Cat Meffan

Being Without Wearable Tech: 5 Things I Learnt

As my regular readers will know, last week I decided to take my Apple Watch off and go for a week without wearable tech. You can read about the reasons why here. The great thing was that not only did I take it off, but I actually went to the deepest depths of Wales and left it at home, so there was no going back. Another plus is that where we stay in Wales has barely any phone signal or 3G, so I was without my fitness tracker and also any form of fitness app.

Here’s what I learnt from my week without wearable tech:

TOO DEPENDANT 

Yep, I’m admitting it, I’m so much more dependant on my fitness tracker than I thought. I honestly thought I’d be a happy bunny the moment I took it off, just able to go about my workout as usual, but no, I kept looking down at my wrist and if I’m totally honest I actually felt a bit anxious without it on the first day.

NOT ALWAYS HEALTHY

Following on nicely from the point above, I think it’s important to write about this. As I now know, I got anxious without it on the first day. What’s that all about?! Like if I didn’t get my ‘rings’ fully complete the world would go into melt down?! That was an unhealthy feeling and I think taking a break was the best thing for me. I currently have my watch back on, but I actually ended up keeping it off for a day longer, as we had a family BBQ, I didn’t plan on working out, but I DID plan on eating a lot, so I had no need for a fitness tracker telling me how much I’ve moved.

GIVE YOUR MIND & BODY CREDIT

Whilst in Wales, Rob and I did a lot of hiking, a little bit of trail running and I did yoga most days. I didn’t need my watch to tell me when I’d done enough or that I need to do more, I trust my body and mind to know that and for me to be happy in the knowledge that I’ve had an active day without needing numbers on a screen to confirm it for me.

YOGA WAS JUST YOGA

This was really important for me. Over the last few weeks I’ve noticed my home practice constantly being quite intense and powerful, always with a few core or arm exercises thrown in to make me work harder. Without the fitness tracker I didn’t feel like I was working out, therefore yoga just went back to being yoga and I was able to enjoy it for what it was, doing a flow that felt right for my body each day. Because of this I will no longer be turning on my tracker when I do yoga at home or go to classes.

I DO LOVE IT

In summary I do still love having my apple watch to track my running and workouts, I’ve just realised that it had started to rule my life more than I wanted it to. I think having this break from it has made me much more savvy to knowing my own body and mind when it comes to working out, just like I did before all of this technology came about. I definitely won’t be taking it on holidays or using it for yoga in future and I’m very happy about those decisions.

What’s your relationship like with or without wearable tech? Leave me a comment below.

Love, Cat x