Fitness trackers, is it worth it?

catiatavares

I was thinking of purchase one but there are so many that I don't no which one is best if any! Is it worth it!
Need help for inspiration from people walking (hopefully running

Chain_Ring

Garmin Fenix 3. It will make all other brands look like the toys they are.

ErinK09

I love my fitbit one. It keeps me motivated and moving!

_runnerbean_

I have a fitbit Zip since July and absolutely love it. It clips onto belt or bra strap. It really makes me more aware of my daiky movements and I have walked a lot more since getting it.

trackercasey76

Love my Fitbit One!

RoxieDawn

First of all, what do you want to track. Sleep, steps, exercise, heart rate... etc..

After you decide that you will have to google it and start your research there.

I wanted to track nutrition, fitness, sleep and needed to have an alarm to get my butt off the couch. I use Fitbit Charge and love it... It interfaces with MFP and I have no problems with it..

Tiamo719

I had a fitbit one forever which I absolutely loved. I upgraded to a fitbit charge HR. I love it even more.

elleykat

I love my FitBit Charge HR - the heart rate monitor feature was really important to me, because I feel like it gives me a better estimate of my daily overall calorie burn. I think it's stupid to track fitness/calories based on estimates that are often wildly different from one site/tracker to another, so having that heart rate monitor to confirm calorie burn is huge to me!

Edited to Add: Fitbit also connects with MFP so your calorie/food intake tracked on MFP imports over to FitBit, as well as exercise tracked here. They go really well together.

bornforbattles

Waste of money

Chain_Ring

Fitbit is a glorified pedometer. Buy a Garmin device. Trust me.

segacs

Okay, you're gonna get a long list of brands and people talking about the gadgets that they own here. So let me give you a bit of a rundown on the pros and cons.

Activity trackers are good at:

• Counting how many steps you take in a day, more or less
• Tracking your sleep, more or less
• Estimating stairs climbed, if yours has an altmeter
• Giving you lots of fun and fancy data
• Encouraging you, via increased awareness just from wearing one, to sit still less and move more

Activity trackers are less good at:

• Tracking calories burned from non-step related exercises like cycling, swimming, workout videos, etc.
• Tracking your heart rate if it's a wrist-based device -- even the ones with heart rate monitors tend to be pretty inaccurate.

Activity trackers are utterly useless at:

• Tracking calories burned from strength training
• Helping you stick to your calorie or nutrition goals
• Actually making you lose the weight if you haven't been already.

So, it's really up to you. If owning one will motivate you to exercise more, go for it. If it will basically just tell you about the exercise you're already doing without getting you to increase it, it's probably a waste of money.

gnik1

bornforbattles wrote: »

Waste of money

Why do you say that?

I have a fitbit force, waiting on the charge HR. I find it helpful as I can track various statistics automatically ie I jump on the Aria fitbit scale it updates my weight and body fat % ,With the HR monitor I believe that will log automatically as well. Just by looking at these stats provides me with the motivation to try and do better or the more of the same the next day.Much like MFP food diary gives you a baseline to measure against.

Kevalicious99

Due to the inaccuracy of fitness tracker calorie burns, some people have actually gained weight from them. (due to eating back of burnt calories based on inaccurate data) So .. you have to be careful on how you use them and the data they provide.

jgnatca

I love my fitibit zip and I've been tracking my steps for over a year. The benefit for me is information. Am I getting more steps these days?

You are frozen from having too many choices.

http://www.ted.com/talks/sheena_iyengar_on_the_art_of_choosing?language=en

"When someone can't see how one choice is unlike another, or when there are too many choices to compare and contrast, the process of choosing can be confusing and frustrating. Instead of making better choices, we become overwhelmed by choice, sometimes even afraid of it. Choice no longer offers opportunities, but imposes constraints. It's not a marker of liberation, but of suffocation by meaningless minutiae."

Figure out what you would want a tracker to do for you then pick the simplest tracker for that.

DebbiRYarn

If you're asking, is it worth it to have one at all, then I'd say yes. But gia07 is totally right. What do you want to track?

I have the Garmin Vivosmart and love it. I track steps, activity and sleep. Syncing with MFP is a must. I like having the smart goal and an instant read-out of how far to my goal. I also like having the "get your tail off the couch and move!" feature although I call it names that would make a sailor blush. I have a heart rate monitor with it, which is nice, but I seldom use it. I'll probably add a cyclometer at some point.

