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How reliant have you become on fitness tech?

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  • JBanx256
    JBanx256 Posts: 1,473 Member
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    @Phirrgus I'm not a huge tech-y person when it comes to fitness (other than using my phone to log food etc of course) and I don't have a FitBit or Garmin or anything (eventually I may take the plunge, but for now...nah, just not a priority).

    THAT SAID, I do have a little step-counter deal on my watch and find it useful. Not so much because "oh no, I'm not getting in my steps! I won't be able to achieve my goalz!" but I know there's a benefit to making sure I'm simply moving around enough when I'm in a caloric deficit. I believe it was Miguel Blacutt who was talking about how when he was prepping for a show and was deep in a cut, his weight loss had stalled a bit, and he was standing waiting for an elevator when someone remarked, "dude you're not taking the stairs?!? But you work out like 3 hours a day!" and it dawned on him that he was subconsciously expending less energy on simple stuff you don't even think about - taking the stairs, fidgeting, nodding your head to the music, drumming your fingers on the steering wheel, walk out the door to go to work and realize you left your charging cable in the house nah my battery is OK I'm not gonna go back in and get it...that type of thing. So if weight loss is stalling out during a cut and you check compared to your step counter and see there's a distinct drop-off, that's a pretty good sign your NEAT is dropping too, which would (to some degree) account for the stall.

    There was a really interesting study awhile back where the researchers OVERFED people by some huge margin and some people actually LOST weight because they simply (unintentionally) moved more. Their bodies went, "oh heeeey let's do stuff!" without them even thinking about it.
  • Steff46
    Steff46 Posts: 516 Member
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    I love my tech toys too! I never thought much about them until I saw your post and I think I'm obsessed with them...lol. For running/walking/swimming I wear my heart rate strap along with my Garmin 920XT. I love the run/walk set up where it beeps to let me know when to run or walk. For biking I use my Garmin 510 that I have paired with my Garmin Varia Radar. I'm also into the Training Peaks app, along with the Garmin Connect App and sometimes use Strava. My biggest issue with my workout tech gadgets is the question, is everything charged?... :D
  • Phirrgus
    Phirrgus Posts: 1,894 Member
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    Steff46 wrote: »
    I love my tech toys too! I never thought much about them until I saw your post and I think I'm obsessed with them...lol. For running/walking/swimming I wear my heart rate strap along with my Garmin 920XT. I love the run/walk set up where it beeps to let me know when to run or walk. For biking I use my Garmin 510 that I have paired with my Garmin Varia Radar. I'm also into the Training Peaks app, along with the Garmin Connect App and sometimes use Strava. My biggest issue with my workout tech gadgets is the question, is everything charged?... :D

    The bold, I love it LOL. I usually tell my watch to shut up, but it's nice to see someone using those features :D
  • Steff46
    Steff46 Posts: 516 Member
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    The bold, I love it LOL. I usually tell my watch to shut up, but it's nice to see someone using those features :D [/quote]

    I have it set for the 4 minute run and 1 minute walk. Sometimes it turns into a 5 minute walk :D
  • Tacklewasher
    Tacklewasher Posts: 7,122 Member
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    Steff46 wrote: »

    I have it set for the 4 minute run and 1 minute walk. Sometimes it turns into a 5 minute walk :D

    I found out you can set it for a lot more than the simple run/walk program with a downloadable .fit file.

    http://8020endurance.com/8020-workout-library/

  • gradchica27
    gradchica27 Posts: 777 Member
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    I had Fitbit HR, then Garmin Vivoactive. They all died and I got tired of throwing $ at something that would barely outlast its warranty and die (4 did that!!). So I went back to just logging exercise on MFP and only eating back cardio and not counting lifting as activity (usual workout is 3/4 lifting, 1/4 cardio) and lo and behold I dropped those last few pounds. Both devices gave me too much credit for lifting and general activity.

    My husband asked if I wanted an Apple Watch for Christmas and I wasn’t interested. I’m going to the gym 5-6x a week regardless, and motivation is seeing weights go up, so not really helpful on the watch.

    That being said, I’m considering a WHOOP, mostly to reign my injury prone self in and recover better.
  • JBanx256
    JBanx256 Posts: 1,473 Member
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    Phirrgus wrote: »
    @JBanx256 I always appreciate your input and you nailed it for me regarding NEAT. That's something I've been super conscious of for a few weeks now, and the payoff is there. Thanks 😊

    When I had my deload and had isocaloric intake, guess what happened to my step count? Even without thinking about it...BOOM...significantly higher (not high enough to totally negate the difference in calories, but still) than it was when I was in the thick of my mesocycle and in a deficit.
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 32,189 Member
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    Just to amplify on earlier comment: I've found the chest belt (Ant+) absolutely essential for rowing, on-water or machine. There's just too much arm flexing and overall movement for the Vivoactive 3 to maintain any reasonable wrist connection. (I'm sure the same would be true for most wrist-based HRM.)

