Why We’re Joining Prevention’s May 2020 Virtual Walk (And You Should, Too)

Due to COVID-19, many marathon runners and walkers are facing canceled or postponed races, and are looking for new ways to get active. That’s where Prevention Magazine’s second-ever Virtual Walk can help. That’s right, it’s virtual! And, as in any normal 5K, the training and rush of endorphins after officially completing your walk or run remain the same.

Whether you were in the midst of training for a race that’s been impacted, are a first-time marathoner, or just looking for ways to get your steps in during social distancing, we’re excited you’re here! Keep reading to find out all of the details you need to join in:

So How Does It Work, and Where Exactly Is It? 

That’s the beauty of it: You get to pick. On May 2, join Prevention and Fitbit for the ultimate 5K—where you get to choose your own course, what time you start, and your walking or running partners. And the best part? It’s free! 

Can’t do it on May 2? No worries. You can still sign up here, get your tech T-shirt, a custom bib number, and an “I Did It” sign, and show them all off while you train to join in on the fun. 

Why Should I Walk? 

Now for the most important question of all: Why does it matter? Well, for a whole host of reasons: Not only can walking improve your mood, it benefits your brain—studies show that it increases blood flow to the brain and may even improve cognitive functioning. In fact, putting a little pep in your step every day has been proven to help lead a healthier life overall. In addition to helping maintain a healthy weight, a daily brisk walk of at least 30 minutes can also aid in strengthening bones and muscles, improving balance and coordination, and even managing heart disease, high blood pressure, and type 2 diabetes.  

Now, more than ever, it’s important that we keep moving and continue to work towards our goals, together. And if you’ve been paying attention, you know that at Fitbit we believe in a magical goal of 10,000 steps a day—and with good reason. 10,000 steps adds up to five miles each day for most people. When you complete your 5K (whether you walk or run), you’re getting yourself on the right track to hitting that magical goal. After all, chances are those aren’t the only steps you take that day! 

Register Now 

Join the Virtual Walk community now by registering here. Registration ends May 2, 2020 at 11:59pm EDT. Sign up now! 

The post Why We’re Joining Prevention’s May 2020 Virtual Walk (And You Should, Too) appeared first on Fitbit Blog.

source https://blog.fitbit.com/prevention-virtual-walk/

It’s Official: Spotify On Fitbit Is Music To Our Ears

The right playlist can make or break your workout. Just like you need the right gear and tools to up your fitness game, listening to your favorite tunes will undoubtedly get you in the mood to slay that run or indoor workout. That’s where the Spotify–Connect & Control app on Fitbit Charge 4 and Fitbit smartwatches comes in.* Now, Fitbit and Spotify work together better than ever—and you can control your music and podcasts all from your wrist. Plus, switch devices with the Spotify Connect feature, all without missing a beat. What’s not to love about that?

How to start using the Spotify app on Fitbit Charge 4 and Fitbit Smartwatches: 

• First make sure the app is installed on your Fitbit watch or tracker and you have connected your Spotify Premium account. Don’t have a Spotify Premium account? Try Premium for free.¹
  • In the Fitbit app, tap the Today tab > your profile picture > your device image > Apps.
  • Tap the gear icon next to Spotify.
  • Tap Log In and follow the on-screen instructions to log in to your Spotify Premium account.
• Open the Spotify app on your phone and begin playing music or a podcast.

(Note that the Spotify app on your smartwatch and tracker don’t support playing music offline. This means that your paired phone must be connected to the internet and remain nearby with the Fitbit app running in the background.)

• Open the Spotify app on your watch and tracker to then control playback on-the-go. 
  • Tap the devices icon to switch between devices. To see a device, you must have the Spotify app open on that device and be logged in to your account.  Up to 8 devices are listed. 

