Fitness trackers - yay or nay?

Buckeye19XX

Opinions on fitness trackers? Do you think some are better/more accurate than others? Has it been beneficial towards your weight loss?

jjpptt2

I like gadgets, so they can be a good way to keep me engaged mentally... but that's about all they are good for, at least for me.

Accuracy is usually a crap shoot, but I tend to think whatever degree of inaccuracy they will have, they will always have. So as long as you're using the same device, they can be a good way to see trends in activity.

Jancandoit7

I like gadgets too! Today I will receive a new pedometer (I like to walk)- hoping that seeing what I am (or am NOT) doing motivates me to do more. I also like the app "Happy Scale" which keeps track of weight trends and has little motivators built in- little things to keep me moving forward-not for everyone but I like these types of things

alondrakayy

jjpptt2 wrote: »

I like gadgets, so they can be a good way to keep me engaged mentally... but that's about all they are good for, at least for me.

Accuracy is usually a crap shoot, but I tend to think whatever degree of inaccuracy they will have, they will always have. So as long as you're using the same device, they can be a good way to see trends in activity.

Exactly what I was going to say.

heybales

It helped me on the daily activity calorie burn, the exercise was already estimated better with some personal stats and formulas for calorie burn.

That combined allowed causing a good deficit for training and weight loss - prior attempts was sometimes too fast, and 3-4 weeks was too late to make adjustment without having negative effects already. When training season is short, dinking around for proper deficit is not desired.

That said, I had to manually enter exercise, lifting and cardio, with better figures. Step-based device though, so daily life was good, and that's what I didn't have a handle on the variances for.

IATeacher

I just got a UA Band and because I want to keep track of my steps. I don't like using a step counter on my phone because I do not always carry it on me. This is at least one tiny step to fitness. These things are not the be all or end all for health, but they can sometimes make things a little better for others.

nw623

I don't like them personally. It's one more thing for me to remember. You have to do a lot of research to figure out which ones are accurate and then which one works best for you. Not my thing, but I know a lot of people who have found them to be a useful reminder of the choices they are making.

steelaxitute2127

I like using my Fitbit Blaze. While I don't think that everything is 100% accurate with it, it definitely motivates me to try and reach "green" on the various platforms for it. Plus, I like competing against others in challenges on the Fitbit app.

MarylandRose

I like my Alta (and Charge before it). On its own, like a scale, I don't know how accurate it is - but because I use the same Fitbit every day (and same scale every week) the trend is accurate.
I like the gamification (get more steps than yesterday/last week/my friends!) and I like the ease of calling up historical data.
So: it has been beneficial for my weightloss, because it encourages me to move more...get to the next thousand step increment, walk farther than last week, don't come in dead last in a challenge, etc. Even if the calorie burn is overstated, spending 30 minutes walking is pretty much always better than spending 30 minutes on the couch.

KarenSmith2018

Mine has enabled me greater control over what my calorie burn is and helped me loose, maintain and gain weight as i have wanted too. It has also helped me to achieve some running goals that previously i couldnt because i didnt have the information. I like being able to see how active i have been, what my sleep has been like and how much activity i have done over the day/week, as well as track calories in/out and other health and activity markers. I am a data geek though so.... I have a garmin vivoactive HR+

onematch

I love my Garmin! It motivates me to get more steps in. I don't use to monitor sleep.

gerla_k

I have a Fitbit charge 2 and love it. I use to count steps, workouts, running, but I don't use it for sleep. It's good to see how lazy I can become on the weekends and makes me get up and move.

lorrpb

Yes I've had Fitbit one for 3+ years and it keeps me moving. Steps and floors are all I need/use.

heybales

I meant to add regarding accuracy.

During a 1 month busy training block where I had very accurate food logging (little eating out) - calculated deficit was only 3% from actual weight loss.

So very accurate in my case - again, using my own workout values, but using device for daily burn with tweaked stride length for accuracy there.

It provides no motivation though, personal or challenges, wasn't the purpose for me.

LillysMomma09

I love my Fitbit charge HR. Having that heart rate monitor helps to get a more accurate calorie burn. I like that it syncs to MFP and mapmyrun. I won't go without a Fitbit again.

MeanderingMammal

Buckeye19XX wrote: »

Opinions on fitness trackers? Do you think some are better/more accurate than others? Has it been beneficial towards your weight loss?

They provide data, and that data has the potential to be useful. Utility depends very much on what you're going to use that data for. It's not a motivational tool for me.

That said, having used one without an embedded HR monitor, and now two with, the always-on HR leads to significantly over inflated calorie expenditures.

Personally mine have all been Garmin; VivoSmart, VivoSmartHR and now a Forerunner 735XT.

usafbeach

I just got the new Samsung Gear Fit Pro2. Overall I like it - it's small and looks good.

A few cons: It has been a bit flaky here or there, in particular it takes a bit of fidgeting right after I put it on to begin to track my heart rate, but once it acquires it I've been pleasantly surprised by its accuracy (measured against other HRM's like you find built into gym equipment or the tried-and-true counting your heart beats with a stopwtach). Having it set to continuously monitor heart rate throughout the day also means I need to plug it in for an hour or so each day to recharge, but it's a good tradeoff to see my heart rate activity throughout the day.

On the upside, It has some neat apps like myfitnesspal and mapmyrun integration, so my workouts automatically import to my fitness pal. And if nothing else, it's gotten me to get out and move!

cwolfman13

My Garmin bike computer is great for training and recording and maintaining training data...

SCoil123

I like my Fitbit. I have a simple flex 2. It helps me to see how my activity varies from day to day

GemstoneofHeart

I personally use my phone built in step counter to track steps and a polar chest HRM for running or other cardio exercises. I find this is balanced for me.
One thing to keep in mind if you do use your iPhone step counter is that it won't work if it doesn't feel your body move. I often walk with a stroller, so I can't just set it in the cupholder. I have to remember to put it in my pocket, but usually I'm tracking my walks via Endomondo anyway. This just becomes an issue if I'm at the mall or something and wish those steps got counted.

RedSassyPants

I use MyZone and I LOVE IT. My trainer can keep tabs on me and my workout. I also have been doing interval training and it is fantastic for that. I set goals daily, weekly and monthly. Love working towards them.
Not really sure how accurate the calorie count is on it, but that's not why I use it