    Also, the all-day calorie burn estimation, for me, is a lying liar that lies*. Since it lies by about the same amount as MFP and other NEAT/TDEE "calculators", I'm speculating that it would be reasonable to assume that if the "calculator" estimates work for a person, the devices might be likely to work, too; but if you're out in the weeds compared to those other estimates, the device might be equally off (depending on why the difference exists, of course: If a person underestimates steps or something, but the device picks it up, it could be better).

    Since I use my fitness tracker primarily for, well, fitness tracking, this discrepancy doesn't make me dislike the device. It gives me what I want, and expect. The occasional laugh (all-day calories, sleep tracking) is fun, too. (One day when I was bailing out a rowing barge, Connect IQ thought I was swimming. LOL!)


    * Yeah, I know poor estimation isn't actually a lie. Give a li'l ol' lady some room for hyperbole, OK? ;)
  • colorfulcoquette
    colorfulcoquette Posts: 94 Member
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    Phirrgus wrote: »
    @JBanx256 I always appreciate your input and you nailed it for me regarding NEAT. That's something I've been super conscious of for a few weeks now, and the payoff is there. Thanks 😊

    This is actually one of the reasons why I got a Fitbit - I was unintentionally slowly losing weight and couldn't figure out why as my routine and eating habits hadn't seemed to change and then I realized I'd become more active overall and had increased my NEAT and hadn't accounted for it. Then the move reminders got me even more active and I dropped a little lower :o So now I get to eat more :D
  • Phirrgus
    Phirrgus Posts: 1,894 Member
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    AnnPT77 wrote: »
    Just to amplify on earlier comment: I've found the chest belt (Ant+) absolutely essential for rowing, on-water or machine. There's just too much arm flexing and overall movement for the Vivoactive 3 to maintain any reasonable wrist connection. (I'm sure the same would be true for most wrist-based HRM.)

    Also, the all-day calorie burn estimation, for me, is a lying liar that lies*. Since it lies by about the same amount as MFP and other NEAT/TDEE "calculators", I'm speculating that it would be reasonable to assume that if the "calculator" estimates work for a person, the devices might be likely to work, too; but if you're out in the weeds compared to those other estimates, the device might be equally off (depending on why the difference exists, of course: If a person underestimates steps or something, but the device picks it up, it could be better).

    Since I use my fitness tracker primarily for, well, fitness tracking, this discrepancy doesn't make me dislike the device. It gives me what I want, and expect. The occasional laugh (all-day calories, sleep tracking) is fun, too. (One day when I was bailing out a rowing barge, Connect IQ thought I was swimming. LOL!)


    * Yeah, I know poor estimation isn't actually a lie. Give a li'l ol' lady some room for hyperbole, OK? ;)

    @AnnPT77 "ol" lady? I sincerely doubt that 🙂

    I've been through 1 apple watch and 2 Fitbit's so far, and while the Fitbit is worse by a bit, all have troubles with wrist motion.

    I've been digging into the app for stats and trends the past few days though, and there's a wealth of info I can use.

    Good stuff for this "ol" man 😉
  • Phirrgus
    Phirrgus Posts: 1,894 Member
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    colorfulcoquette wrote: »
    Phirrgus wrote: »
    @JBanx256 I always appreciate your input and you nailed it for me regarding NEAT. That's something I've been super conscious of for a few weeks now, and the payoff is there. Thanks 😊

    This is actually one of the reasons why I got a Fitbit - I was unintentionally slowly losing weight and couldn't figure out why as my routine and eating habits hadn't seemed to change and then I realized I'd become more active overall and had increased my NEAT and hadn't accounted for it. Then the move reminders got me even more active and I dropped a little lower :o So now I get to eat more :D

    Mine was the opposite, stuck hard lol. Between the weekly weigh ins, libra and the trends I'm seeing though, I'm actually losing, just really really slowly 😁
  • Phirrgus
    Phirrgus Posts: 1,894 Member
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    JBanx256 wrote: »
    Phirrgus wrote: »
    @JBanx256 I always appreciate your input and you nailed it for me regarding NEAT. That's something I've been super conscious of for a few weeks now, and the payoff is there. Thanks 😊

    When I had my deload and had isocaloric intake, guess what happened to my step count? Even without thinking about it...BOOM...significantly higher (not high enough to totally negate the difference in calories, but still) than it was when I was in the thick of my mesocycle and in a deficit.

