FitBit---is it worth the money?

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  • taniaandmichael
    taniaandmichael Posts: 38 Member
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    I love it. My husband bought it for me for my birthday (at the Verizon store), and I begged him to give it to me early. I'm so glad he did. It really gives me a good estimate of how many calories I'm burning and how active I am during the day. Before I got the Fitbit, I didn't realize how much time during the day that I wasn't moving. Now, I'm moving more because I want better numbers on my Fitbit.
  • CherylGardner
    CherylGardner Posts: 75 Member
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    It depends on what your type of activity is -- if you are looking for something to track daily routine, like sleeping, general activity level, stairs and walking/running, then it would be a good fit -- I love mine for this purpose.

    If you are doing a lot of cycling, swimming, weight lifting, etc, it may not be the best option as it doesn't really track those things very well.

    I have had it since February and have never missed a day... even at the beach/waterpark - I stick it in a waterproof pouch and tuck it in my swim suit. My main "exercise" is brisk walking so it works great for me. I love my fitbit because I don't get to exercise "on purpose" as much as I'd like, so I try to move more doing general tasks throughout the day. The fitbit helps me track how much that is accounting for.
  • lizard053
    lizard053 Posts: 2,344 Member
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    Absolutely and totally worth the money!

    I really like the sleep-tracker function. However I also enjoy challenging myself to reach those 10,000 steps a day. Been slacking lately, only getting ~1/4 of them in...

    The only thing I don't like about it is that it has a really small opening and my pants have a larger seam sometimes. But it does come with a gizmo to put it on a belt, but I don't use a belt, so the problem still exists. And sometimes it falls off my pants that don't have a big seam. (I put it on my pocket usually.)
  • Welchgal
    Welchgal Posts: 2 Member
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    I love mine! I.found out about it from my neighbor. It is amazing how much one walks just in daily activities. I love to walk and wanted an acurate mileage count. I did wear it to bed for about a month and was amazed how much I really awoke during the night. It is a good motivator!

    I wear it on my bra - in the middle!
  • nannabannana
    nannabannana Posts: 787
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    YES YES AND YES...The statement is true about "NORMAL" people who are sedentary only do about 2500 steps a day. I am 65 , bought mine April 29th. In the 2nd week I was determined to get over 20,000. steps to earn that badge! Lately, I have NOT been using it with 2 Grandbabies here 4-5 days a week..10-12 hrs. a day. When they are sleeping I walked on treadmill . 2 used Treadmills are tore up. I do Zumba and a few other exercises, but my fav thing to do is outside walking, but too hot now for me and the babies. Today I am going for a swim at neighbors, but I really want an HRM with my circumstances...I think I could do quieter exercises around my own home. Do I regreat getting the FITBIT..NO..I still love it. Hope that answers your question. :)

    BTW..CONGRATULATIONS ON OVERCOMING your bulimic. Your parents are so great to have seen that to start with. My Grandaughter is 24 yrs old and you remind me of her. :) your age, etc., not the bulimia. THAT IS A COMPLIMENT ....
  • itz708
    itz708 Posts: 16
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    i love love love it! it works great! I agree with a previous comment, I didnt realize how few steps I was taking within a day. When I started I was only at 3 or 4k, now I try everyday for 10k+, I have seen some used on ebay for $50-$70 if you really didnt want to spend the $100.
  • MzLegette72
    MzLegette72 Posts: 11
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    The fitbit is a great investment. I love mine and have been using it faithfully since March. I love that it links with MFP to accurately record those missing calories I burn throughout the day. It keeps me motivated and helps me challenge myself more and more. Because of it I take the stairs at work now instead of the elevator. Like previous people have wrote the customer service is ABSOLUTELY AMAZING!! They are on point and will help you in anyway possible including sending you a replacement for FREE!! I love the sleep monitoring, I never knew how much I woke up at night until I purchased my fitbit and I must say my sleep habits have improved tremendously because of it. I say YES go and get it. And yes you can always price track on amazon to see when the price goes down. I hope this helps!!
  • debabebai
    debabebai Posts: 13 Member
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    Love my fitbit! I too am borderline addicted to it. I need to be held accountable to keep my focus and the instant feedback that fitbit provides will motivate me to move while MFP holds me accountable for my food intake. Well worth the money. I do not put mine in my pocket and thus far it has not gone through the washer. I had a problem with my first fitbit and found their customer service to be great! When this one dies, I will replace it. My husband periodically asks me how my stairs I've climbed. To me this his interest in the fitbit tells me he is considering getting one for himself.
  • Katie1951
    Katie1951 Posts: 314 Member
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    YeIs I love mine! I am checking it during the day to insure that I'm moving enough. When I do a specific exercise like my strength training class I take off my Fitbit and use my HRM monitor to record my calories burned.

    There are many nights when I check my Fitbit and see that I haven't gotten in my 10,000 step a day goal and I get up and head out the door or pull out my Leslie Sansone tapes.

