Question for Fitbit Users
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OK, please give me some good places to buy a Fit Bit. I really am interested in getting one, however I do not want to pay too awful much for it. Those folks that I see using them, seem to have good success because it " spurs them on " Thanks
They vary a lot. Do you just want the step tracker function? Zips and Ones @ $50. Do you want sleep monitoring? Flex $90-100 and the Charge $125. Do you want HRMonitor function? Charge HR $150, unless you find a special offer, I did and got it for the cost of a Charge without the HR, it was through AT&T and I got the special offer and they gave me my employers' discount on equipment as well. The Surge gives you GPS along with the other functions, if you carry your phone with you, it isn't needed but some people like only taking the one device with them. Both Charges and Surge have caller id alerts, I don't use it but some think it is the best things since sliced bread.
Since people drop the devices and don't realize it till much later, Craiglisters and ebayers may not be a reputable way to get one. I would not trust a dealer on Craigslist but maybe eBay if the seller reviews are top notch.
Amazon gives you the option of returning easily if you pick one and decide after a day of use you really want some other feature or don't use on and can step up or down. Check the offers of your cell phone company as well. I got a good deal through mine.
Mine really gets me up and out the door to do things and when I can't get out, I use the DVDs so I can meet my goals. So it does spur me on!
Happy shopping. Oh there are other brands that do the tracking etc. but the costs are fairly comparable to Fit Bit.
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wanda - i wouldn't hesitate to recommend amazon.com
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I got good deals on Amazon on the One last year, but don't know if they still have the lower price--had to pay more for Ken's several months later than for mine.
The Charge HR is the same price everywhere. Costco has a couple of the models. Although it is attractive, I would not be happy with the Flex because you can't see the time, step count, calories burned numbers the way you can on the other fitbits. Target often has various versions for a lower price.0 -
Thanks so much !! I'm shopping this w/e.0
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I bought mine from: http://www.fitbit.com/
I did not look anywhere else as this is where I bought my first one and was very pleased with the support.0 -
Wanda, Hubby bought mine at Target and I bought his through the Fitbit website. In either case, the price is standard regardless of where you buy. And, FYI, the website doesn't charge shipping. I've also seen them at other retailers like Best Buy and Wal-Mart. You are right about it being a motivator, at least for hubby and me it's worked that way!0
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Wandakc, you can order one online shipping is free. I would not get the smallest one (square shaped), they use a battery and run out pretty quickly. A co-worker has one, she was warring it on her bra and moved it because she said it looked like she had a third nipple! Too funny. I have a Fitbit One. I wear it on my bra. It never falls off. We find the wrist ones at the airport a lot. They are in a lot of stores now. I bought my husbands at Kohl's when I had a 30% off, it was not covered, but I did get Kohl's bucks. My last one, I bought at Target, they sold me a two year replacement for just a few dollars. I love mine. This is my second one. I've used one for 2 1/2 years now. Good Luck, Joni0
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OK ladies = the dumb question of the day. When you wear your Fitbit on your bra is it on the inside or on the outside. I am concerned about losing mine again so wanted it right this time!!0
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@Rebamae
I wore my One on the inside of my bra, but learned last week they suggest on the outside. Maybe there is too much "cushioning" if it's on the inside? My SIL and I were walking together and she was getting many more steps than me. She has a flex. I moved mine to my pocket and the steps began matching hers and my phone's pedometer. But it never occurred to me then to put it on the outside. :->0 -
Ok I am going to try the outside to see if that works. Thanks for the help!0
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I didn't chime into this conversation because I wear mine clipped to the inside of my jean's pocket.... or clipped onto my undies before I get dressed LOL. I've found that the step count is more accurate than wearing it up top. Just my humble opinion0
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ker95texas wrote: »I didn't chime into this conversation because I wear mine clipped to the inside of my jean's pocket.... or clipped onto my undies before I get dressed LOL. I've found that the step count is more accurate than wearing it up top. Just my humble opinion
On the undies! Fantastic idea!0 -
I am going to do some step testing to see which is the most accurate. Before I had it in my pocket or on a waist band. But some where I lost it. Do not want to do that again0
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I wear my clipped in the center of my bra with the clip inside and fitbit on the outside. I think it is accurate. Today I did 12,224 steps! That is way up for me and boy do my legs ache. I'm going to soak in the tub w/Epsom's Salts and Lavender. I'm up to 50 minutes walk a day, but I cannot go at my fastest speed. These steps are a result of the day as well as my walk. Joni0
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In case anyone missed this and is wondering why your fitbit is giving you more Active Minutes in the Dashboard:
Hi everyone! We've made some refinements to the way Active Minutes are tracked in user accounts, and wanted to draw some attention to this change, as well as clarify the feature for anyone who may not yet be familiar with it. The following information (and more) can also be found in this help article.
