Fitbit...to buy or not?

cschmidt45

Hello everyone,
I'm new to MFP and see a calories tracker called Fitbit for purchase. I'm just wondering if any of you out there have used this tool for awhile and have seen actual weightloss results. Do you consider it a motivator? Is it worth the purchase price and what other benefits have you received from using it? Id also like to add some more friends. Please feel free to add me if you need some more weightloss buddies. Thanks!
Cindy

tashakk86

i was wondering the same thing. let me know what you find out please

laurensohn22

Bump ** I want to know as well

Meatsies

Me too...been looking into those or bodybuggs. Bump!

cschmidt45

It looks pretty interesting. If it helps motivate you with the end result being weightloss, I might be willing to part with my hard earned money:laugh:

Runningchick11

I have it, just purchased it in February but I try to use it every day. I like how it synchs together with myfitnesspal. I like to do stairs at work and think it's pretty accurate to keep track of. I also was really intrigued that it seems to track your sleep. It seems pretty on top of it for me. I'm not sure if it has really helped me but I do try to walk more and do more stairs to meet my goals on fitbit so I suppose that is a good thing!! You have a profile on fitbit and it tells you how many steps you've done, and what you should do, and your activity level, and a few other stats too. I am glad I purchased it! It's small, yet stays clipped onto your clothes and seems to work good, easy to use.

amphora

I went ahead an ordered one yesterday (Amazon has them slightly cheaper- you want the FitBit Ultra btw, that is the most recent version) but won't get it delivered until tomorrow. If nobody answers before I play with mine this weekend, I'll let you know how it goes! There are plenty of reviews on Amazon too if you want some opinions not MFP based...

KelliW_runner

I've been using one for 2 months now. Love it. Makes you very aware of your activity (or lack thereof) and therefore motivates to do additional moving. I did just recently purchase a heart rate monitor (Garmin Forerunner 610) and am starting to compare calorie calculations for running/walking. Tonight - 50 minute walk, about 3 miles. Fitbit said 400 calories burned (includes basal metabolic rate, too). HRM said 200 calories burned. Too soon to draw conclusions on accuracy of calorie burn - want to test with running, hiking, etc.

For general use I recommend the fitbit to monitor relative activity level and serve as a motivator. It is small, discreet, holds battery charge for a few days, and has nice web interface. If you need to get extremely precise on calorie burns during workouts a HRM may be more accurate. Not practical to wear all the time, though.

birdsmom1

I've had mine for about 3 weeks now and love it. I do find it to be a great motivator. I find myself taking longer routes to rack up more steps. On a busy day at work I have gotten in more than 20K steps. Fitbit goal is 10K. It's interesting to see how many steps you actually take in a day. I do have to question the stair counter as I don't really climb many steps at work. I know I always wake up tired and fitbit opens my eyes as to why! It tracks your sleep as well and how many times you wake up through the night. It syncs with MFP and will add in the exercise calories. I seldom eat them though. On bad days, they make for a nice cushion though. I like my fitbit enough that if something were to happen to it, I would replace it in a heartbeat. I hope this helps. Feel free to send me a friend request. Much luck on your weight loss journey.
Valerie

Fitness4Paul

I love my fitbit. It gives you a more accurate picture of your activity based calorie burn. It does motivate you to get moving if you're having a slow day. I'd recommend it to anyone working on their health and fitness.

elpiper

uhhh....i lost mine after having it for like 2 weeks.....so.....i don't recommend it. It kept falling off, even with the included clip. waste of money.

hubkal

I LOVE MINE! it never falls off! I run, jumping jacks, jump rope, and it makes me very aware of all my movement and how much more I can do in a day! It pushes me to take the stairs at work to get a new "badge" for most stairs in a day. It syncs with MFP and shows me real progress! it does not keep track of miles on the treadmill though, it does steps taken there, but not miles "moved". You sleep with it as well and it tells you how much you move around at night and helps you see how much you sleep compared to how much you think you do! I love it and now 3 of my friends have it. It is not cheap at 99 dollars, I got mine on Amazon and it came in 3 days! I love love love it!

crimsontech

I absolutely love my FitBit (started wearing one in August). I upgraded to the Ultra for Christmas (gift from fiance) and gave my old one to my mom, who also loves it. I bought my fiance one for himself recently and my sister wants one, too. It's a GREAT motivator and compared to the BodyBugg the price is absolutely right.

Compared to BodyBugg, it has its own built-in display (BB doesn't), it's small and discreet (BB isn't), and the website is free to use for life (BB is free for 6 months, then costs money). And it costs less than BB. It's not as accurate as wearing an HRM but you can't really wear one of those all day, so the FitBit helps pick up the extra calories burned from your day-to-day activities.

