Fit Bit?

Okay, I'm thinking about investing in a Fitbit. What's your experience? And do you like the wristband type or the clip on? I've gotta get moving more!
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Replies

  • teecee60
    teecee60 Posts: 47 Member
    I would like to know as well. I wish these things measured heart rate as well as could be used underwater to records calories expended swimming. I am looking for an all-in-one solution. LOL
  • txteadrinker
    txteadrinker Posts: 40 Member
    I would like to know as well. I wish these things measured heart rate as well as could be used underwater to records calories expended swimming. I am looking for an all-in-one solution. LOL
    Tammi, you don't want to hold your arm out of the water while you swim? LOLOLOL
  • lovesretirement
    lovesretirement Posts: 2,661 Member
    I have a clip on and used it faithfully but have to agree with the above poster; I could not use it in the pool for Aquafit; it stopped running after 4 months..I think it may need a battery. I am not a big enough fan to replace it.
  • kathyt08069
    kathyt08069 Posts: 39 Member
    I just bought a fitbit one and synced to my account this evening. I am not quite sure how it works but I am willing to give it a try. I am hoping it will help me to correctly record my daily activity. I will let you all know in a few days if it is something I would recommend and purchase again.
  • sjsmith9
    sjsmith9 Posts: 35 Member
    I have a body media arm band. I've used it for more than a year. Originally I purchased through Jenny Craig and receive a year free on the website, I now have self contract with their website so I can sync with MFP and found discount on the web. I get very good support with the body media. I can communicate through email or phone with agents who run the site. I like it because not only do I get my step count it also lets me know my activity level, moderate or strenuous which let's me know if I'm getting the strength training needed. Also if I would sleep with it, (I don't always) it would let me know if I'm getting the right amount of rest.
  • casmithis
    casmithis Posts: 216 Member
    My husband has just gone to the States for the weekend and I asked him to look for the new Force in stores. Not sure if it's out yet. I've been thinking of getting a Fitbit and there's a guy at my work that just got the Flex and loves it. He actually started a group for Fitbit users to try to get more people here to use it. Looking forward to getting mine (if it comes back with him).
  • ruthlesswr
    ruthlesswr Posts: 114 Member
    I would like to know as well. I wish these things measured heart rate as well as could be used underwater to records calories expended swimming. I am looking for an all-in-one solution. LOL

    I've been looking for that too! I'm sure there are others out there, but at the moment I'm thinking the Polar FT4 might be the solution. It counts calories burned and comes with a strap that can transmit in the water.
  • txteadrinker
    txteadrinker Posts: 40 Member
    I bit the bullet and bought a fitbit yesterday. I am quite a geek and think it's going to be great fun--okay, that's a stretch, maybe I should have said a great help!
  • Joanne_happygramma
    Joanne_happygramma Posts: 207 Member
    I have been wearing my Fitbit One for about 5 weeks now and I love it. As someone put it best it compels me to do more. I never realized how competitive I am with myself. When I look down and see I have only walked 4000 steps I find a way to do more, go further, try and grow the silly little flower on the One. It's not perfect, I won't wear it when I am kayaking so I just manually add the time on MFP. It doesn't measure heart rate - I would like that also but it does a fair count of calorie burn when I am working out or running after my grandson. As I mentioned earlier it has a silly little flower that grows as you work harder. Sitting here at work not doing much I only have two leaves -- but I can get it up to six or seven after a good workout. Again it's just me competing with this little electronic device. Fun fact - I am actually sleeping better since I have been using it to track my sleep. Not sure why but I must be trying to make my sleep better and so far I am averaging a 92% efficient sleep. I am a total numbers geek so I love my charts and graphs on the website.

    Cheers
    Joanne
  • Joanne_happygramma
    Joanne_happygramma Posts: 207 Member
    I bit the bullet and bought a fitbit yesterday. I am quite a geek and think it's going to be great fun--okay, that's a stretch, maybe I should have said a great help!

    Oh it totally thrills our inner geek -- as you can see in my post!!!! :glasses:
  • casmithis
    casmithis Posts: 216 Member
    I would like to know as well. I wish these things measured heart rate as well as could be used underwater to records calories expended swimming. I am looking for an all-in-one solution. LOL

    I've been looking for that too! I'm sure there are others out there, but at the moment I'm thinking the Polar FT4 might be the solution. It counts calories burned and comes with a strap that can transmit in the water.