    It's the least expensive, but most used piece of exercise equipment I've ever owned.
  • 1JenMilam
    1JenMilam Posts: 108 Member
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    It is the best purchase I have made!!!! I also purchased the FitBit Aria scale.
  • secretlobster
    secretlobster Posts: 3,566 Member
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    It depends on what your type of activity is -- if you are looking for something to track daily routine, like sleeping, general activity level, stairs and walking/running, then it would be a good fit -- I love mine for this purpose.

    If you are doing a lot of cycling, swimming, weight lifting, etc, it may not be the best option as it doesn't really track those things very well.

    This is exactly the truth - It's a great tool for people who are mostly sedentary and are looking to maximize their low-intensity, normal-day activity levels. I've got to hand it to the FitBit here; it's really good at motivating you to go out and walk another 500 steps :) From the marketing FitBit has done on their product, this is really its purpose.

    If you're an intense activity person who is doing a lot of exercise that isn't walking, you probably won't find this very useful a) because it doesn't accurately measure your lifestyle and b) you're already very active...
  • MENichols5
    MENichols5 Posts: 176 Member
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    Thank you all for the responses! I am definitely considering buying a FitBit soon.

    As for a HRM, does anyone have suggestions for an afforable, easy-to-use HRM that tracks calories burned?
  • goldfinger88
    goldfinger88 Posts: 686 Member
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    Those who use Fitbit with Leslie Sansone, I have a question. My current pedometer doesn't register a mile on the mile walk. Only 0.37 mile. And about 39 calories. Does the Fitbit actually register one mile?
  • goldfinger88
    goldfinger88 Posts: 686 Member
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    bump
  • Bob314159
    Bob314159 Posts: 1,178 Member
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    Those who use Fitbit with Leslie Sansone, I have a question. My current pedometer doesn't register a mile on the mile walk. Only 0.37 mile. And about 39 calories. Does the Fitbit actually register one mile?

    FitBit - you adjust the stride length to match your body and walk. A regular pedometer - same thing - unless its a very cheap pedometer.
  • tvl0308
    tvl0308 Posts: 96 Member
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    wow a lot of great responses on the FitBit, I need to invest in one. Sounds like it would be something for me to use. :)
  • draculaspointer
    draculaspointer Posts: 106 Member
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    Depends on your form of movement. If you alternate walking / running I wouldn't bother because it can be inaccurate when your stride changes.

    It's great for walking.. stair climbing.. sleep monitoring.

    I walk and run during the day and didnt bother to set up the running stride length (online) so the mileage is always off when I run. However, it does still keep track of steps during runs. I know how far I run and dont mind the the fitbit is off. Of course, i could stop being lazy and figure out my running stride length and enter it online and use that...but it doesnt seem worth the effort. I love the fit bit, I love to see how active I am throughout the day and the sleep monitoring.

    It was eye opening how much time I spend "sedentary" during the day. I guess having a desk job will do that to ya. But the fitbit is good at tracking that so hopefully can be used to make improvements.
  • Bob314159
    Bob314159 Posts: 1,178 Member
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    It was eye opening how much time I spend "sedentary" during the day. I guess having a desk job will do that to ya. But the fitbit is good at tracking that so hopefully can be used to make improvements.

    I was freaked out the first few days I used FitBit - I have a sedentary computer job - but I thought I did a reasonable amount of walking - I had guessed 5K - but I was so so wrong. Now I do 10K per day 90% of the time
  • mcarter99
    mcarter99 Posts: 1,666 Member
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    Those who use Fitbit with Leslie Sansone, I have a question. My current pedometer doesn't register a mile on the mile walk. Only 0.37 mile. And about 39 calories. Does the Fitbit actually register one mile?

    I've 'measured' Leslie walks before and she exaggerates things. (Of course, you don't move any actual distance in them so it's sort of just semantics.)
  • Masq
    Masq Posts: 191 Member
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    My personal experience with riding in the car…..
    Over Memorial Day weekend, I wore my fitbit the whole time:
    Friday – 10 hours in the car with one stop for gas / bathroom
    Saturday – On my feet for 5+ hours, setting up and decorating for a graduation party
    Sunday – 10 hours in the car with two stops – gas/bathroom and lunch

    When I got home and my fitbit uploaded the data from the weekend to the computer, I was shocked and irritated when I had more steps, floors and calories burned on the two days that I was in the car than I did for the Saturday when I was on my feet.
    This was the reason I thought the fitbit was flawed and bought a bodybugg….which I later returned.
    I wrote my complaint about the fitbit on the community boards on the fitbit site and received a reply from fitbit…. I needed to record driving and riding in the car as an activity and the information would adjust. SO… for me it was a ‘user’ error. I didn’t know it was necessary to record that. When I entered my the activity on the fitbit site, it adjusted the calories, steps and floors accordingly.

    I noticed it again when I was in the car for an hour and did not go up or down any stairs…. I came home and the fitbit showed I did 8 floors. I put in an activity for riding in the car and the floors went down to 1.

    I don’t bother recording an activity for my daily commute or most times I’m in the car. The only reason I did it for the 1 hour trip was to see if it would change the floors and it did.

    I also do not wear the fitbit when I go on a bike ride. I did one time and it recorded my bike ride as steps…. Even after I entered it on the site as a bike ride…. The steps didn’t change.

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