Stepping Up Our Game! Tractivity lends us a hand!

Ever reach a point where you just need a little push? Well let me tell you a little story …

As my daughter and I struggle to cope with the side effects of her Epilepsy medications, I worry about the impact on her overall health. I feel like I need to make sure that I do what I can to minimize the impact the diagnosis and medications have on other aspects of health. Tired people lack motivation. Tired people do not move much. They become sad. Sadness changes people. I wanted to inspire her and to give her hope that things would eventually be better.

But… how do you inspire a 12 (almost 13 year old girl) to get up and start moving when the only thing she wants to do is close her bedroom door and sleep because of the medications she is taking?

You challenge her.

But how do you do that SAFELY when you know that her first EEG revealed that heavy breathing brought on seizure activity?

You challenge her with movement that had endless benefits and low risk. You challenge her to walk.

Anyone that has a 13 year old daughter can already see the eyes rolling, but WAIT!

Tractivity has two versions of their product. Check out their website for details!

I came across the Tractivity Activity Tracker Website and I took a look at their products and LOVED how it would collect data on her movement and then upload wirelessly to my computer. I thought if I had a way to quantify her movement and make her aware of how much or how little she was moving, that perhaps she would make an effort to challenge herself. But then I thought, I bet she would love to challenge me even a little more!

I was right! I explained the “Challenge” to her and we started the very next day!

Just creating an awareness of how little or how much she is moving on a given day is a great motivator for her. However, she is also a little sneaky and very eager to win our challenge! She has now started to attempt to move in “stealth mode” so she can show up at home pretending she hasn’t done much that day but then I find out how many steps she has taken when I upload the data and she proudly tells me she was doing stairs at her friends house, or walking the halls at school, or the dog got an extra long walk! She doesn’t know it but I am running and extra 100 steps or so whenever I take out the garbage! Shhh, don’t tell!

Moving Matters!

She has perked up a bit, she has had some great days outside getting fresh air, she feels better when she does “something” and I am so happy that I was able to find something like Tractivity that can capture data and upload it to display on a nice bright screen for her to SEE her progress! We can talk about how much she moves, why one day is different than the next, and what she did to make improvements.

This may seem like a little thing, but every journey starts with the first step and thanks to Tractvity, I feel like we are back on track and headed in the right direction!

Want to learn more about Tractivity?

If you are interested in trying out their product, they have generously offered SWIFTKICK FITNESS followers a 50% off coupon code (skf50m12) to use at the time of checkout.  This code is only good until May 25, 2012 so DON’T WAIT! It is a small investment to make in your health and it is a fun way to get active!

Please show your support for Tractivity by liking them on Facebook! It is interesting to read their wall posts and perhaps you will have your own story to share in a few weeks!

Thanks to Tractivity for Stepping Up!

(P.S. This is VERY easy to use with your computer so do not worry that you will not know what to do when it arrives! Plus Tractivity’s customer service is AWESOME!)