Rebuttal to "Science Says Fitbit Is a Joke"

jim180155

A few days ago somebody posted a link to a Mother Jones article titled "Science Says Fitbit Is a Joke." At the time I posted what I thought was wrong with the study. The article linked below goes into a little more depth and I think offers a good general perspective. (I would have posted this in the original thread but I can't find it.)

mashable.com/2015/02/17/fitbit-study-no-problem/

snowflake930

For what it is, my fit bit has been the single best motivator I have had for the past two years to get me to move more. It truly works for me, and so does MFP. Without MFP and my fit bit, I would probably still be an obese old lady. Truly a winning combination for me.

Thanks for the link!

FenTiger89

snowflake930 wrote: »

For what it is, my fit bit has been the single best motivator I have had for the past two years to get me to move more. It truly works for me, and so does MFP. Without MFP and my fit bit, I would probably still be an obese old lady. Truly a winning combination for me.

Thanks for the link!

^^This.

tat2cookie

I love my Fitbit!! Worth every penny!!

queenliz99

tat2cookie wrote: »

I love my Fitbit!! Worth every penny!!

+1

ninerbuff

Any counter, HRM, etc. are just tools to assist people. It's really just going to come down to whether or not a person that's using them are just being more effective physically than they were previously.

A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

gkauf744

I'm not using my fitbit for scientifically accurate measurements. I'm using it to play games with friends, to motivate myself to get up and on my feet more often. Since I started using it, my average steps per day have gone up by 2000. So that's on the same device, and at least means that I'm moving around more than I used to.

gotolam

In science, there is something called the Observer Effect. Not quite on point, but its basically true here. The act of observation changes the phenomenon being observed. That is exactly what Fitbit is good for. It's the same as using MFP to journal your food intake. By detailing your food intake, you unconsciously change how much food you eat. By observing your activity, you unconsciously change how much activity you partake in.

auddii

I love the breakdown of how wrong "reports" get once the general media/bloggers get a hold of them (especially since they never seem to read the studies and just the press releases).

And I'm rather competitive, even with just my own step record, so the fitbit has been an awesome purchase for me. I've gone from averaging 6-8000 steps a day to 16-18000 steps a day.

dougpconnell219

Is my fitbit 100% accurate? No.

Is my food log on mfp 100% accurate? No.

Are both together helping me move more and eat less than I was before I bothered to track? Yes.

Could I be losing the same weight without them? Now, probably. Later, when I get closer to goal, probably not.

SingRunTing

Ugh. I'm so sick of people picking on the fitbit. I have friends who got rid of their fitbit flex because it was measuring steps when they were waving their arms around like crazy.

My thought is that I'm measuring movement. I don't really care if that movement is steps, waving my arms around, dancing, jumping, or moon walking. It all adds to my TDEE.

Fitbit makes it very clear on their website that they are measuring trends, not exact numbers of steps. If your trend is going up, you're moving more. If your trend is going down, you're moving less.

pjcfrancis

I don't know how accurate my FB is, but I know that when I go for a 45 minute walk I'm burning more calories than sitting in my easy chair. I don't know how accurate my scale is either, but it keeps going down. I do know that I can wear clothes that I couldn't wear before and I've moved up two notches on my belt.

JAT74

I completely agree with what others have said. When I started on 5th January on MFP I was fed up with hating the way I looked and though some days I was motivated to exercise and think about what I was eating it just wasn't consistent enough. That in addition to not really having any idea how much I was eating meant that my weight continuously yo yo-ed.

Now I am so much more conscious of how much I'm putting in my body on a daily basis and weighing and measuring means I no longer eat that little bit more food than I really need. I also feel bad if I don't log my exercise on MFP on a daily basis so it's impossible for me to skip a day because of the guilt I'd feel if I did. Plus I've said my calorie goal to be very low so I know that the only way I can eat enough to stop me feeling hungry is by doing some exercise.

I've had my Fitbit One for just over a week and it's also been amazing. Before Fitbit I barely made it to 4000 steps most days. Now I strive to get over 10000 on top of any other form of exercise I'm doing so I am definitely moving more.

It's too early to tell if Fitbit is accurate enough to allow me to lose my target 1.5lbs a week, but with the added activity I am hoping I can manage it as before I was only losing 1lb per week.

JAT74

SingRunTing I agree to a certain extent. No activity monitor can be 100% accurate but it would frustrate me if my fitbit picked up on arm movement rather than actual steps.

I deliberately bought a Fitbit One rather than one of the wrist based monitors for that reason as I'd read a couple of articles saying exactly what the others you mentioned said.

In my case, I clip my Fitbit to my bra or a pocket and when I look to see how accurate it is, it only ever goes up if I take an actual step so I'm confident about the readings it gives.

SingRunTing

JAT74 wrote: »

SingRunTing I agree to a certain extent. No activity monitor can be 100% accurate but it would frustrate me if my fitbit picked up on arm movement rather than actual steps.

I deliberately bought a Fitbit One rather than one of the wrist based monitors for that reason as I'd read a couple of articles saying exactly what the others you mentioned said.

In my case, I clip my Fitbit to my bra or a pocket and when I look to see how accurate it is, it only ever goes up if I take an actual step so I'm confident about the readings it gives.

If I could choose all over again, I wouldn't have gotten the flex, but one of the clip ons. This is simply because I would rather not have to visibly wear it everyday, I would rather be able to hide it under my clothes.

But, I'm not about to drop more money on a different product when this one works just fine. If I ever have to replace it, I'll make a different choice.

That being said, I don't find that my flex measures arm movements for me. I only see it go up when I take actual steps.

JAT74

I usually wear a watch so I didn't want anything else anyway. I have a G shock for every day wear and 'going out' watch for evenings! I also didn't want to have to always have my Fitbit visible as there are some people I don't talk to about diet or fitness related things and if it's hidden it eliminates the need for a discussion about it.

If I were you I wouldn't replace it either, unless you try and sell it on to someone else and buy the One, which I believe does exactly the same as the Flex does.