Make the most of Spotify on your Fitbit watch and tracker: 

Connect anytime to Bluetooth-enabled devices. First, open the Spotify app on your phone, laptop, or tablet, then… 

Use the controls. This one’s pretty self-explanatory, but you can do so by hitting play, pause, skipping forward on songs, and skipping back songs.* 

Save tracks. Tap the heart to Like () your fave tunes and save them to your library of “Liked Songs.” 

Put your music on shuffle. Tap the shuffle icon to switch up the order your tracks play in. 

With the Spotify Connect feature, you can select which device you want to play Spotify on.  There are hundreds of Spotify Connect devices including your phone, laptop, TV, PlayStation, Google Home, Amazon Echo, smart speakers and wireless speakers (must be a Connect-enabled speaker), and more.**

Select Recently Played playlists. Change from your favorite playlist to a Recently Played podcast and then back again. Not feeling particularly motivated or inspired by your music choices? Fans of Spotify’s “Discover Weekly” and “Release Radar” playlists should know that the algorithm won’t fail you when it comes to these fresh tunes, delivered to your fave streaming service on a weekly basis. 

Stumped on what to listen to? You can also take your pick from Spotify’s popular selection of curated Workout playlists. Simply select the Workouts playlist on your watch. Here you’ll be able to choose from a range of playlists to get you in the zone, from the “Motivation Mix” to “Throwback Workout” and more. Alternately, you can pick according to the kind of workout you’ll be doing, with plenty of power mixes carefully curated for yogis to runners and cardio lovers alike.

Here’s what it looks like on the Fitbit Charge 4:

• 

• 

• 

Available on Fitbit Charge 4 and Fitbit smartwatches. 

______________________________________________________________________________

¹Terms and conditions apply. Open only to users who haven’t already tried Premium.

*Volume control is not currently supported.

**You also might need to be playing Spotify on your Spotify Connect device first before it shows up as a device in the Spotify app on your Fitbit. Learn more about Spotify Connect devices and how they work here.

The post It’s Official: Spotify On Fitbit Is Music To Our Ears appeared first on Fitbit Blog.

source https://blog.fitbit.com/introducing-spotify-app/

Are People Actually Sheltering-in-Place? Fitbit Looks at Steps to Find Out

Around the world, people are being asked to shelter-in-place and practice social distancing to help slow the spread of COVID-19. Fitbit wanted to understand how mobility in major cities has changed as more mandates are put in place. Because habitual activities like commuting, shopping, exercising, and day-to-day lifestyle activities rack up steps, we used anonymous, aggregated steps data gathered from Fitbit devices as the metric for quantifying changes in mobility.

Based on this data, we found that as cities issued state of emergency declarations, and again as shelter-in-place was ordered, mobility had a sharp decline, suggesting that Fitbit users generally responded to these policies quickly.

Who Has Been Impacted Most by Stay-At-Home Policies?

There have been reports of young people not taking social distancing seriously, but is it true overall? We looked at how social distancing and stay-at-home mandates affected our users. To do that, our data scientists developed the Change in Mobility Index to measure how daily steps of users in a particular location and age group compared to the expected step count from the same group, based on data from the same time last year. 

Our data shows that in major cities in the US and around the world, stay-at-home orders had the greatest impact on activity for users aged 18 to 29, with their steps down between 16 percent to 23 percent. In contrast, users 65 and over saw the lowest impact on their mobility, down approximately four percent to 10 percent. We suspect this drop in activity for younger users is likely due to them having higher activity levels before social distancing.

But timing is also important; in 88 percent of US cities, users aged 18 to 29 reduced their activity at least one day before other age groups. For example, in San Francisco, we saw a steep decline on March 14 for the younger age group, two days ahead of the City’s shelter-in-place announcement. Beyond that, all other age groups changed their behavior at the same time as policies were introduced in the cities that we studied.

SF versus NYC: How These Cities Have Reacted to Shelter-In-Place Orders

San Francisco issued its shelter-in-place order on March 16. However, you can see mobility start to drop earlier—around the time that many large companies around the Bay Area began asking their employees to work from home, resulting in less movement because of fewer people commuting.  