Just saying, though, none of them is perfect. The technology is good but not 100%. Figure out what's most important to you and the price you're willing to pay for it and go from there.

segacs

Also I'd add, if you're just starting out, here are some things you should probably invest in before bothering to spend your hard-earned money on a fitness tracker:

• A digital food scale
• A good sports bra (SO important for us ladies who plan to exercise!)
• Appropriate shoes for your preferred form of exercise

Weight loss doesn't have to cost money. If anything it should save you money -- on food that you don't eat, on medical bills present and future that you don't have to pay, on clothes that you don't have to buy in specialty sizes.

Gadgets and gizmos are fun and some people find them useful. But you really don't need anything other than your willpower.

jgnatca

Data. Don't forget data. We tend to under/over estimate our food and our activity. Measuring and tracking helps reset that.

I think a lot more than willpower is required for success.

ArkMom35

My husband surprised me with a Garmin Vivofit last weekend. I have to say it has absolutely encouraged me to be more active, I will take the extra effort to walk, play basketball, anything, to see the steps go up! So it's been great for that. The downside is that I asked on here about step accuracy and it sounds like it's not very accurate. So for the price, I don't know if it's worth it yet, but like I said, it's motivation.

aklose72

My wife and I have the Garmin vivofit and love them!

megra034

It seems as though you have gotten a lot of feedback already, so this might not be all that helpful....

When I first started my quest to be healthy, I couldn't afford a top of the line gadget. So I pondered what was most useful for me to track, and I decided that an accurate calorie burn during exercise was most important.

Therefore, I opted for a baseline Polar heart rate monitor (F4 model) that tracks calories burned based on the changes in heart rate during exercise . It's the kind that straps around your chest which might seem antiquated, but it allows you to enter your age, weight, customized THR zone, etc.; and I have found it much more accurate than wrist watch models or other more expensive "wireless" fitness trackers. (FYI: The chest strap is elastic - not hard plastic, and it isn't nearly as uncomfortable as you might think.)

By measuring my food as accurately as possible and wearing my HR monitor during exercise, my calorie intake/outtake equation balanced out quite well and I lost more weight than I anticipated. So for me, an accurate HRM was worth it.

GOOD LUCK. :-)

oncem0re

megra034 wrote: »

It seems as though you have gotten a lot of feedback already, so this might not be all that helpful....

When I first started my quest to be healthy, I couldn't afford a top of the line gadget. So I pondered what was most useful for me to track, and I decided that an accurate calorie burn during exercise was most important.

Therefore, I opted for a baseline Polar heart rate monitor (F4 model) that tracks calories burned based on the changes in heart rate during exercise . It's the kind that straps around your chest which might seem antiquated, but it allows you to enter your age, weight, customized THR zone, etc.; and I have found it much more accurate than wrist watch models or other more expensive "wireless" fitness trackers. (FYI: The chest strap is elastic - not hard plastic, and it isn't nearly as uncomfortable as you might think.)

By measuring my food as accurately as possible and wearing my HR monitor during exercise, my calorie intake/outtake equation balanced out quite well and I lost more weight than I anticipated. So for me, an accurate HRM was worth it.

GOOD LUCK. :-)

^^ This is what I use as well, just to track my workout (HRM) and burned calories, so far so good!

Good luck with your choices! Glad you have a lot of people that replied to your questiona and gave you different insights.

cwolfman13

I personally think they're a waste...most TDEE calculators are going to provide you with a reasonably good place to start and then you just need to make adjustments as per the results you're actually seeing...I don't see any reason to where some tracker all day. I suppose for some it provides some kind of inspiration or motivation, but that's not an issue for me; I love crushing it.

HRMs are great for certain training goals though.

aaliceinw

I have a Garmin forerunner and use the HRM and Foot Pod. It really does make a difference in the way that I do my workouts and my walks. It synchs with MFP so I can see my true calorie goals for the day. I recently got an iPhone and it has a step tracker on it that can also synch with MFP. If you have an iPad, iPhone or iPod they will track your daily activity.

brianpperkins

Without knowing specifically what you want to track ... what activities you routinely participate in ... how much you want to spend ... there is no way to narrow down what is "best" for you.

http://www.dcrainmaker.com/product-reviews/activity-monitors

Please ignore those that immediately jump to recommending a nearly $500 multi-sport GPS watch without even bothering to ask what you do.