Garmin Vivofit

JoJoJubblies

anyone else have a Garmin Vivofit? How are you finding it, is it helping you stay active? I'm finding it more motivating for me to get up and exercise more.
Especially with challenges.

If you have Garmin connect my name is Jojojubblies

marken999

Yes its been helpful. Website has been iffy for a week. But they seemed to have resolved the issues. Ordered the heart monitor chest strap. I like that it syncs with MFP

JoJoJubblies

I'm looking at buying the heart rate monitor too.

CarrieCans

I've only had my vivofit a few days and i absolutely love it. I love it so much that i don't care that they are having syncing issues. I think it's all because of a high amount of traffic and they are trying to work with a lot. Even if that isn't right, i am forgiving because i like it so much lol.

I keep track of everything in a spread sheet so it is all calculated before it syncs to the websites. I suspect that garmin is overestimating my TDEE a bit but that will take more time to figure out.

The heart rate monitor is a must for me. It really showed me just how off my burn estimations were. I always suspected that my exercise bike heart rate monitor was lousy and now i know it really is. I can't wait until warmer weather so i can wear it when i do outside activities.

I am really getting a kick out of the sleep monitor. I didn't think that would be anything that i paid attention to. Already i can see the groggy mornings are because of my BF waking me up when he gets up for work. I'm one of those people that half wakes up and can have conversations without remembering them. Now i can tell him what time he got up and if i was talking to him or not.

I am seriously getting up and doing more throughout the day. That's what matters most in the end.

izu87

I'm loving mine. Got it for Christmas. It's been very useful during the week at work when at some points I just forget to stand up and move for a little. Not only do I get to move, but my eyes get a bit of rest as well (IT specialist). So, I'm loving it! It's also very interesting to follow my sleep patterns. Quite interesting to find out that after my 6th hour sleeping I start tossing around like nuts and am hardly sleeping.

But yeah. I don't have the HRM strap as I have a Polar FT7 for that.

Certainly a good lil gadget. I'm mainly using the app on my phone instead of syncing via the site. There were a few hiccups during the past one week even with the app, but they were gone in an hour or so.

20yearsyounger

I agree the syncing issues are small compared to the benefits. I already know my MFP calorie number to stay under (with the minimum steps I want to take) and I log my activities on MFP so any additional walking calories are just a bonus. The sleep monitor is definitely one of my main reports. I also like to measure week over week my activities and calories to see if I am doing too much.

It's so funny that I would burn all of these calories in workout sessions and still be 65% inactive for the day excluding sleep I guess I just sit around a lot and that red bar keeps me moving.

JoJoJubblies

I got mine for Christmas too, the syncing problems haven't worried me really. I'm a newbie to the fitness watch side of things and I love it. I like the sleep monitor side to it as well as the little red bar which motivates me to get up and exercise.

izu87

Oh, yeah. The little red bars are super motivating. On my days off (like today) I would get up and pace around my room like a total nut job until I get rid of them xD Got me a few weird looks from the family, but after I explained it to them they were like 'Wow, awesome!'

Have you already showered with it? I still avoid wetting it >.> Kind of paranoid that it might defect.

CarrieCans

i haven't taken mine off yet, for fear that i will forget to put it on. Showers aren't an issue and neither is my sloppy style of washing dishes by hand. I just have to remember to push it around as i dry off or i get a little irritated under the band.

If the red bar comes on i get up and jog in place. My boyfriend said it reminded him of the movie flashdance (if you are old enough to know what i mean) and he started singing the song every time i got up. So now i just announce "maniac" before i get up and everyone knows what i am about to do.

I also put an app on my phone that goes off every 20 min (i think) to remind me to get up. I have been sort of racing the red line trying to avoid it.

20yearsyounger

I played in the pool yesterday for about an hour and a half with my kids. That was one of the main reasons I got it. It didn't do a good job recording my strokes, but still ticking fine today.

izu87

Oh, good to know then! I'll certainly test mine as well :P

JoJoJubblies

I swam with mine after a long hike the other day, I think it can survive up to 10m deep. I haven't taken mine off either. Haha

CarrieCans

I tried to "connect" with you Jojojubblies. Don't know how well that works because i tried that the other day with someone and it didn't find them. I think that person may have had their name wrong.

CarrieCans

I'm pretty sure i'm CarrieCans over there as well if anyone wants to try and add me to their connections.

JoJoJubblies

It worked

HelenWater

I've had mine for several months and the red bar, along with trying to make sure I hit my step goal makes me look for opportunities to walk. I'm Polly274 on Garmin Connect. I have a hip injury at the moment, so most of my activity is walking the dogs.

Raptorjo

Hi folks I also go one of these for Xmas and I am really enjoying the motivation. Can I ask are you logging walks on mfp aswell? I'm a little confused as to whether I'm supposed to or not. Does garmin take in account that you log it there aswell as it counts the steps already. I don't want to be counting the same excercise twice if you get me

20yearsyounger

As long as you enter the right time it shouldn't be double counting. I don't bother entering my walks on MFP, only my other activities. However, if walking is your only activity, then go for it.