Looking at New York City, the chart below shows activity levels starting to decline in early March, even prior to any policy announcements, but in line with the timing of school closings. After the stay-at-home mandate, however, activity levels saw a much sharper decline than in San Francisco. We believe this may be due to the fact that New York has the densest population in the country, with 28,000 residents per square mile versus San Francisco, the next densest city which has 17,000, making it harder to stay active while practicing social distancing. 

A Look At Mobility Around the World

The animations below show the impact on mobility in major cities around the world. As you move from one week to the next, the data shows that the populations of cities that implemented shelter-in-place policies started taking fewer steps on average than they normally would during this time period. You can see this as cities move from the top to the bottom left corner of the chart. 

In the US-only chart on the left, we can see that cities such as Omaha, Minneapolis, Cincinnati, Denver, and Atlanta did not change behavior as drastically in the week ending March 29 as other cities, despite all but Atlanta having stay-at-home orders in place.

Green denotes cities with stay-at-home policies.
(Shelter-in-place data via New York Times)

In addition, the graph below underscores how strict policies dramatically reduced mobility in cities like Madrid, Milan, and Paris. While other cities with stay-at-home orders like London and Dublin saw less of a reaction.

Overall, it’s encouraging to see that many people around the world are doing their part to help slow the spread of COVID-19—and that social distancing and stay-at-home mandates are being taken seriously by Fitbit users of all ages. 

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Interested in learning more about how social distancing has impacted the lifestyles of Fitbit users around the world? Check out our other data stories here and here.  

The post Are People Actually Sheltering-in-Place? Fitbit Looks at Steps to Find Out appeared first on Fitbit Blog.

source https://blog.fitbit.com/social-distancing-mobility/

Your Essential Guide to Pantry Staples

What you eat plays a huge role in your health and immunity. But when trips to the supermarket are few and far between, preparing healthy, fresh meals may seem like a challenge. So if you’re wondering what to buy for your pantry to ensure you continue to eat healthy over the next few months, we’ve got you covered.

The list below is adapted from the Food “Lifeboat” study, conducted in 2007 by a team of Australian researchers at Nutrition Research Australia, which sought to build a pantry list with goals of affordability, palatability, requiring no refrigeration, and meeting macro- and micronutrient needs for 10 weeks. The study also included a trial-and-error process of nutrition modeling, like seeing what happens to vitamin C levels when there is a lack of fresh fruit and vegetables.  And as a result, Dr. Flavia Fayet-Moore, CEO at Nutrition Research Australia recommends a good multivitamin and mineral supplement when access to fresh fruit and veggies becomes limited.

Our adapted list assumes you have access to a fridge and freezer, so includes some perishable items with longer shelf lives like potatoes, carrots, and apples. These items are listed at the top of each list, so just be sure to eat these first. 

Pantry Staples to Keep You Healthy 

Vegetables

Carrots

Sturdy leafy greens like cabbage, kale, Swiss chard 

Garlic

Onion

Frozen vegetables like broccoli, cauliflower, spinach, peas, or mixed

Tomato paste

Sun-dried tomatoes

Powdered soup mixes

Seaweed, dried

Carrot juice

Fruit

Apples 

Frozen fruit like berries or mango

Fruit pouches like apple sauce

Dried fruit like raisins and apricots 

Orange juice

Healthy Carbs

Root vegetables like sweet potatoes, potatoes, squash

Whole-wheat flour

Whole-grain cereal like old-fashioned oatmeal, Cream of Wheat, Cheerios, or Weetbix 

Whole popcorn kernels

Pasta 

Brown rice, quinoa, barley, or farro

Instant mashed potato or dehydrated potato flakes

Whole-wheat or corn tortillas

Whole-wheat crackers

Corn kernels, canned

Protein Foods

Frozen chicken breasts or thighs, fish, shrimp, or lean meat

Eggs 

Long-life/Shelf-stable milk or milk powder (or soy protein powder)

