FitBit??? Yes? no? Maybe so?

JenJBS
JenJBS Posts: 83
in Health and Weight Loss
I'm thinking of getting a FitBit, and would love to hear opinions on the matter.

Is FitBit really that helpful? Is it worth the money?

I'm afraid that if I get one I'll use it as an excuse to eat back more calories that I should, since I'm guessing at least of the calories that I think FitBit counts (like walking around the office or grocery store, etc) are already accounted for in my MFP daily calorie allowance.
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Replies

  • wesg79
    wesg79 Posts: 5
    exactly why i haven't got one, id rather not count those calories back an an excuse to eat more, i spend all day at my desk so adding the daily stuff back to eat more wont help me
  • WBB55
    WBB55 Posts: 4,131 Member
    I enjoy knowing my daily calorie burn. I manually log a couple things like swimming into MFP. But for the most part, my FitBit One just does it. And I find it's +/- 70 calories on average as an error rate over the long term.
  • Swiftdogs
    Swiftdogs Posts: 328 Member
    You only get a Fitbit adjustment for calories burned above MFPs calculation, minus your deficit, so you don't have to worry about double-counting. It's a great tool for someone like me who is generally active without doing dedicated exercise sessions.
  • melissajane83
    melissajane83 Posts: 54 Member
    I want to get a FitBit. I had a Nike Fuel Band and I loved it. I set my goal and made sure I always hit my goal by the end of the day. My Nike Fuel Band broke though :( I would suggest getting it!
  • bekahlou75
    bekahlou75 Posts: 304 Member
    I have a Fitbit One and I love it. I am set to Lightly Active in MFP and I have it set to show negative calories. I love starting the day at +164 calories and seeing how my activity through the day lowers it. I don't eat back the exercise calories it gives me.
  • JenJBS
    JenJBS Posts: 83
    You only get a Fitbit adjustment for calories burned above MFPs calculation, minus your deficit, so you don't have to worry about double-counting. It's a great tool for someone like me who is generally active without doing dedicated exercise sessions.

    Good to know! Thank you!!!
  • JenJBS
    JenJBS Posts: 83
    I have a Fitbit One and I love it. I am set to Lightly Active in MFP and I have it set to show negative calories. I love starting the day at +164 calories and seeing how my activity through the day lowers it. I don't eat back the exercise calories it gives me.

    I admire your restraint and self discipline. I think I'd be too tempted to eat back those calories...
  • srk369
    srk369 Posts: 256 Member
    I've had my Fitbit One for a year and LOVE it. My husband has the force and he likes it too. I work from home and I find that most days, I would really be below the sedentary level that MFP sets for me unless I get up and move around. The sedentary level shown by MFP and most of the calculators out there work in a lot of your basic everyday tasks like light cleaning and walking in from a parking lot. My Fitbit lets me know if I've achieved even that level and then it captures my running. I just add in swimming and biking.
  • Blokeypoo
    Blokeypoo Posts: 274 Member
    I've had my Fitbit One for a year and pretty much give it sole credit for me maintaining my 2 stone wt loss after 30yrs of yoyo dieting.

    It doesn't make you over eat, it makes you earn what you need and get off your backside more.

    My Fitbit food plan is set at 250 cal deficit which I follow M-F and then I eat more at w/e and have maintained beautifully. I never eat what MFP allows on the same calcs as it always suggests more than Fitbit so I'd gain weight for sure. As I said, it's working for me so I won't be changing a thing!

    2yrs of stats on trendweight support my maintenance claim!
  • Blokeypoo
    Blokeypoo Posts: 274 Member
    I have a Fitbit One and I love it. I am set to Lightly Active in MFP and I have it set to show negative calories. I love starting the day at +164 calories and seeing how my activity through the day lowers it. I don't eat back the exercise calories it gives me.

    I admire your restraint and self discipline. I think I'd be too tempted to eat back those calories...

    But if you've set a cal deficit on your Fitbit then you CAN eat them!
  • Magoo065
    Magoo065 Posts: 11 Member
    Hi. I bought the One about a month ago and have been very, very happy with the decision, not only because I got a new one free after I washed the first one.

    Personally - I'm one of those competitive people that needs something to vie against to really be successful, so my opinion of it comes mostly from that mindset.

    You set goals for steps, miles, calories, floors climbed, and calories eaten, and it calculates what you've done. It communicates with MFP if you've exercised over your activity setting and gives you extra calories. As a poster above said, it can also take away calories if you haven't exercised enough if you use that setting. (I don't - my MFP calorie goal is currently at 1200 because I have it set at sedentary).

    I get popups on my phone when I"m close to my step goal, which I like, and the colors change as you advance through the day/steps/etc and get closer to your goals. It is something to work towards, which I generally need to be successful. I'm currently trying to get at least 12000 steps/day, and am able to be more successful because I know mostly exactly what I've done and what I still need to do.

