Thoughts On Fitbit Ultra Tracker?

ambitious01 · July 2012

I love my fitbit. It syncs with mfp and I don't have to log any exercise. I think it underestimates on the cardio tho. If I had it all to do over again I wouldn't have spent the additional 50 dollars for the premium service on it. I would also recommend buying it from Best buy instead of directly through the maker. You can get it insured that way. Also, it is very small. It uses the same technology as the nintendo wii so maybe good and maybe not. The small size is easy to be lost also, but it's flip side is it isn't all bulky and noticeable by others. :bigsmile:

STrooper · July 2012

Yes, and it is really nice to use in conjunction with a smartphone and with MFP. I already had a nice pedometer (which I still use), but it is interesting to have near real-time energy expenditure and calorie intake data displayed.

I use MFP for all my food logging and the standard treadmill type excercises in my routine. For most walks (with the exception of backpacking, I allow the fitbit to track steps/calories burned. Fit bit gives you credit for stairs climbed 9as long as you climb more than 10 feet over a period of time in one conitnuous climb.

The fitbit software and MFP software play well together once you have them properly linked.

Unlike my pedometer, it is small and inconspicuous.
Sorry i waited so long to get one.

nannabannana · July 2012

bump I say YES. YES and YES. I love mine! I love this site too.

nannabannana · July 2012

Frederi825 · July 2012

I've had a Fit Bit for almost a year. This has not been an issue. For the insanely OCD, you could put the Fit Bit in sleep/timer mode for the duration of the car ride and then manually enter in for this same time period the "activity" of riding in a car. Fit Bit will then provide for a very modest calorie burn for that activity and not rely on the built-in pedometer. Same procedure for swimming, etc. Whenever the Fit Bit is likely to get it wrong (as when it's on your beach towel when you're swimming, or when your treadmill is set to a steep incline and the Fit Bit has no way of knowing that you're doing more than just steps), you can put it into timer mode and enter the activity you engaged in during the same time. I used to do this for my treadmill but ended up concluding that the Fit Bit was close enough with just the regular tracking built-in.

mcarter99 · July 2012

Mine doesn't count steps in the car, either. At least nothing significant. It does advance calorie burns while in the car because it's estimating your total burn, not just your burn from exercise.

STrooper · July 2012

Only if you are driving over a washboard. Seriously, if you are being jostled a lot by the road AND climbing hills it will give you erroneous results. Note that FITBIT asnd MFP don't agree on calorie intake but at the end of the day they are usually within 50 calories of each other. Largest discrepancy has been about 200 calories though I could not figure out why.

You can edit out the extra steps/calories by using the FITBIT activiies tab to zero zero out the extra steps. FITBIT always assumes some basic calories expenditure because if you are checking the website, it means that you are still living and breathing.

I just checked this mornings bus ride into work. It added 8 steps during the time I was sitting and riding to work out of the 12,000 steps I've already accumulated for today.

lwlock · July 2012

The biggest thing I noticed the Fitbit count while in the car was flights of stairs. Going through the mountains in TN gave me quite a few! I was tempted to eat those extra calories but thought better of it.

SteffieMark · July 2012

This. Mine does not record riding in a car or bus etc as steps. But, if it did, I would do this.

I love my Fitbit and have used it for a few months now. I never take it off, except to shower. I would feel nakie without it. I have a new HRM arriving today, via UPS and will use them both.

AmyFett · July 2012

I dunno but I can't justify spending 100 dollars on a glorified pedometer =/

papate · July 2012

I just joined MFP as well and a friend said the Fitbit is awesome, she loves it, so I ordered one yesterday. Watch the video, very informative, motivating and HOPEFULLY worth the $. Good luck, we'll be seeing on MFP.

JanLeb · July 2012

I got mine in May and LOVE IT!!

I know it is small but I hook it to the front of my bra every morning, so I don't worry about losing it at all.

It really does motivate you to move more and earn as many steps as possible in a day.

rmillsaps04 · July 2012

I've had my FitBit for about 3 weeks and am going to return it. I do some many activities that don't count accruately, like cycling and riding horses, that it's more of a pain than anything to correct on the website. Also, it gives me about 30 floors and 5,000 steps on my daily driving commute to work and back. Yes, you can go on the dashboard and cancel these out, but if I want to just look at the FitBit itself and see where I'm at, it's always wrong. Also, it's not a HR tracker so I think that a Polar watch or equivalent is more useful.

linder4866 · July 2012

I love the Fitbit Ultra. I wear it on my bra and have never had problems losing it and so far I guess I haven't sweat enough to ruin it.

I've also never had a problem with it recording steps while I'm driving. The only issue I've had with the Fitbit is that it does not record all the flights of stairs I climb every day. I don't know if I go too slow or what but that doesn't really bother me.

I log my sleep and wear the Fitbit on my wrist at night. To me it's quit interesting to find out how many times I wake up during the night. And also the length of time that I actually sleep.

I also have a HRM for estimating calories burned on various activities.

All in all, I'm satisfied with both the Fitbit and my HRM. For me, they are excellent tools.

doonesbury · July 2012

Seconds this!! ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

doonesbury · July 2012

Hmmmm interesting...

My Fitbit has NEVER, EVER, recorded car ride or any of the issues listed above.

