Heart Rate Monitor or Activity Tracker

JessicaP1234

I have been considering purchasing one of the two. I really want the Fitbit Flex because it monitors sleep patterns and all but its expensive especially here at Christmas time.

I was wondering what everyone thought on which is really great to have. I would love to have the sleep tracker on the fitbit but its not something I gotta have nor do I need it to submit info wirelessly.. Is the HRM just as good for the calorie counting throughout the day and steps? Or is it better to just spend the extra money and get the activity monitor.

WalkingAlong

An HRM won't do what you want. A Fitbit Zip is like $59. I've used a Fitbit for years and don't use the sleep tracker. I feel like if I need to put the thing on my wristband and hold a button down for 2 seconds, then do it again when I wake up, it's just as easy to jot down or commit to memory the times I went to bed and got up. And from memory I can pretty much tell if I slept well or restlessly. But sleep isn't an issue for me and I know for a lot of people it is. But you could keep a paper log by your bed and get about the same data in about the same time commitment. I used the Fitbit for a few months and could see my sleep was pretty much what I thought it was just intuitively-- fine.

JessicaP1234

Im actually one of those really stupid people when Im asleep and I always wake up feeling terrible. I hate waking whether its 6am 9am or even 1pm. lol. I figured it might be interesting to see how many times a night I wake. Does it do that? The Fitbit Flex that is.

So your saying the HRM doesn't monitor calories or steps taken? Just the heartrate?

Mokey41

A HRM is for steady state cardio only. You can't wear it all day or it will give you hugely inflated numbers. A Fitbit measures your steps and gives you it's estimation of your calories burned based on that. I wouldn't spend the extra money on a Flex just to see how much you sleep. I have a Zip as more of a fun toy than anything else. I find it's pretty accurate from what I already know I burn and if your exercise activity is mostly walking/running based it works fine for that as well.

JessicaP1234

I guess you gotta point it is $40.00 more for just the sleep tracker. Does the Zip send info wirelessly of is that feature missing too?? Gotta focus on Santa for my little one right now maybe I will hit my goal early and won't have much of a point for it by then *Fingers Crossed*

WalkingAlong

The Zip does send the info wirelessly. I think the features the Flex adds are the sleep tracking, silent alarms, rechargeable instead of using a replaceable watch battery (more a difference than a 'feature'), waterproof.

The ones that do sleep monitoring do give you charts of their estimate of how many times you woke and slept restlessly and a total time estimate of your sleep. I'm not sure what anyone does with that info. I guess if you're a light sleeper and don't realize it you could change your sleep environment to not wake so much? But I think if you wake a lot you'd know and already be trying to get more sleep. People seem to like the sleep data. Like I said, it never did much for me.

How do you feel about a device worn on the wrist 24/7 that is like a chunky charity bracelet? I didn't like it and took my Flex back and went back to the bra-wearable one like the Zip.

If you really want the sleep monitoring but can't spare the extra now, maybe consider a used Fitbit (they all have sleep data except the Zip) or an 'open box' one. I've seen those on Amazon or somewhere. Though these devices do tend to frequently not work right out of the box so that might be risky, if you hate sending stuff back.

I could do about the same with a $15 Omron pedometer, to be honest. Get your 10,000 steps a day and log them here or even at the Fitbit site, eat 1500 or less, repeat. That's pretty much the way I use a Fitbit. It lets me not have to manually log the total is all.

JessicaP1234

I guess for now Ill stick with the normal Pedometer until after Christmas and if I still really want the Flex or Zip Ill get it then. I have tiny wrist so your probably right about the clunky bracelet.

The Omron Pedometer that you were talking about is it pretty accurate?

As far as 10k steps I don't think Id ever hit that. I did download a app for my cell that let me see how many steps I walked during the treadmill. I walk at 3.5mph to 3.0mph back and forth and up and down inclines for 30 minutes and it showed 2100 and some steps.. I have a sit down job only three days a week so I think some of the reason why Ive gained so much wasn't just quitting smoking it is because around the same time I went from Full time working to Part Time and now I'm just lazier. There is only so many steps you take doing daily cleaning around the house. I'd be shocked if I hit 5k in a day normally and that probably would only be on days I go to work. Gotta figure out a way to be more active other than the Treadmill which I find extremely boring.

Mokey41

Nothing you buy will make you lose weight. You already know that you're pretty sedentary. A Fitbit is only going to show you how many steps you take in a day which is what a $15 pedometer will do. Unless you're logging well over 5,000 steps a day you're in the negative calorie burn area anyway so it doesn't really matter that a pedometer isn't logging the calories.

All the HRM's and such are just toys unless you have some real athletic goals. I use my HRM when I run to monitor my HR but I also run without it and my run is still the same. Sometimes my time is actually better when I leave the HRM at home so I can't obsess over the numbers!

LoggingForLife

I'll plug the Bodymedia FIT. I love it. It tracks sleep and daily activity. It gives me my total daily calorie burn. I believe its very accurate and has helped me lose weight.

WalkingAlong

Well, you don't have to make your goal be 10,000 right away if you're at 5000 now, on treadmill days. The treadmill IS boring. Can you put a tv in front of it or a laptop? Can you walk outdoors? Even laps in a shopping mall? If you're not working much you should have plenty of time to fit in a 40-minute walk sometime in the day. That's about all it takes for me to hit 10,000. Getting outdoors has other benefits, too. Studies show it improves moods and mental health. And if you have kids or dogs, it's good for them, too.

Cheap pedometers are just as accurate, usually, as long as you're past the $5 pendulum style ones. If it doesn't have a little bearing inside that you can feel shifting back and forth as you move it, your's is probably the newer, accelerometer style kind.