Fit Bit

redchevy54
redchevy54 Posts: 42 Member
edited November 7 in Fitness and Exercise
I am looking at the Fit Bit products. What is the best unit that they offer. I seeseveral different things, two look like belt clip, and a couple of different wrist bands, Which is best and whats the difference. What accessories are essential? How accurate are the measurements? Is the scale they offer a good value? Seems expensive for a pedometer,
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Replies

  • meleileen
    meleileen Posts: 46 Member
    I have the Fitbit Flex and love it. It helps keep me motivated and it syncs with My fitness pal. It is more than a pedometer...it tracks calories burned, your sleep, and you can set it to the goal(s) you want to achieve. If you know others with a fitbit - you can "compete" with them. I love the weekly reports I receive - I cringe at my lazy days, lol. You don't need any additional accessories with the fitbit.....you can download the app on your smartphone and see your results anytime (it uses bluetooth to sync).

    As for the scale - personally, I can not justify spending that much money on a scale. Plus, I don't know how a scale can calculate % of body fat.
  • 4legsRbetterthan2
    4legsRbetterthan2 Posts: 19,590 MFP Moderator
    https://www.fitbit.com/comparison/trackers

    thats a link that compares all their trackers

    I have a one and I love it, its was little bit cheaperthan the flex when I got it but does not seem to be anymore. I don't wear watches and stuff either but I am already used to wearing pants (thank god) so it seemed easier to wear to me. So far I have never had it fall off of anything which was my biggest worry when getting the clip on model. And it came with everything you need so you do not have to buy any accessories unless to replace them later.

    I do not know anything about the scale sorry I can't help there.
  • Morgaath
    Morgaath Posts: 679 Member
    Another option is Bodymedia, which is more closely related to what you'd find in a clinic.
    Counts my steps, but also can tell the difference between me walking up the stairs, and me walking up the same stairs with a 50lb backpack on.
    http://www.bodymedia.com/activity_manager_demo.html
  • HeatherRM14
    HeatherRM14 Posts: 33 Member
    I had an ultra and I switched to the flex. Love it!

    Only down side to the Body Media fit is that you have to wear it on your arm and if you're doing stuff outside in the warmer months (I live in Wisconsin) you're going to end up with a weird tan line. And you have to pay $6.95/month to see your data. Fitbit doesn't charge you monthly to see your data. I had both fitbit & bodymedia. I wore them both for 2 weeks to compare data and they were pretty comparable to each other so I got rid of the body media.
  • AmyRhubarb
    AmyRhubarb Posts: 6,890 Member
    The comparison tool on the site was helpful for me.

    I ended up getting the Zip - it's their lowest model, but does what I want it to do - I don't need sleep tracking or stairs/floors tracked since I'm never around any. :tongue: I didn't want anything on my wrist, and I like that the Zip can be securely clipped in a pocket or my bra and it's out of sight, but tracking me all day. I like the motivation it gives me to move more.

    I'm also cheap, so I didn't want to spend too much - got mine on eBay, brand new for less than 40 bucks. :smile:
  • redchevy54
    redchevy54 Posts: 42 Member
    Wow, thanks for the great info. I am really interested now. It sounds like what I need to gain visibility on my lack of activity.
  • nancygenovese1
    nancygenovese1 Posts: 1 Member
    I love my Fit Bit Flex... and I got it first to track my sleep as I wasn't feeling rested... and now it helps me pay attention to my lazy days.... I also love that it has a vibrating alarm clock so I don't wake other people.... bought mine at Target for about 99 dollars....

    I previously had a bodybug... but it ended up leaving an indent in my arm and a horrible tan line..... this is much better... more discrete.....
  • Timshel_
    Timshel_ Posts: 22,834 Member
    Force has been recalled, which is what I had. It was decent after muddling with the setup.

