After reading your comments, after thinking about it a little more, and after lunch, I went to Target yesterday and bought myself a new Fitbit Charge. Thank you all for your comments. I didn’t feel the least bit guilty when I bought this new gadget.

It’s hard to take a nice picture of your own arm :-).

The color choices for this model are not great: black, gray, dull navy, and orange. Black seemed to make the most sense… it will look fine with fancy attire, right?

I had a discussion about the Fitbit over dinner with friends last night—about why some of us like wearing this sort of device. I believe that Oscar had it right when he said that it offers validation. I don’t feel the need to broadcast my daily activities, but I do like knowing how active I’ve been, compared to how active I usually am.

I have always treated my body as if it is a used car. If my car starts acting up, I take it to the mechanic because I do not want to be stranded somewhere. My body is in reasonably good shape for its age, but when parts of me act up, I go to the appropriate doctor. The Fitbit is just one part of my simple, self-monitoring system. That, and I like the mental pat on the back I give myself when I reach my daily goals :-).