FitBit or BodyMedia Link?

KellyJoMorris

I have a Fitbit Ultra, I love it!! I've never heard of BodyMedia Link so can't offer you a comparison.
You can log all your stats on fitbit.com, although I do it on MFP simply because my iphone app allows me to scan the barcode of food items and so saves masses of time inputting data.
I was not aware that there were accuracy issues with the fitbit, it appears to work very well for me.
Interesting fact: the fitbit knows when I am in a lift and doesn't count how many floors I have gone up with the altimeter, so I don't understand why it would count steps when I am in the car. xx

samblanken

You can use fit bit with out MFP. It calcs everything on it's own. I love the sync feature though. I've only had mine a couple weeks and I love it!

CrystalX82

I LOVE my FitBit! and the fact that it links up with MFP makes things SO much easier. I like using it to track my sleep too. It helps keep me motivated and I now set little goals for how many steps I walk on a day of work, a day or school or a day off. I even walk around my apartment studying sometimes to get some more steps in! or run up and down the stairs in my apartment to get some more activity. I think it's fantastic and well worth the money! and it's so easy to clip onto jeans or even onto the middle of your bra.

DizzyNurse

Fitbit seems pretty close to accurate to me, My TDEE is around 1800 and that's usually what comes up if I don't do any exercises. My fitbit has NEVER calculated driving time. I've watched it closely, it hasn't added a single step during drive time, however i have heard that people have this issue. I don't. It does NOT have to be used with myfitnesspal, idk where you heard that, but you don't have to add it here. IF you do have it synced with mfp, Fitbit will add all the extra walking you do, but you can take it off of your exercise each day. I love my fitbit, but I've never used the body media. I think Fitbit is great, some people seem to say it's inaccurate and counts steps as you drive and whatever, but as for me, I've never had any of those issues with it. I've had it for about 2 months now.

This is good to know. I just got my fitbit in the mail this week and have not had time to set it up yet. I have several friends that have them and LOVE them. I also like the fact that it records your sleep activity. I have horrible insomnia so am anxious to see what it shows in that area and see what I can do to improve my sleep.

Also, I walk up and down stairs all day long at work so am interested to see the total count--- it may even encourage me to do more stairs throughout the day to see if I can break my record from the day before :-)

jflo2011

I have both. I bought the body media first. I was fairly happy with it, however, there were a few issues that led me to switch to fitbit:

The bulky armband was one issue. I really got tired of all the questions. Also, I got tired of having it displayed everytime a wanted to wear something with a short sleeve! It looks "sporty" with fitness apparel, but otherwise I felt like it was unattactive with most of my work clothes. The phone app never functioned correctly for me. The computer site is o.k., but the food database was horrible. I found it very difficult to search for foods. If you don't know exactly how a food is titled then it will not find it when you search. Very frustrating. When my subscription expired, I decided I would rather pay $99 for fitbit since there is no monthly fee for the service, and save money in the long run.

I wear my fitbit in the center of my bra. I love that! It is not visible at all under my clothes! I feel that it estimates my activity/calorie burn just as well as the bodymedia. I love the mobile app, and the website. I do not use their food database much because I log my food via MFP. I LOVE that MFP sends my data to fitbit! (not possible w/ body media). I also joined earnedit, so my activity points allow me to get rewards. I love that on the fitbit there is a display so I can see my progress throughout the day!!

norcal_yogi

We will see how I like it once I get the FIT BIT up and running. I can tell you this. Calories burned on the FIT BIT are far less than Body Media.

