My husband is a cheater. I really think he has been hiding this from me for at least a week. I noticed the little smirk on his face every time I mentioned it, but he kept telling me that I was crazy and just needed to work a little harder.

Then this morning, while he was in the shower, I checked his cell phone. I found the app and I hit “sync”. I had my proof and I stormed into the bathroom, “What did you DO last night Dan?”

He peeked out from the glass shower door with a funny expression, “Jess, I was home before 11:00. You were sound asleep.”

“If you were asleep before mid-night how did you already get 1550 steps today!”

Generally, I am not very competitive. I’ve had my Fitbit for two years and I’m usually more than content reaching my 10,000 steps a day (about 5 miles). It means I’ve walked the dogs enough to keep them healthy and moved my body enough to fit in my mom jeans. Occasionally, I do except a “challenge” (where you compete with other Fitbiters), but only with people who are 10,000 steps a day folks – I don’t really want a “challenge”, just enough motivation to walk extra mile or two.

Last week I found Anna’s rarely used Fitbit and told Dan he should give it a shot. He gets frustrated by his lack of time to exercise during the week. I thought tracking his steps might be interesting to see how much he’s really moving during the day. I also wanted him to see what an active wife he has — no bonbons and relaxing for me;-)

I downloaded the phone app, set up the Fitbit and showed Dan how to use it. “And, I set us up for a challenge. Won’t it be fun?!”

Last week he beat me by five miles. It nearly killed me, but I rationalized that his commute was good for a couple of miles a day and he had a ton of meetings last week. The weather had cooperated enough for him to walk from meeting to meeting. THAT would never happen again.

This week I set up my schedule so that I could walk two times a day. I added some other “friends” to the challenge and was ready to show everyone that Jesse is the Walking Queen. No luck. No matter how many steps I took, Dan was ahead of me. I asked him repeatably if he’d check to see if his Fitbit was working and he made me feel like I was being silly.

This morning after our confrontation in the bathroom, Dan started getting dressed. He was teasing me about being paranoid, and I was starting to feel rather foolish. Then I looked down at his phone and realized that he had just earned 79 steps by putting on his tie.

I don’t just want to be Jack and Anna’s mom, Dan’s wife, an art teacher, a writer, a pharmacist, a driver, a model (don’t laugh — long story) — I WANT TO BE THE WALKING QUEEN (at least at 26 Clinton Ave. – my other “friends” are beating me too)!! I made Dan switch arms to see if we can get on an even playing field. We are going away this weekend and I’m going to keep a keen eye on my man. No funny business Dan!

Love, Jess