    I don't think that the calories given for exercise are accurate, so if I do eat back the extra calories, I try to stay at 60% at the most if possible. Some days that works, some days it doesn't. :)

    They are worth the $ if you need the same kind of motivation as I do.
  • DrWhoodles
    DrWhoodles Posts: 145 Member
    I have a FitBit, the original one, and I never use it. I used to use it back when I tracked steps but I haven't been doing that lately and I'm not sure if I will. I will say it's apparently well made because it's been through the wash twice and been dunked in a cup of coffee (thanks cat) and it still works!
  • AmyRhubarb
    AmyRhubarb Posts: 6,890 Member
    I considered it for a long time, cost, various models, and what I wanted out of it. Finally decided to get the basic model, the Zip. I don't need sleep or stairs/floors tracked, and didn't want something visible on my wrist, so the Zip is perfect for me. I clip it to my bra and no one knows it's there but me. The clip is very secure and I've no fear of losing it, even on a run.

    I don't actually have it connected to MFP - I have been successful with the TDEE method for over two years, and don't want the Zip to change anything, but I do like comparing the numbers and was happy to see that the info from the Zip lines up with what I've been doing at MFP.

    And I enjoy the motivation it gives to move a bit more on non-running days, and it was eye opening to see just how sedentary I can be on a rest day!

    Even with the cheapest model, I turned to eBay, and found a brand new Zip, still in the package, for $39. It works great.
  • vaporhockey83
    vaporhockey83 Posts: 84 Member
    I have a Fitbit One. I love it and it's helped motivate me to move around more and get up rather than sitting. It's an investment, but if you're someone who digs numbers and beating your old daily goals, it's fantastic. Their customer support is even more amazing. I straight up lost mine while taking my little one to the park. I e-mailed them asking if they had any discounts on a new one for people who made a mistake of losing their Fitbit. They sent me a brand new one, completely free. And it was entirely my own fault. I've lost weight on it and it's a motivator. If you had friends with one, you can "friend" them on Fitbit.com and have some friendly competition. At $100-$110 (pending on the model you want), it is an investment, but I figured my health was worth it. Thumbs up in my opinion.
  • jfauci
    jfauci Posts: 531 Member
    I love my Fitbit Flex! I like knowing how many calories I am burning without having to log individual exercises. Also, I am on my feet a lot during the day and I never knew how many calories I was burning. I don't use it as an excuse to eat more (if I'm hungry, I eat regardless of what the Fitbit says), but I like knowing how much I am burning.

    I also love the built in alarm. I get up to work out at 3:30 AM and now I don't wake anyone up with my alarm clock.
  • scrapjen
    scrapjen Posts: 387 Member
    I am a huge Fitbit fan ... I've had mine for almost three years now (started with the Ultra, now I have the One). My two oldest boys have one too, as do my parents and three brothers and their wives. We are a Fitbit family. I love the feedback, "seeing" my day with the activity spikes on the daily timeline. I like how it works with MFP. I do err on the side of caution and try not to eat back all my exercise calories.

    I did a blog post about everything I love about the Fitbit ...
    http://jenbsjourney.blogspot.com/2013/08/wondering-about-fitbit.html
    and I talk about it a LOT in many other posts. I have my Fitbit linked to Pact and several other "reward" sites (Achievemint, Everymove) and have earned many a kick-back from the steps I'm taking anyway. :)
  • BarbieAS
    BarbieAS Posts: 1,414 Member
    I've been using a Fitbit for almost 2 years.

    It's not an excuse to do anything. It's a good way to get a true picture of your activity, since taking a total stab in the dark at a 4 sizes fit all sedentary or lightly or moderately or very active is far from accurate (not saying the Fitbit is 100% accurate, it's still based on calculations and estimations, but it's much much closer than your own somewhat blind guess). I would say that overall I'm lightly active, and yeah, it probably works out that way when you do an average over the last 2 years, but I go through phases where my activity levels wax and wane - season-to-season, week-to-week, even day-to-day. I have mine set for negative calories, too. I'd much rather have that true picture of my daily activity and know when I need to adjust my goals.

    Also, you're set up to have a deficit. You're SUPPOSED to eat your exercise calories. No one should need an "excuse" to do that, because you don't need an excuse to follow the program the way it's set up to be followed.
  • JenJBS
    JenJBS Posts: 83
    Wow! Lots of very helpful information and input. Thank you all so much!
  • JewelsinBigD
    JewelsinBigD Posts: 661 Member
    yes
  • EvenThatNameIsTaken
    EvenThatNameIsTaken Posts: 164 Member
    I'm thinking of getting a FitBit, and would love to hear opinions on the matter.

    Is FitBit really that helpful? Is it worth the money?