And it's DEFINITELY a great motivator! I set my step goal and strive to meet or beat it every day. It definitely has me parking farther away, walking more places, etc.

pdworkman

I my FitBit!

crimsontech

uhhh....i lost mine after having it for like 2 weeks.....so.....i don't recommend it. It kept falling off, even with the included clip. waste of money.

Contact FitBit support. I've heard from multiple people that they'll replace a lost unit. I have worn one since August and it has never fallen off. I clip it to my pants pocket, my shirt, or the strap of my bra where I can read it.

2Bgoddess

I have one, love it, for all the above reasons. best $99 I ever spent. the calorie burn is adaptive, for example, although it logs steps, and doesn't necessarily see intensity of my cardio work outs, it sort of compensates by tracking it as flights of stair climbed, due to how much high-stepping one does. Thru my fit bit, I have learned I can burn quite a bit of calories by window shopping :-)

2Bgoddess

uhhh....i lost mine after having it for like 2 weeks.....so.....i don't recommend it. It kept falling off, even with the included clip. waste of money.

Mine's always clipped to my panties :blushing: and never falls off. i did lose the clip, and the wrist band, lol, I am a tad absentminded. I am sure they are here somewhere...

Fitness4Paul

uhhh....i lost mine after having it for like 2 weeks.....so.....i don't recommend it. It kept falling off, even with the included clip. waste of money.

Contact FitBit support. I've heard from multiple people that they'll replace a lost unit. I have worn one since August and it has never fallen off. I clip it to my pants pocket, my shirt, or the strap of my bra where I can read it.

Yes, great point. The support on this product is pretty great. I called and asked for a second USB dock so it will update my profile from home and work. They said no problem and sent me one free of charge.

2Bgoddess

uhhh....i lost mine after having it for like 2 weeks.....so.....i don't recommend it. It kept falling off, even with the included clip. waste of money.

Contact FitBit support. I've heard from multiple people that they'll replace a lost unit. I have worn one since August and it has never fallen off. I clip it to my pants pocket, my shirt, or the strap of my bra where I can read it.

Just FYI the step counting is much more accurate if you wear it at your waist or below. test it out, you'll be surprised.

elpiper

I saw someone else had posted that. I tweeted them the day it happened, but I just now went ahead and sent an email. Thanks


Wow you guys thank you all for the encouragement on emailing them. I'm hopeful now. I would love to have my fitbit back....even if its a different one than the original! It was a great motivator for getting those extra steps in!

realme56

Mine is secure on my bra most of the time and attached to my pocket otherwise. I'm not all that sure how you could lose it.... You don't have to use the belt clip at all unless material is thick that you want to attach it to.
It is a great motivator to walk, be active and get the stairs in. You get weekly reports so you can keep on top of everything. I don't believe it is as accurate as the body bug but it is just around $100 with no monthly fees so I am happy with that. I know people using the body bug and not losing. I lose about a pound or more every week.
I changed MFP to lightly active from sedentary and eat 1400-1800 most days. MFP and FB link so you only have to enter stuff on MFP. I've had one or two times when it did not sync properly but overall no glitches. For real exercise like elliptical, Zumba you enter the start time on MFP to help FB adjust calories appropriately.

Love mine, motivates me, had it since November and haven't "lost" it yet....although I have lost weight ;~)

smlamb33

I also LOVE my Fitbit!! It seems pretty accurate and I LOVE that it syncs with MFP, so there's no guess work with the calories burned from exercise! It keeps me motivated to walk at least 10 flights of stairs everyday and 5 miles everyday!! It's an awesome way to stay motivated!!!

junglejd13

I looked into buying the Fitbit, but if you plan on doing cardio and strength training I recommend a Heart Rate Monitor. I got the Polar ft60, ($125) and I love it! It has an integrated training program into it and depending on your goals (weight loss, fitness improvement) along with your personal body indicators (height, weight, fitness test(all you do is relax for 5 min) it gives you goals in zones to train in that are based on your heart rate. It counts every calorie, even if you aren't in a zone so I find it to be very accurate. It comes with a band you wear around your chest, which is super comfortable, I forget I have it on. It is also good for doing things like walking, there are some really helpful reviews on amazon http://www.amazon.com/Polar-Womens-Heart-Monitor-Purple/dp/B001F0PVNA/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1331350517&sr=8-1 However, you can get it cheaper from bodytronics.com and free shipping with code POPO I believe. I feel that for an extra 25 bucks it offers more than the fitbit, but it would be cool to see the info about sleeping. Hope this helps!

Hannova

I've had one for about two weeks - shortly before I signed on here. The Fitbit Ultra comes with a wriststrap (for monitoring your sleep cycles), a clip attachment (that I don't use) and free use of the website that integrates with MFP.