    I know, I was shocked to find out you could buy one or the other but not the 2 together.

    I think us ladies need to get together and invent this. A heart rate monitor that keeps track of calories burned and calories ingested. Anyone know an inventor?
  • Joanne_happygramma
    Joanne_happygramma Posts: 207 Member
    I used to work in a school that taught electronics and they were always looking for student projects. For whatever reason
    they didn't want to do this for me for free. I just wanted a pretty watch that had the (didn't know it at the time) MFP app, calories burned, HRM etc etc . Oh it had to look pretty and be completely water dunkable. Not too much to ask in my opinion.
  • I have the Zip Fit Bit and love it. It motivates me to reach my weekly goals. I walk a lot during the day and do the treadmill for cardio. I currently do TDEE- 20%. Took me a while to figure out the numbers. I was trying to take the day calories-20% but now I just go by the monthly average-20%. The scale is moving in the right direction.
  • kathyt08069
    kathyt08069 Posts: 39 Member
    I've used my Fit Bit for one day and am still trying to figure out all the in's and outs of the program. I did end up with a flower at the end of the day so I think that is good. Anyone have any helpful tips?
  • bubblybabeuk
    bubblybabeuk Posts: 216 Member
    Kathy you will always have a flower, its just grows the more active you are, sit down and it starts to die:( Just aim for 10000 steps or as near as you can get each day. I am failing miserably today. I have had a FitBit One for about 20 months, got to admit this my second one, first one fell apart, this model is so much more robust.

    Its fun to add friends and you will create a leader board on your FitBit dashboard. Look for me : Bubblybabe

    Just have fun with them, log everything through MFP and then you leave your FitBit account alone.

    Good luck ladies

    Mandy xxx
  • casmithis
    casmithis Posts: 216 Member
    Ok, I got mine. Now what do I do? I've loaded,er my son loaded it. And I see my dashboard. But how do I add friends and how do I put the calories it says I've burned on MFP?

    Thanks everyone

    Cindy
  • kathyt08069
    kathyt08069 Posts: 39 Member
    I am loving my FitBit One, I finally found the on-line manual so I am now more familiar with how it works. Tracking my exercise has gotten so much easier. I am also finding I am more active than I thought. I have a desk job so most of my day is spent sitting but I find myself taking more breaks to try and increase my steps. Yesterday I spend the day taking a new hire class on a tour of our property so my flower really grew. Today will be a little less walking and no exercise this morning so I am anxious to see how the day ends.

    All in all I would recommend this to anyone that wants to track their activity.
  • knittingbandmom
    knittingbandmom Posts: 190 Member
    I've had one for a little over a year and love it (that is when I remember to use it lol). It certainly does make me push myself harder to get the steps in. While they do have groups over there at fitbit it's hard to find them and they do not have near as many foods into their database. So, I log everything here. There is a way to sync it to you myf account but I've not ever done that.
  • Joanne_happygramma
    Joanne_happygramma Posts: 207 Member
    I have my fitbit synced to mfp, can't member how but it was easy. So when I am at home it records my calories burned. My Windows phone does not sync with my fitbit. After I left my gym today I needed to check my remaining calories, and I noticed that I had some exercise calories on mfp. The only thing I could think of was that someone else at the gym had a fitbit and an iPhone. I love having both these tools helping me each day.
  • claudie08
    claudie08 Posts: 154 Member
    I am going to purchase my FitBit this weekend and cannot wait to use it!! WW has an activity tracker that I loved when on that program and now that I've found FitBit, I'm very excited.