Canned tuna, salmon pouches, or sardines

SPAM or beef jerky

Dried or canned legumes like lentils, kidney beans, chickpeas

Green peas, canned

Three bean mix, canned

Baked beans in tomato sauce

Healthy Fats

Frozen avocado

Extra virgin olive oil or canola oil

Nuts and seeds, like almonds, walnuts, flaxseeds, or chia seeds

Extras

Sauces like sweet chili, reduced-sodium soy, hot sauce, dijon mustard

Dried spices like garlic, mixed herbs, onion powder

Honey or pure maple syrup 

Chocolate

Herbal tea like green or lemon & ginger 

Coffee

During this time, your overall nutrition goals are the same—eat regular meals with one to two snacks, at each meal aim to build a balanced plate of nutrient-dense, minimally processed foods (half veggies or fruit, a quarter protein foods, and a quarter healthy carbs), and drink lots of water. Remember, you’re likely to be less active, so eat mindfully by listening to your body and try to find healthy, non-eating ways to manage your stress like meditating, stretching, or calling a friend. And Fayet-Moore suggests, “Try a family recipe challenge to see who can come up with the tastiest dish using just a few simple ingredients from the list. And look at this period as a great time to eat more meals together for family bonding.”

Here are a few recipes for inspiration:

Overnight Oats with Berries

Stuffed Sweet Potatoes with Beans & Greens

Fish cakes

Easy Veggie Soup

Cabbage Pad Thai with Grilled Shrimp

The post Your Essential Guide to Pantry Staples appeared first on Fitbit Blog.

source https://blog.fitbit.com/pantry-staples/

“Fit Where You Are” Workout Series Launching from Fitbit + obé fitness

We know that now, more than ever, it’s important to stay active during this time—for both our bodies and our minds. We also know it can be challenging to keep up your healthy habits, including regular workout classes, but we’re here to help! 

Starting tomorrow, we’ve partnered with leading at-home fitness company, obé fitness, to bring a new content series, called “Fit Where You Are”, straight to your living room.

For the next eight weeks, you will find immersive and effective workouts you can do with your family or by yourself, with what you have at home, right on Fitbit’s Instagram. Let’s make the most of staying indoors by continuing to move—together.  

What Will “Fit Where You Are” entail? 

Starting Monday, April 6, Fitbit will be hosting three workouts per week on our Instagram. Here’s the breakdown:

Mondays at 9 AM PST/12 PM EST, an obé instructor will be leading a quick and family-friendly workout from their home on Fitbit’s Instagram Live. We’re talking a short but effective way to perk up your Monday—the workout will last from 10 to 15 minutes. So grab your dad, daughter or spouse and start the week by sweating it out together!

Brought to you straight from obé’s home studio to Fitbit’s IGTV, Wednesdays will be dedicated to a 10-minute Express class, focusing on a new body part each week. 

We’ve got your weekend covered too. Hop on our IGTV on Saturday to check out a variety of indoor workout moves, like chair exercises you can do during a video call (with no one the wiser), barre exercises you can do while cooking up a storm, and core exercises you can do while binge-watching Netflix. 

Can’t make it live? Workouts will be saved on Fitbit’s IGTV, so that you can always go back and check them out later. 

We’re no strangers to partnering with obé to produce immersive and effective workout classes. If you’re already on Fitbit Premium or are currently trying it out with our 90-day free trial, you may have seen some of the custom videos obé has created for Fitbit. 

Not yet on Premium? To redeem your free 90-day trial, open the Fitbit app and tap on the “Premium” tab in the lower-right corner. This trial offer is only valid through the Fitbit app and is only available for new Premium users.

If you’re not eligible for a 90-day Premium trial, you may still be able to redeem a 90-day trial of Fitbit Coach—available in English, Spanish, French, German and Portuguese. To access Fitbit Coach, download and open the Fitbit Coach app from the Apple App Store or Google Play Store. From there, you can access 30 free workouts, or can tap any locked workout content to start your free trial.

