Anyone Stop Using Their FitBit?

jrwms714

Not sure if this is the right forum for this or not, but here goes: I have been on MFP for a year and a half and have lost 29 lbs. I am close to my goal, which is another 9 lbs. from here. About 3 months ago, I bought a FitBit Zip and wore it religiously. I found that all it did was confuse me with 'way too much information. So a few days ago I deactivated and went back to just using MFP, eating back cals, etc. I liked the step counting and the calories burned, but thought it was a very expensive pedometer! I asked FitBit and MFP if there was a way to just use it for those things, but apparently not. I plan to go back to using it once I am on maintenance, for those things, mainly.

Anyone else deactivate their FitBit and for that reason or any other? I am finding that, on this weight loss journey, I need to keep things as simple as possible. Calories in, calories out ... I workout 5x/week, and I am losing my weight slowly and surely. Fitbit just seemed to muddy the waters for me.

WalkingAlong

You asked if there was a way to use it for just what things? The step count and the calories burned? That's kind of all the Zip does.

At $59 it's not all that expensive of a pedometer. Any decent accelerometer style pedometer is going to be over $35 or so.

I used mine for all of 2010 and then burned out on making myself hit 10,000 steps a day and only wore it intermittently for years after that. I'm back to hitting my steps goals for now. I never bothered deactivating my Fitbit account, though. It just sits there unused when I don't use it.

Some people find data motivating, some find it confusing. Nothing wrong with that!

jrwms714

I'm so sorry. I only just now checked My Topics. Thank you for your reply. Very helpful. The Zip's syncing with MFP and how the calories were counted, etc. just confused me too much. I deactivated the Zip which I know from your post was not necessary but looks like I can reactivate and just use it when I want to, i.e., like on vacations. I seem to be doing much better without it, and plan to use it when I have reached goal. I do like the step counting and the smallness of the Zip.
Again, thanks for your reply!

Samstan101

I delinked my Fitbit from MFP but still use it constantly. I log all my exercise and non walking activity on Fitbit as I've found it far more accurate than MFP (comparing estimated calories for the same actvities and my HRM reading). I then use that as a guide to my TDEE. I then know what deficit I'm eating at (currently average of 1000 cals a day deficit).

ktsmom430

I use mine mainly to keep me motivated to move more, which it does a great job for me.

I don't eat back exercise calories and don't pay much attention to that aspect of it.

Deactivating with MFP might be a good idea for me as well, but I really love it and it will continue to be my best motivator.

Seajolly

I only use my FitBit for the steps as a way to motivate myself to walk more. I do not rely on it for an accurate amount of calories burned. I don't even wear it when I work out, actually!

cathipa

I deactivated mine recently because I was not only adding my exercise calories, but it was giving me the adjustments for normal walking. I don't count that as exercise. I still use it every day for motivation to move.

staciedee10

I used my fitbit in the beginning to count my steps, etc. After a month of using it, I knew EXACTLY what to do and really did not need my fitbit any longer. I log everything into MFP which has helped me tremendously!!

jeansuza

I deactivated my Fitbit after 2 months. I like when I do an exercise to be able to know if I can eat those calories but with Fitbit, it would allow me, say 200 cal., but at the end of the day, the amount would be down to 150. So if I had eaten the 200 calories I was in the red for 50. Didn't work for me, sorry! Furthermore, I am already obsessing enough about cal. and exercising that to count the steps was too much. Also, there were MANY days where the Fitbit numbers were blown up by high winds or other atmospheric issues. On these days, I didn't know how many calories I could eat and my diary was messed up... I guess that if you don't eat the spent calories (or if you do not link Fitbit to MFP), it doesn't really matter but for me, that wouldn't be sustainable because I workout to be able to eat more...

BerryH

I lost two. The first FitBit replaced because the catch was loose, the second I didn't bother replacing.

Getting "enough steps in" was stopping me doing any more vigorous exercise or any strength training, and the 10,000 a day tyranny had me marching while cleaning my teeth at night!

I was assured that my average TDEE matched MFP's calculations, though.

shayemimi

I wear my fitbit one religiously. It is an awesome motivator for me to get up and move. I have it linked to MFP, but I still log my exercise here on MFP. Then it only gives me extra calories if I've been extra active outside of structured exercised. (like I walked 10000 extra steps that day shopping, etc.) I don't generally eat those calories, unless I'm extra hungry. I like seeing how many stairs/steps I get in. It really pushes me not to sit around.

nuttyfamily

I wear mine but I don't link MFP and FITBIT.

I eat a set amount of calories based on TDEE and don't want the exercise fitbit thinks I earned to my daily totals on MFP.

