Garmin Vivofit Fitness Band Review
Tracker with the Best Battery Life

Livin La VivoFit Loca

I have incredibly small wrists, so sometimes it’s really hard for me to find bracelets, watches or anything that has to hang on these tiny, fragile looking appendages. I’ve never had a watch that didn’t have to have most of the links taken out of or another 5 holes put in to the band. Basically, if it isn’t elastic, it’s not going to stay.

Garmin Vivofit
See it at Amazon

I tried a small fitness band once that was still too big on me, and I couldn’t wear it. The ones that I was able to get on my wrist were so bulky that I hated wearing them. I really thought I was going to be excluded from this trend all together, but the Garmin Vivofit may have finally created a band that actually clamps closed even for tiny wrists.

The Vivofit can be adjusted to get onto big and small wrists, and there are other attachments that it can hook up to like external heart monitors and the like. I really liked that about it. Beyond that, it’s made to be flexible so that people actually use it, and it doesn’t look like a chunky bracelet appendage.

Basic Basics

Like a lot of fitness bands, Vivofit has an app that it connects to that counts the calories that are burned, the amount of movement, the hours of activity and all sorts of fun and interesting metrics that can be put on a graph and examined. It also has a heart rate monitor, a pedometer and a sleep setting that will give you all sorts of crazy information about how you sleep. While these features are pretty standard, they are majorly helpful when you’re trying to make a lifestyle change.

Speaking of lifestyle, Garmin made sure that anyone can find a matching design and color. From beautiful black and grey to bright and vivid, the colored bands simply ask to be taken out for a workout!

BEST battery life… No, really!

Aside from the size and the fit, I am really happy to see the battery life on this thing! I hate having to charge devices and keep a power cord with me at all times. The one moment that I need it, it’s never charged and then it’s basically a brick. That should not be an issue with the Vivofit, it has two watch batteries that last almost a year. If someone gave me a cell phone that could do that, I would be the happiest camper in the world.

A Fitness Tracker that will Call You Out for Being Lazy

Another thing that I’m not so good at, aside from keeping things charged, is sticking to a routine. Anyone who knows me can tell you that I work a lot, and I can sit at my desk for hours and not realize that I haven’t moved. I know this isn’t good for me, but I do it anyway because someone has to do the work.

The smarties at Garmin figured out a way to get your attention. Vivofit actually lights up when you have been in the same place for an hour, and it warns you beforehand when you’re getting close. You can get up for a couple of minutes to get the blood flowing and then go back to whatever you were doing. Getting the blood flowing increases activity to the brain so, even though you’re stopping, it should actually help with getting your work done.

Work Goals made for My Lifestyle and not anyone else’s

Anytime I’ve been in a workout program, I’ve always felt like they didn’t really apply to me personally. I had always been in programs that went by size rather than size AND experience.

The tracking information on the band actually tailors the workouts to what’s possible for the current fitness level, which makes the goals realistic. I know that I’m not a big, buff athlete yet, but I would feel better about trying to get there if I had goals that made sense to me.
I also would not feel disappointed in my progress when I didn’t meet the ridiculously high expectations of some programs. It takes the information on what you already do, and it builds it into a really good expectation of what you’re likely to be able to achieve. The confidence boost of that alone would be enough to get me on a program and stick to it.

Things to consider

Vivofit is great, but may not be perfect. There can be problems when it’s worn in the car because it registers movement when you were sedentary. Also, if you have a Mac computer and certain phones, they don’t always play nice with Vivofit. You should definitely think about these things before purchasing.

Viva Vivofit

I’ve tried just about everything to get into shape and stay that way, but it’s always been a little hard to get everything under control when I felt like I didn’t know what I was doing. Vivofit helps you get it under control by telling you what you’re actually doing all day, and it can connect you to people who are working on the same goals as you are. If I feel connected, I’m way more willing to get in to the workout.

If you’re like me and would like the accountability, functionality and flexibility of a band that lasts FOREVER (or a really long time), you can get it here.