Join us in continuing to move forward by prioritizing our health and wellness and getting in the zone! 

The post “Fit Where You Are” Workout Series Launching from Fitbit + obé fitness appeared first on Fitbit Blog.

source https://blog.fitbit.com/obe-for-fitbit/

5 Foods to Boost Your Immune System

As many of us are confined to our homes, we’re all trying to find ways to keep our bodies and minds strong and healthy. While handwashing, good hygiene, and exercise can go a long way in reducing our risk of getting sick, what about our diet? Research has shown that a healthy diet and lifestyle habits can help boost the body’s natural defenses and immune system.

“A healthy diet contributes to a healthy immune system because it helps balance immune activation,” says Dr. John Wherry, PhD, director of the Institute of Immunology at the University of Pennsylvania. “A healthy diet has low amounts of animal products including red meat, processed meats, and low amounts of processed foods in general.” It does include lots of fruits, vegetables, healthy fats, and fiber.

Here are five foods that are known for their immune-boosting potential:

Citrus fruits. Many people turn to vitamin C at the first signs of a cold coming on. This is because vitamin C helps the immune system work properly. And some studies show it might help to ease symptoms and reduce the duration of the common cold.  To boost your vitamin C intake, you can turn to citrus fruits such as oranges and grapefruit, along with other vitamin C-rich foods like red peppers, kiwi, and strawberries.

Cruciferous Vegetables. Veggies like broccoli and Brussels sprouts are known as nutritional powerhouses. They fill your plate with vitamins, minerals, fiber, and antioxidants. A lesser known fact is that much like citrus fruits, they are loaded with vitamin C. 

Garlic. The widely popular ingredient contains compounds that may help the immune system fight germs. How? Fresh, whole garlic contains a compound called alliin. When garlic is crushed or chewed, alliin turns into allicin, a molecule that has antibacterial and antiviral properties. 

Researchers of one large 12-week study found that a daily garlic supplement reduced the number of cold symptoms by 63% in its active group compared to its placebo group. You can get the same benefits from eating onion,  leeks, and shallots which are also part of the same allium family. These veggies also deliver prebiotic fiber, which ensures a happy gut—something that is essential for a healthy immune system.

Ginger. Also known as a “superfood” and one of the healthiest spices on earth, ginger’s unique flavor comes from its natural oils, the most important being gingerol. Gingerol is the bioactive substance in ginger that is responsible for much of its medical properties, including antimicrobial and respiratory protective, as well as its anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effects.

Almonds. One of the world’s most popular tree nuts has shown promise in boosting immunity. Almonds are packed with antioxidants, in particular vitamin E, which has immune-boosting abilities and can help fight off invading bacteria and viruses. They also contain fiber, plant protein, and some iron, which are essential for the immune system.

Variety is also key to having proper nutrition. Eating just one of these foods constantly won’t fight off the flu. You’ll need to switch it up and have a colorful plate. “This idea promotes getting enough diversity of fiber and different nutrients,” says Wherry. “Especially if one is sticking to a diet of minimal animal products, you’ll want to include some fish, fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and healthy fats.”

The post 5 Foods to Boost Your Immune System appeared first on Fitbit Blog.

source https://blog.fitbit.com/immunity-boosting-foods/

The Impact Of COVID-19 On Global Sleep Patterns

Last week, we shared an important story about the impact COVID-19 has had on our global Fitbit community’s physical activity levels and provided a few tips on how we can help. This week, we’ve taken a look at how sleep patterns have changed during this time. Based on our review of aggregated and anonymized data, we saw that in locations with shelter-in-place mandates, bedtime and bedtime consistency shifted. 

For the most part, people are going to bed later but getting more sleep, as well as more quality rest. For those whose quality of sleep has improved, they have been spending more time in deep and REM sleep. 

