FITBIT Help!

xHayley19
xHayley19 Posts: 58 Member
in Getting Started
Hey guys, had a look at the fitbit flex/force website and it looks like a pretty good device.

Few questions for those who have one or some sort of similar device

1. How does it work with MFP?
2. Do you have to log your food twice, once on MFP and once on the Fitbit app.
3. For UK users does is it easy to log food? as I saw someone mention it's mostly American brands
4. Do you love it? Or would you not buy it again?
5. Negatives about it?


Thanks again you lovely lovely people (:

Replies

  • KimberlyinMN
    KimberlyinMN Posts: 302 Member
    1. The Fitbit syncs with their website for calories burned. Log your exercise in MFP. The Fitbit will make adjustments to the calorie burn throughout the day. MFP's calorie burn is sort of an "assumed" burn whereas the Fitbit is closer to the actual burn.
    2. Log your food on MFP.
    3. See #2
    4. LOVE IT!!
    5. None, other than the pink band picks up dye from clothes.
  • becmarkwick
    becmarkwick Posts: 21 Member
    There are a bunch of applications you can use with your fitbit. Its easiest to log all your food on mfp, and any exercise that is not step based, so a bike ride, a gym session etc. This info gets pushed across to fitbit.

    I love it.
  • katekostilnik
    katekostilnik Posts: 4
    I have a zip (I didn't want to wear the band at work, since I work in a VERY professional office and the zip is more discreet), and I LOVE IT. My husband has the flex, and he loves his, too. It's very easy to use, especially since your fitbit automatically syncs when it's near the little thing you plug into your computer. They're a bit of an investment , but super helpful! I definitely recommend it.
  • deoboed
    deoboed Posts: 13 Member
    1. The FitBit syncs with MFP but there's a pretty decent lag at times, sometimes barely at all, sometimes over an hour, but I've only been doing this for about 5 days.
    2. Log on MFP.
    3. N/A
    4. I find it really motivating in terms of both moving more during the day, and working out.
    5. I could be wrong but I think it's way overestimating my calories burned during exercise. I'd love to believe that I earned nearly 1000 extra calories today with exercise and other activity, but it was my usual office job plus an hour of walk/jog on the treadmill, so I'm guessing no. I've never had any other app (like Map My Run (for an outside workout), or MFP itself) estimate so high. For that reason I may actually unsync it from MFP altogether because it's tempting to believe but I'd still keep it for the sheer motivation and the fact that it keeps me honest, and effortlessly-- keeping the pedometer app on my phone going all the time was impossible, Map My Run doesn't work on a treadmill, etc. And it's on my wrist so I can't lose it. Delightful.
  • editorgrrl
    editorgrrl Posts: 7,060 Member
    Log all food & drink in MFP. Do not log step based activity. Log non-step based activity (like swimming or spinning) in Fitbit or MFP--never both. If you choose to log them in MFP, you'll be asked for start & end times. Then MFP overrides your step data during that time.

    Here's something I wrote in MFP's "Fitbit Users" group http://www.myfitnesspal.com/forums/show/1307-fitbit-users

    When you set up your MFP account, you specified an activity level: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/account/change_goals_guided MFP used your answer, plus your age, sex & height, to estimate how many calories you burn every day (your TDEE). Then you set your weight-loss goal, and MFP subtracted the appropriate deficit to calculate your daily calorie goal.

    Once you link an activity tracker to your MFP account (via the "Apps" tab at the top of every page), you start getting calorie adjustments. If your tracker says you burned more calories than MFP estimated, you get a positive adjustment (meaning more calories to eat). If you enable negative calorie adjustments and you burn less than the MFP estimate, you will lose calories. (But negative calorie adjustments will never drop your daily calories below 1,200.)

    I wasn't losing much weight when I got my first activity tracker. At first, the adjustments didn't seem very accurate. But they got better, almost as if the system was "learning" my routine. It took a lot of trial & error to find the settings that worked best for me. But then everything clicked. I changed my MFP settings from sedentary to lightly active (even though I have a desk job), and now my adjustments are pretty minimal. And I'm losing!

    I find my step goal really motivating. If I get home at night and see I'm thisclose to making goal, I'll walk around the block. A little bit more every day really adds up.
  • deoboed
    deoboed Posts: 13 Member
    1. The Fitbit syncs with their website for calories burned. Log your exercise in MFP. The Fitbit will make adjustments to the calorie burn throughout the day. MFP's calorie burn is sort of an "assumed" burn whereas the Fitbit is closer to the actual burn.
    2. Log your food on MFP.
    3. See #2
    4. LOVE IT!!
    5. None, other than the pink band picks up dye from clothes.

    When mine wasn't syncing earlier today I logged my exercise in MFP, and then when it synced it counted my MFP exercise calories earned AND the FitBit calories earned-- do you know how to log in MFP so that you get an adjustment, instead of counting it twice?

    EDIT: Oooooh, the start and end times. Ok I get it. Right on.
  • nccarolb
    nccarolb Posts: 858 Member
    What the others said! I LOVE my Fitbit Flex. I crave the little vibration and light show that comes up when I meet my step goal. I think it might over estimate calories sometimes, but sometimes *I* think I'm doing some pretty strenuous exercise and the Fitbit says 'not so much.' If nothing else, it motivates me to move more! I bought an extra dongle for work so that I don't have to wait until I get home to sync.
  • Napier_mum
    Napier_mum Posts: 88 Member
    I have a fitbit one and I love it! Only got it at Christmas time but it has motivated me to go walking more than I normally would as I love seeing how many steps I have done increasing. For me the one seemed like a better idea than the flex because I walk pushing a stroller and figured that if my arm didn't move much it might not read steps correctly.

    I log food in MFP and then just let the fitbit work out the exercise part (my exercise is all step based anyway) Pretty sure that it is over-estimating calories burned for me as well but I assume that will normalise once I have a bit more of an activity pattern. I just try to stick to my normal calorie goal and sometimes just delete the fitbit adjustment if it seems way off.
  • mysweetsurrender
    mysweetsurrender Posts: 57 Member
    I agree with everyone. I just love my Fitbit. Love, love it!!

    How it works is you only log food and exercises in to Myftinesspal. Your MFP diary entries will automatically be synced to your Fitbit account. Fitbit tracks your activates. When you sync your Fitbit tracker with your computer, your calorie burn, sleep, and steps will automatically be synced to your MyFitnessPal account. It's really easy.

    I did choose the Fitbit One cuz it's discreet and I can slip it onto my bra, which by the way is very secure. The idea of always having a bracelet on my wrist seem like it would be irritating at times. But that just me. An interesting and fun, although not always accurate feature of the Fitbit is you can monitor your sleep. You will find out how long you slept and the number of times you woke up.

    A word of caution don't wear it while driving or ride in a moving vehicle it will register as walking activity and burn calories. I have not found any way to delete this data from my Fitbit account :/

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