    However, I am getting the VivoFit from Garmin, which has all the features of the FitBit products, but you can also connect a heart rate monitor, it is waterproof, it has a large display for good outdoor viewing, ANNNND up to one year of battery life! All for the same price as my Force.

    http://sites.garmin.com/vivo/

    Worth checking out. Mine is ordered and I am ready to test it out.
  • redchevy54
    redchevy54 Posts: 42 Member
    Interesting in the vivofit. I will check it out as well. I assume it will automatically upload to myfitnesspal like fit bit does.
  • _Calypso_
    _Calypso_ Posts: 1,074 Member
    I have teh FitBit One and love it. Its small, so that can be a con. But it has better features and I think is more accurate than the Flex.
  • Branawesomer
    Branawesomer Posts: 1,025 Member
    I have the One and I love it! The only issue I have with one of the wristband ones is looks. If you're going somewhere fancy, you can't really wear it and not have it look odd. But that is MY opinion. I usually wear fancy bracelets when I dress up. Its a great product overall :D
  • jchadden42
    jchadden42 Posts: 189
    I have the fitbit Zip. All it really does is tracks steps, but it does "know" when you're actually active and when you're just taking a couple of steps here and there. I don't need to calculate sleep or steps climbed. This one connects nicely to MFP and to my insurance company. It doesn't bluetooth, but I don't need it to. I got it on super sale, so it works for me. As far as accuracy goes, I don't use the calorie adjustment when I'm looking at total calories, but I wear it when I run, and I log that run.

    I'm interested in finding something similar that swimmers can wear to track activity in the water.
  • Timshel_
    Timshel_ Posts: 22,834 Member
    Interesting in the vivofit. I will check it out as well. I assume it will automatically upload to myfitnesspal like fit bit does.

    Haven't completely checked that portion out so not sure about the MFP integration.
  • WaterBunnie
    WaterBunnie Posts: 1,371 Member
    I have a FB One. Much better than a clunky unhygienic bracelet I think and only records movements your whole body makes rather than just one arm. Mine is pretty accurate to the cardio machines I use too which reassures me that it's fairly accurate overall.
  • sandst101
    sandst101 Posts: 5 Member
    I have a FitBit One. I wear it nearly every day. It is very insightful when I look at the stats it generates. I noticed the other day I have an average of 2 minutes of very active time per day. I do a lot of house cleaning and kid chasing, but it showed me I need to ramp up my activity. That made me dust off the treadmill, and now I'm up to 30 minutes of active time a day. So, yes, I would recommend it!!
  • pnutbutterpatty
    pnutbutterpatty Posts: 1
    I just checked the website for the Garmin and it does not say anything about syncing with FitBit. Can anyone confirm this?
  • MissClaire82
    MissClaire82 Posts: 1 Member
    I have the fitbit one and I love it. My one complaint is that it REALLY needs a pause button. When I ride my motorcycle it miscalculates and says I've done a billion flights of stairs and my steps equal a marathon... I've tried not actually wearing but it still screws up and throws my count way off... which is kind of frustrating as riding my motorcycle is pretty much a daily occurrence in the summer which kind of makes it useless...
  • Timshel_
    Timshel_ Posts: 22,834 Member
    I just checked the website for the Garmin and it does not say anything about syncing with FitBit. Can anyone confirm this?

    From what I have just read on here, it looks like there isn't an API setup YET, but seems like it is planned. You can still manually log the data on MFP in the meantime.
  • jim180155
    jim180155 Posts: 769 Member
    I bought a One last weekend and really like it. I still manually record weight lifting and bike riding, but I like the input it tracks on general activity throughout the day. One of the main benefits, IMO, is its motivational aspect. If I sit at my desk (or in the recliner at home) too long it starts deducting calories. It's a reminder to get up and move. And the more you move, the more your daily calorie allowance goes up, which means you get to eat more.

    I'm becoming a Pavlovian dog.
  • jim180155
    jim180155 Posts: 769 Member
    I have the fitbit one and I love it. My one complaint is that it REALLY needs a pause button. When I ride my motorcycle it miscalculates and says I've done a billion flights of stairs and my steps equal a marathon... I've tried not actually wearing but it still screws up and throws my count way off... which is kind of frustrating as riding my motorcycle is pretty much a daily occurrence in the summer which kind of makes it useless...

