Fit Bit? Body Bugg? BodyMedia? Nike Plus?

Dreamerryu27

Good stuff! I am going to get the fitbit :-)

thriftycupl

I have a fitbit. Purchased it after starting my journey here. I like it because it synchronizes here with MFP, however, there is are great features on the Fitbit site as well that I probably don't fully utilize. I love my fitbit and it has definitely helped me in terms of moving more.

Faeriegirl74

I have a fitbit and love it!

loadsandloads

bump

schustc

What a lot of people don't know, is that Body Bugg, and I THINK BodyMedia fit (because I believe they are similar products) both have nickel in the plate that sits on your skin. if you have a nickel allergy (think if it turns your skin green when you wear cheap jewelry, or worse if you break out from cheap jewelry) you may not be able to handle them.

I have/had a BodyBugg - LOVED LOVED LOVED ... and LOVED it. did not love the rash it made on my arm. I moved it around frequently to try to find fresh skin but after awhile, I was running out of spots and gave up. Very Very sad about it. I don't miss the monthly membership fee for it. I have since moved to the FitBit. it's not nearly as good in my opinion as the BodyBugg (and probably the Body Media fit) - but - it's an acceptable substitute under the circumstances.

I loved that you could isolate to the minute how many calories you burned, and actually use the slide bar to give you an exact calorie burn for a time frame. FitBit has something similar, though not quite as nice.

I have tested my fit bit to my polar heart rate monitor, and found that for the most part, they are really close when I use my elliptical. So I think it's a fair estimator. I have doubts that it is accurate when I lift weights, because from what I understand, heavy lifting burns some good calories, but because you're not really 'active' the fitbit doesn't register much when I do that. I never lifted with my Body Bugg, so I can't speak to that.

I do like not having something attached to my arm (wear the fitbit like a necklace). Do like the easy readout of the fitbit. I had the readout watch thing for the Bodybugg - the FitBit is nicer for that. Of course BodyBugg wanted you to pay for the online membership so making the readout unit nice was not a priority I am sure

Anyhow - I LOVED my bodybugg, and I do love my fitbit. choosing between the 2.. I think I like the FitBit better 90% of the time just because of the ease of use (and forgetting I even have it on) The times I miss my BodyBugg are when I think i'm missing out on calories burned (Such as with heavy lifting), and if I want a more specific range of calorie burn on the website. but neither of those outweigh the convenience (and lack of rash!) than the fitbit

lynn14

What does "bump" mean on here?? I feel so stupid!!!

I have Nike Plus is limiting. I am going to be looking into FitBit and Body Bugg.
Thank you for writing about all of these, it helps me think things through.

ColletteNicole

I used bodybugg for over 2 years off & on, switched to a fitbit this past month and it feels like a huge breath of fresh air!!! I LOVE fitbit!!

Here's why I prefer fitbit over bodybugg:

1. It's smaller and more compact and can be worn clipped to your bra, so I feel confident wearing it all day and with any outfit. Bodybugg made me feel self conscious wearing short sleeves and tanks because I'm not happy with my weight and I felt it drew attention to my arm pudge. Plus it just screams "I'm on a diet!" when worn with regular clothing. In addition, the armband was uncomfortable, always needed to be almost too snug or else I'd have awkward moments of it sliding down my arm during meetings (and it makes a loud beep sequence when it loses skin contact). Bodybugg is ONLY calibrated to be used on the left arm. It is not accurate used anywhere else.

2. Fitbit has a digital display, so you can easily view your progress whenever you'd like (it shows steps, calories burned, flights of stairs, time, has a stopwatch, etc). Bodybugg has no display. With the original bodybugg, I purchased the wireless uploader and the digital display (watch) but the watch was often inaccurate and never consistently synced with the bodybugg armband. As a longtime user, I was excited when the SP version came out and ordered it right away. The SP is supposed to sync with the iphone app so you can see your progress it real time. I never could get it to consistently work, too annoying to mess with during a workout. So I could NEVER see where I was during the day without getting on the computer to upload. It was a PITA.

3. Fitbit syncs with myfitnesspal, so you can log your food here. Steps and calories burned are visible here. The bodybugg site is buggy (no pun intended) and a pain to log. I could never use it at work because I couldn't download the plug ins it needed due to security settings, and I'd often have to mess with different browsers at home. The BB food database sucks, not huge and a lot of inaccurate items. The app is horrible, slow and basically re-routes you back to the web site through safari. Too time consuming.

4. Fitbit is cheaper. One time fee of $99. No ongoing costs. Not sure the current BB price but my last upgrade was around $200 I think, then there is a monthly fee to use their site (necessary to see your data) which can be paid yearly, but is around $10 a month I believe.