Take a look at the maps below to see how quality of sleep changed for different age groups in the US during the week that ended March 22, 2020.* The blue color represents an increase in minutes of average sleep, while the orange color represents a decrease. The numbers shown in the states range from an increase of 25 minutes of extra sleep a night to a maximum decrease of five fewer minutes of sleep.

This trend was consistent across Europe as well. Check out the week-by-week change in average sleep duration in different European metropolitan areas, below. 

You can see that in Paris, average sleep duration was impacted the most. It began to spike after the week ending March 15, once school closures were announced and public gatherings larger than a certain size were banned just days before. 

The average sleep duration in Milan increased at the beginning of March, when northern Italy underwent quarantine restrictions. 

In London, where shelter-in-place policies were not mandated during this time, sleep duration was not significantly affected until very recently.         

Even though sleep duration has been longer, it is still important to maintain bedtime consistency for many health reasons. While going to bed later and waking up later makes sense for now, it will be important to try to keep up that consistency even when our schedules change.

Why is it important to maintain bedtime consistency?  

Your body recharges while you sleep, both repairing and building tissue and muscle. Levels of the stress hormone cortisol fall during the evening. And, getting your recommended seven to nine hours a night also boosts your immunity—something that’s more important than ever right now. 

You may be aware of some of these facts, and that having a regular bedtime can improve your health. But did you know that bedtime consistency can also help you fall asleep faster? Because your body craves regularity, keeping your circadian rhythm dialed in is vital for upholding quality sleep—especially during stressful times. As your body adjusts, you should be waking up naturally at the optimal time each morning as well (as long as you’re getting enough sleep). Learn more about how sticking to a regular bedtime schedule can improve your health here. 

If you’re not getting more restful sleep, we’re here for you. Here’s how Fitbit can help: 

We know that adapting to these changes in your sleep patterns can be challenging. That’s why we’ve pulled together the following tips to help you out if you’re not sleeping well during this time. 

Check out our free Fitbit Premium content offerings, featuring sleep and mindfulness tools. To make health more accessible, Fitbit is offering a free 90-day trial of Fitbit Premium to new users wherever Premium is available in the Fitbit app, as well as 40 new pieces of Premium content for free to all users. Choose from a variety of sleep and mindfulness tools available to help you relax, manage stress, and enjoy more quality rest. 

Wind down for the night with the following sleep meditations and soothing sounds: 

• Wind down for Sleep
• Equal Breathing Exercise for Sleep
• How to Fall Asleep

De-stress with these mindful meditations:

• Quick Body Scan
• The Present Moment
• Guided Meditation to Start Your Day 

To take advantage of the free trial, open the Fitbit app and tap on the “Premium” tab in the lower-right corner. 

Use Smart Wake to gently wake yourself up in the morning. Achieve a more consistent sleep cycle by setting alarms on your Fitbit device. You can use Smart Wake to wake you with a quiet vibration during a lighter sleep stage.

All you need to do is set a silent alarm using the Fitbit app—or set one up directly on your smartwatch—and check the “Smart Wake” box. Your Fitbit tracker or watch will then wake you up in a lighter sleep stage, up to 30 minutes prior to your desired wake-up time. That way you won’t feel so groggy when you wake up—just be sure not to hit snooze! Find out more about how to manage alarms on your Fitbit device.

Revamp your sleep sanctuary. The National Sleep Foundation suggests that maintaining an optimal bedroom temperature of around 65 degrees, minimizing your exposure to noise and natural light at night, and avoiding caffeine or alcohol before bed are all measures you can take to ensure a better night’s rest. Find out how you can revamp your sleep sanctuary to make the most of your sleep.   

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*In order to glean this info, Fitbit data scientists first established a baseline for the average sleep of millions of users during a control period of December 2019 through January 2020. These baseline values were used to calculate the change in sleep behaviors during February and March 2020. On the US maps, you can see how average sleep duration changed in different states. 

The post The Impact Of COVID-19 On Global Sleep Patterns appeared first on Fitbit Blog.

source https://blog.fitbit.com/covid-19-sleep-patterns/