My Fitbit journey began exactly two days before I moved in freshman year of college. I used a generic step tracker for years before my mother decided to buy me a Fitbit as a going away present for college. Knowing I only cared about the steps, I picked out the most basic model Fitbit offered, the Fitbit Flex because it was far less expensive than the other offerings.

Nowadays, it has a near-permanent place on my wrist. The only times I ever take if off is when I’m showering or typing because it bothers me when it hits the keyboard. I eat with it, I sleep with it, I go to the gym with it (duh), and it has become an extension of myself. It feels weird not to wear it, like something is missing from my wrist. I love the simplicity of it because often times, I forget it’s even there.

One of my favorite things about having a Fitbit is that you can personalize it. I have a band in every color of the rainbow along with a few others I bought that have cool designs. My favorite right now is a navy floral one from Amazon that I pretty much wear every day. Before that, I had a really cool galaxy one that my parents got me for Christmas that I wore exclusively for a month. The popularity of Fitbits means that they’re easy to find replacement bands for; some of the higher end models even have options to wear your Fitbit in a necklace or in nicer bracelet, so you can wear it somewhere like work or a night out on the town.

A big part of the appeal for me is the fact that it’s a way to keep myself accountable. I love to challenge myself: When I notice I’m close to my daily goal, or that I’ve taken too few steps, it inspires me to get up and walk around a little bit. Having the Fitbit app also allows me to look back at past days or months to see how I compare. There are days, usually Wednesday or Friday, that I tend to hit my goal of 10k steps while other days, usually Tuesday, that I’m always under.

Some people have apps on their phones that they swear by; Apple Health is a great alternative if you’re not into wearing a step counter or you can’t justify buying a step counter when you have your phone. Apple Health always ends up being pretty inaccurate for me; it’s usually at least a couple hundred steps less than my Fitbit, and I chalk that up to the fact that my Fitbit is always with me and my phone isn’t.

Fitbits are not for everyone; my mother still has a generic step counter which she swears by. Some people just don’t care about how many steps they’ve taken because they are already very active or they focus more on things like yoga or weightlifting, so a Fitbit comes in handy more for seeing how many calories were burned or for measuring their heart rate. It’s not for everyone, but it works well for me, and I love my Fitbit.