Fitbit Advice

Mike_III

I'm looking at getting a Fitbit. Can anyone give me some feedback as to if you have one and what model works (zip, one or flex)? Thanks!

Arydria

I have a One and love it. I clip it to my waist and off I go for the day. If I want to check steps or stairs, I check the fitbit app on my phone. I've heard the wrist pedometers aren't as accurate if you hold your wrist still (such as pushing a grocery cart.). I also prefer to wear a watch or bracelet, and not deal with the fitbit.

BTW, the One is DEFINITELY worth the extra money over the zip.

alejandrameraz1

I only own a Fitbit ONE.
It comes with a clip and you put it in your clothes, like your bra or belt I guess.
I preferred this one over the Flex or Zip since it is capable of measuring flights of stairs so you can set a climbing goal as well (and get more badges with it!)
I also read someone saying that if you swayed your arms a lot, Flex got inaccurate readings thinking you are walking much more than you actually are.

Fitbit ONE Pros:
- Measure flights of stairs
- more badges
- easy wearibility (just clip it in your clothes and forget about it)
- Is capable of measuring sleep, but you have to use the special band it comes with (a very soft band, no rubber).
- Good batery life, I only charge it once every other week. Though I'm not familiar with Flex or Zip battery life.
- allegedly more accurate than flex.

Fitbit ONE Cons:
- Even thought it do gives you visual feedback of your daily goals, usually you wont be looking under your clothes and checking your bra to see how much you need to walk to meet your goals. I have to sync it with my phone to know the status of my goals... meanwhile flex does have some lights to show the progress.
- It only has two color options. For what I can see, Flex has several options, including some designer editions...
- the usual problems with clipping stuff to your clothes... taking care not to throw it on the washing machine... forgetting it in your gym clothes, etc.

I enjoy fitbit and I love my aria scale. I've been using them for almost a year with no problems.....

BUT! Having said all of the above, If I were to decide at this moment what to buy, and considering how expensive they are and how geeky I am, I would probably just get an inexpensive pedometer and wait some months to get a smart watch with all these features. :P But that is just me

Hope this helps and sorry for the broken english, it is not my main language

pinkshoe23

I've got a fitbit one, and love it. I carry it in my pocket. I picked it over the other fitbits, because I have a 4th floor office, and wanted the "extra credit" for stairs. It really hasn't changed how much I do the stairs, though,

Last week, for the first time in a year, I forgot the fitbit in my jeans pocket, and put the jeans in the water to soak. The fitbit was there for about 20 min, before I remembered it. It is still working & syncing well.

lemonlime006

I have the fitbit flex bracelet and I love it. It syncs well with MFP as long as you log the time you did any particular extra exercise. It will automatically adjust your calories for the day as long as you set it up to do so. I sit at a desk a lot, but when I'm out and about and running errands, it tracks the increase in movement. I also like it because you can compete with other people. My husband and I each have one and we use it to compete.

4schrocks

Flex! I love my fitbit flex. If it's inaccurate because of the arm movement it has never been enough to notice. My steps stay pretty consistant each day. I wear it every single day and the great thing about it is, you don't have to remember to put it on. It can stay on 24/7. I've had both the One and the Flex and whereas they are both great products I vote Flex.

Moonbeamlissie

I have both the Fitbit ONE and the Fitbit FLEX and the One is def better. The flex does not count stairs and has limited visual of where you stand for the day. The ONE i wear on my shirt so i can see it all the time. My one typically will register 500+ more steps than the Flex depending on the activity. My advice is to get the One.

111YoYo111

How timely. I am currently fighting with fitbit to get my money back. I have the flex and I am disgusted with it.I can go to the gym for over an hour and get credited with only 4 active minutes. ( half hour bike, half hour upper body weights) I sat on my butt reading all day one saturday and it suddenly buzzed to tell me I'd reached 10,000 steps that day! The dominant hand setting is correct and they've told me to log my exercise. Why would I blow the money on this thing if I still wanted to log all of my exercise? Save your money.