I must enter my food diary here, and it shows up on FitBit.com. I also enter my exercise here on MFP. I put my weigh in values on both sites (doesn't seem to synch that). My amount of steps taken, distance walked shows up here and is credited to my calorie allowance as calories burned. Stairs climbed will show up as calories burned as well.

I generally wear it on my bra, right near the center, and I ignore it all day. It has a USB attachment for your computer, and when you are within 15 feet of it, it will automatically upload your stats to the website. It kept the initial charge for almost 2 weeks. I did forget to wear it today, and I did forget to turn it into sleep mode last night. But the website is pretty forgiving: when I put in the hours I thought I was asleep for, the FitBit supplied information on my activity levels for that time and calculated my sleep pattern anyway.

Pretty cool!

I find it's a motivator. When I look at my activity levels for the day when I get home, and I've only climbed 7 flights of stairs, and walked only 3000 steps, I've had a crappy day, and I will go out and walk some more.

I wish my relatives would all get one: we're a competitive lot, and seeing the tally on a website is bound to spark a little Fitbit throwdown!

stc74

I haven't had very much luck with pedometers, possibly due to fused back making me walk with less movement in the hip area. Has anyone who has this issue had better luck with the fitbit? I agree that HRMs aren't convienent to use much of the time.

cschmidt45

Thanks so much to those that added me as a friend! Thanks for all the wonderful input on the Fitbit as well. Seems most of you are pretty pleased with it and the functionality it offers, sooo I just ordered one for arrival on Monday. Now I cant wait to get it!:flowerforyou:

cclark1203

There is a group in the Community called "fitbit users". There are over 2500 members and you can get alot of your questions answered there. I have been wearing a fitbit for a couple of months now and find it very useful. It is confusing at first in that Fitbit gives you credit on MFP for all of your activity. I don't pay attention to the calories earned by just everyday stuff and only count my organized exercise as my extra calories for the day.

SkinnieFinnie

I have it & LOVE it!

FYI: I bought mine on eBay.. you can find one cheaper there. Mine has never fallen off. I wear it 24/7 (except when I'm in the shower - then it's on the charger).. Highly recommend it!

eradik

Love love love my Fitbit. I can say with confidence that it works. Things I do that I never did before:

Took the stairs (the Ultra has a meter for how many flights of stairs you go up, so I try to take stairs as often as possible now)

Park in the spot farthest away from the store. Gets me a few more steps in, which the Fitbit also tracks.

Pace at work when I'm stuck in a spot (I work retail, so if I am at a register or somewhere that I normally would just stand, now I walk around when not helping someone)

These are just a few of the pluses.

There is one negative. It seems that Fitbit/MFP linking breaks all the damn time. Annoying as hell, down a day or three generally, but it sucks. I put my lifestyle at sedentary so that when I walk/move a lot with the Fitbit, it syncs those calories back to me and I get an adjustment. Thats why I normally don't log any exercise unless it's intensive. Fitbit does it all for me, except when its down.

Caged_Heat

I agree with a lot of the comments here. I think it depends on your needs. An HRM may be better for actual workouts I am told.

I use it for tracking walking and climbing stairs. It does have a nice web site with lots of data. It syncs with MFP and will make the one-time adjustment on your exercise page if you go over the calories burned with normal activity set by MFP. For example, if your MFP normal burn is 2200 calories a day and you burn 2500 according to FitBit, it will make an adjustment (I think after midnight) of 300 calories. If you don't reach your 2200 level, it will not do anything. Hope that makes sense.

As far as the clip goes, I was using the clip that came with it and was nervous about losing it. Then I realized that the clip was for thick clothing, belts etc. You don't HAVE to use it. The device itself is a clip and slips easily over the lip of your pocket, or whatever. It is snug and I don't worry at all anymore.

However, you do have to remember not to throw it in the laundry with your clothes because it will NOT survive the washing machine!

The technology is a mystery to me. How it knows you are taking steps, I do not know. I can hold it steady in my hand and walk around the house at it will record every step. I read it uses an altimeter (like in a plane) to calculate heights (stairs, hills, etc) going up only though. Going down stairs is regular steps.

If you ride a bike like me, clip it to your hip. I tried it on my collar and it did not seem to work well.

While it is a motivator to some degree for me, I can't say it makes me want to get out and walk every day. I can still easily talk myself out of it!

Good luck!


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Caged_Heat

There is one negative. It seems that Fitbit/MFP linking breaks all the damn time. Annoying as hell, down a day or three generally, but it sucks.

That's interesting. I just came home and plugged mine in and am waiting to see if it shows on MFP. I am thinking I have to wait until after midnight. Maybe that is why you think it's down? Is it really "a day or three" or is it because of the midnight deadline? You could compare your FitBit dailies with the MFP daily excercise diary and see if they match up.