I know we're all no longer persuaded of the value of the quantified self but I've found counting my steps quite useful. I first bought a Fitbit at the end of 2011, one of the basic, ordinary ones. I suspect that was all you could get then. They're called Zips now. I've been through many since but I've always tended towards the simple keep-in-your-pocket ones. In 2012 I started using Beeminder to set some targets. I started with the traditional, widely discredited 10,000 steps a day in 2012, managed that, and have raised it a thousand steps every year.
For the record, I've actually walked this many steps:
2012: 4,432,605 (12,110 per day)
2013: 4,256,213 (11,660 per day)
2014: 4,945,382 (13,548 per day)
2015: 6,029,183 (16,518 per day)
2016: 5,393,867 (14,737 per day)
(More detail in the graphs below, I don't know why they draw them differently)
Next year I'm aiming for 15,000 steps. Evidence would suggest it's doable.
I am however, going to switch measuring devices. I like carrying a little thing that's not my phone. Not sure why. I originally reasoned it would be useful for those occasions when I don't have my phone, but, of course, there aren't any of them. I like the size, shape feel of the little Fitbit. It's just that it seems to break down all the time. I decided to track this last year, to see if I was imagining it and it turned out, no, I wasn't. In 2016, in order to have a fully functioning Fitbit all the time, I had to buy three new ones and used 13 batteries. I think I've given them a fair crack of the whip but that seems excessive. So in 2017 I'm going to try using a Withings Go and see if that's more reliable.
