Fitbit. Worth it or not?

aleikita

My Fitbit blaze is my bff!

bebeisfit

I don't have one. But just started using a pedometer app Free. And some days it does motivate me to move more..

Try that first

lorrpb

The sleep tracking is completely bogus. It measures arm movements, not the sleep function of your brain. If you have sleep issues, you know it , and should be seen by a physician who specializes in that area.

I find the step tracking very motivational and helps me keep moving on a daily basis, because otherwise I am quite sedentary and it's easy to think I've been more active than I have been. Steps and floors are the main features I use on my FB One. I like seeing the trends on the dashboard too.

ew_david

I had (2) Fitbit Ones and a Charge HR. The Charge HR was wildly inaccurate and I sold it after a few months. I really liked the One, but I've found that Fitbits in general have a shelf life of about a year to 18 months and if I'm shelling out $100+ a pop, I feel it should last longer than that. My last One died and I didn't replace it. My body knows my activity whether I have a device on or not.

olive1968

I've done some pretty ridiculous things to get my steps in every day. I love my Fitbit and feel it has made a big difference in increasing my activity level.

MeanderingMammal

Grahamw68 wrote: »

Hesitant to splash the cash if its not going to benefit. Anybody got a review, good or bad?

You've got two questions really; is step tracking and all day calorie estimation useful to you, and if it is then is FitBit the brand to go for.

As to the first, it really depends on you. Personally I find the data interesting, but not fundamental. It's not telling me anything I don't know already. I have days I walk a lot, other days not much at all. It doesn't drive me to change behaviour tactically, but it gives more strategic insight.

As far as FitBit is concerned, again it depends on you. Ive never used one, I'm a Garmin user, but I've not been impressed by what I've read about Fitbit in terms of reliability or accuracy.

The_Ta

I used a Fitbit one for three years and loved it. I just bought a Charge 2 because I wanted to monitor my heart rate to improve my fitness. I think any tracker (Fitbit or other) is going to depend on what motivates you.

This is what I like about it:
1. I love when my screen lights up green because I hit all of my goals.

2. I compete with my friends with the challenges. I may not want to do anything that day, but I’ll do it so that I’m not in last place.

3. I love the “move your butt, lazy” feature on the Charge 2 because I’m prone to getting caught up in a book.

4. I will go out and walk more if I’m hungry but out of calories on MFP.

Please keep in mind that no tracker is perfect, so use them as a guideline. There are probably better ones out there if you are a hardcore runner, but I think Fitbit is great for those more prone to being lazy.

_em_soph_

I think garmins are mich better if you are specializing in a sport, but a Fitbit should do a good job tracking your daily activity if you aren't focusing on running, hiking, golf, etc. also, a off brand Garmin or Fitbit should work just as well for less money.

maybe1pe

I have the Charge HR 2 for about 9 months now. I still love it. It motivates me to stay more active throughout the day. I like the sleep tracking and other aspects of it too.

WilmaValley

I've been wondering about getting one so this discussion really helped!

Kadoober

fishgutzy wrote: »

For me. No. But i did shell out the bucks for a Fenix 5x. I need something that tracks swimming distance. I swim 4 miles every morning. None of the fitbits do this. The FB watches are too small and fragile.
I can read the Fenix without my glasses. And it has topo maps for hiking too. This feature is important for ambulance win a habit of leaving the marked trails. Not that i do that.
I couldn't care less about step tracking.
You are either going to move or not.
I've watched people pace back and forth in a hallway, taking tiny steps jyst to get their step count up. They clearly don't understand the concept of moving.

I have a Charge 2, I've only had it a week but I am enjoying it so far. It's kind of like I am having little competitions with myself, which is weirdly fun.

BUT - if I had known about the feature bolded above I would have mentioned the Fenix to my husband, rather than Fitbit. Heh... my husband wanted to get me a Satphone for when I go hiking due to my loathing of the beaten path. Seriously. I think once the Charge poops out, I'm going to need one of these. How cool!

inertiastrength

I adore my fitbit. I am definitely lazier with out it, hands down.

cwolfman13

I'll be an odd man out...personally, I've never seen the point. The data a fitbit or similar would give me isn't really going to tell me anything I don't already know. I know if I've had an active day or not...knowing the exact number of steps isn't of any real importance to me and in five years here, I've never counted steps.

I think the sleep tracking bit is a sham also...

PokeyBug

Kadoober wrote: »

BUT - if I had known about the feature bolded above I would have mentioned the Fenix to my husband, rather than Fitbit. Heh... my husband wanted to get me a Satphone for when I go hiking due to my loathing of the beaten path.

I, too, am fond of hiking and not keeping track of where I'm going. I installed the Endomondo app to track my trail. It records my route, so when I look up and realize I don't know where I am, which happens a lot, I look at the map of my route and head back toward my starting point (my car). It's free to install and use, which will get you duration, distance, speed, estimated calories burned, and your mapped route. You can upgrade to a premium version, but I have no idea what that includes.

Raven_Hawk

I have the Fitbit Charge 2 and I love it. For me it is a constant reminder that moving is a good thing. Love pawing over my reports to see what I have achieved.

ncfitbit

Perhaps if you're already active on a regular basis or primarily do exercise that is not step-based (swimming, cycling) you won't see the point of it. When I first started with MFP I was only sporadically active so I found it helped me form the habit of moving more. Here's why I love my fitbit:

1) It helps you see how everyday movement can add up and motivates you to do a little (or a lot) more instead of sitting around.
2) You can get as much or as little feedback as you want throughout the day. It's adjustable to your needs. How many products can you say that about?
3) You can set your own goals for incremental improvement and see on a daily basis when you are falling short of your goals. It doesn't really matter what other people are doing when you first start because you're just happy to be moving more, but after a while it's fun to compete with family and friends.
4) I set mine up to make negative adjustments to my daily goal on MFP so if I have a day where I sit around too much I will see my calories disappearing before my eyes. That is very motivating to me!
5) I'm not good at telling myself I'm doing a good job on a daily basis. My fitbit is. That little celebration buzz you get when you reach your goal is pretty fabulous.

I currently have an Alta, but I've had a zip, a One and a flex. I was sorry to lose the altimeter function (counts flights of stairs) with the Alta, but I do like the smaller profile on my wrist. I would probably get the Charge 2 if I had larger wrists. My husband loves his.

litoria

I have a charge 2 and for me it has been illuminating - prior to getting it, I thought I was eating enough (according to MFP), but would binge eat every now and then. Turns out I wasn't eating nearly enough...since having the fitbit, I've been using the calorie estimate as a guide, eating more and not binging, but losing weight sustainably. It's been a real game changer for me