    Next is an HRM...any suggestions?? I hear the Polar FT4 is quite popular.
  • I had a clip on fitbit last year it worked great until the holder broke and then I had to put it in my pocket. Forgot to get it out and washed the pants. It was history. I loved the reports that it gave and it was pretty accurate. Thought I would get another one so went to Target and bought the wrist band one. I just synced the thing and started wearing it. Not to happy with it. the wrist bad is really hard to close and it does not show you the steps you have taken. I paid 99.00 plus tax for it. I think I will take it back and get the clip on for 59.00.
  • baggleflap
    baggleflap Posts: 9 Member
    I've got the Fit Bit Zip. I just attach it to my pocket everyday. I must say I haven't done much exercise lately due to the cold, but I like that I can keep track of my steps and hopefully increase them day by day. Didn't see any need for one that analyzed my sleep patterns. I usually sleep just fine.
  • aqwas
    aqwas Posts: 7
    I am on day 3 of my fitbit flex. Love it so far. I am already addicted to my smartphone (Galaxy Note 3) so it's great to be doing this instead of a game or shopping! I had 3 clip on fitbits that were washed or lost so this is the solution for me. it looks fine in a professional environment and it's waterproof! That's huge because I am a paddler.
  • lferron
    lferron Posts: 2 Member
    I recently sold my Striiv and chose the FitBit One over the FitBit Flex or Force. Having had the Nike FuelBand in the past, I found that having a pedometer on my wrist wasn't as accurate as I'd like. The clip is unobtrusive and sturdy. My favorite part is the silent alarm. I do a 5am bootcamp 4x a week and my husband was not jazzed about the alarm going off at 4:15 most mornings. Now he sleeps in and I am awake :)

    edited to ask: How did you guys get the MyFitnessPal banners for your posts?
  • claudie08
    claudie08 Posts: 154 Member
    I have a ZIP and love it.
  • clark114
    clark114 Posts: 26 Member
    I have the Flex (wrist) and I like it very much. It seems very difficult for me to get the 10,000 steps in daily, however!
  • tskvaughn
    tskvaughn Posts: 114 Member
    I have been using Fitbit One for 2 months. I am amazed at how it has helped get me more active. I wore it for a couple of days just to see what I was normally doing. I am retired and have downsized my home. I was averaging about 2000 steps a day. Two months later I am not happy unless I hit 10K and this past Sunday I hit 20K.
    I also like the silent alarm feature and the sleep monitoring feature.
  • dstevens19
    dstevens19 Posts: 233 Member
    I've used my Fitbit Flex for about 3 weeks. I like the calories burned, steps, and sleep report. If you synch it to MFP,they recommend that you log food on MFP, as well as exercise that doesn't involve steps (spin, swimming, elliptical). Log steps on Fitbit. I didn't like the synch functionality so I've kept them separate . That means I log my exercise on both. Not ideal but. I Can live with it.
  • C1131
    C1131 Posts: 25 Member
    I've been using a FitBit for over a year. Wore out an Ultra and now have a One. I'm not enough of an exhibitionist to want to wear my pedometer on my wrist... and with the new recall of the Flex I'm happy I went with the One. It has been great to encourage movement.

    I bought my first Fitbit after tearing my meniscus which forced me to stop jogging and prevented even much walking for most of 8 months. I now have several friends locally and on Fitbit. There is good competition to be the one with the most steps per week. It gets me on the treadmill at times I definitely would have opted for the couch.

    Also, I really like the sleep tracking. Imperfect as it is, I still find it realistically represents good and bad nights if not actual sleep. I used this a year ago to make a case to my Dr that we had to find a way to get me to sleep better. Menopause and hormone fluctuations make sleeping a real challenge sometimes and having the evidence (as printed out sleep graphs) was helpful in getting HRT in order to reliably get sleep. To back that up, I had a few graphs from nights I put it on my husband. Me: waking 20+ times per night. Him: waking 0 - 2 times per night.

    Note that I do not find that the calorie burn estimates are remotely correct for me. I don't pay any attention to those numbers!
  • sue9900
    sue9900 Posts: 10 Member
    Hi ladies, I'm just getting back to recording my food and exercise and gee....lost several more pounds. I guess I've learned my lesson about how tracking really does help.

    I got the Fitbit Force for Christmas and loved it except it wouldn't stay on. I had to use black electric tape on the band which was not convenient or attractive. I wore it that way until this week though when I switched over to the Garmin version. It has the same type of band but made out of different material and hasn't fallen off. There are pro's and cons. The Fitbit has a light to see numbers in the dark and vibrates when you hit your goal. The battery has to be charged about once a week. The Garmin tracks everything the Fitbit did plus has a heartrate monitor. You can set a goal and it shows up red if you haven't moved in 30 minutes. The battery lasts a year and it's waterproof so you can shower with it. I have definately increased my activity since becoming a pedometer owner. I haven't missed 10,000 steps in many days....today I was able to track my heartrate and completed my workout in my fatburning zone so hopefully exercise will have a greater impact than before my Garmin. Fitbit has a voluntary recall so I'm going to send mine back and get my $.

    Hope to get to know some of you on our weight loss journey.