Do you FitBit?

crazyola26

I've been known to wear a pedometer to track my steps. Do you have a FitBit? Do you recommend it over wearing a pedometer? Give me the pros and cons and help me decide if I should invest.

Mindochka

I have a Fitbit Ultra and I love it. I wear it everyday and have for over a year now. I have had very little trouble with it syncing to MFP. It is very discreet (I wear it on my bra) and has been totally worth the money since i was destroying other pedometers pretty quickly, or losing them since they tended to be bulky. Customer service with Fitbit is also awesome. I got mine really super sweaty on day and it stopped working. I contacted customer service and after some troubleshooting didn't work, they sent me a new one. I am definitely a huge fan of Fitbits!

I shoot for 10,000 steps a day. I really like that the Fitbit is pretty consistent and accurate (Ie, I have counted steps myself and then checked the fitbit and it was pretty close). The Fitbit keeps me moving if I see I am at 8,000 for the day. WIthout the fitbit, I would just go to bed but it gives me a gauge to keep moving until I hit 10,000.

I also wear a polar FT4 heart rate monitor when I am running or doing a more intense workout. This helps me more accurately judge calorie burn for things that are straight walking.

I hope this helps!

crazyola26

thank you for this! have you noticed a difference in your sleep routine or anything else?

ChristyRunStarr

I agree with Mindochka-and I also wear a HRM for my runs and when I work out for calories burned. My Fitbit has definitely helped me to get moving more especially at work where I work as an admin specialist so it's easy to sit and do stuff at my desk all day. Now I'll work around the office just because I can as well as go either upstairs or downstairs for the bathroom so I get my flights in. I use it to track my sleep but I haven't really noticed any difference or pattern-I mainly do it just so it doesn't look like I'm not doing nothing but sitting when I'm alseep

therealangd

I have a fitbit. I think it's great. I will also add that customer service is awesome.

It's very accurate with the steps.

I think somebody has been messing with programming lately though. It used to be very accurate for calories and now lately it seems not so much. 3 mile run used to be about 300 calories. Lately it has been coming in at low 200's high 100's.

Regardless, it still keeps me motivated.

FlamencoGal

I have the FitBit Zip and I absolutely LOVE IT!!!!! A co-worker was so impressed with how easy it was to use, she went and bought one. The Zip is very, very basic, but that's all I wanted. I was tired of paying good money for pedometers that I couldn't figure out how to work, and were too bulky. The Zip is soooooo tiny and cute!!!!

Bob314159

I've owned several pedometers in the past to try and increased my walking and never really used them, too much trouble to reset them and track the results. As of March this year I was possibly doing 2500 steps a day, I have a sedentary job mostly at a computer 12 hours a day. I splurged and bought a FitBit in May. Sine then I have walked 1,080,380 steps, reached over 20,000 in a day, and walked over 500 miles.

Its a wear and forget device, I put it on in in the morning and it updates my profile every 15 minutes if I'm near the computer, I don't have to take it off or push a button. Good for me since I'm only at one [home] computer, but a little harder if you have to go to work - you have to take the docking station with you.

Just remember its a pedometer and won't track all types of exercise.

jaz050465

Its a wear and forget device, I put it on in in the morning and it updates my profile every 15 minutes if I'm near the computer, I don't have to take it off or push a button. Good for me since I'm only at one [home] computer, but a little harder if you have to go to work - you have to take the docking station with you.

Just remember its a pedometer and won't track all types of exercise.

Remember the new Zip and One will Bluetooth with ipad 4s/5 and I pad 3

Bob314159

Remember the new Zip and One will Bluetooth with ipad 4s/5 and I pad 3

Very good point, I don't use a smart phone, so I missed that advantage of the new models.

crazyola26

Thank you for your responses!! I didn't know about the docing station, is it very portable? I have a laptop at home and a desktop at work. Would it be a hassle to doc at work and at home??

CRVDiva

My Fitbit Ultra was worth every penny!!! I wear mine daily on my bra and I check my progress throughout the day to ensure I get my 10,000 steps in. I find my Fitbit encouages me to keep moving because I like seeing my progress so until I get to 10,000 steps I refuse to go to bed. The only con that I found, and I don't really let it impact me, is that I can't sync my Fitbit on my phone so I have to wait until I get home. Hopefully one day they will make the Fitbit sync directly on my android; other than that I love my Fitbit and I am constantly wearing it. :bigsmile::bigsmile: :bigsmile:

nikilis

Thank you for your responses!! I didn't know about the docing station, is it very portable? I have a laptop at home and a desktop at work. Would it be a hassle to doc at work and at home??

its a tiny little USB dongle, it sticks out about a quarter of an inch from the port so its uber portable (this is for the fitbit one)

thank you for this! have you noticed a difference in your sleep routine or anything else?