Raptorjo

Thank you

knkirk09

Mine was delivered this morning and I've gotten it all set up. I think it's going to be a great motivator for me! I have a question that I can't seem to find the answer to, though I've looked all around--which wrist do you wear yours on? I used to have a Fitbit Flex, and there was a setting to change it to either dominant or non-dominant side. I'm left handed and have been wearing the vivofit on my left wrist. I can't find any info about this and I don't want the calculations to be off. I don't even know if this is an issue with the Garmin and I may be concerned for no reason, but again, can't find any info on this. Any help is greatly appreciated. Also, if anyone wants to add me on Connect, it's under knkirk09. Have a great day! -Kara

20yearsyounger

I'm right handed and I wear on the right. If you are concerned, there is an area where you can calibrate your settings. I basically used my gps tracker on the phone, walked a certain distance while counting the steps and then entered those numbers.

knkirk09

20yearsyounger wrote: »

I'm right handed and I wear on the right. If you are concerned, there is an area where you can calibrate your settings. I basically used my gps tracker on the phone, walked a certain distance while counting the steps and then entered those numbers.

Thanks! I'll look at those.

CarrieCans

I can't stand to wear anything on my right wrist (right handed) so i have it on the left. I haven't seen any major spikes suddenly and i have been paying a lot of attention. In fact there were times i expected it to go nuts and it didn't. My right hand is the table wiping, window washing, laundry grabbing one so i suspect the left would be the correct wrist for me to have it on. Now i am going to be really thinking about it for a while lol

20yearsyounger

Carrie, that's a good point. What I've noticed is that it takes a little while for the steps to start counting as it tries to figure out if you really took steps. But hey, it takes some energy to wipe a table too

CarrieCans

I have my first major gripe about it.

The heart rate monitor has yet to work right. It works but there are tons of drops every time i use it. You would think i had a ton of heart attacks by looking at that.

This is every single time i've used it. Right from the beginning. Ive tried repositioning it, spitting on it, moving it around, wetting it with a washcloth, switched the shirt i was wearing. I am running out of ideas. If it's static then i'm pretty much screwed because i live in a dry heat house and it's too cold to ride topless lmao

doep1228

I have just started using my Garmin Vivofit. I love it but the syncing issues are killing me! Need to call for support.
On the positive side it has really motivated me. I love seeing the calories burned along with steps taken.
Are any of you recording the total number calories burned at the end of the day? If so how or record just when exercising?
Do you also record the steps taken in exercise? Again, I am a newbie.

shadow2soul

CarrieCans wrote: »

I have my first major gripe about it.

The heart rate monitor has yet to work right. It works but there are tons of drops every time i use it. You would think i had a ton of heart attacks by looking at that.

This is every single time i've used it. Right from the beginning. Ive tried repositioning it, spitting on it, moving it around, wetting it with a washcloth, switched the shirt i was wearing. I am running out of ideas. If it's static then i'm pretty much screwed because i live in a dry heat house and it's too cold to ride topless lmao

You know what's really strange @CarrieCans, if you flip over to the Classic dashboard to view your workouts, there are no drops. Example:

20yearsyounger

The sync has been working well for me lately. I don't record anything other than my activities using the HRM. The calories have been going over to MFP.

CarrieCans

shadow2soul wrote: »

CarrieCans wrote: »

I have my first major gripe about it.

The heart rate monitor has yet to work right. It works but there are tons of drops every time i use it. You would think i had a ton of heart attacks by looking at that.

This is every single time i've used it. Right from the beginning. Ive tried repositioning it, spitting on it, moving it around, wetting it with a washcloth, switched the shirt i was wearing. I am running out of ideas. If it's static then i'm pretty much screwed because i live in a dry heat house and it's too cold to ride topless lmao

You know what's really strange @CarrieCans, if you flip over to the Classic dashboard to view your workouts, there are no drops. Example:

I noticed that. No drops but i still see a pattern of dips.

I also noticed that every time i look at the numbers while im riding my heart rate goes down. I wonder if i am doing it myself like subconsciously meditating ??? lol i dont know

20yearsyounger

Just curious Carrie, why is it that important? Do you think you are missing out on calories? Usually for me, how I start and finish doesn't have an impact on the overall average HRM so I wouldn't think the dips would make a major difference to that either.

MeanderingMammal

CarrieCans wrote: »

This is every single time i've used it. Right from the beginning. Ive tried repositioning it, spitting on it, moving it around, wetting it with a washcloth, switched the shirt i was wearing. I am running out of ideas. If it's static then i'm pretty much screwed because i live in a dry heat house and it's too cold to ride topless lmao

Is it tight enough?

I get those dropouts on mine, but when I compare it with the map, or the run duration I can tell that it's broadly when I start to get a bit painful. After about 90 minutes my chest starts to bleed a little and I end up pinching it away to get a bit more comfortable. That break in contact will disrupt the reading. Looks like you were doing an interval session so you may find that the strap moves as you go into attacks, and that may be more pronounced by the hard strap.

That said, those gaps look a bit more pronounced than I've seen, although you've had a pretty short session there.

Notwithstanding that, what's the issue with it? Any calorie discrepancy will be 2-3 calories, given that 128cals looks about right for a fairly relaxed twenty minute session.

Note that I use a Forerunner 310XT, rather than a Vivofit.