Wearable Activity Trackers....

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  • debubbie
    debubbie Posts: 767 Member
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    CSARdiver wrote: »
    Depends on your activity. I have a Fitbit Flex more of a tracker to motivate me at work to ensure I'm taking breaks and getting up every hour or so. I use a Polar H7 and the associated smartphone app for run/bike/swim and cardio tracking. Some great information and interesting to track how your body becomes more efficient over time, burning fewer calories with the same effort. The Polar website is great if you're a data geek and get excited seeing your activity graphed. Also has a nice algorithm for resting days.

    I have a Polar Loop bracelet that I love and the Polar HR7 that I use with the smartphone app. Their website is great and you can get all kinds of information about your workouts. I love Polar products!
  • bbontheb
    bbontheb Posts: 718 Member
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    editorgrrl wrote: »
    bbontheb wrote: »
    Following because I would like someone to have a better approximate calorie burn for cardio, walking/hiking, maybe cycling :)

    Activity trackers track step-based activity. Non-step exercise (like swimming or biking) must be logged either in the tracker or in MFP—never both.

    Exercise logged in MFP overwrites your tracker burn during that time.

    Thank you. I'm a bit confused. So you log it but only in one place? And overwrites because I assume it syncs and uploads your exercise ? Sorry, dumb questions.

  • editorgrrl
    editorgrrl Posts: 7,060 Member
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    Exercise syncs both ways, so log it in one or the other—never both. Whatever you log in MFP overwrites your Fitbit burn during that time. For example, if you log a workout from noon to 1 p.m. in MFP as one calorie, Fitbit now thinks you only burned one calorie during that hour.

    It'll take trial & error to find if you prefer logging in Fitbit (that's what I do) or in MFP. I lost the weight & have maintained for ten months, so I say trust your Fitbit.
  • DesertGunR
    DesertGunR Posts: 187 Member
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    Stay away from FitBit. I have nothing good to say about them. Their Surge is an utter failure on their part and I wish I had never gotten one. Waiting on my 4th replacement to arrive. Tracking on all areas is between 40%-70% off. Battery life has never exceeded 3 days before it sends a low battery notification and stops syncing altogether. Once I can afford to replace it I am currently researching the Microsoft Band to see if it will work for me.
  • earlnabby
    earlnabby Posts: 8,171 Member
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    bbontheb wrote: »
    editorgrrl wrote: »
    bbontheb wrote: »
    Following because I would like someone to have a better approximate calorie burn for cardio, walking/hiking, maybe cycling :)

    Activity trackers track step-based activity. Non-step exercise (like swimming or biking) must be logged either in the tracker or in MFP—never both.

    Exercise logged in MFP overwrites your tracker burn during that time.

    Thank you. I'm a bit confused. So you log it but only in one place? And overwrites because I assume it syncs and uploads your exercise ? Sorry, dumb questions.

    If your tracker is synced with MFP, you only log one place because they share data. I log everything into MFP (both food and exercise) and Fitbit uses the info for their calculations. I do not log any step based exercises. My Fitbit calculates the calorie burn from that and sends it to MFP.

    Regarding the calorie burn and the TDEE: I have a flex so no HRM on mine. I tested my Fitbit's info by doing my own TDEE calculation using my real data. I added up all the calories I ate for the month of April, multiplied the weight I lost by 3500 per pound and added it in, then divided the result by the 30 days. I then checked my average TDEE from Fitbit. The two numbers were within 100 calories of each other so I am confident that Fitbit is reasonably accurate. I do believe that the longer you wear it, the more accurate it becomes because it has a lot of back data to work with.

  • Winterlover123
    Winterlover123 Posts: 352 Member
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    DO NOT get the Sony SmartBand.
    It does not sync with MFP and the app it uses is ridiculous
  • bbontheb
    bbontheb Posts: 718 Member
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    What about the polar A300 or even the FT4 or other older ones...do they sync with MFP?

    Really appreciate the help and advise-even though I jumped on this thread to ask questions too :)
  • Ljpage95
    Ljpage95 Posts: 9 Member
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    ejbronte wrote: »
    I like my Withings tracker, and I also have a pedometer on my Samsung Gear watch. Both nice.

    I just bought the Activite Pop and it isn't tracking my steps accurately at all. I've been walking around all day and its still showing me at less than 1,000 steps. I'm about to return it but am giving customer service a few more days to answer my email. Have you had any problems?
  • happysquidmuffin
    happysquidmuffin Posts: 651 Member
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    I have a Jawbone UP and I really like it. The app is great, and the sleep tracking seems to be very accurate. The app itself is intuitive and can actually be motivating. Sometimes I feel like it's not tracking every step, but it's better to err on the conservative side than to overestimate steps, knowuddahmean? Plus the battery life is good - up to a full 7 days. It's easy to slip on and off the wrist when needed. You can program different alarms into it too. My only problem is I don't know anyone else who has one, and only after inviting like 20 random names to join my team, I finally found one person who is active and joined my team, lol
  • editorgrrl
    editorgrrl Posts: 7,060 Member
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    happysquidmuffin wrote: »
    I have a Jawbone UP and I really like it.

    My only problem is I don't know anyone else who has one, and only after inviting like 20 random names to join my team, I finally found one person who is active and joined my team, lol

    You can find UP teammates in the Jawbone UP Bracelet group: http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/group/13420-jawbone-up-bracelet

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