JustFindingMe

I have a flex and LOVE it. I no longer have to guess at what my activity level is and it adds or subtracts my calorie allowance based on my movement/steps for the day.

As a side note - it has a sleep tracker which is cool as well????

JustFindingMe

How timely. I am currently fighting with fitbit to get my money back. I have the flex and I am disgusted with it.I can go to the gym for over an hour and get credited with only 4 active minutes. ( half hour bike, half hour upper body weights) I sat on my butt reading all day one saturday and it suddenly buzzed to tell me I'd reached 10,000 steps that day! The dominant hand setting is correct and they've told me to log my exercise. Why would I blow the money on this thing if I still wanted to log all of my exercise? Save your money.

Perhaps you have a defective one?

Mike_III

I only own a Fitbit ONE.
It comes with a clip and you put it in your clothes, like your bra or belt I guess.
I preferred this one over the Flex or Zip since it is capable of measuring flights of stairs so you can set a climbing goal as well (and get more badges with it!)
I also read someone saying that if you swayed your arms a lot, Flex got inaccurate readings thinking you are walking much more than you actually are.

Fitbit ONE Pros:
- Measure flights of stairs
- more badges
- easy wearibility (just clip it in your clothes and forget about it)
- Is capable of measuring sleep, but you have to use the special band it comes with (a very soft band, no rubber).
- Good batery life, I only charge it once every other week. Though I'm not familiar with Flex or Zip battery life.
- allegedly more accurate than flex.

Fitbit ONE Cons:
- Even thought it do gives you visual feedback of your daily goals, usually you wont be looking under your clothes and checking your bra to see how much you need to walk to meet your goals. I have to sync it with my phone to know the status of my goals... meanwhile flex does have some lights to show the progress.
- It only has two color options. For what I can see, Flex has several options, including some designer editions...
- the usual problems with clipping stuff to your clothes... taking care not to throw it on the washing machine... forgetting it in your gym clothes, etc.

I enjoy fitbit and I love my aria scale. I've been using them for almost a year with no problems.....

BUT! Having said all of the above, If I were to decide at this moment what to buy, and considering how expensive they are and how geeky I am, I would probably just get an inexpensive pedometer and wait some months to get a smart watch with all these features. :P But that is just me

Hope this helps and sorry for the broken english, it is not my main language

It does thanks!

Mike_III

How timely. I am currently fighting with fitbit to get my money back. I have the flex and I am disgusted with it.I can go to the gym for over an hour and get credited with only 4 active minutes. ( half hour bike, half hour upper body weights) I sat on my butt reading all day one saturday and it suddenly buzzed to tell me I'd reached 10,000 steps that day! The dominant hand setting is correct and they've told me to log my exercise. Why would I blow the money on this thing if I still wanted to log all of my exercise? Save your money.

Wow! I really want it to record when I'm doing my weight training since I can't MFP or researching the internet on how many calories I'm burning.

kkimpel

I love mine.. over 10 million steps since 2011

Mike_III

I have both the Fitbit ONE and the Fitbit FLEX and the One is def better. The flex does not count stairs and has limited visual of where you stand for the day. The ONE i wear on my shirt so i can see it all the time. My one typically will register 500+ more steps than the Flex depending on the activity. My advice is to get the One.

Thanks! I don't know how it would feel wearing the Flex either... $100 is a lot to spend to then find out I don't like wearing it.

Mike_III

I have the fitbit flex bracelet and I love it. It syncs well with MFP as long as you log the time you did any particular extra exercise. It will automatically adjust your calories for the day as long as you set it up to do so. I sit at a desk a lot, but when I'm out and about and running errands, it tracks the increase in movement. I also like it because you can compete with other people. My husband and I each have one and we use it to compete.

Does it track calories burn according to your heart rate like if you were doing crossfit?