What are Active Minutes?
Your Fitbit tracker recognizes and awards active minutes when you engage in an activity that is more strenuous than regular walking. This includes everything from a more brisk walk to a cardio workout or a run. This stat is designed to help you track the more intensive activity during your day.
How are Active Minutes calculated?
All Fitbit trackers calculate active minutes using the concept of metabolic equivalents (METs), a unit that represents the amount of oxygen a body uses during physical activity. METs are widely used as indicators for exercise intensity.
Fitbit uses these MET measurements to categorize your time as lightly active, moderately active, or very active. Previously, different Fitbit trackers were configured to highlight different ranges of these categories. Which leads us to...
What has changed with Active Minutes?
All Fitbit trackers are now looking at Active Minutes in the same way. To align with CDC recommendations, this new metric more accurately reflects a combination of your moderate and high-intensity exercise.
For Flex, One, Zip, and Ultra users: you previously saw only Very Active Minutes contribute toward your daily Active Minutes goal. Beginning in April 2015, you'll start seeing both Very Active and Moderately Active Minutes combined to calculate this total, in the same way that other trackers currently operate. As a result, you'll now notice:
A higher active minutes total than you previously saw when only tracking very active minutes.
An improved ranking in group leaderboards for active minutes.
An increase in active minutes when you look at data for previous days.
All of these improvements are designed to give you a more accurate view of your active time throughout the day, and to put everyone on the same Active Minutes metric.
Hopefully this clears up any changes you might see with your Dashboard - let us know if you have any questions!
Community Moderator - English/EspañolEmerson | Community Moderator - English/Español
I run all over SF. What's your story?0 -
@retirehappy thank you for the info. I'd wondered about that, because my Very active minutes did increase without my doing anything different.0
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Bumping for those thinking of getting a Fitbit.0
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Hey Retire - thanks. Been reading thru all - will have to sort it out a bit in my head. Just really tired and need to get some zzzz's. Thanks for bumping the discussion!
Marie0 -
My Charge HR arrived last night. Now the learning curve starts. I'm ready to rip it off my wrist and I have only been wearing it overnight but i am not used to wearing a watch at home. iT is a lovely purple color.
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Ooh. You got the colored one! Since I wear a watch even in the shower, it hasn't bothered me. Hope you get used to the sensation soon. 0
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My Charge HR arrived last night. Now the learning curve starts. I'm ready to rip it off my wrist and I have only been wearing it overnight but i am not used to wearing a watch at home. iT is a lovely purple color.
Congrats, it will become your best friend in weight loss.
I don't sleep with mine on, I did that for about a week to see my patterns, but then I stopped as the battery ran out when I needed it to track activity in the day. My night time activity I really couldn't care less about.
I wear mine with the display inside my wrist, it rests on the veins there, it is just more comfortable that way and I have not had "the inch above the wrist, move it higher when exercising issue" or the "too loose, tighten it up" issue that some have reported in the Fitbit forums. I put it above the wrist bone and forget it. It is not overly tight there and I get my whole days records without any issues.
Oh and I haven't worn a watch in decades, I was always in front of a computer or had a cell phone handy so no need, I have even gotten used to typing with it on. Remember it can take an occasional splash but is not water proof, no showering or washing dishes, car, etc with it on. It is so comfortable I have almost stuck it in the sink when washing dishes because I just forget it is even there.
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I am loving my fitbit so thank you to all of you who encouraged me to get one. Not just for jocks!
I'm wondering why the numbers of calories remaining do not match between fitbit and MFP. I realize during the day that calories used are calculated differently but if I go back the next day they still do not match. I thought the fitbit adjustment was the difference.
Also, I do not get negative calories. Is that maybe because I am on only 1200 calories per day right now?
I have not been able to find these answers elsewhere.
Wanda0 -
Does this help (from Heybales FAQ in the Fitbit group)
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Why doesn't my MFP Exercise Diary - Fitbit calorie adjustment equal my workout calorie burn?
Because that MFP figure is not exercise.
That figure is the difference between Fitbit's total daily burn which includes your exercise, and what MFP thought you'd burn with no exercise.
Any difference includes exercise and daily activities. You could have no exercise and big positive adjustment from being very active. You could have big exercise and no positive adjustment from being very inactive that day outside of exercise.
You can see this fact by clicking on the "i" for more info on that Fitbit calorie adjustment line.
You should enable Negative Calorie adjustment too for sick or lazy days.
MFP - Settings - Diary Settings - Calorie Adjustments - Enable Negative Adjustments.