I like wearing it as it makes me realize if I am having a lazy day and step it up. I do exercise by doing strength training and running besides taking walks.

daniellemm1

I have a Flex and I love it. However I do not link the two accounts. MFP is used for logging my food and my Flex is used to monitor my TDEE to ensure that the food I log on MFP is 500 calories below my TDEE for weight loss. Both are tools that you have to assist you in monitoring your food and fitness. Use them in whatever way works best for you

Shellz31

Anyone else deactivate their FitBit and for that reason or any other?

NEVER!! :noway: I absolutely love my fitbit. I never stop wearing it. It's made me so much more aware of how much activity I get each day. I didn't realize how little I moved when I work from home. Now, I make sure to take walks during my breaks. Fitbit has made me much more active in general.

But if you found it more demotivating than motivating then you did what's best for you.

Just a few things about some of the comments. There's not a 10,000 step rule. That is the default goal, but you can change it and nothing will happen to you if you don't meet that goal Also, I personally find that fitbit calorie estimates are way more accurate than MFP. I have them linked, but MFP always gives me huge fitbit exercise calorie adjustments. I go to fitbit website and use their calorie estimates, which are usually 200 calories less than MFP. I set fitbit to assume I'll be sedentary the rest of the day.

jrwms714

I have a Flex and I love it. However I do not link the two accounts. MFP is used for logging my food and my Flex is used to monitor my TDEE to ensure that the food I log on MFP is 500 calories below my TDEE for weight loss. Both are tools that you have to assist you in monitoring your food and fitness. Use them in whatever way works best for you

Some of you have said that you stopping linking MFP and FitBit, but used the FitBit for steps and motivation. That is exactly how I want to use it. So here is what I don't know and maybe you can help me: if I do NOT link the two, can I then just use the Fitbit as a pedometer only? If so, how do I accomplish that i.e., how do I unlink them and will the Fitbit then merely count steps? I asked MFP that question and they said there was no way to do that?

nuttyfamily

Yes you can unlink them and then fitbit will log your steps/stairs/calories solely on the fitbit site solo and not add them to mfp.

If you go to the apps tab at the top of the page, you can deactivate fitbit from mfp.

Or go to fitbit and go to settings and sharing, then you can remove the linking of the two.

carol5047

I only use my FitBit for the steps as a way to motivate myself to walk more. I do not rely on it for an accurate amount of calories burned. I don't even wear it when I work out, actually!

I have a FitBit Force on the way from
Amazon, and my plans are the exact as yours! I'm hoping it will be a great motivator.

jrwms714

Yes you can unlink them and then fitbit will log your steps/stairs/calories solely on the fitbit site solo and not add them to mfp.

If you go to the apps tab at the top of the page, you can deactivate fitbit from mfp.

Or go to fitbit and go to settings and sharing, then you can remove the linking of the two.

Will it also log them on the Fitbit Zip so that I can see them during the day?

nuttyfamily

Yes, it will show your steps on the device itself.

WalkingAlong

Also, there were MANY days where the Fitbit numbers were blown up by high winds or other atmospheric issues. On these days, I didn't know how many calories I could eat and my diary was messed up... I guess that if you don't eat the spent calories (or if you do not link Fitbit to MFP), it doesn't really matter but for me, that wouldn't be sustainable because I workout to be able to eat more...

The barometer only affects your 'floors' count, which doesn't affect your calorie burn, I'm pretty sure.

It sounds like everyone is confused on the Fitbit adjustment, almost. It is a weird method because it does tally across the whole day. It'd make more sense for users of that plan to eat today's calories based on yesterdays MFP total, since it's not done adjusting until the day is over.

jrwms- Unlinking won't affect the display on your Fitbit. It will stop your food log totals from going to the Fitbit site and your Fitbit adjustments from coming here.

somefitsomefat

I have a Flex and my FitBit account is linked to MFP. I think the problems people have with the calorie syncing being confusing can be fixed with some initial setup in MFP and the FitBit site.

On the FitBit end you should setup a food plan and a weight goal that matches MFP. This won't effect the data MFP gets but will let you see that your calorie figures are matching up on the two sites. Without doing this you'll see MFP telling you to eat at a deficit but FitBit telling you to eat to maintain.

On the MFP end there are probably two schools of thought on setup. You could set MFP up for sedentary in which case the FitBit will start you off around your sedentary calories then add calories throughout the day as your activity estimate increases. Alternatively you could set MFP up for a higher activity level (unless you really are sedentary) in which case FitBit would subtract a large amount of calories initially and slowly catch up as activity increases.

editorgrrl

I stopped using the Fitbit calorie goal panel in my dashboard (aka over/under). Fitbit pro-rates your calories by time of day, which doesn't work for me at all. And Fitbit doesn't have a calorie minimum. My TDEE can be as low as 1,300 on a couch potato day, so my calorie goal is 1,050 w/ a .5 lb. goal--pro-rated to a few hundred in the morning. It's even more horrifying if I increase my goal.

