Oh, the Fitbit. It’s a trend that’s been around for a couple months now, recently reaching the mainstream (in Wake County, at least). An accessory that was once only desired by fitness junkies is now being adorned on the wrists of teenage girls, adults, and even some children (whose-chances are-moms also wear Fitbits).

I was a little late hopping onto the bandwagon, but once I was on, I realized there was no way of getting off. “You need to get a Fitbit already!” my friends said. “It’ll be fun! We can be in a step competition!” they said. WRONG. Well, right, in many ways. But still very wrong. Before I knew it, before I could even reach my step goal that first day, my Fitbit had taken over my life. Everything I did became a matter of, “how can I maximize the number of steps I get out of this activity?” and “how many more steps until I get ahead of my friends?”

How did I wake myself up on an early school morning? Run in place to get steps.

Making and eating breakfast? Walk around the kitchen to get steps.

Brushing my teeth? Pace around the bathroom to get more steps.

In the shower? Unfortunately, my Fitbit Alta isn’t waterproof, so I actually can’t get steps in there.

But doing my makeup? I mastered the “mascara and get steps in” technique pretty quickly.

When I wasn’t learning or doing work at school, I’d either run in place quietly in a corner of the classroom or ask to go to the bathroom and furiously pace in there. During lunch, I’d recruit a friend that didn’t have anything better to do and we’d continuously walk laps around campus. It got to the point where my non-Fitbit owning friends were embarrassed to be around me because I was always pacing or running in place. “...Does she need to pee or something?” “No, she’s just getting her steps in.” Some nights, I refused to go to sleep until I hit an even number of steps. That might just be the slight OCD in me, though.

My point is, everything in my life quickly became centered around one number: 10,000. 10,000 steps was my daily goal, and I basically determined my self-worth based on whether or not I reached my step goal that day. Days where I was short of 10,000 involved several hours of running around the house or on the treadmill, and days where I exceeded 10,000 made me way happier than I should’ve been.

The week leading up to prom was just a huge debate of: Fitbit or no Fitbit? I underwent a deep search for my true identity as I was split between the two options. All of my Fitbit loving friends urged me to wear mine because they were wearing theirs too, and everyone else I asked gave me the same look of, is this really a question we have to discuss? (The answer is yes, because this is probably one of my most difficult debates of 2016.)

Long story short, I ended up wearing my Fitbit on prom night. The look of horror on my mom's face when she saw that black wristband on my arm before we left to take pictures is truly one for the books. We bickered back and forth for quite awhile before I finally convinced her and explained that "My Fitbit won't be visible, I promise." Fast forward to picture time. I'm sitting upstairs at my friend's house when the doorbell rings. It's my date! Time for the cliché, walk down the stairs and watch his jaw drop moment that I've been envisioning for months. When I walk down, expecting to hear an "Oh, you look beautiful" or something along those lines, I get the same look I've been getting for the past week and a "Are you really wearing your Fitbit right now?" YES I'M WEARING MY FITBIT, WE'VE DISCUSSED THIS. DON'T ACT SURPRISED.

It ended up being me vs. my parents, my date, and the rest of my prom group in a saga called, Is Caroline really going to wear her Fitbit to prom? (Spoiler alert: the answer is still yes.) The small argument ended with me reluctantly agreeing to take my Fitbit off for all of the pictures, as per request of everyone else. My mom and date even worked together to take away and hide my Fitbit from me, knowing I'd try to wear it the moment I had it in my possession. And me being my petty, whiny self, I complained a lot about losing the steps I could've gotten while walking around for pictures. No worries though-I got it back and happily proceeded to hide my Fitbit under my corsage for the rest of the night. Step goal achieved, and even exceeded.

Clever, right?

(Look closely. My Fitbit is in his hand.)

My Fitbit is now a part of me. I don't go anywhere without it, and I can't even imagine my life without this little black bracelet anymore. But now, as I approach the date of my senior pictures, I have another question to ponder...Should I wear my Fitbit?