    I'm afraid that if I get one I'll use it as an excuse to eat back more calories that I should, since I'm guessing at least of the calories that I think FitBit counts (like walking around the office or grocery store, etc) are already accounted for in my MFP daily calorie allowance.

    I got a FitBit Zip a couple weeks ago and I'm loving it. It makes me move around more than normal, and I respond very well to the way things are presented on the FitBit dashboard (I love it when I see a big happy face and "Hooray!" "Champ!" when I reach my goals.) I'm also learning to use it not just to stay active, but to make myself rest when I need a rest day. I don't sync it up with MFP because I like to keep a static calorie goal on MFP (TDEE - %) and don't want it messing with my macro goals (personal preference).

    It definitely motivates me to be a little more active on days when I'm not doing much, and I love to see when I've been really active and burned lots of calories! It's not perfect, but it is personalized to you and your activity, so I think that's better than just guessing how active you are and choosing calorie intake based on that. For me, I know it's going to help me reach my goals. That said, I did only recently get it... but I am really enjoying it.
  • determined_erin
    determined_erin Posts: 571 Member
    I love it. I have a FitBit One. My goal is to reach 15,000 steps/day.
  • ktsmom430
    ktsmom430 Posts: 1,100 Member
    LOVE MY FITBIT!

    I could care less about calories burned. For me it is all about moving more and my fitbit gets me up and moving, constantly pushing myself to move just 1000 steps more. I have had mine for 1 year. The past 10 days I have had 3 days of over 30,000 steps and so far this year I have been over 20,000 steps, every day except for one day when I was sick and only got 14,000.

    The fitbit is ideal for me. Makes me move more. 100% improvement over barely being able to move!
  • SkinnieFinnie
    SkinnieFinnie Posts: 145 Member
    I have a FitBit. I love it... absolutely LOVE it!
  • toiletski
    toiletski Posts: 126 Member
    I just got a Fitbit Flex last weekend and I love it! It's really shown me how little I do while I'm at work so I try to make an effort to move around more, park further away at the store, take the long way around etc. so I can meet my daily step goal!
  • Zibberroo
    Zibberroo Posts: 31 Member
    I spent nearly a year looking over the devices and their pros and cons. It came down to the fitbit and basis b1 for me. When the basis steel edition came out, I bit the bullet and spent 200 bucks. There will always be room for improvement, but I am very pleased with my purchase. I would recommend the basis to anyone, but it really is up to your preference of how you want to wear your device, and the small differences that each one offers. Good luck to everyone on your decisions.
  • nentecular
    nentecular Posts: 101 Member
    I wouldn't be without it and I do eat a big chunk of calories back.
  • rlynnehawk
    rlynnehawk Posts: 71 Member
    I would highly recommend it. I've lost twice the weight since I've been using one. I always want to do that extra amount to reach my goals everyday. I do at least 10.000 steps everyday, but most days I go for the 30,000. In 20 days I lost 9.8 lbs by adding the extra effort . It is a very motivating tool!
  • editorgrrl
    editorgrrl Posts: 7,060 Member
    I'm afraid that if I get one I'll use it as an excuse to eat back more calories that I should, since I'm guessing at least of the calories that I think FitBit counts (like walking around the office or grocery store, etc) are already accounted for in my MFP daily calorie allowance.
    Just like any other aspect of weight loss, using an activity tracker takes a whole lot of trial & error to find what works for you.

    They work by tracking all your step based activities. (Non-step workouts are logged either in the tracker app or in MFP.) They send your TDEE to MFP, and MFP compares your activity level to your TDEE. If you've burned more than your activity level, you get more calories to eat. If you've burned less (and you've enabled negative calorie adjustments), you lose calories.
  • whitebalance
    whitebalance Posts: 1,654 Member
    Fitbit One worked for me, and continues to. That's what got me started. I hit my goal weight last summer and have been going strong ever since. I set my activity level to Sedentary and enabled negative calorie adjustments... this has worked remarkably well with my highly variable activity day to day. When I say "highly variable" -- yesterday I burned nearly 2,000 calories; a few days ago, I burned under 1,400. I've walked as little as 900 steps on one day, and over 43,000 on another. Using the Fitbit with MFP helps me keep that variance sorted out so I don't eat way outside my range on a weekly (or even daily) basis.

    If your preferred calorie-burning activities are NOT primarily step-based, then a Fitbit device won't be as useful to you. I mix it up, but the step-based logging is a godsend for me... and yes, the numbers, badges, and racing with FB friends are all pretty highly motivating too.
  • Pamela_June
    Pamela_June Posts: 342 Member
    It took me a very long time to finially order the Fitbit One...it clips on...not the wrist one..... anyway ... love love love it... it does motivate me and it very easty to wear... keeps the charge for almost a full week...records steps, stairs and other stuff too....and you can record how well you sleep ...anyway... I vote is yes it is worth the money....

    Pam

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