FIT BIT OR POLAR

FitCrystalLina
FitCrystalLina Posts: 50 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I'm interested in buying a calorie tracker but I'm so confused on which brand to purchase. Suggestions?

Replies

  • MelodyandBarbells
    MelodyandBarbells Posts: 7,725 Member
    The fit bit types will mostly track your activity (steps) throughout the day. There are some extra goodies like analyzing your sleep and you could wear it while you shower. A lot of owners report these devices to be very motivational when it comes to just moving more overall. I've heard you could also just clip it to an undergarment so it's not visible and just go!

    A Heart rate monitor like polar is better for calculating your calorie burns during a workout. For instance if you did a spin class, or swimming, or an exercise video where you were moving pretty much throughout. These will mostly come with a chest strap to which you clip the transmitter that monitors your heart rate, and sends the signals to a watch that estimates and displays your calorie burn among other data. You can always have both devices if you want. I myself have a Polar FT4 and am mildly curious about getting a FitBit
  • laratacita
    laratacita Posts: 53 Member
    The Polar Loop and the Samsung Gear serve as activity monitors and activity trackers. They are slightly more expensive.
  • kar328
    kar328 Posts: 4,159 Member
    I have a Fitbit Flex and a Polar FT4, love them both. I wear the Flex 24/7 to get my overall TDEE and calorie counts, as well as steps. The HRM I wear for certain activities to see how I do, like time outside walking/running. I say it depends on what you want to do/track. The Flex is easy to wear, the HRM has a comfy chest strap, but I don't think I'd want to wear it 24/7, or hear the beeps on the watch when I'm not in the proper zone. But for seeing how my running/walking is it works great.
  • laratacita
    laratacita Posts: 53 Member
    I've never found the chest strap to my heart rate monitor "comfy." I suspect they expected me to have something smaller than a 46" chest. I can get it around my body, but the plastic always digs into my skin.
  • Me_again143
    Me_again143 Posts: 7 Member
    Does the Fitbit also tell you how many calories you have lost from a particular work out? Or is it JUST an overall end of the day total
  • gary241069
    gary241069 Posts: 255 Member
    Don't you have a free calorie tracker on your MFP cellphone site?
    MFP supply everything you guys are asking for, for free.
    all you need to do is download the apps to your phone.
    They also do exercise trackers that tell you how many calories you
    are burning during your exercise routines.
  • Me_again143
    Me_again143 Posts: 7 Member
    I meant an accurate counter of calories lost. The one on MFP over estimates the calories lost from any given activity.
  • gary241069
    gary241069 Posts: 255 Member
    Now I understand the difference.
    This is something you wear.

    To be quite honest. I have noticed MFP being a bit off with calorie estimates
  • kdhamner
    kdhamner Posts: 309 Member
    I absolutely love, love, love my Polar Loop!!! I have no experience with a Fit Bit though, so I really couldn't compare the two.
  • kar328
    kar328 Posts: 4,159 Member
    Does the Fitbit also tell you how many calories you have lost from a particular work out? Or is it JUST an overall end of the day total

    I use MFP to log calories burned. I sync it with Fitbit, so it goes to their site as well. The fitbit app will show a constant readout of calories, so you need to remember the start and stop times to see what you did. It's not something you start and stop, it's a 24/7 thing, which resets every midnight.
  • WalkingAlong
    WalkingAlong Posts: 4,926 Member
    Does the Fitbit also tell you how many calories you have lost from a particular work out? Or is it JUST an overall end of the day total

    I use MFP to log calories burned. I sync it with Fitbit, so it goes to their site as well. The fitbit app will show a constant readout of calories, so you need to remember the start and stop times to see what you did. It's not something you start and stop, it's a 24/7 thing, which resets every midnight.
    Regarding remembering the start and stop times, I'm not sure which Fitbit you have but on most you can hold the button down for a second to start a timed period and same for the end, then it will show that on your charts as a discrete period. So if you need the data for that time span for something, it's broken out for you.
  • kar328
    kar328 Posts: 4,159 Member
    Does the Fitbit also tell you how many calories you have lost from a particular work out? Or is it JUST an overall end of the day total

    I use MFP to log calories burned. I sync it with Fitbit, so it goes to their site as well. The fitbit app will show a constant readout of calories, so you need to remember the start and stop times to see what you did. It's not something you start and stop, it's a 24/7 thing, which resets every midnight.
    Regarding remembering the start and stop times, I'm not sure which Fitbit you have but on most you can hold the button down for a second to start a timed period and same for the end, then it will show that on your charts as a discrete period. So if you need the data for that time span for something, it's broken out for you.

    I have a Flex. Do you mean the one that puts it into sleep mode? I remember trying it a few times when I first got it, but it didn't seem to work right. I take my phone/ipod out walking/running, and use Runkeeper for miles and pace/duration, so I just go by that.
  • gary241069
    gary241069 Posts: 255 Member
    Wow. Whatever you guys are talking about. It sounds really expensive.:huh:
  • JZygmunt72
    JZygmunt72 Posts: 262 Member
    I got the fit bit zip, it was at best buy for $59.99 its one of the less expensive trackers out there. I know how well i sleep so i dont need to have the fitbit that tracks how i sleep. the zip is very small, it counts your steps, your calorie intake (you dont have to if you dont want to) how far you go and tells the time. i got this just over a week ago, and its been really motivational to me. It gets you up and moving so you can reach your goal for steps. fitbit and MFP work really well together
  • JZygmunt72
    JZygmunt72 Posts: 262 Member
    Does the Fitbit also tell you how many calories you have lost from a particular work out? Or is it JUST an overall end of the day total

    it is just and overall thing, but there are graphs that show you how much youve burned within a certain time, so that could help you out
  • goldfinger88
    goldfinger88 Posts: 686 Member
    There is no real calorie tracker available and nothing on the market is really accurate. Even heart rate monitors are not totally accurate. The Fitbit only tracks steps. It's a pedometer. It's way off on total calories and you can't tell the activity calories from the BMR calories. I don't know about the Polar.

    You can track calories on this site. You have to do it manually but it's as accurate as anything else and it's free. You can see the activity calories much easier on here than on a device.
  • no_worries
    no_worries Posts: 61 Member
    I have a TImex heart rate monitor. I LOVE it. While it doesn't tell you how many calories your burned, it does come with a chest strap that is constantly feeding information to the watch. You can calculate your calories burned using a website based off of your average heart rate. I find that this is very consistent and gives me numbers that are more accurate than the cardio machines. I have had this for 3 years now and it's still going strong for only 50$.
    http://www.amazon.com/Timex-Mid-Size-T5G941-Trainer-Monitor/dp/B000F5WB66
  • FitCrystalLina
    FitCrystalLina Posts: 50 Member
    Thanks for all your help everyone. It made my decision better

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