I love the graphs showing calories consumed (via MFP) vs. calories burned. I see my actual deficit in black & white. (Well, green & blue.)

WalkingAlong

Or just use the Fitbit site. I lost a lot of weight just using that. Make a steps goal, log all your food, and keep your 30-day average intake at least 500 calories below your 30-day average burn. There is a chart of that info hidden on there somewhere. I did it back in 2010 when that chart was a lot more in your face.

thyme4

I love my Fitbit - have the One because much of my baseline cardio work involves stairs and hills, I have definitely noticed that I am more active knowing that I am being tracked! That has been very motivating!

I originally got it because I felt like I needed better data to calibrate myself for those "last 10" pounds and into maintenance. That being said, I have noticed that it can be confusing to try and reconcile it with MFP. My approach was to set my profile in MFP to "sedentary", and to log only exercise that Fitbit doesn't directly track into MFP. Then I let the interface do the Fitbit adjustment to bring over everything else (even though it doesn't totally catch up till the end of the day). Like a few other posters, I just try to make sure that my MFP diary calories stay at least 500 below my Fitbit determined calories burned. I do plan my meals, and I have a pretty well established workout schedule so it this is working for me. I find it very helpful to have observed/measured data vs theoretical data as I get closer to my goal and need to fine-tune my approach.

giampi260271

I recently (2 weeks ago) bought a Fitbit Zip and love it.
I use it to monitor my nornal life only and remove it when doing actual workouts (using runtastic for it, linked as well to MFP). This is in order to avoid double counting.

The Zip is helping me a lot to walk more and more so I can burn more calories also during my sedentary life

jrwms714

Thanks, everyone! Unless I am totally reading things wrong, I'm going to disconnect the FitBit from MFP and use it merely as a pedometer. I am doing my best to keep this journey simple for me and, as some one else said it is all about what works best for you.

sjlawgirl

I like mine. I just HATE HATE HATE how it constantly fails to sync with MFP. I constantly have to delink and relink. ANNOYING and THAT would be the reason I stopped using it. That...and I want a Polar with HRT monitor.......

WalkingAlong

Is it that you're not seeing your food calories show up on Fitbit or that your Fitbit adjustment here at MFP shows up as zero for most of the day?

If it's the latter, go to MFP, My Home, Goals, and look at your number under Calories Burned in Normal Daily Activity. Then go to Fitbit and look at your total calorie burn so far today. The MFP number doesn't change. Say it's 2800. You don't get a Fitbit adjustment until the value of your total burned from your Fitbit exceeds 2800. The difference is your adjustment. So it's normal for that to be 0 for most or even all of the day.

Ready2Rock206

Mine is not linked anymore but I'm very much using it to keep me motivated and moving. I have my calories set to be TDEE minus about 15% so I don't have to bother logging any exercise. I know exactly what I can eat each day and am no longer always trying to hit a moving target. My life is so much easier now and I've started losing weight since unlinking them - no more lose 1/2lb gain 2 lbs the next week.

jrwms714

I think it's funny and also good how each person figures out what works for them. For me, MFP plus eating back gym cals just seems to work far better for me than TDEE did. I am fine with that, and know that MFP figures high, so I don't eat them all back and have a hard time eating that much, anyhow. The FitBit, while a cool instrument for someone like me who loves tech, just gave me TMI and that isn't good for me. I tend to obsess, anyhow, and it just fed into that. Also, I like knowing where my cals are when I leave the gym, so I can plan the rest of my day. FitBit does not give the immediate info that I need. I'm at the gym at least 5x per week and workouts go a minimum of an hour, so the days that I do not work out, I am fine with the 1270 that I can eat. Since I am very close to goal (8 - 9 lbs. away), I went back to the MFP +gym cals, and upped my cardio workouts some, and that seems to be working.

I did un-link (not sure there is such a word) my FitBit last night and am going to wear it today to see how that goes, to moderate steps, not including workouts. But there's another question: wearing it as a pedometer, merely so I keep motivated and keep moving while not in the gym ... do I include gym steps (workouts) or take it off while I am there?

kym117

I bought a Fitbit Flex and I have to say I love it. When I started I found it very overwhelming the information recorded, syncing etc., but I don't get caught up in the figures. I am not very good at getting motivation to exercise, once I am up and at it I love it but I really struggle to get there in the first place! I find the Fitbit good for encouraging myself to move, set goals, beat yesterdays record, be active for more mins etc. I sync it at the end of every day but more for my own curiosity.