FitBit Is It Worth the Investment?

FirstCoastLisa

Hi everyone! I was looking at the FitBit tools this morning and decided that to make an informed decision I needed to hear from the MFP community.

To give you an idea about where I am at in this journey so you can relate your journey to mine, I in the past I always wanted to lose weight but I was never good about logging food in a diary until MFP. I love using this site and I have made positive strides in changing my eating habits because now I can see what I am eating in black and white and for me that is very motivating. For the first time in my life, I have a handle on the diet end of the equation and my brain actually stops and thinks about what I am putting into my mouth.

The exercise side of the process has not come so easy and that is why I am wondering if what the MFP site has done for my "thinking" with the diet side of things if by investing in the FitBit tools (the scale and the clip on tracking device) if it will serve as added motivation to make me move and re-train my brain when it comes to exercise.

Tell me what you think of your FitBit experience ~ success stories, epic fails, regrets, or over the top love stories. The desire to share and help other is such a strong force on this site and one of the things that I think makes this place so different on the internet.

jrbb03092

MFP is fantastic but getting my Fitbit One has made all the difference for me.

In the first 12 weeks I've had it, I've gone from walking maybe 5K a day with some 7.5 and 10K days on the weekends to a 15K daily minimum and average of 17-18K. I usually hit 1-2 20K days a week (on the weekend mostly). Which means, according to the Fitbit site, that I've increased my activity level by 62%, going from sedentary to active.

I find myself parking farther away from stores, walking when I can, adding extra walks, walking during commercials, stepping in place to meet my next goal. I seriously cannot recommend it enough.

shadow2soul

I love my fitbit. I have a zip, which I got as a present from my hubby.
I haven't had mine long, but I love it already. It is a great motivator.

I have my fitbit account linked to my MFP account and negative adjustments turned on. This means that on days where I am lazy, fitbit will actually deduct calories from my goal for the day. Then on days where I am more active than normal, I can actually end up with additional calories to eat.

Fitbit also sends out a weekly summary. I haven't gotten mine for last week yet which is kind of disappointing. Anyway the summary email tells you stuff like:
- How your weight has changed over the week. Your highest and lowest weights for the week and the difference between them.
- Your most active day / Least active day
- Your average daily burn for the week, total burn for the week, the "best day" burn of the week
- Your average daily steps for the week, total steps for the week, the "best day" steps for the week
- There is also a little arrow next to the stats that will tell you if they are better or worse than the week before

MzManiak

I sure hope so because I just ordered the Flex and will be anxiously awaiting it on back order for the next 8 or so weeks... I've read great things about it though.

bound4beauty

I sure hope so because I just ordered the Flex and will be anxiously awaiting it on back order for the next 8 or so weeks... I've read great things about it though.

I pre-ordered mine three weeks ago and was so disappointed today when I got an email telling me it will be another two weeks now before I get it.

lukewind

I can highly recommend the any of the fitbit devices. I currently use a one and am getting a flex to replace it. Counting calories is only half the battle, without some exercise you won't be as motivated to stay on your diet.

As someone who has seen great success with a fitbit, lost over 90 pounds so far, here is one tip for those just beginning with one:

Don't go crazy at first. You will be tempted to try and run your step total up in the beginning, but if you are not normally active doing so can cause sore feet and issues that will lead to you giving up to soon.

Wear the device for a week without doing any extra walking and see what your daily average is, once you know that add 2,000 steps to it as your first goal. From there I basically added 500 steps each week to my daily total until I got to where I am now, at around 10,000 steps a day. If adding 500 seems like not enough then add more, but if you start feeling strained back off the number. That is another thing as well. Some people quickly jump to 10,000 or more steps a day and get trapped there and feel bad if they do any less, but as long as you stick to your caloric intake regiment its not a problem to move back down your goal until your body and feet catch up. If your feet are to sore it game over.

If any of you have any questions about how a fitbit works or have technical issues feel free to friend me and I will try and help with any questions, because I have asked and have answers to them all by now.

ThatLori

I got mine a few weeks ago, and love it as well. I've been trying to find people to add both on here and with fitbit since I only have a few friends in the area that use either one.

http://www.fitbit.com/user/2626ZD

Also, does anyone feel that MFP over estimates calories compared to your fitbit? As i've only gotten it recently (and am in grad school) I haven't had a lot of time to try to understand why the calories seem to be different on one app versus the other, or why on some days my fitbit adjustment is super big and others it's not, even when it's the same activity, and close to the same steps/etc in the day as measured by the fitbit.

