Fitbit?

Raddichio

Anyone here use a Fitbit? Was it helpful in determining whether your TDEE and BMR are accurate? What do you like best about it?

Ange_

i am.

I consider the total cals burned in the day according to my fitbit my TDEE. Got to be more accurate than any calculator where you just guess how active you are. Mine said i was more active than just sedentary which is was i thought i was. i have an office job but when i get home i tend to do a lot of housework and gardening which is when i do most of my steps.

I also really like how you can look at a whole week of stats and see the total calorie deficit over a week. Remember 3500 cals deficit is supposed to equal a pound, so it is always interesting if i've lost more than that calculation should suggest or less...

Raddichio

Ange, That's why I'd like to get one. I think I'm more sedentary than I'm being told I am, but the only way to know is to actually measure my activities over time.

This may have been addressed somewhere else, but I haven't found it yet. If you have an exercise session and use a HRM to get an accurate measure of calories burned and enter that information at MFP, how do MFP and Fitbit websites coordinate that so that you don't end up getting credit twice for the calories burned?

Glitter969

Ange, That's why I'd like to get one. I think I'm more sedentary than I'm being told I am, but the only way to know is to actually measure my activities over time.

This may have been addressed somewhere else, but I haven't found it yet. If you have an exercise session and use a HRM to get an accurate measure of calories burned and enter that information at MFP, how do MFP and Fitbit websites coordinate that so that you don't end up getting credit twice for the calories burned?

I also use a fitbit and HRM. There is a link between Fitbit and MFP and once you have associated your accounts you record your HRM exercises on MFP with the starting time. Fitbit then overrides its info for the same time period with the information you provided, so no double counting.

Raddichio

Thanks, Glitter. I appreciate having that question answered. So there is a place to record the time you start your exercise on MFP? I haven't seen it, but maybe it's because I don't have a Fitbit synched with the site at this time.

Raddichio

Oh, never mind---the question about a place to enter the start time at MFP was answered on another thread. Thanks again for explaining this stuff to me.

trosewine

I had one for about a month. The intention was to get an average TDEE and see my trends for a few weeks which worked out well for me. I realized that with my regular daily activity (which is a desk job, btw, with an hour commute each way) all I need to add to my day is a 20-30 minute walk and I am at about 2000 cals expended.

Anyway, by the end of the month I was getting over remembering to put the Fitbit on. I knew my averages and the gadget doesn't do much more than that, so I returned it.

Good luck!

Raddichio

Interesting perspective, trosewine.

I am concerned about spending that much money on a gadget. It does seem that it would be a useful one for determining the TDEE, which is a large part of why I want to get one. On the other hand, it will mean one more website to check in at and having to coordinate timing of exercise sessions between MFP and Fitbit. I already feel like it takes me an inordinate amount of extra time just to decide what workout to do on a given day and find the DVD (if applicable) and whatever other things I need for the workout (i.e., weights, resistance bands, etc.), plus put on the HRM and make sure it's synched properly before actually starting to exercise. I've already been spending a lot of time on MFP reading and educating myself, plus logging food and exercise. I'm hoping that adding a Fitbit won't result in another significant investment of time.

Cyanid3

I love my fitbit!!!!!!! It doesn't take too much time to set up and I consider it a worthy investment. I love that you can track your movements: steps and stairs climbed, as well as your sleeping patterns. It helps me stay motivated on those days where I just can't make it to a gym for cardio - so I find sneaky ways to incorporate steps, such as stepping while watching tv, parking farther away, etc. I also think its great to keep track of the steps I've taken during my cardio so I make sure the calories I eat are at least my BMR. All in all, it's helped make me more active and aware of how much movement I actually do.

justagirl2013

I've been contemplating one, but I hear you have to pay a $50 fee per year? I looked into Body Fit but their's is about $70 per year!

Then as one of the previous posters said, what if you learn all your daily activity, doesn't it become essentially useless? I want one, but can't afford it with annual fees, etc.

Cyanid3

I've been contemplating one, but I hear you have to pay a $50 fee per year? I looked into Body Fit but their's is about $70 per year!

Then as one of the previous posters said, what if you learn all your daily activity, doesn't it become essentially useless? I want one, but can't afford it with annual fees, etc.

I have no idea what fee you're talking about. O.o All I paid for was the Fitbit and it comes with a free online tracker and access. I just plug it into MFP. As for it becoming useless, I find my daily activity varies, so my calories burned does as well.

Raddichio

I'm enjoying reading everyone's experience with Fitbit and how they use it---it's giving me ideas for when/if I get one (hopefully at the end of the month). I am a numbers person, I like things to add up properly and I like to be very exact with the numbers, which has carried over into counting calories. I go to great lengths to determine the correct calorie count for different items and don't like estimating at all. So I think the added information will be helpful, as long as I don't get carried away and try to micromanage too much. I'm glad to hear so many positive reports about the Fitbit.

justagirl2013

I've been contemplating one, but I hear you have to pay a $50 fee per year? I looked into Body Fit but their's is about $70 per year!