    I kept an eye on it for the first few days to see if it was recording my driving as walking. Or running. Or flying. But it didn't. It seemed to know I was just sitting there doing nothing.
  • Blokeypoo
    Blokeypoo Posts: 274 Member
    I have the fitbit one and I love it. My one complaint is that it REALLY needs a pause button. When I ride my motorcycle it miscalculates and says I've done a billion flights of stairs and my steps equal a marathon... I've tried not actually wearing but it still screws up and throws my count way off... which is kind of frustrating as riding my motorcycle is pretty much a daily occurrence in the summer which kind of makes it useless...

    If I drive a really bumpy road I can get extra steps but I just enter it as driving in activities and it deducts the steps.

    OP - It is most definitely not just a pedometer. I love my Fitbit One and entirely credit it for my yr of maintenance. It ensures I earn what I eat so I eat what I earn and my wt has been bang on so it must be pretty accurate. I am a nurse so can't wear stuff on my wrist and wouldn't want to. I also wanted to be generally more active so a HRM for spells of activ ity wasn't for me. Fitbit makes me move when I see my stats are looking low, before I had it I had no idea how much I had/hadn't walked.

    I love the app and check it constantly to ensure I've earned the food I entered the previous night on MFP. It's great, log whatever you want to eat the next day then get off your *kitten* and earn it! The Aria scales just add to the graphs etc but are not needed.

    ETA - I have the scales but could live without them.
  • dawlschic007
    dawlschic007 Posts: 636 Member
    I have the FitBit Flex but the battery is having a lot of issues holding a charge (after only 3 or 4 months) so I don't wear it that often anymore. I do like it for motivating me to get up and move more and to try and meet goals. I didn't have any issues with it miscalculating while driving or anything like that.

    I also have their Aria scale and really like that. It syncs up with MFP and logs your weight automatically. It also does body fat %, but I'm not sure how accurate that is on it.
  • Mav3rick54
    Mav3rick54 Posts: 180 Member
    I have a fitbit force which has been recalled due to some folks having a rash issue with the band...but I have had no issues....therefore I am keeping mine. Personally, I prefer the wrist band type because I put it on and it is on my wrist 24/7 and I don't even think about it. Knowing me, if I had the clip on kind, it would end up in the washer or I would leave it at home.

    I have heard people say it is an expensive pedometer....I on the otherhand prefer to call it a cheap motivator and a major reason for the number on the ticker below.

    I highly recommend one.
  • allbarrett
    allbarrett Posts: 159 Member
    There are dozens of wearables on the market and more coming.

    I have a FitBit Flex. My husband has a Jawbone Up. We both looked at a number of these before selecting.

    FitBit Flex - works great with iOS, syncs with very very very few Android devices. Great website, OK app (for phone, iPad). Very accurate for walking/running/jogging, pretty much useless for anything else but you can log your activity and it will sync nicely with MFP. Syncs with devices via bluetooth. Serious design flaw in the recharger - I use a small piece of scrap paper to hold the thing into the charger. If you check our their forums, others use tape, hold it in manually (for over an hour!), prop a book on it or whatever required to make the connection work. Really irritating. I haven't had any problems with it being unsanitary (the band is plastic/rubber...washable folks!). I don't wear it in the shower (it says water resistant but I'm skeptical). 5-7 days battery life, recharges in about 2 hours (once I fiddle with the connection). Get a weekly email telling you your most/least active days, total distance travelled, calories in/out, quality/quantity of sleep, etc. For a fee, you get access to additional functionality on the website and the ability to compare yourself to others also using Fitbit products).

    Jawbone - works great with Android. Great app, OK website. Some nice options for targets and goals. Get a weekly update on most/least active days, total distance travelled, calories in/out, quality/quantity of sleep, and your standings compared to other Jawbone users. No bluetooth sync to devices (has to be plugged in to sync). Get about 7-10 days from a charge, maybe 1-2 hours to get a full charge. Cap for the plug comes off pretty easily after a while and can get lost, they don't replace them for free any more. Not even water resistant (officially) so remove any time you are near water. Syncs with MFP.

