Using Fitbit to keep me moving

I have a FitBit Ultra (which I have discussed before) that I use to keep track of my daily activity, trying to force myself into higher and higher numbers, toward the AHA-suggested 10,000 steps per day.

In all honesty, I have dropped my personal goal from 10,000 steps to 6000, because 6000 is an amount that I can adjust my day to get, while I have to spend hours of my evening walking around to get myself up to 10,000. With 6000, I have a lower barrier, so I don't beat myself up with disappointment as easily. I still do, because I still have <3000-step days, but with 6000, I feel I have a fighting chance.

I have a FitBit but I don't pay for the upgraded API, but I can check every hour. And now I do. 

view plainprint?

1. #!/usr/bin/env python  
2.   
3. from oauth import oauth  
4. import datetime   
5. import httplib  
6. import os  
7. import pymongo  
8. import simplejson as json  
9. import time  
10.   
11. import fitbit  
12. import locked  
13. import pushover as p  
14.   
15. def main():  
16.     checker = locked.locked()   # determines if screen is locked  
17.     if not checker.is_locked():  
18.         from pymongo import MongoClient # connect to mongodb  
19.         client = MongoClient()          # connect to mongodb  
20.         db = client.fitbit              # connect to fitbit DB   
21.         reads = db.daily_reads          # connect to collection   
22.         now = datetime.datetime.now()       # what time is now?  
23.         datestr = now.strftime("%Y-%m-%d")  # now in date format  
24.         isostr  = now.isoformat()           # now in ISO format  
25.         fb = fitbit.make_class()                    # connect   
26.         fbr = fb.activities_date_json( datestr )    # get updates  
27.         summary         = fbr['summary']            # get summary  
28.         steps  = summary['steps']                   # pull out steps   
29.         new_read = {}               # create new read  
30.         new_read["date"] = datestr     # date == datestr  
31.         new_read["time"] = isostr      # time == ISO  
32.         new_read["steps"] = steps      # steps is steps to date  
33.           
34.         if 0 == reads.find( { "date" : datestr } ).count(): # if nada   
35.             for read in reads.find():       # clear out   
36.                 id = read["_id"]  
37.                 reads.remove( { "_id" : id } )  
38.             reads.insert( new_read )        # insert   
39.         else:  
40.             old_read = reads.find_one()  
41.             delta_steps = new_read["steps"] - old_read["steps"]  
42.             if delta_steps < 100:  
43.                 msg = "You took " + str(delta_steps)   
44.                 msg = msg + " steps in the last hour. "  
45.                 msg = msg + "Go take a walk."  
46.                 pu = p.pushover()  
47.                 pu.send_message( msg )  
48.             id = old_read["_id"]  
49.             reads.update( { '_id' : id } , new_read )  
50.   
51. if __name__ == '__main__':  
52.     main()  

#!/usr/bin/env python

from oauth import oauth
import datetime 
import httplib
import os
import pymongo
import simplejson as json
import time

import fitbit
import locked
import pushover as p

def main():
    checker = locked.locked()   # determines if screen is locked
    if not checker.is_locked():
        from pymongo import MongoClient # connect to mongodb
        client = MongoClient()          # connect to mongodb
        db = client.fitbit              # connect to fitbit DB 
        reads = db.daily_reads          # connect to collection 
        now = datetime.datetime.now()       # what time is now?
        datestr = now.strftime("%Y-%m-%d")  # now in date format
        isostr  = now.isoformat()           # now in ISO format
        fb = fitbit.make_class()                    # connect 
        fbr = fb.activities_date_json( datestr )    # get updates
        summary         = fbr['summary']            # get summary
        steps  = summary['steps']                   # pull out steps 
        new_read = {}               # create new read
        new_read["date"] = datestr     # date == datestr
        new_read["time"] = isostr      # time == ISO
        new_read["steps"] = steps      # steps is steps to date
        
        if 0 == reads.find( { "date" : datestr } ).count(): # if nada 
            for read in reads.find():       # clear out 
                id = read["_id"]
                reads.remove( { "_id" : id } )
            reads.insert( new_read )        # insert 
        else:
            old_read = reads.find_one()
            delta_steps = new_read["steps"] - old_read["steps"]
            if delta_steps < 100:
                msg = "You took " + str(delta_steps) 
                msg = msg + " steps in the last hour. "
                msg = msg + "Go take a walk."
                pu = p.pushover()
                pu.send_message( msg )
            id = old_read["_id"]
            reads.update( { '_id' : id } , new_read )

if __name__ == '__main__':
    main()

There are three modules that are mine: the fitbit module which comes from my fitbit_tools repository; locked module which uses xscreensaver-command to determine if the screen is locked (if I'm not at my desk, my step counter isn't being updates; and pushover, which uses the Pushover service to keep me informed. I could and maybe should have it do speech with Festival or pop to my screens with Notify or Snarl, which also are desktop-centered tools, but this is what I have.

Similarly, perhaps this task is better suited to a key-value store like Redis than MongoDB's document store. At most I'm having one entry per day and the first entry of a day clears out all previous entries.

But, notwithstanding all the perhaps-suboptimal design decisions, this is an example of how coding and quantifying yourself can help you improve your life.