TeaBea

How timely. I am currently fighting with fitbit to get my money back. I have the flex and I am disgusted with it.I can go to the gym for over an hour and get credited with only 4 active minutes. ( half hour bike, half hour upper body weights) I sat on my butt reading all day one saturday and it suddenly buzzed to tell me I'd reached 10,000 steps that day! The dominant hand setting is correct and they've told me to log my exercise. Why would I blow the money on this thing if I still wanted to log all of my exercise? Save your money.

Wow! I really want it to record when I'm doing my weight training since I can't MFP or researching the internet on how many calories I'm burning.

A FitBit works for step based activities. A HRM works for steady state cardio......there really isn't anything terribly reliable for strength training.

A FitBit helps you figure out your activity level. If you take lost of steps some days, and fewer steps others...a FitBit is great.

Here's a group of FitBit users....this may help

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/groups/home/1290-fitbit-users

CM9178

How timely. I am currently fighting with fitbit to get my money back. I have the flex and I am disgusted with it.I can go to the gym for over an hour and get credited with only 4 active minutes. ( half hour bike, half hour upper body weights) I sat on my butt reading all day one saturday and it suddenly buzzed to tell me I'd reached 10,000 steps that day! The dominant hand setting is correct and they've told me to log my exercise. Why would I blow the money on this thing if I still wanted to log all of my exercise? Save your money.

Because it isn't designed to log your exercise. They are basically pedometers. If you are riding a bike or lifting weights, it isn't going to magically know how many calories you burned. You have to log those activities.
If you want something to do that for you, you need an HRM, not a fitbit.

CM9178

I have the fitbit flex bracelet and I love it. It syncs well with MFP as long as you log the time you did any particular extra exercise. It will automatically adjust your calories for the day as long as you set it up to do so. I sit at a desk a lot, but when I'm out and about and running errands, it tracks the increase in movement. I also like it because you can compete with other people. My husband and I each have one and we use it to compete.

Does it track calories burn according to your heart rate like if you were doing crossfit?

Nope, it has no idea what your heart rate is, it bases your burn off the steps you've taken.
You will need to manually enter workouts/times for cardio, etc in order to log those calories burned.
Otherewise, get an HRM instead.

gaelowyn_pt_duex

I have the flex. i've not had a problem with it tracking "active minutes". I also sync to MFP and use MFP ONLY to log in additional exercise. Piyo is a good example of lower arm/body movements, but pretty darn good cardio/strength workout! I just do a manual calorie burn entry in MFP to track those workouts. I think fitbit One would sync well also- MFP adjusts additional calories earned based on what the fit bit tells it. When you get one, make sure to log in anything additional on only one of the apps.. I read some info that made me feel logging it into MFP only is better. It then shows up on my fit bit app feed.
I don't need a big display to track my steps daily. that's just me. My flex tracks my sleep as well, and it's amazing how it's changed since i've lost these first 19lbs! I find the flex easy to use, comfortable, and it's a great conversation starter! I've had so many people notice it and ask me about it! LOL! I have a feeling that you'll like either one. the flex/mfp combo has really helped me to keep motivated and actually enjoy this weight loss journey this time around!
Good luck!!

Mike_III

I have the fitbit flex bracelet and I love it. It syncs well with MFP as long as you log the time you did any particular extra exercise. It will automatically adjust your calories for the day as long as you set it up to do so. I sit at a desk a lot, but when I'm out and about and running errands, it tracks the increase in movement. I also like it because you can compete with other people. My husband and I each have one and we use it to compete.

Does it track calories burn according to your heart rate like if you were doing crossfit?

Nope, it has no idea what your heart rate is, it bases your burn off the steps you've taken.
You will need to manually enter workouts/times for cardio, etc in order to log those calories burned.
Otherewise, get an HRM instead.

Awesome...sounds like I need and HRM

furniem

I have the Fitbot Force which is the Flex but has a watch built in. I LOVE it! Tracks everything the Flex does including sleep but with the added convenience of the watch. I find it very comfortable and easy to charge and sync with my pc.
It syncs with MFP where the food I eat and track on MFP gets tracked on the Fitbit site as well.