5. Fitbit tracks sleep patterns, bodybugg does not. I love this feature!

The ONLY benefit bodybugg has over fitbit is that it IS more accurate (90% accuracy if worn correctly on the upper left arm) and yes, the fitbit is basically a glorified pedmeter. However, I still have 2 months left on my BB subscription, so I wore it along with the fitbit when it came to see how accurate fitbit would be in comparison- it was almost dead on for every workout, and my total daily burn was always within 200 calories by the end of the day. Bodybugg is better at estimating burn for things like weight lifting, because there is less movement for fitbit to pick up, but since it measures sweat and temperature it's more accurate. For cardio on my treadmill, the numbers for my burn were very close (like under 50 calories off!) For me, the difference is not enough to be a concern at all! So I highly recommend the fitbit, it's accurate enough for most people's needs IMO. You could always supplement by getting an HRM just to wear during workouts if super accuracy is desired, but I don't think it's necessary.

The fit bit itself really inspires me to be more active throughout the day, I love the size and ease of use and the mfp integration. Just wish I would've switched over sooner! LOVE it!!!

tracyhall63

I use a HRM, a ,Polar ft7, to track calories burned during my workouts. if you want something to read other data i.e. sleep, a trainer recommended the BodyMedia to me. I agree with a past poster that the FitBit seems like a glorified step counter, BUT if you are looking for something to motivate you to move that would be perfect. It is personal preference.

kickingwithkara

Hi great post on the differences between FitBit and BodyBugg!! I'm overall in agreement. I have been a BB user for the last two years and just bought Fitbit and have been wearing both to get a comparison. Here's my assessment -

1. Food tracker is much easier on FitBit. BodyBugg seems a bit clunky and often the system freezes, which is super annoying, especially your warm dinner is sitting in front of you and you can't eat it until you log it! lol

2. Size and wear - Fitbit wins here. The BB is pretty noticeable. I work in an office and could never take my suit jacket off during the day, as my zebra print BB strap would have been over the top for my office:). Fitbit clips to your bra, so no one can see it!

3. Application and usage for calorie tracking - Bodybugg wins here. I liked the feature of being able to specify time periods to see calories burned. With Fitbit - you can still do that but you must create an 'Activity' to measure it without having to manually add up the 5-minute increments. Not a huge deal though...

4. Accuracy - totally bummed to say this, b/c i WANT fitbit to be the total winner, but BB is the winner here! I have been wearing BOTH for the last couple of days. I'm a fitness instructor and teach multiple classes a day. Yesterday I taught three classes in a row (only adds up to 2.25 hours total). The bodybugg said I burned about 1000 calories, while the fitbit was off by about 500 calories. Today it was off by about 600 for total caloric burn. I measured my Zumba class as an example and BodyBugg said I burned 600, which is easily possible. I mean - I'm DRENCHED in sweat after teaching. That being said, I don't think FITBIT is as accurate. Can't be. One of the classes I taught last night was a body conditioning class. High intensity with weights...FITBIT said I burned about 300 calories. Just no way....I teach a HIIT class (High Intensity Interval Training) class which jacks your heart rate up (think plyometric drills and weight lifting combined). There is simply no way I burned only 300...

All that to say - I'm going to stick with FitBit simply b/c it's easier, more compact, love the sleep tracking of patterns, and in the end, underestimation of calories burned isn't really a bad thing, as it will just make me eat less.

hope this helps. PS - if anyone is in NYC and wants to take a Zumba class, or kickboxing whatever...you can come as my personal guest to one of my classes. Just email me!

www.kickingwithkara.com

jimbobvt

I am going to throw in on this post, because I found it to have some good info.

Yes, the FitBit is a glorified step counter, so It will not be as accurate with calorie burn as any device that measures heart rate. However, FitBit will always calculate on the low side of calorie burn as compared to a heart rate monitor, like bodybugg/body media. This means that if your fitness goal is weight loss, the inaccuracy issue wont matter.

Another consideration for the FitBit is that the Ultra version has an altimeter built in to calculate stairs climbed. This makes it a bit more accurate.

FitBit is far more versitile than watches or bands as far as concealing it and location. It can clip to a waistband, belt loop, belt, etc. Which brings up another point, if you are strength training with weights, be wary of armbands. I used an armband for my media device for about 3 months of free weight training.the armband caused pain and development issues in my right bicep. I now use wireless and no armband, but my bicep still pops a bit when I do curls.

So, the upside of FitBit is that it does a great job tracking calorie burn all day long, and discreetly. When it does fail to be accurate, it will report calories burned lower, so for weight loss, it is still effective.

Down side of FitBit, if you are using MFP to take your training to the next level by consuming the exact right amount and distribution of calories, FitBit may let you down.