I love, LOVE, L O V E it!!!!!!!!!

kimnsc · July 2012

I've had mine for months and I've NEVER had it do those things while in a car and I don't log any car trip activity......

kimnsc · July 2012

Same here.

twaltemade · July 2012

I am in week one, and to answer your question so far it is worth far more than the price for motivating me. Since I tend to obsess on my MFP calorie status (android, ipad and computer) to insure that I am on target, the linking between the Fitbit and MFP is what drives me. Any time that I look at MFP, I am reminded of my current activity from Fitbit. Case in point....on Saturday I was frustrated with the low calorie burn that I had achieved that day. I ended up getting out of my chair around 7pm and walking 5 miles just to get my numbers up. Without seeing my Fitbit activity, I would have stayed in the Lazy Boy.

Net...if it keeps me motivated and challenges me to do a little more each day...it's doing it's job. My only fear is that I could become obsessive compulsive about this thing, but the end result should make it worthwhile. As of right now, I know that I will be ticked off if I don't get another 3,000 steps in by the end of the day. (My goal is 15,000 steps per day except on Sundays...then my goal drops to 500 or less)

I guess it's a question of what "motivates" you. Beating my daily goals motivates me and fills a void that was missing in my previous weight loss attempts.

Cyndist1 · July 2012

As to the question about being in a vehicle and it tracking that as walking. Funny story. I drove 2800 miles round trip from MN to WA state. Anyone who has driven that knows you have to drive over the Continental Divide. Well my fitbit showed that I had climbed like 60 flights so I guess it doesn't know the difference from driving up a hill to walking up a hill.

On the way back I tossed both the Striiv and Fitbit into my gym bag and they both read like 50,000 steps. You can go online into the fitbit dash board and log the driving.
Cindy

jasonheyd · July 2012

I haven't had any problems with mine recording steps during a 1.5 hour commute in stop & go traffic. It might add a step here and there, but nothing that doesn't get drowned out by the total volume of daily steps. I guess it might depend on how bumpy your ride is and how smooth your suspension is.

It's been hinted at in many of the replies I think, but the Fitbit and a HRM are two very different beasts...

Fitbit's really good for tracking general activity level, and for giving you a subtle push to keep yourself more active day-to-day. You pretty much wear it 24x7 unless swimming or bathing (although, if you're not worried about tracking how much you toss & turn at night, you can just put it in sleep mode -- start the timer -- and set it on the nightstand while you catch your Zs).

The HRM will give you an estimate of calories burned during physical activity. You don't wear it unless you're exercising, but it will track activities that Fitbit will not (e.g. resistance training, cycling or anything that doesn't involve taking steps).

I use both a Fitbit and a Polar H7 HRM, which I connect to my iPhone using the Digifit app (other apps like Endomondo, MapMyFitness, and RunKeeper would also work).

On MFP, I set my activity level to "Sedentary" and I link MFP to my Fitbit account. Digifit sends exercise data from my HRM to Fitbit, and then Fitbit sends a calorie adjustment to MFP based on my combined Fitbit + Digifit (HRM) activity levels.

Ash_ah_lee · July 2012

I just got mines today.. I love it so far!

Masq · July 2012

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.

cwade1021 · July 2012

Can you put it on before a workout to get an accurate idea of how many calories you've burned?

nnylee · July 2012

I love mine so much.

rlynnehawk · July 2012

My daughter has one (she's the one who told me about this site), and she swears by it! I just bought one tonight...it is still on the charger. I hope that I have as much success as she has had....she has lost a small person and looks great! :flowerforyou:

EnterFitness · July 2012

In a word, POLAR!

The fitbit is a bit of a toy tracking probably more tham you need to know -- like sleep patterns. If that is important to you and want to seriously track your sleep, your calories and things other than your heart rate while doing exercise, go for the Body Bugg.

Also, if the Fitbit (i believe) doesn't come with an HRM chest strap then it is going to be dishonest with you about calorie burns. The only way to accurately know is when your heart beats against the monitor on the strap (in humorous lay terms).

mystinamarie · July 2012

I bought one in early June after doing MFP for about a month. For me it was a no brainer b/c my job is a 7 hour shift on my feet, constantly walking around. I wanted a reliable way to count those steps.

I bought mine in the "other" section on Amazon, brand new, for $80. It's still holding up great and I haven't had any problems with it so far! It automatically tracks my steps and stairs climbed and syncs it with MFP at the end of the day. I have never had an issue with it counting driving steps or other technicalities.

The only problem I've ever run into is once in a blue moon the FitBit and MFP sites don't sync as quickly as you'd like, so there's a bit of a gap in the information. I think the longest this happened was still <48 hours. Usually it syncs really quickly. It's such a great asset to have to not have to even think about your activity or counting or logging. You literally just clip it on and go. The next time you're near your computer it does all the work for you and the information automatically shows up in your diary. That makes it worth the money for me!

sfgonzales · July 2012

Loooooove my fitbit!

Barbellerella · July 2012

Oh my goodness, I LOVE mine waaaay more than I expected. I got it about 10 days ago. There is NOTHING more motivating or more exciting than when it adds Fitbit exercise calories automatically for you, depending on how active you've been throughout the day!!!

PS got mine on amazon, $99, free shipping no tax

Thoughts On Fitbit Ultra Tracker?

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