Any advice on wearables and trackers

bethpaige86

Have been looking into getting the Fitbit alta. I like the way it looks (small and less noticeable instead of clunky like a smart watch), the fitbit app links to the my fitness pal and Google fit apps I use, and you only have to charge it every 5 days. However it does not work with biking, which is my main form of exercise.

Does anyone here use the alta or other fitbit tracker. Anyone use a different type of tracker? I would like some advice before dropping over a hundred dollars on one of these.

Shanairah1991

I used the Fitbit Charge HR. It would track your biking. I hear people say all the time how it isn't accurate but paired with counting calories here I lost 70lbs and I used the Fitbits calorie burn. I loved it! (Gave it to a family member last spring.)

katsushii

I recently purchased the Fitbit Alta — waiting for it to arrive in the mail. I will post updates. I am skeptical of its accuracy, but am very curious to see the numbers it will record, and compare the results to those of my treadmill (I already compare/contrast my own treadmill's stats with MyFitnessPal's database stats). What made me want the Alta also is like you said — stylish! And I'm looking forward to hooking it up with MyFitnessPal.

One of my coworkers wears a Fitbit, as does her husband (his is the Charge 2), and they love ’em. She mentioned that theirs measure distance/elevation, so for example it can tell when they are driving up a hill.

I did a tiny bit of research and found that the Fitbit Surge has a bike tracking feature: https://blog.fitbit.com/bike-tracking-now-available-on-fitbit-surge/

And here's something in their FAQ about Fitbit and bicycle usage: https://help.fitbit.com/articles/en_US/Help_article/1136#bike

Hope it helps. Good luck.

avskk

I use a Fitbit Zip (and have for years) and I love it. If I'm doing activity that isn't step-based I just enter it manually in the Fitbit app (NOT in MFP, which I find wildly overestimates my burns).

mph323

I use a fitbit Charge HR. I agree there's no way to reliably tell how accurate it is for calories burned, but mine seems to be fairly consistent so I can use it as a relative measure effort. If it tells me I burned more calories one day and fewer the next I'm pretty confident that adjusting my calorie intake based on those numbers will yield consistent results.

Christine_72

I have the fitbit Alta and it does track biking, but I'm not a cyclist so haven't tested it out.
How a step tracker with no HR monitor tracks cycling i don't know, but apparently it does.

Verity1111

Following this. I want a FitBit Charge 2 as of now. Amazon sells waterproofed ones.

markrennie786

Use a MYZONE heart rate monitor with phone app, love it. Have had terrible luck with fit its but maybe just my bad luck. I like heart rate as measurement of activity as opposed to steps

kimny72

I have had a Fitbit Flex for @ 2 years, and I'm asking for an Alta for Christmas. I have no idea how accurate it is, though my numbers always seem to work out so I suppose it is.

Having it on my wrist every day, and tracking my progress with the app has completely changed how I go through the day. Seeing it there gets me up and moving, and staying active is always at the front of my mind because of it. When I first got it, it told me I was only taking @ 3000 steps. I have been steadily increasing my goal and can now hit 8000 steps most days. While I don't know if those #s are accurate or not, they for sure show a big improvement, and for that I think they were totally worth it They are also a great conversation starter, and the challenges are fun!

cbrosh

I absolutely love my firdt generation Apple watch for a tracker, to be honest. It's more expensive than a Fit bit, but I use it for different things and the fitness tracking was a bonus. There is some hate on the internet about how it can't be as good because it's not a dedicated device, but I'm not sure what else it needs. Use GPS + Accelerometer + Heart rate monitor to get a super accurate reading. When you log an outdoor run, it learns your stride by comparing paces, distance, and elevation. Now when I log a 3 mile run on the treadmill, with just the accelerometer to go off of, it's with in .05 miles of the treadmill's reading.

TBH I don't think it matters what you go with, though. Whether it's a $300 Garmin running watch or a $5 step counter that came in a McDonald's happy meal, the point is to just keep getting higher #'s than you did yesterday!

Booksandoceans

I love my Apple Watch.

Christine_72

A thread just popped up over on the fitbit Alta forum re: cycling and the consensus was that it does not pick up indoor/stationary bike (unless you have one hand on your leg the whole time), but it does auto track outdoor cycling :huh: I'm tempted to haul my old dusty bike out of the shed and give it a try.

bgoddess2003

Shanairah1991 wrote: »

I used the Fitbit Charge HR. It would track your biking. I hear people say all the time how it isn't accurate but paired with counting calories here I lost 70lbs and I used the Fitbits calorie burn. I loved it! (Gave it to a family member last spring.)

I have to agree it's so easy, I love it. I only had it a short time but I use the food intake in it as well I think I I like it get them MFP both food and exercise.. I actually am doing the work outs. Good luck.

SusanMFindlay

mph323 wrote: »

I use a fitbit Charge HR. I agree there's no way to reliably tell how accurate it is for calories burned, .

Sure, there is. Track calories consumed. Track what your FitBit says your burn is. Calculate the resulting deficit. Compare to actual weight loss. My Charge 2 is spot on.

