Discovery Vitality is an interesting concept, which often leaves many people frustrated. The aim of the programme is to get to Gold (Diamond after 3 years of Gold) otherwise, basically, your life sucks. You don’t get good travel rewards, you don’t get money back on your credit card, and if you have a life policy like me, you premiums basically increase dramatically, if you not on the coveted Gold Status. All while paying an additional premium every month for these “benefits”.
So, how do you get to this magic gold status? Discovery markets it as “Discovery Vitality is the wellness programme that rewards you for getting healthier“.
Which means a barrage of online & real-life tests (which actually end up costing you money) and then a few other cool products and initiatives which allow you to earn points.
One of the new ways of earning points is by owning a Fitbit device. The Fitbit device is recognised as one of the Discovery Vitality Living Vitality “Wellness Devices” which allow you to accumulate points for any physical activity you may do. Fitbit, which is it actually really a step counter counts your steps, converts it to Kilometers, and works out calories. There are a range of devices starting at around R600 (for the Fitbit Zip).
But. There is also a Free Fitbit app. The app is designed to sync with the Fitbit devices to show you a graphical representation of your steps you made with your Fitbit. Having said that, the Fitbit app on the iPhone 5s, ALSO acts as a Fitbit device. Yip, no need to spend R600 on a Fitbit device. If you have an iPhone 5s, it *IS* your Fitbit device, and can count your steps, kilometers and calories. Thanks to the new Apple M7 Chip in the iPhone 5s, info from all the sensors are stored in a chip and are accessible to apps, without using too much battery. And according to a few reports is also pretty accurate
So, what that means is that you can in fact link your “New Fitbit device” (ie. your iPhone 5s) can also link to Discovery and earn you points in the same way your paid-for Fitbit device would. For Free!
To sign up and register your iPhone5s “Fitbit Device” as a new device follow the below steps:
- Download the Free Fitbit iPhone app onto your iPhone 5s
- Sign up in the app and select to use the iPhone as a tracker (ie. you don’t have any Fitbit devices)
- Go to Fitbit.com and complete your registration and log into your Fitbit account
- Sign into your Discovery Account
- Go to Discovery Vitality Living Wellness dashboard (https://www.livingvitality.discovery.co.za/lv/dashboard)
- You can login with your Discovery details (click login) or register for the first time. It uses your Discovery credentials to log you in
- Once logged in go to Wellness Tools -> Devices and click on Fitbit (scroll down a bit)
- Click on the “Go To Fitbit” button
- Log into the Fitbit.com site and allow access for Discovery to use your Fitbit device
And that’s it. They will import the previous months history (if you have it on your phone) and allow you to start earning points. The “rules” on Discovery say you earn 150 points for every 10,000 steps you do, and 50 more points if you do over 12,500. 10,000 is pretty easy to do every day if you keep your phone in your pocket most of the time. That said, I have earned my points a lot “faster” than that ;)
[app url=”https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/fitbit/id462638897?mt=8″]
I had the awesome opportunity to join the guys & girls from 
The other gadget that was launched at the evening, was the new Sony Smartband. The Smartband is essentially a band you wear onyour wrist, which tracks your life. And every move you make. The band syncs with the Xperia Z2 and gives you an overview of your every day life.