Thanks everyone!

susieq727

I love my FitBit One. I bought it& the Aria Scale. Weighing myself has never been so much fun..never thought I'd say that. At first, I was very "aware" that I was wearing it& after a while I forgot. I was impressed to see how many steps/miles I had walked on a lazy Saturday! I'm really impressed how it knows when you are in an "activity" phase. Working out/being active was my biggest downfall, and the FitBit really makes you motivated to do it. I'm out of the rut I was in& am seeing major progress. I've been saying for a while that I needed to lose 10 more lbs...I'm pretty much there& it took a little willpower, but I think the FitBit really made me make exercise a priority. It's worth the investment 100%. I got mine on Amazon...received it in less than 24 hours of ordering.

MzManiak

Yeah, I actually decided that I didn't want to wait for the Fitbit Flex to arrive, so I went to Best Buy and got the One. I haven't used it too much yet, but I can already tell that it will be much more accurate than using MFP alone. This will actually let me know if my base calories are set correctly because it tells me what MFP thinks I burn (average) in a day to make my calories work for me, then lets me know how many calories I am actually burning. So that I can know if it's consistently under, I either need to be more active, or lower my calories. Or if it's consistently higher, to raise my calories so that I am getting the right amount of fuel into my body. :happy:

MzManiak

I got mine a few weeks ago, and love it as well. I've been trying to find people to add both on here and with fitbit since I only have a few friends in the area that use either one.

http://www.fitbit.com/user/2626ZD

Also, does anyone feel that MFP over estimates calories compared to your fitbit? As i've only gotten it recently (and am in grad school) I haven't had a lot of time to try to understand why the calories seem to be different on one app versus the other, or why on some days my fitbit adjustment is super big and others it's not, even when it's the same activity, and close to the same steps/etc in the day as measured by the fitbit.

Thanks everyone!

There's a fitbit group. Have you joined? http://www.myfitnesspal.com/groups/home/1290-fitbit-users

bostonwolf

I can highly recommend the any of the fitbit devices. I currently use a one and am getting a flex to replace it. Counting calories is only half the battle, without some exercise you won't be as motivated to stay on your diet.

As someone who has seen great success with a fitbit, lost over 90 pounds so far, here is one tip for those just beginning with one:

Don't go crazy at first. You will be tempted to try and run your step total up in the beginning, but if you are not normally active doing so can cause sore feet and issues that will lead to you giving up to soon.

Wear the device for a week without doing any extra walking and see what your daily average is, once you know that add 2,000 steps to it as your first goal. From there I basically added 500 steps each week to my daily total until I got to where I am now, at around 10,000 steps a day. If adding 500 seems like not enough then add more, but if you start feeling strained back off the number. That is another thing as well. Some people quickly jump to 10,000 or more steps a day and get trapped there and feel bad if they do any less, but as long as you stick to your caloric intake regiment its not a problem to move back down your goal until your body and feet catch up. If your feet are to sore it game over.

If any of you have any questions about how a fitbit works or have technical issues feel free to friend me and I will try and help with any questions, because I have asked and have answers to them all by now.

Just wanted to add that this is the PERFECT approach to any kind of exercise.

Colorfan

It really depends on how you intend to use them.

With the FitBit pedometer, you can use it to get a better estimate of how many calories you burn in a day, so you can adjust the calories you eat every day. You an also find out if MFPs estimate is way too high or way too low for you.

You can also use it to challenge yourself to walk more by tracking how many steps you do in a day, and then challenge yourself to take more steps the next, or climb more stairs, etc.

If you just want to carry it on you and not really be active in how you use it, and how you use the information it gives you, it really wont do you much good.

As for the scale, its pretty nifty for holding yourself accountable, since you can have it sync with MFP and it shows your weight change on your ticker. I find mine is pretty finnicky though. I have to weigh myself a few times on it to get an accurate measurement, the first weighing is always wrong by quite a bit. It also gives you body fat %, which is super handy, more so than being able to measure you weight. Because honestly, weight doesnt matter as long as your body fat % is where it needs to be.

Leesel66

Hi,
I've just purchased mine on Friday and LOVE IT.

You dont have to log your exercises with MFP as this downloads your calories burnt when your fitbit one wireless links/syncs to MFP. If you swim then you do need to log that exercse in MFP. It also monitors how many calories you burn while you SLEEP.