I wouldn't be at all surprised if a lot of the the "my FitBit burn is too high" complaints came from people who were actually underestimating their calorie intake. It's easier to blame the equipment than to remember the bites (or drinks) you forgot to log.

aussieketogal

I have the Fitbit charge HR and it's great for tracking steps, general heart rate, elevation, sleep etc but I don't use it for high intensity workouts because it just can't keep up with the heart rate changes.

So I put on my polar watch and chest strap for workouts and manually enter the details into MFP, then it sincs over to the Fitbit app.

I really love the Fitbit app and all the motivating badges you earn as well as the challenges you can join with friends.

festerw

It's a little more expensive but a Garmin Vivosmart HR+ adds GPS to track outside activities.

cbelc2

I like my Garmin Vivifit 3. It's waterproof, has cute interchangeable bands, a battery that lasts a year, and it can distinguish different exercises.

flagrantavidity

Christine_72 wrote: »

A thread just popped up over on the fitbit Alta forum re: cycling and the consensus was that it does not pick up indoor/stationary bike (unless you have one hand on your leg the whole time), but it does auto track outdoor cycling :huh: I'm tempted to haul my old dusty bike out of the shed and give it a try.

You manually log stationary bike or wear it on your ankle to increase your step count

successgal1

I too use the Charge HR. I think the calories burned it gives me on MyFitnessPal is ridiculously high, so I kind of ignore them unless I used the feature where I tell it I'm actually doing a workout. It's probably because MFP is set to sedentary, (little to no activity) which is pretty correct since I'm sitting at a desk alot, but I don't think I should get 100 calories burnt just for taking a quick dog walk of 200 yards. It also flips out when currying and brushing a horse because of all the arm movement, so I largely ignore the activity calories unless I know I really DID something.

On the other hand, with MFP set for a wishful 2lbs a week (that gives me 1200 calories and really 1.5 a week), the fitbit gives me a more realistic 1000 calories or so for my 2lb a week loss goal. (Note I haven't ever hit that and have been losing more of the 1.5 to 1.8, or less this past week). I eat between 1000 and 1200 calories a day and maybe a tiny more if I did a significant amount of walking/activity or ran up and down the stairs multiple times at the office).

I found the Charge HR extremely accurate for biking. Extremely. It can detect the motion on its own and correctly interpret it as biking, or you can just put it in workout mode when you begin. And the heart rate monitoring showed me that I need to slow down sometimes, I can overdo it for my fitness level with enthusiasm sometimes (or when biking against the wind), for an hour and 10 miles it would give me about 380 calories (mostly flat sidewalk terrain on a one speed bike). The same with strength training, I would set it to workout mode and it would give me 60-80 calories for that workout.

Tacklewasher

festerw wrote: »

It's a little more expensive but a Garmin Vivosmart HR+ adds GPS to track outside activities.

Has software issues that, in my mind, make it no better than a step tracker. I've ditched mine for a Vivoactive HR. Yeah, it's more money but it does what it says it should.

rainbowbow

I like my Garmin Forerunner 230 (235 has optical heart rate but i didn't need that).

I like it because of it's functionalities and most importantly; it's aesthetics.

jacobsailors

I would have to say Garmin if your looking to track any kind of activity like cycling. I have the Garmin Fenix 3 and love it. I have beat the living shi** out of it and haven't had one problem. Garmin has two ANT+ senors made for cycling ( they are attached to your bike, but if you only use indoor bike then you can only attach one sensor) The Fenix is a large watch so if your looking for something slender and stylish then probably wont make your list but they do have other fitness trackers that meet the stylish check box. I have used a couple of different fitness trackers and researched Garmin alot before purchasing and can say I am totally happy with money spent.

petstorekitty

hello. I got a fitbit flex to track an average calories burned each day. It helped me learn my TDEE and in turn I am not able to eat the appropriate amount of calories using the TDEE method. It doesn't do much else. I have a HRM for if I want to track calories burned during an exercise. That also is very helpful b/c I know when my heart rate is too low or too high during training. hope this helps too

missmagnoliablossom

I just got a new Polar A300 this week. I'm a long-time Polar user and love, love, love the accuracy of the chest strap. My new watch is lightweight, re-chargeable, cute, gets text, email and phone notifications, has sleep tracking, a TON of workout profiles, a "get off your *kitten*" alarm, pedometer... etc. Love it so far!

I've previously worn a Misfit Shine and a Fitbit pedometer, but wasn't too crazy about either.

rainbowbow

jacobsailors wrote: »

I would have to say Garmin if your looking to track any kind of activity like cycling. I have the Garmin Fenix 3 and love it. I have beat the living shi** out of it and haven't had one problem. Garmin has two ANT+ senors made for cycling ( they are attached to your bike, but if you only use indoor bike then you can only attach one sensor) The Fenix is a large watch so if your looking for something slender and stylish then probably wont make your list but they do have other fitness trackers that meet the stylish check box. I have used a couple of different fitness trackers and researched Garmin alot before purchasing and can say I am totally happy with money spent.

my boyfriend has the fenix 3 and loves it. I have to say i love my garmin watch and think the size looks a little more reasonable on a small feminine wrist. The fenix 3 is just a TAD too big for me.