    I've never tried tying NEAT to specific days over a given period, but the spikes are there, and being so close to goals this gives me something else to dig into. Thanks J 🤜🤛
  • cmsavells
    cmsavells Posts: 257 Member
    edited March 2019
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    I use the food diary here to help me count carbs. I do use the step counter on my phone if I'm walking outside. I know it's not incredibly accurate, but at least it's something. I never wear my headphones outside. When I walk on the treadmill at the gym I admit I try to find a TV show to watch. As a single mom to a teenager and caregiver to a family member it's the only uninterrupted time I get just for me!
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 32,189 Member
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    Phirrgus wrote: »
    AnnPT77 wrote: »
    Just to amplify on earlier comment: I've found the chest belt (Ant+) absolutely essential for rowing, on-water or machine. There's just too much arm flexing and overall movement for the Vivoactive 3 to maintain any reasonable wrist connection. (I'm sure the same would be true for most wrist-based HRM.)

    Also, the all-day calorie burn estimation, for me, is a lying liar that lies*. Since it lies by about the same amount as MFP and other NEAT/TDEE "calculators", I'm speculating that it would be reasonable to assume that if the "calculator" estimates work for a person, the devices might be likely to work, too; but if you're out in the weeds compared to those other estimates, the device might be equally off (depending on why the difference exists, of course: If a person underestimates steps or something, but the device picks it up, it could be better).

    Since I use my fitness tracker primarily for, well, fitness tracking, this discrepancy doesn't make me dislike the device. It gives me what I want, and expect. The occasional laugh (all-day calories, sleep tracking) is fun, too. (One day when I was bailing out a rowing barge, Connect IQ thought I was swimming. LOL!)


    * Yeah, I know poor estimation isn't actually a lie. Give a li'l ol' lady some room for hyperbole, OK? ;)

    @AnnPT77 "ol" lady? I sincerely doubt that 🙂

    I've been through 1 apple watch and 2 Fitbit's so far, and while the Fitbit is worse by a bit, all have troubles with wrist motion.

    I've been digging into the app for stats and trends the past few days though, and there's a wealth of info I can use.

    Good stuff for this "ol" man 😉

    Thanks for the implication . . . but I'm proud of it: Present in my advancing years, grateful as all get-out, and enjoying every *baby-feline* minute. ;)

    In Ann-world, "old" is a compliment, not an insult. ;) Rock the "ol'" - reclaim it for Good Stuff!
  • Phirrgus
    Phirrgus Posts: 1,894 Member
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    AnnPT77 wrote: »
    Phirrgus wrote: »
    AnnPT77 wrote: »
    Just to amplify on earlier comment: I've found the chest belt (Ant+) absolutely essential for rowing, on-water or machine. There's just too much arm flexing and overall movement for the Vivoactive 3 to maintain any reasonable wrist connection. (I'm sure the same would be true for most wrist-based HRM.)

    Also, the all-day calorie burn estimation, for me, is a lying liar that lies*. Since it lies by about the same amount as MFP and other NEAT/TDEE "calculators", I'm speculating that it would be reasonable to assume that if the "calculator" estimates work for a person, the devices might be likely to work, too; but if you're out in the weeds compared to those other estimates, the device might be equally off (depending on why the difference exists, of course: If a person underestimates steps or something, but the device picks it up, it could be better).

    Since I use my fitness tracker primarily for, well, fitness tracking, this discrepancy doesn't make me dislike the device. It gives me what I want, and expect. The occasional laugh (all-day calories, sleep tracking) is fun, too. (One day when I was bailing out a rowing barge, Connect IQ thought I was swimming. LOL!)


    * Yeah, I know poor estimation isn't actually a lie. Give a li'l ol' lady some room for hyperbole, OK? ;)

    @AnnPT77 "ol" lady? I sincerely doubt that 🙂

    I've been through 1 apple watch and 2 Fitbit's so far, and while the Fitbit is worse by a bit, all have troubles with wrist motion.

    I've been digging into the app for stats and trends the past few days though, and there's a wealth of info I can use.

    Good stuff for this "ol" man 😉

    Thanks for the implication . . . but I'm proud of it: Present in my advancing years, grateful as all get-out, and enjoying every *baby-feline* minute. ;)

    In Ann-world, "old" is a compliment, not an insult. ;) Rock the "ol'" - reclaim it for Good Stuff!

    Love it 🙂
  • CSARdiver
    CSARdiver Posts: 6,252 Member
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    I'll cite my n=1 experience over the past few weeks. I have been leading multiple pharmocovigilance audits at my firm - all of which hit at once. This resulted in me having to clear my schedule, all my workout times, work longer hours, and eat convenience foods. I haven't been keeping track of my caloric intake, but I do note that my step count is 1/2 of what my normal routine has become.

    The impact of this? Up 8 lbs (which I know is mostly water weight), sluggish, weak, tired... Having a tracker helps me focus on the missed metrics of diet and activity and that all is required is to get back on track and return to my routine.

    ...and by the way successful completion of 3 of 4 audits with no observations - no action indicated (which is the best one can hope for). Last audit begins Monday and we expect the same result.

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