Then as one of the previous posters said, what if you learn all your daily activity, doesn't it become essentially useless? I want one, but can't afford it with annual fees, etc.

I have no idea what fee you're talking about. O.o All I paid for was the Fitbit and it comes with a free online tracker and access. I just plug it into MFP. As for it becoming useless, I find my daily activity varies, so my calories burned does as well.

So I read what you wrote and decided to research, it's $49.99 for an annual premium membership, which is optional! Someone who has one at my gym told me that it was $50 a year, they obviously pay for this premium membership.

I'm glad you don't find this useless, it is on my list of future purchases,along with a HRM. Will be interesting to see how close I really am

indieanna

I am using the FitBit as well! I am a stay at home mom and really wondered how much activity I am really doing all day. Turns out it was a lot more than I expected. Finding out my average daily cal burn has been helpful, it was right on par with the TDEE calculators when I was plugging in the right activity amount. Sedentary I am not! Turns out running around after 3 kids is a workout in itself and all those last minute things the kids need before bed really add steps to my count.

I consider a good investment if you know you are in for the long haul in your weight loss journey. My husband has an Omron pedometer (about $20-30)that his work has lent out to all employees for a walking challenge. His plugs into the computer too, but it is not wireless of course. It is a lot cheaper than fitbit and still has a graph of your daily and weekly steps. So it seems like a good/cheaper alternative to the FitBit. However, I love my FitBit with the bells and whistles- and my husband wants one when his work challenge is done.

skbarton

I got one last Saturday and then did no exercise for the first 4 days to get an idea of my TDEE which ended up being more than the calculators were saying - looks like my activity is between light and moderate instead of the sedentary that I thought. I have never had any luck with regular pedometers with accuracy of counting steps. The Fitbit seems to be right on track regarding steps - I have looked at the number of steps, counted off 20 or 30 and then looked again and it was accurate.

Not too sure about it's approximation for BMR/RMR - It says I burn an average of 4 calories every 5 minutes while sleeping which would be an approximate 1152 calories if all I did was sleep. I had my RMR tested by a nutritionist at Kaiser Permanente and it came out at 1280.

Glitter969

I love my fitbit!!!!!!! It doesn't take too much time to set up and I consider it a worthy investment. I love that you can track your movements: steps and stairs climbed, as well as your sleeping patterns. It helps me stay motivated on those days where I just can't make it to a gym for cardio - so I find sneaky ways to incorporate steps, such as stepping while watching tv, parking farther away, etc. I also think its great to keep track of the steps I've taken during my cardio so I make sure the calories I eat are at least my BMR. All in all, it's helped make me more active and aware of how much movement I actually do.

100% agree. Yes, my fitbit helped me to understand my TDEE better. But it also keeps me motivated to increase my "non-exercise" activity - I want to see a high number of steps at the end of each day! And I also don't think it takes unnecessary extra time in my day. Later it becomes "automatic", like brushing your teeth.

fuzzyslipperz

My fitbit says I am WAY more active than any of the calculators estimate. I'm still trying to decide whether to believe it or not. My AVERAGE burn each day is over 2500 calories - sometimes 3K+. Yikes! (and I'm 44 years old and about 120 pounds). I do a lot of walking, but gave up most of the extreme cardio some time ago.

Raddichio

Glitter & others, Are you finding that you can base your deficit on the numbers you're getting from your Fitbit for your TDEE and having success doing so? A lot are reporting that they are finding they are more active than they thought, so I'm wondering if they're finding that estimate to be accurate?

Fuzzyslipperz, 2500-3000 does seem high, especially at 120 pounds. Maybe you're just blessed with a high metabolism, or you don't give yourself enough credit for how much walking you do. How many steps a day do you average? Let us know how the higher numbers work out for you, if you choose to use them in figuring your deficit.

fuzzyslipperz

Fuzzyslipperz, 2500-3000 does seem high, especially at 120 pounds. Maybe you're just blessed with a high metabolism, or you don't give yourself enough credit for how much walking you do. How many steps a day do you average? Let us know how the higher numbers work out for you, if you choose to use them in figuring your deficit.

Heh, well, I did say I walk a LOT. My average steps are about 24,000. I can get as high as 30 on a very busy day and as low as 12-13 on a 'sedentary' day. I have a farm and work a few days a week as a nurse, but I do sit around a bit as well.

I'm 'featherz' on the fitbit site if anyone wants to friend me over there. I'm not as insane as the 30+K average people but I do OK.

Raddichio

Farming and nursing? Yes, I'd say you are undoubtedly far more active than you give yourself credit for. Way to go!

rachmass1

I have had mine for almost a week and I love it. I plugged myself in to walk 20,000 steps each day and 20 flights of stairs and for the most part have been hitting that (I have a treadmill desk at work on top of my regular sit desk so it is cheating easy to walk that much). I bought it to estimate my TDEE as well and so far think it is about right based on what I have tried to calculate from various websites including fat2fit (now that I know I am not sedentary). So far I have actually gained some weight using it, but I might not have been eating enough based on what I am seeing for the TDEE as I underestimated how active I am.