I’m trying to lead a healthier lifestyle, I swear. Literally one step at a time.

I’ll be the first to admit that I’m a sucker for gamification. Well, at least for the first little while. That’s why getting a fitness tracker just makes sense. While it’s true that simply counting steps is not an adequate representation of your activity or fitness level, it’s a start. And now that I’ve had one for a few months, I’ve had time to reflect on what works and what doesn’t.

As an aside, if you’re looking for a fitness tracker, you’ve got plenty of options. Realistically, I just want to track my daily steps and my sleep patterns. A display is nice. Everything else, like a heart rate monitor, is just a bonus. So, what have I learned?

1. Start With the Two-Day Rule

It’s not enough to be active “sometimes.” And, especially when you give yourself no real structure at all, it’s far too easy to fall down a very slippery slope to the point where you’re doing nothing at all. That’s more or less what happened to me with Wii Fit and Xbox Kinect games. They were fun for a time, then I lost interest, and then they were abandoned altogether.

Instead, what we need to do (meaning what I need to do) is build healthy habits. However, life being what it is, rules that are too rigid will always be broken. And, this leads to abandoning the goals again. So, to build up these sort of healthy habits, I’ve tried to utilize the two-day rule.

Borrowing from Matt D’Avella, the two-day rule states that you can miss your daily habit, but you can’t miss two days in a row. That’s how I’ve tried to view my daily step goal, successfully and unsuccessfully, but that’s the objective.

2. More Sleep Doesn’t Equal More Rest

It’s a bit of a tired old trope (pun somewhat intended), but many moms and dads can be tired all the time. That can be chalked up to sleep deprivation, or maybe from the obligation of being “on duty” 24 hours a day. This constant sense of exhaustion, both mental and physical, is the new normal. “It gets better,” they tell me. We’ll see.

My fitness tracker also keeps tabs on my sleep habits. It’ll not only record the total sleep each night, but it’ll also break that down into “light” and “deep” sleep. For many parents, the dream is to “sleep in” every now and then. I love that as much as the next sleep-deprived guy. What I’ve experienced, though, is some sense of diminishing returns.

Not to brag or anything, but I got somewhere around 10 hours of sleep on my birthday. And it was glorious… but it wasn’t really any more restful than if I “only” had a “normal” 8 hours. In this way, a “good night’s sleep” is really a matter of quantity as much as it is a matter of quality.

3. Mood Improves on Active Days

This third revelation likely won’t come as any surprise to the fitness buffs in the audience. You’ve heard of “runner’s high,” right? Well, I’m no runner. On the days I surpass my step goal — and particularly on days where I’m more mindful about adequate hydration too — I tend to feel better. My overall mental and emotional state improves.

Now, we should not jump to any causal conclusions here. Instead, there’s likely an interplay of factors involved. To get in those steps, I’ll often take a quiet walk (alone) around the neighborhood. I’ll pop on an audiobook or podcast or playlist, and go for a stroll. That, irrespective of total steps, is also a mood booster.

The presence or absence of a causal relationship is unimportant, in this case. What’s important is getting my butt out of this sedentary lifestyle. What’s important is that I get outside. Apparently, even my five-year-old knows that.

A Fitness Journey with a Fitness Tracker

I have friends who love going to the gym. Heck, I even have friends who are personal trainers. And, I’m glad that’s working out (pun intended) for them. Me, I’ve never really been a “gym” person. I also recognize that I’m not getting any younger and I’ve got to take better care of this old clunker if I want it to last. This fitness tracker just might be one of the first steps. And I’ve still got plenty more learning to do.

Do you wear a fitness tracker? Do you consistently hit your daily step goals?