    Bodymedia - makes several neat devices, I don't know as much about them, the ones I looked at were more bulky, heavier and more obtrusive than a wrist-device so I wasn't interested. Syncs to MFP

    Polar - has a couple of interesting offerings, including wrist-bands that pair with chest straps, smart watches and others. Their software doesn't play well with others (no syncing, at least not yet).

    Garmin - has a pile of different devices. Their website is incredibly irritating to use, their software won't sync to anything and they have no intention of changing that. That said, great functionality if you are a runner (that is their target market) with GPS-capable watches to which you can download your planned routes and running workout. Will tell you lots about your running (pace, cadence, bounce height or whatever it is called, etc.)

    Pebble - they make a couple of smart watches. They are pretty new so there aren't a lot of apps that take advantage of what they can do yet, but I'm keeping an eye on these because dammit they should be awesome!

    Nike+ - one of the first ones on the market. Cute, shiny, converts everything to "Fuel Points" which are NOT calories. Syncs to MFP so there must be some conversion somewhere points->calories. Not a lot of functionality (sleep tracking, etc.). But very motivating I'm told as there is instant feedback when you hit various milestones/targets, lights showing your progress, etc.

    There are tonnes of others. Withings, Fitbit and others offer scales that also sync via bluetooth (and will sync with MFP), some device makers have chest straps/heart rate monitors, shoe attachments (for doing running pace and cadence), etc..

    Pick something that you like, can afford and will do what you really want right now (as opposed to stuff you think you might want in the future). The bottom end, price wise I believe are the clip-on fitbits (I hear you can get them for around $25 USD...I'm not American, so I wouldn't know). Mid-range for most of the wrist-bands is around $80-130 (that is CDN, so YMMV), the higher end ones go up from there and the running watches you can pretty much pay however much you have (some of them are really expensive). I like the wristbands for their unobtrusiveness, ease-of-use, reasonable price-tags, and motivational effect on me. :)
  • jim180155
    jim180155 Posts: 769 Member
    I just checked my stats. I've walked 2.08 miles so far today and I have an extra 190 calories that I'll eat back above and beyond my morning workout.

    Before I had my Fitbit, that 2.08 miles probably would have been 1 mile, maybe less. I'll probably finish out the day between 3 and 4 miles. That's not a whole lot of miles to someone who's actively exercising, but the distance is all just short trips through the office and warehouse as I keep finding excuses to get up from my desk.
  • Blokeypoo
    Blokeypoo Posts: 274 Member
    I just checked my stats. I've walked 2.08 miles so far today and I have an extra 190 calories that I'll eat back above and beyond my morning workout.

    Before I had my Fitbit, that 2.08 miles probably would have been 1 mile, maybe less. I'll probably finish out the day between 3 and 4 miles. That's not a whole lot of miles to someone who's actively exercising, but the distance is all just short trips through the office and warehouse as I keep finding excuses to get up from my desk.

    I'm the same! I deliberately get my lunch then go back for a coffee or walk to furthest loo etc to gain credit. I even jog on the spot when waiting for my soup in the microwave!
  • redchevy54
    redchevy54 Posts: 42 Member
    Great detail. Thank you. It is easy to buy and regret later when the item is not what you really wanted or you hear about something better. Thanks
  • NoMoreStretchyPants
    NoMoreStretchyPants Posts: 307
    I have the FitBit One..for me it's a great little tool that helps me ensure I get at least 10k steps in every day (I usually go over that), but it also analyzes your sleep patterns - how well and how long you sleep for. For me it's a reminder to move my *kitten* - and I'm aware it's there so it does make me move more. I also enjoy trying to beat the previous week's numbers. The fact that it syncs with MFP is also a bonus.
  • redchevy54
    redchevy54 Posts: 42 Member
    Anyone like the Fitstar option on the new Fitbit tracker?
  • SezxyStef
    SezxyStef Posts: 15,267 Member
    My jawbone is bluetooth...all the new ones are.

    Looks more like jewellery for me (I chose a specific one that would)

    I have a fitbit I won at work and these were the comparisons.

    Shovelled heavy snow for 45mins

    Jawbone recorded appx 1500 steps
    Fit bit recorded about 600 and only 6 active minutes...

    I like my jawbone.
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