Home > How I Lost 10lbs Using The Fitbit Charge 3

How I Lost 10lbs Using The Fitbit Charge 3

Over the course of the late spring, I was feeling pretty sluggish. Adding to that, my clothes started to feel a bit tight again. Sigh! While I was fit and working out, I had slacked off my regular routine and was eating more garbage.

I started feeling down about it and complained to my husband about being in a “fitness funk”. Well, I guess the Universe heard me because a few days after that, a brand new Fitbit Charge 3 showed up on my door step. This was just the kick I needed to get motivated about fitness again.

Dominique Baker working out while wearing the Fitbit Charge 3

Fitbit is a brand that I love, and I treasured my little Fitbit Alta. I used it regularly to track my steps during the day, even getting into competitions with the ladies at work. Funnily enough, those of us with dogs won regularly (thanks for the long walks, Reese!), and using my Fitbit Alta really ramped up my runs.

The Fitbit Charge 3 was a whole new ballgame though. It had features that I didn’t even know I needed, but these same features really upped my fitness game and frankly, made my life easier.

Here are some of my favourite features of the Fitbit Charge 3 that really worked for me – features I know you all can benefit from too.

Dominique Baker working out while wearing the Fitbit Charge 3

Food Tracking

When I got my Fitbit Charge 3, I also started the Whole30 diet. Both the new fitness tracker, diet and personal training worked together to get me into the best shape of my life (read my Whole30 diet post here).

What I loved about the Charge 3’s food tracking is the fact that it has an absolutely enormous food database. You can track anything you eat, from Smarties to kale, and the app will automatically calculate how many calories you have taken in and how many you have left to consume in the day.

During my month on the Whole30 diet, I successfully ran a calorie deficit each day of that 30 days. How do I know this? Because I tracked everything I ate daily and the Charge 3 quickly calculated my caloric intake. This was the major reason why I was able to drop pounds safely within my goal timeframe of four to six weeks.

Lastly, you can track how much water you drink daily too. Get in those two litres of water daily, guys!!

Dominique Baker working out while wearing the Fitbit Charge 3

24/7 Heart Rate Tracking

I didn’t think I would use the heart rate tracking functionality of the Charge 3 but soon became addicted to it! The Fitbit allowed me to track all sorts of exercise from weight lifting, running and biking.

The heart rate tracking allowed me to exercise within a certain heart rate level, therefore maximizing my exercise and allowing me to burn calories faster.

It also kept me within a certain range; therefore, I wouldn’t “overrun” or run too slowly. This feature definitely improved my running and thanks to the Charge 3, I achieved a personal best during a recent 5K run.

Goal-Based Exercises

You can create exercise goals in the app and use the Charge 3 to optimize your training and get real-time stats. This was indispensable during my running training. I was able to see and keep a proper running pace and see my distance at a glance.

Before, I would start out too quickly and lose gas and motivation. This would blow my time. Now, I can set realistic goals, incorporate walk breaks into my runs which resulted in better finish times overall.

Dominique Baker working out while wearing the Fitbit Charge 3
A goal-busting day!! Achieved this many steps by walking Reese and going for a run!

Reminders To Get Moving

I LOVE THIS FEATURE! I work in an office and sit at a desk allllll the live long day. Not conducive to being fit…and I notice that my hips will hurt after hours of sitting.

The Fitbit Charge 3 will give you subtle reminders to get up and get moving. It’s great! Almost everyone I work with has a Fitbit and we created our own little walking group. When I get my hourly reminder, I’ll get up, round up the troops, and we will do one lap of our huge, warehouse-like office which usually adds up to 300-400 steps!

Since I started doing this, the days go by faster and I really do feel more energized.

Female Health Tracking

Another feature I’ve become obsessed with! I was using a period tracker on my phone that frankly, sucked. It was not user-friendly at all.

The Fitbit Charge 3′s Female Health Tracker made it really easy to input the start and end dates of my period which allowed me to better schedule trips (seriously) and see why I was feeling crappy, cranky and tired all of a sudden (Aunt Flo is about to visit!).

For those of you who are interested, it also tracks your fertile period and particular trends of your periods such as cramps and flow intensity. Personally, I find this really helpful during bikini season. LOL!

Dominique Baker working out while wearing the Fitbit Charge 3

The Fitbit Community

This is one of the best features of the Fitbit – hands down. Using the Fitbit dashboard, tap on “Community” to join challenges with people all over the world, upload workout pictures or shots of your crushing a fitness goal, and get inspired by others in tons of groups such as the Cardio group which is 1.7 million members strong!

Since joining the Fitbit community, I have made a ton of friends who share like-minded fitness goals.

Fitbit Pay

Fitbit Pay works similarly to Apple Pay. Firstly, check the underside of your Fitbit to ensure it offers Fitbit pay, then simply upload your credit card information using the Fitbit app. Boom – you’re on your way to making purchases through your Charge 3.

Check out the Fitbit website to see which Fitbit devices support Fitbit Pay along with their list of supported banks.

* All Fitbit Charge 3 Special Edition models offer this feature.

Dominique Baker working out while wearing the Fitbit Charge 3

There are an absolute ton of great features that I haven’t mentioned here. I encourage you all to check out the Fitbit Charge 3 if you are looking to acquire a fitness device. I wear mine daily and really enjoy all of the features. It’s become something that I can’t really live without – optimizing my workouts, enabling me to check my text messages at a glance, and connect with my friends through the awesome Community tab.

The Fitbit Charge 3 costs $199.95 (now on sale for $159.95 online) and comes in a variety of band colours. I opted for the charcoal grey and rose goal, but it is also offered in all black, white, and a cool purple linen.

Do you have any fitness goals you are looking to achieve this summer? Let me know what they are in the comments!

*A HUGE THANK YOU to Fitbit for providing me with my beloved Charge 3. All opinions are my own. Photography courtesy of Salt ‘n Streets Photography.

Dominique Baker
Dominique Baker

Dominique is a Canadian-based fashion and beauty influencer with a strong voice in Ottawa’s black community. Since launching her blog Style Domination in 2015, she has amassed a global fanbase. Dominique shares her life through beautiful imagery and compelling story-telling that speaks to her fans on a personal level. She’s been featured in The Guardian, Flare, The Kit and Cityline. She also hosts events for Dress for Success, the Gem Conference, and has been named a United Way Person 2 Know for the past three years.

Find me on: Web | Instagram

1 Comment

  1. Diane
    July 18, 2019 / 3:03 pm

    Thank you for giving an insight into the Charge 3 and congratulation for the huge success in loosing weight. As for some of your readers might want to compare the Charge 3 to other brands, I recommend a comparison tool for fitness trackers I found online at https://www.fitness-tracker-test.info/en/compare-fitness-trackers-and-sports-watches/. While the website is in german, the compare tool is in english. Perhaps this provides some additional information to the Charge 3 and its competitors.

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