...i am not surprised that you find the BMF seems to overestimate...

smitten4glitter

Hi there thought I'd chime in since I have a BodyBugg, which I beleive is from BodyMedia? Anyhow here's how I look at it. First both my husband and I had one in the past and sold it on Craigslist. When I started to think about losing weight I knew I wanted a gadget again. We got fitbit's and quickly returned them, they just didn't have all that useful and motivational info which works for me. I too was like great..now we have to pay a monthly subscription fee times 2, but honestly we spend that on eating out fastfood. SO I thought It would be better on our health and pocket to justify the fee that way. I've been using it for 3 weeks now. The inital one was defective right out of the box they quickly replaced it and I have had a day or two I have forgot to put it on after charging but the fact that I knew I'd spent the money on it was haunting me so I quickly put it back on. My Husband and I constantly snub each other all day long playfuly of course to see who can out do the other with steps and calories burned each day:) Now we both volunteer to take the trash out or check the mail anything we can do to one-up the others steps for the day! It really is a motivational tool that gives Awesome knowledge of how your body is working for you...as long as you input the data. Which leads me to why I joined MFP I log my food here beucase of it's extensive database and the forum looks cool too, I need all the support and motivation a girl can get;) But the database for the bodybug is seriously lacking!!! Again I'm willing to pay the monthly fee becuase of all the other info IT does offer. Hope this helps

bwlee716

I just bought my FitBit 2-1/2 weeks ago along with their Aria scale. It's a great motivator to get me off my bum, however, something went awry with the downloaded software and I wasn't able to sync my FitBit to the computer for days. Customer service finally responded to my inquiry and basically told me to re-download and start from there. I was out of commission for about 4 days. I did notice that I wasn't as motivated because I didn't have to be as accountable. All that said, I decided to check out MFP and really love the way it works for me. The food diary is incredible and has tons more foods listed (even stuff I knew wasn't going to be on there --- WRONG, it was!). I now use my FitBit to track my steps only but use MFP for everything else. I find the FitBit website less inclusive as the MFP. If you want something more serious, I'd look to something else.

turbodog14

What about the Nike Fuel band? Seems like it might be a good fit for iphone users since it is so tightly integrated.

DarkFlutter

I’m torn between a Fitbit and a BodyMedia Fit Link.

My primary concern with a device like this is accuracy and ease of use.

From what I can see, from reviews I’ve read, they both have pros and cons.

FitBit Cons:
Not as accurate, according to some reviews
Have to take extra time to calculate time spent driving/riding the train etc.
Apparently has to be used in connection with MFP; unclear if I can just log the data (ie. calories burned) manually? I’d prefer to just enter the calories burned manually on MFP.

Please help me decide. What are your pros and cons with each device and what would you choose?

I LOVE MY FITBIT!
I probably don't use mine like most people...I only track my exercises versus wearing it all day.
The accuracy is better than MFP, and comparable to a few random websites I had searched.
You don't have to link it to MFP...if you do it will show an "adjustment" everyday. I got annoyed with that and unlinked it.
I just enter my stats into MFP from the FitBit record log.

I wouldn't trade it anything else!

lydiadownes

For those people that have a fitbit and use MFP, how do yo record your exercise? I have been using MFP for a few months now and I do a lot of dog walking which I used to input straight into MFP. I brought the fitbit last week and now use the stopwatch on the fitbit to record my exercise and then sync it straight into MFP? Am I doing it right? I am finding the fitbit a little confusing to get my head round but think it is just teething problems.

LadyIvysMom

You guys are awesome! Thanks so much!

janiegross

I don't think you have to use the stop watch, unless you want to know how much you burn during a specific period of time. The fitbit automatically knows when you are being more active.

GreekByMarriage

I have had my BodyMedia Link for a month now and LOVE it!!! I don't even notice I am wearing it. When I first started wearing it to work, I did get alot of questions (3 co-workers now want to get them) and have only had 2 strangers ask me what it was. I had not lost any weight between May and August 17 (when I bought it)since then I have lost almost 6 pounds! I cannot say enough good things about it! I did try to get a FItBit in the beginning of the year but it would not sync up to any computer I had, either at home or at work so I returned it!

GauchoMark

have you seen the new Fitbit One that they just came out with this week? Water Resistant and bluetooth sync via smartphone...

I can't say anything about the bodymedia, but the fitbit is great and they really stand behind it. The customer service is really good.

RetiredAndLovingIt

bump