I have found it very useful for tracking sleep, when I wake up I know how long I've been asleep, which in turn makes me get more sleep. also I can keep my bed time in check etc. the silent alarm is super cool too. wakes you up without the EEEHHH EHHH EHHHH that makes me want to die. infact I stay in bed just to spite alarmclocks.

so yah, really great feature there.


overall, the main thing is spurs me to do is be active. I've wanted to start exercising for a long time but I always felt like meh, tomorrow, or I don't feel like it. now I look at the flower and I'm driven to get out there, which I do usually every day if I can (today its totally bucketing down and I'm a bit sore from 5 days of exercise, including running, which I never did before so my body is a bit LOL WTF.

I think the fitbit one is awesome, the sync to MFP isn't perfect right now, but its working fine for me.

DO IT!! DO IT!!

athynz1

I've had my FitBit Ultra for a few months now and I love it! It tracks steps taken, stairwells climbed, calories burned, miles walked, and tracks sleep. I've had a couple of issues with it syncing with MFP but so far so good the last month has been issue free. If you are looking for a decent pedometer I highly recommend the FitBit Ultra - you might be able to snag one on eBay for a decent price.

transvenouspacer

I've had the Fitbit One for a couple weeks now. Before that, I had never had a fitbit or any type of pedometer or HRM.

To be honest, I kind of regret buying it. Especially now that it does that negative calorie thing which is supposed to make it more accurate as you are more or less active during the day. I've run into the same problem other people have which is that while I'm away from home, it essentially is useless to me because I can't sync and therefore my calories burned and my calorie limit here on MFP isn't current. One of the reasons I bought the new Fitbit was because I thought I would be able to sync it using Bluetooth on my phone. Unfortunately this turned out not to be the case. My fault for not doing more thorough research before my purchase I suppose.

So fair warning: you must have an IPhone or IPad to sync while away from home. I have an Android which the Fitbit does not sync with yet.

Anyway good luck whatever your decision may be.

johned63

I love my fitbit, it has really helped me keep my daily activity level up. I do consider it to be just of of the tools that I am using as I am getting healthier and everyone's mileage may vary depending on what they are looking for.

ravenforest3009

I only have mine for about a week and it really works for me.
Tracking my sleep is really interesting and seeing actually how much (or less) i move during the day, makes me go that little bit further.
Overall i am really happy with it.

ptorres6

I have been thinking about buying a fitbit one. Thanks for all the comments here, they have been very helpful. I want it for the motivation and it sounds like that is a big plus! I usually wear a pedometer and it is a great pedometer, but its bulky and I have to wear it on my hip, in a certain position. I have sleep apnea and use a CPAP at night, so the fitbit will provide interesting info for me in that regard. Thanks again!

KirstenTheFamilyCoach

I love my FitBit. It syncs well with MFP and togther it really helps me plan my eating and exercise. It's easy to wear and no one else has to see it. I wear mine everywhere but the hot tub and shower. I've learned alot about my sleep paterns too. I never knew how sedentary I was throughout the day until FitBit and I'm working hard to change that. I strongly recommend it.

crazyola26

Thank you for your responses!! I didn't know about the docing station, is it very portable? I have a laptop at home and a desktop at work. Would it be a hassle to doc at work and at home??

its a tiny little USB dongle, it sticks out about a quarter of an inch from the port so its uber portable (this is for the fitbit one)

thank you for this! have you noticed a difference in your sleep routine or anything else?

I have found it very useful for tracking sleep, when I wake up I know how long I've been asleep, which in turn makes me get more sleep. also I can keep my bed time in check etc. the silent alarm is super cool too. wakes you up without the EEEHHH EHHH EHHHH that makes me want to die. infact I stay in bed just to spite alarmclocks.

so yah, really great feature there.


overall, the main thing is spurs me to do is be active. I've wanted to start exercising for a long time but I always felt like meh, tomorrow, or I don't feel like it. now I look at the flower and I'm driven to get out there, which I do usually every day if I can (today its totally bucketing down and I'm a bit sore from 5 days of exercise, including running, which I never did before so my body is a bit LOL WTF.

I think the fitbit one is awesome, the sync to MFP isn't perfect right now, but its working fine for me.

DO IT!! DO IT!!

Your post completely made me LOL, especially your alarm sound! LMAO! You're a nut and I love it.

crazyola26

Thank you so much everyone for your replies! I am trying to figure out if syncing would be an issue for me. I am on MFP quite a bit while I'm at work, and not as much when I'm at home (I usually hop on after dinner to log my exercise/dinner and that's about it). If all the doc is is a thumb drive, that seems like it'd be very simple to update at work and at home. Decisions, decisions!