I have a job where I am sat down all day so I will be interested tomorrow to see how I fair there tomorrow. I have only put down to exercise 4 times a week as getting over spinal surgery 3 weeks ago, but I also do clinical pilates twice I week so am really interested to see what my calorie burn will be.

One thing I did notice is that it said I had walked 19 stairs, I havent walked up any stairs but I do live in a hilly area so Im thinking it is reading stairs because of the incline??

I'm pretty new with it but I would recommend it even after these 3 days.

For those in Australia, I got mine from Harvey Norman for $114. Best investment to help me on my journey :drinker:

pilarter

I got mine a few weeks ago, and love it as well. I've been trying to find people to add both on here and with fitbit since I only have a few friends in the area that use either one.

http://www.fitbit.com/user/2626ZD

Also, does anyone feel that MFP over estimates calories compared to your fitbit? As i've only gotten it recently (and am in grad school) I haven't had a lot of time to try to understand why the calories seem to be different on one app versus the other, or why on some days my fitbit adjustment is super big and others it's not, even when it's the same activity, and close to the same steps/etc in the day as measured by the fitbit.

Thanks everyone!

I got my Zip 1 month ago when I decided to change my strategy froma low cal strategy (meaning netting BMR) to a -20%TDEE strategy, as I was at a stall for 2 months and I was only 2 kg far fron my weight goal. I had been checking different sites for tdee calculators, but I thought that wouldn´t work out well for me as my workout is not consistent along the days (I am a family physician working noon+night+moring shifts twice a week) because some days I am very energetic and others I feel absolutely worn out fromm y daily activity.
So I got me a Fitbit Zip, and this would let me know how much I would eat each day, depending on my calorie burning.
I had read that I would gain weight at the begining of -20%TDEE strategy, as my body needed to djust, but I was disappointed and discouraged when I gained more that 2 kg for the first 2 weeks and a half, but I lost them all, plus 1 more kg in the following week and a half (probably more, as I had my period and I usually gain some one kg from water retention).
summarizing, I have to say:
Eating some % under TDEE works.
Fitbit offers higher accuracy than MFP exercise logging, and this is logical, because YOUR Fitbit gives you YOUR calorie burning and logging exercise at MFP gives you an estimation from your data, but reality depends on intensity. I think it is true that MFP tends to overrate calories burnt from exercise, which is bad since this allows or encourage you to eat more, then reducing your deficit.
fitbit is great tracking cardio exercise, not that accurate tracking weight training.
In the other side, thanks to my Zip I realized that I burn more than I thought from my daily activity; and wearing it all day long I have checked that I want to move more, I want to take more steps, I want to go upstairs intead of using elevators, because I love watching at the screen and seeing steps counting up. And each step I take, drives me one step closer to my goal.
I even wear it at night during my night shifts, because I usually am allowed to sleep for the whole night (luckily, as I have to stay working at office visiting patients the whole following morning until 3pm), but sometimes I have a call and must get up and visit walking-in patients or at their homes even take them to hospital in our ambulance: and this allows me to eat some well deserved ice cream when I get back home!
I have learnt flexibility about calories too. I burn a lot of calories in my good days, so many, that I find hard to eat all the calories I am supposed to eat. So I don´t. I log food that I don´t really eat that day, and I eat those calories during following 2 days, and I stay at my calorie deficit not daily, but weekly.

LexyLou_5

I love my fitbit one, got it a start of year and i can honestly say its my new best friend.

Be Warned it is addictive.......... DON'T SAY I DIDNT TELL YOU

Feel free to add my folks... user of the same name http://www.fitbit.com/user/24LSFQ

angelfish257

I have a fitbit ultra, managed to get it on an Amazon Black Friday deal so it helped reduce the cost a bit!

I used it initially just to see what my normal activity levels were like and now it's part of my day-to-day to have it on me all the time. I try to hit 10,000 steps per day and I love how it links in with MFP - takes a bit of the hassle out of logging all my exercise individually.

I've found that I make more of an effort to be active now, because I want those steps to mount up - and if by dinner time I don't have the number I want, then I'm more likely to go out for a walk after I eat (although I have also been known to walk circuits of my flat to get the numbers up - hey, whatever works!)

I think having a fitbit has made a positive impact on me and hopefully my weight loss too - you would find it worthwhile to try it out at least. If you really don't like it or get on with it, you can either return it or stick it on ebay!