The reason it's put under exercise is so MFP correctly increases your eating goal, so the same deficit is maintained. You do more, you eat more, same deficit. MFP is merely correcting it's estimate of daily burn, which is based on your selection of activity level, and if you selected wrong, you get big adjustments, and then deficit is taken.
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I just let Fitbit track my step based activities, if I do strength training etc. I will log it in Fitbit not MFP. MFP is strictly for the food side of things for me. I have negative calories enabled, you see your available calories going up throughout the day that way, to me it is very motivating to move it, move it.
Those adjustments are the difference between your Fitbit burn (which is TDEE, aka your maintenance calories) and your MFP activity level. If (and only if) you enable negative calorie adjustments, eating your adjustments means you're eating TDEE minus deficit: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/account/diary_settings
The goal is to eat as much as possible while still losing the weight. I usually try to leave a few behind for any errors in logging anything, exercise or food. But not many, as the deficit is already figured into the maths between the two apps. I have seen the amount of food I can eat in a day increase, I was a 1200 cals person too, hated it, this has changed all that for me. Some days I get 1800 when I do long walks and classes, some light/rest days I get atleast 1300 or more. Way easier to stick to your "diet" that way.
My reports are showing me at .91 lbs lost per week since I started using the Fitbit and eating more. I can totally live with that, it was slightly over 1 lb per week till I had to drop an exercise class and cut back to 10K per day average, I was doing 12K I also had a few personal celebrations events before the slight drop in average loss. Again, I am fine with this rate as I am within 15 lbs of my goal weight and normally, I would be in the middle of a big old stall in my losing. At my current weight I should change my goal to .5 lbs per week. But I really want to do as close to 1as I can for as long as I can, and still eat a lot of course
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There is a setting that I am wondering about in diary settings and I was wondering if any of you fitbit wearers use it. It has to do with negative calorie adjustments and I do not completely understand how this would effect the recording. Do any of you do this?
Change Handling of Partner Adjustments
If you have linked your MyFitnessPal account to a device or app that measures your total calorie burn (Fitbit, Bodymedia, etc.), check this box to allow negative calorie adjustments from that partner to appear on your exercise diary. Otherwise, only positive adjustments will be allowed.
Changes to this setting will be in effect only for adjustments received from that point on (past adjustments will not be restated).
A negative adjustment means that your projected calorie burn for the day from the partner is below MyFitnessPal's initial estimate. If you are unable to sync your tracking device until late in the day, or if you don't consistently use your tracking device, you may prefer not to enable negative adjustments.0 -
I use the negative settings as I like to know that my burn is accurate. I adjust my eating with my fitbit calorie burn, not MFP. So, if I have a lazy day but have a good workout, I still could end up with negative adjustment. The major thing that fitbit proves is that the most important thing is to keep moving. 30-60 minutes of exercise being your only movement helps, but not enough for good calorie burn!0
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If you have negative adjustments checked, your goal will change throughout the day based on the fitbit data vs. the MFP TDEE that it works off of, I prefer the negative adjustments in case I had a lazy day. If I am particularly active, I like to have a few extra calories to fuel that activity. And I am being more successful on more calories this way.
If you prefer to just have a calorie amount you want to eat, day in day out than do not set it to negative.
Remember if you eat at a low calorie amount, 1200 or so, your metabolism will adjust to that and slow down, so you have to eat that way always. I like good food and wine too much to live that way any longer. Life is too short to subsist on 1200 total calories, NET is ok but total nope not for this gal. YMMV0 -
I agree with Joelle. Unfortunately, I have done 1200 mostly for 500 days. I don't do well when I eat more, but, at my height and weight goal, 1200 will be about it anyway when I get to goal, so I guess I will be used to it.0
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Very interesting! I have never tried the negative adjustment, but my curiosity is now aroused. I am going to try it and see how it goes.0
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If you continuously have a negative adjustment, you have your activity level set too high. You can then lower that for a more realistic projection.0
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My Charge HR exercise calories numbers coincide almost exactly with my Shealth app numbers if I am able to carry my phone around and I'm feeling well. They also coincide on burn reported with a reliable treadmill.
I get a kick out of seeing the negative adjustment after doing weight training or floor exercise, because I'm not earning steps and my heart rate doesn't go up much. Once I've completed my 5 miles of steps for the day, my burn coincides fairly closely to the Fitbit burn.
Per doctor's instructions, I do not eat back exercise calories. Once I reach goal weight, I think I will leave the settings on Fitbit and MFP at sedentary, and eat back the calories. My BMR at goal weight will be just over 1200 calories. I'll use these cool electronic tools to find out what my tdee is and eat healthily accordingly, with occasional treats once I've met this ol body's nutritional needs for health.0
This discussion has been closed.