I’ve been out in Colorado taking care of my sick daughter for almost two weeks. I left in a bit of a rush and I forgot two things on the counter in my bathroom back in Kansas: My watch and my Fitbit Flex. By the time I discovered that I’d forgotten them, I was too far away to turn around. If I’d had any idea that I would be out here for so long, I would have had my family ship them to me. At this point, they are both still sitting on my counter at home.

I’ve written about my Fitbit Flex before, and my love for this device hasn’t diminished with time. But I’ve been here in Colorado without my watch and Fitbit Flex, so I figured I’d give it a shot…living on the edge, as it were.

So I’ve been experimenting with living without my wearables. My biggest concern about not having a watch is actually kind of funny. I’ve worn a watch every day, during every waking moment for years. So many years that I have pearly white skin where the watch usually sits. I’ve been concerned that I’m going to get sunburned in the watch-space and the skin will turn red, then peel off. It happened once before when I’d lost my watch, and the thought of a reoccurrence is not something I’m looking forward to. I’ve been very careful, to this point, and no sunburn has happened. Nevertheless, every time I leave the house when the sun is up, I’m a bit concerned.

My biggest concern not having my Fitbit Flex was the inability to track my activity. For the three weeks prior to leaving Kansas, I’d been trying to use the built-in iOS Health App to track my activity alongside my Fitbit. The idea was to see how close the numbers were between the two devices. Unfortunately, when I was home in Kansas, the phone was often left on the charger, on the kitchen table, or at my standing desk. I would walk around the house, and then suddenly realize that I didn’t have my phone on me. That would cause the Fitbit and Health app to get out of sync. Some days the differences had been pretty significant.

Once I was out in Colorado, sans watch and Fitbit Flex, I got better about keeping my phone on me. I was also using it to communicate my daughter’s status quite a bit, so that was another factor that caused me to keep the phone on my person. After a couple of days, the inability to see the step count from prior days in the Health App caused me to begin a search for a Pedometer app. Pedometer++ was recommended to me by a trusted friend, so I started using it. I was a bit surprised when I discovered that steps from this app were fed directly into the Health App. This was helpful, since I didn’t want to have different numbers assaulting me during my reviews.

For a couple of days, things were tough on my daughter, so I didn’t get in very many steps. While I was frustrated with the lack of activity, her health was vastly more important than my 13,000 steps per day. When things settled down a bit, and I was comfortable leaving her alone, I ventured out on the amazing walking trails that come right to her door. I began to approach, and even exceed, my step goals for the day.

I was also using my iPhone to listen to podcasts on my walks, so the number of times that my steps weren’t counted diminished dramatically. Sure, there were a few trips around her town home that didn’t get counted, but it’s a small place, so the numbers weren’t significant.

With my steps being recorded with decent accuracy, I started to consider the other things that were not being tracked because I lacked my Fitbit. The next category that I really miss is the tracking of my sleep. While I’m not exactly sure how the Fitbit records my sleep, it’s been helpful in the past to review my sleep patterns. After I’d been using it for a few months, I had changed my sleeping habits a bit, and felt much more rested in the morning. I’ve also been able to review how many times I’ve been awakened, and how many times I’ve gotten out of bed. Let’s face it, I’m 52 and I drink a gallon or more of water every day. I’m making trips to the bathroom in the middle of the night, but by reviewing that information I’ve also been able to modify my behavior so that I don’t drink quite so much water late at night.

With the shift to being in Colorado, I’ve been drinking even more water. The altitude and relatively low humidity have increased my thirst, so I’m getting up more frequently at night. In addition, for several days I was checking on my daughter or giving her medication every two hours. I’m not sure I would’ve really wanted to see that on my Fitbit. Nevertheless,  I miss the ability to track my sleep.

I’ve investigated Sleep Cycle, but I’m not really sold on putting the iPhone under my pillow. In the first place, I’ve been sleeping on an inflatable bed here in Colorado. The heat generated by the phone during the night concerns me. Further, I move around a bit during the night, and I’m certain that I’d unplug the phone during most nights. I will admit that I could test this hypothesis, but I’m just not sold on using Sleep Cycle. I will admit that I’m a bit intrigued by the alarm aspect. Apparently Sleep Cycle can be set to wake you up within a range of time. The app is able to calculate the optimal time for you to wake up within that range, allowing you to wake up more rested than a traditional alarm that is set for a specific time. The specific time may or may not coincide with your depth of sleep, so you may either startle awake or awake at an inopportune time in your sleep cycle.

At this point, while I’m intrigued by Sleep Cycle, I’m not intrigued enough to actually try it out. It’s one my radar, but I’m just not sold.

The bottom line is, I’m a data guy. I like to have data to review and use that data to guide me in my decision making. While raw steps are part of that data, the level of activity that’s record by the FitBit Flex is of vital importance to me. So is the quality of my sleep. Not having those two items has caused me to struggle with where I stand on my fitness goals. In some ways, I feel like I’m flying blind.

After nearly two weeks of living without my Fitbit Flex, I really miss it. I love that I don’t have to think about having it on me to record my activity. I love the ability to track my sleep without having to use my phone. Frankly, my wrist feels somewhat naked without it. We’re hoping that we’ll be able to travel back to Kansas soon, and one of the first things I’ll do is charge my Fitbit Flex and put it back on my arm. I’ll do the same with my watch, frankly it’s been a pain having to dig my phone out of my pocket to tell what time it is.

Until I’m back in Kansas, I’ll make due with my iPhone. It’s been a substitute and done a decent job, but I’m ready to have my wearable back!