Do you still use your fitbit?

FrugalMomsRock75

https://community.fitbit.com/t5/Charge/Fitbit-not-accurate-counting-steps-while-I-m-seating-or-asleep/td-p/895993


Lots and lots and lots of people report the same thing. It isn't just my cook and me.

wizzybeth

kgirlhart wrote: »

I have a One and I love it. It clips to my bra so I don't have to worry about getting extra "steps" when I am washing dishes, etc. or missing steps when walking my dogs (I hold them close to my side so not a lot of arm swinging) or pushing a buggy at the grocery store. Plus it is discrete and I don't like to wear bracelets. I lost a little faster than expected while using it and now that I am in maintenance I still lose a little so I think that it actually underestimates my calorie burns. I have seen people say it overestimates calorie burn, but that has not been my experience.

THIS. I could have written this. I love my Fitbit One! So much I want to marry it.

mrsvmcgee

I've never had a fitbit but I do have a Garmin fitness tracker. I've been using it every day to not only track fitness but I love having a watch again to wear on my wrist. I also like using it for notifications from my phone. The sleep monitoring has really helped me set a routine and of course I use it to track all of my physical activity. I'm looking forward to the spring when i can track my bike riding and hiking!

3rdof7sisters

I work in an office. I have heard others say they get steps from hand movement, but I have not noticed this with mine. This was a concern of mine after I got the Force, that is why I wore them simultaneously. I just did an experiment and checked the steps before and after typing on my keyboard. No difference. However, I clapped my hands a few times and it logged some steps, so it is possible he is getting steps for hand actions, but I would think it has to be unusually vigorous activity. I usually only check my steps after walking, hiking or step based activity, for a period of time. I have had a fitbit for 4 years and I have gotten +30K steps only a few times, and for me at least, that involved a lot of walking/hiking for the day. I average 15K -18K.

platyguin

At this point, I'm probably repeating what many have already said, but I'll share my thoughts anyway:
I've used a fitness wearable consistently for at least 4 years. I've switched between the Microsoft Band (which I loved! but broke mine whomp) and various Fitbit models. I'm currently using the Blaze and I like it quite a bit. I like that I can customize the band and face to be more appropriate for work or events. I like the workout tracker and I like being able to monitor my heart rate. I also love the sleep tracker and reminders to go the heck to bed. I also LOVE having a "silent" alarm. I'm less likely to wake my husband with the fitbit alarms and I wake up a little more gently.

As for accuracy, mine is pretty accurate. There are negligible differences at the end of the day. It motivates me to be more active, track my water intake, and allows me to compete with my friends to motivate them. I think people who are anticipating the fitbit to tell them all they need to know about their fitness levels are misusing the technology. I use mine as a motivational tool more than anything and it does just that. Whether or not you've actually taken exactly 10,000 steps isn't important. Ultimately it's important that you're doing your best every day to stay active.

tl;dr: I love my fitbit. Let's be fitbit friends

3rdof7sisters

FrugalMomsRock75 wrote: »

https://community.fitbit.com/t5/Charge/Fitbit-not-accurate-counting-steps-while-I-m-seating-or-asleep/td-p/895993


Lots and lots and lots of people report the same thing. It isn't just my cook and me.

I checked out your link. I only saw 12 postings and a lot were the moderator. One thing they did say is that you should have it on your non-dominant wrist, which I do.

BTW, I have not logged one step on my fit bit since my above posting @ 1:01, it is now 1:31.

This is a moot point for me anyway, as I love it for the motivation it gives me to move more, and for that I give it an A+++

amusedmonkey

I use currently use a Fitbit Alta and I love it. I have gone through a few models and loved them (Charge HR grossly over-estimated calories until I turned the heart rate feature off).

The recent articles about accuracy/effectiveness for weight loss did not phase me one bit. I know what I want from my tracker: I want to know how much I move, and I want to know how many calories I roughly burn. The number of steps as a successful indication of my activity and I have been able to tweak the calorie part to fit my actual results, so that too is accurate.

As for not being helpful, you don't throw a tracker at someone and expect them to lose weight. They would have to want to lose weight, be willing to do the work, and not overcompensate for their activity with food. That's what those studies did, they basically just threw a tracker and people and said "go". When you are tracking your intake with MFP you have the tools to see if you are overcompensating for activity with food.

It has been very helpful for me, personally, and I don't plan to stop using it, at least not in the foreseeable future.

KickassAmazon76

I have the Charge 2. I got it in October and I love it. I'm a stats junkie and it really does motivate me to get moving. I used to average around 5 - 6k steps a day (I'm guessing), and maybe 10 flights of stairs a day. Now that I have it - I find myself pushing to keep at least 8k steps (and am often over 10-13k), and I'm actually doing at least 40 flights of stairs a day. (note the stair counting can be inaccurate - but tends to be on the low side - it often misses counting a flight if you hold the handrail, or skip steps.)

I don't follow the calories too closely - I had to adjust somewhat and I believe it's actually crediting me less calories than I get from my HRM.

But like all things... I set a baseline and work off that. If I'm steadily gaining, I adjust my goal downwards. If I'm losing too much, I allow myself more.

I get totally stoked when I get the week's stats and I can see how many steps I've done, how many stairs, etc.

Francl27

It's been fairly accurate for me, although I think it actually underestimates my workouts by quite a bit... Mostly it's a huge motivation to move more (especially when most of your friends have one and you challenge each other).

wizzybeth

StarGazerPicTaker wrote: »

I have the Charge 2. I got it in October and I love it. I'm a stats junkie and it really does motivate me to get moving. I used to average around 5 - 6k steps a day (I'm guessing), and maybe 10 flights of stairs a day. Now that I have it - I find myself pushing to keep at least 8k steps (and am often over 10-13k), and I'm actually doing at least 40 flights of stairs a day. (note the stair counting can be inaccurate - but tends to be on the low side - it often misses counting a flight if you hold the handrail, or skip steps.)

I don't follow the calories too closely - I had to adjust somewhat and I believe it's actually crediting me less calories than I get from my HRM.

But like all things... I set a baseline and work off that. If I'm steadily gaining, I adjust my goal downwards. If I'm losing too much, I allow myself more.

I get totally stoked when I get the week's stats and I can see how many steps I've done, how many stairs, etc.

I just wanna say I love your profile pic

NorthCascades

I stopped using mine years ago. I had a Fitbit One, several of them actually. For a few years. Eventually I'd forget it was in my pocket and kill it in the wash. Or lose it. I enjoyed it up until then but enough was enough.

Now I have a Garmin multisport watch that includes Fitbit functionality. I don't pay much attention to the steps, but I use it skiing and cycling.