should I get a fitbit??

jillybeanpuff
jillybeanpuff Posts: 144 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
I have read up on the fitbit and read a lot of the forums but I'm still on the fence about whether or not to get it. I'm unsure about it because of the synching with MFP. It seems like people have a lot of issues with this, and I'm just wondering if its necessary to synch them up. I want the fitbit to know how many calories I'm burning, just so I know how active I am being. I eat my TDEE-20% and that's what I track on MFP so I don't really think it is necessary to go through the confusion of synching it all together. Would it be worth it to get the fitbit to know how active I am and track my calories if I'm not synching it up with MFP? I'm also interested in the fitbit for monitoring my sleep cycles.

Replies

  • stumblinthrulife
    stumblinthrulife Posts: 2,558 Member
    I recently got a fitbit, and I love it. I do the same as you - try to keep calories at around TDEE - 20%. The problem is that my TDEE can vary hugely from day to day. The fitbit takes some of the guess work out of it. I set MFP at sedentary, then let the fitbit adjustments do the rest. I do log my weight lifting separately, mostly because the fitbit interprets it as staying stationary mostly.

    I also find that the fitbit helps motivate me to move more. It gives me just a little more motivation to do the things I was already trying to do - park further away from a store, use a restroom on a different floor, etc...
  • tegantheaverage
    tegantheaverage Posts: 142 Member
    You don't have to sync them. I love being able to see how active I am and find it really interesting to see how my TDEE changes from day to day when I do different things. It might also be a useful way for you to get a better idea of what your TDEE actually is for making your calorie calculations. The sleep cycle function is interesting but I'm not convinced that it's entirely accurate. I guess it's because it doesn't know the difference between me sleeping and me lying still trying to sleep and so I find it usually tells me I've had more sleep than I think I have. Overall, I love my fitbit and am really glad I got it :)
  • tennesseeleigh
    tennesseeleigh Posts: 169
    I love my fitbit. I have it synced with MFP but I only actually sync it once a week or so when I charge it. Mine is the old version that doesn't sync via bluetooth.
  • jaz050465
    jaz050465 Posts: 3,508 Member
    Bodymediafit is more accurate b
  • Amandatorie
    Amandatorie Posts: 93 Member
    I love mine. I have it synced, but I don't think it's necessary at all. I just like to see how much walking I'm doing. It was eye-opening to see how sedentary I can be on a typical Sunday, for example! When it wasn't below freezing out every day, I would see the number was pretty low, and decide to take the dog for a walk, or walk to the store, or whatever. Something I wouldn't have done otherwise! So I find it pretty motivating.
  • stumblinthrulife
    stumblinthrulife Posts: 2,558 Member
    Bodymediafit is more accurate b

    That's the conclusion I came to when doing my research. However I also concluded that the armband would irritate me and that I didn't want to pay a subscription fee for the software. So I opted for the cheaper (long and short term) and more convenient, though less accurate, Fitbit.

    It's horses for courses really. If you don't mind the monthly subscription, and you can deal with wearing an armband all the time, then the Bodymedia Fit is certainly the superior option.
  • chantalariane
    chantalariane Posts: 1
    Nice to know I'm not the only one who posts low numbers on Sundays! That's what I lkie about the fitbit it forces me to rcognize how sedentary I am and motivates me to be more active.
  • KirstenTheFamilyCoach
    KirstenTheFamilyCoach Posts: 327 Member
    I started this reseach process last fall. I'm just a social worker so price was a huge factor. I also have to wear girl clothes three times each week to work so style was a factor. I needed something that would track my weight, body fat, lean muscle, movement, sleep and heart rate. Here's what I decided.

    Body bug and Mio Active were out for several reasons: initial cost was high and the monthly cost of keeping it up was astronomical. It wasn't something I could ever hide. I don't want to advertise my weight loss journey to the world.

    The Nike thing, along with all other wrist bands, were out because I couldn't wear it to work without it looking like I was wearing a teen-ager's rubber band braclet around my wrist.

    I setteled on the following mix:
    *FitBit (easily hidden and pretty accurate to track movement, elivation gain and sound sleep)
    **Affordable intiall cost
    **No monthly fee
    **Syncs to MFP which, in my opinion, has the best database for food and I have zero problems with the sync feature
    *Aria digital WiFi scale
    **I sync it to MFP and https://trendweight.com/ both sites are free
    *Endomondo
    **I purchased the $5 "pro" version becuase I WOG not run and the interval program on there is easily customizable for me.
    **I sync this to MFP too
    *I just bought a Wahoo Fitness Heart Monitor Run Pack because FitBit doesn't track non moving exercise like Yoga, Weights and Pilates.
    **It syncs to Endomondo and my iPhone.
    **I log non movement exercises on FitBit.com to get an accurate read of what I'm burning during those exercises.

    That makes my overall cost:
    *FitBit $99
    **free website
    *Aria Scale $125
    **trendweight free website
    *Endomondo $5
    *WaHoo Fitness Heart Rate Monitor $99
    **That's a grand total of less than $330 without needing any other costs.

    Works for me :)
  • AnniePenny
    AnniePenny Posts: 62 Member
    The more i read about the fitbit the more i want to get me one.. mostly out of curiosity on how are my sleep cycles and how many calories my body spends on full working out and full being a lazy *kitten* days :P-- But.. in argentina it's pretty hard to get and prices are pretty high so it'll have to wait a couple of months :s

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