  That night I came down with a very bad cold that lasted about 24 hours.  Saturday sore shoulders and PMS.  Sunday morning I realized that this was a Fibromyalgia flare-up, and went back to bed for 5 more hours of sleep, but was still tired in the evening and needed caffeine to make it to bedtime.  Monday I was hallucinating/dreaming while awake at work (my code was talking to other parts of my code, and I was trying to investigate their conspiracy).  It didn't help that I burned my mouth at breakfast.  (Tried to sip the top off an overly full travel mug of recently boiling broth.)  I'm exhausted.  I need to be very careful about my diet and sleep and get back on a regular PT routine again until this calms down.

It's still not as bad as flare ups used to be, I was able to climb the stairs in to work this morning without much trouble.  Flare-ups used to always center on my legs, and this time it's just my shoulder.

Sleep and Emotional Stability

Just a very brief contemplation tonight.  Does my improved health, and decreased need for sleep have anything to do with increased anxiety?  I have fewer prone hours to work out my stresses each night...

On the other hand, a lot has changed, I've got the farm to manage, not letting myself let chores slide as much now that I don't have the tired and sore excuse.  I'm constantly counting pennies and wondering when the farm will become a profit center rather than an expense...  (Latest investment is 9k, expected to pay for itself over 10 years.)  My job is interesting, but I'm a one man show, no teammates to rely on and chat about my work with...

Either way, I should stock up on more dark chocolate (aka flavored magnesium supplements), and I'm trying to start getting to bed early enough to go back to sleep for a bit before my morning alarm.

Thanksgiving

First of all, on a non-health related topic, to me Thanksgiving is a religious holiday, a time not just for family and food, but also a time of gratitude towards God.  I have a lot to be thankful for over the last couple years.  My mother is now out of pain and resting with Jesus.  My new stepmother and her family are a pretty cool bunch of people.  I am very close to getting my dream farm (planning to close in January.)  My health has improved greatly.  Thank-you God.

My friends are less religious, but I still enjoy cooking for them, so I hold a "Turkey is on Sale" dinner near Thanksgiving for them most years.  (It's not Thanksgiving to me, but it is to some of them.)  Between all the prep for Thursday (just a few dishes and a lot of cleaning) and Saturday (the whole dinner), I was on my feet for large parts of four days.  I went to bed with sore feet each night.  The first couple mornings I woke up refreshed and ready to do it again.  Saturday morning the daily abuse had caught up to me and I was sore to begin with.  I'd work a half hour and rest a half hour until the guests arrived and the pace of food prep sped up.  It went well, but I was pretty much just in the mood to direct my guests rather than be a good hostess by the time dinner was served.  I wasn't so sore as to be grumpy though.  I went to bed an hour early, and got a good night's sleep.  Today one foot seems recovered, but the other is still sore.  Note, I didn't take any of my fibromyalgia medication, my improved sleep quality seems to be enough to help fix me up at night.

One thing that was a bit disappointing about Thanksgiving is that pigging out is not nearly as fun as it used to be.  My stomach has shrunk, and I tend more towards the filling fatty and fibrous foods instead of the fluffy carbs, so I was full before I finished my first plate at both dinners.  Took my time chatting and picking until I cleaned my plate (like my Mommy taught me.)  Seconds had no appeal for me, although I did manage a bit of pie with real cream a few hours later...  I guess it will be easier to not gain weight over the holidays if I can't undo a month of dieting in one day any more...  I suppose that's another thing to be thankful for!

Sleeping?

I often characterize Fibromyalgia as a sleeping disorder.  The doctor that diagnosed me explained that Fibromyalgia patients don't get enough fourth stage sleep, which in turn does not allow their muscles the proper amount of rebuilding time at night.  The medication I (now only occasionally) take helps me sleep deeper and longer, and allows my muscles more time to heal during my sleep.

The last few days a strange thing has been happening.  I have woken up and been alert after 8 hours of sleep, about a half hour before my alarm clock, an hour before I normally get out of bed.  Was my hip adjustment that helpful?  Or is this just an odd phase brought on by the changing of the clocks and a couple early morning appointments?  If this continues, will I still have Fibromyalgia flare-ups when I overdo or get emotional, or will my body have a better mechanism for keeping up with other stresses?