Fit Bit?? A good tool??

debrag12

I have found with my fitbit that when it comes to tracking calories burned during a workout it is pretty inaccurate, for example when I do 50 minutes on the elliptica, the machine would tell me a much higher amount of calories burned. I think this may be due to the fact that fitbit only looks at how many steps your taking, not the resistance your overcoming or the inclines. I think if your going to spend the money it is better to get a tool that monitors your heart rate as well.

You'd use a HRM for an actual workout, fitbit doesn't really work for a gym session etc

Broejen

For example, when riding the bike for one hour at the gym, I burned approximately 350 calories. BodyMedia LINK said 399 calories and FitBit said 96 calories. There's obviously a huge discrepancy.

Well the FitBit measures walking & running. Of course it wouldn't track something like biking properly! You'd have to create an activity during that time with the stop watch feature.

The same can be said of tracking sleep. The FitBit said I received only 4 hours of dedicated sleep whereas the BodyMedia LINK said I got around 6 hours (which is more accurate) of dedicated sleep (i.e. actually sleeping, not moving around, laying down, etc). I got rid of the FitBit One for this reason -- it wasn't accurate enough for me.

You might have had it set to Sensitive rather than Normal.

Someone else mentioned FitBit counting stairs. While that's true, it doesn't differentiate between climbing stairs (in which you will burn more calories) as opposed to going down stairs (in which you would burn less). The BodyMedia knows a little better since it's actually taking data on your body itself through the sensor rather than just clipped to your belt/pants.

It doesn't measure going down the stairs, only up. It uses an altimeter.

I got my FitBit Ultra in August of last year and just got it replaced (for free by FitBit) with a One because my Ultra was cracking. I contribute my success so far to having it! Their customer service is awesome as well!

MIM49

I have the fitbit ultra and have been using it for more than a year. I have friends and family that are now using it. Fitbit also syncs with MyFitnessPal and can monitor your sleep. I am not sure why some are saying that BodyMedia is so much better than Fitbit when they obviously haven't tried it. I cannot comment on BodyMedia as I have never use the product nor have I been to their website, much like it appears others have not checked out Fitbit. Fitbit is very accurate on your steps regardless of where you place it. The data entry is easy and the hardest thing I found was measuring my stride (which was still very easy as they tell you how to do it). I love my Fitbit and cannot see myself going to any other product when this one finally dies as the customer service is FANTASTIC! Best of luck to you in your decision.

I did buy the Fitbit One and returned it after 3 weeks. The reasons:1. it counted "steps" when I was riding in the car 2. it counted "steps" when I was asleep 3. it rarely stayed in the wrist band during sleep (would be in the bed or on the floor 4. it credited me with "stairs" when there weren't any. 5. was pretty useless for calorie burn working ("walking") to a Leslie Sansone DVD.

I got the BodymediaFit LINK. 1. I have had no issues with extra steps in the car. 2. it doesn't show that I walk in my sleep 3. Sleep report seems accurate--and I don't need to put it in a wrist band or push a button to tell it I am asleep or when I wake up
4. it doesn't count stairs but shows stairs as increased activity when I climb them 5. it credits my activity with my DVD--steps, activity level. calorie burn

The Fitbit may be more accurate in counting actual steps--it is pretty much a souped up pedometer--but it wasn't more accurate in regards to the other information provided. I don't notice the armband and like the security (I constantly worried about the Fitbit falling off or putting it in the laundry (although I have almost forgotten that the armband is on and gotten into the shower with it) I find the paid subscription for the website support/reports to be minimal/affordable (I am on Social Security so $$ are severely budgeted.) Plus I feel that the $$ are used for development of new products (coming out with CORE2 sometime in Fall which will be smaller--about the size of a quarter, fashion conscious, and have an optional heart rate monitor (additional $$ but if it works in conjunction with the device and want a Heart rate monitor would consider it.)

I know the Fitbit is more popular but I think you get what you pay for and sometimes better costs more.

cebreisch

I have one, and I love it. Two girls at work have one, and my sister has one, and they all love it too.

One of my FAVORITE charts is that it syncs with MFP and will give you a "calories burned" vs. "calorie intake" chart. I figure as long as I burn more than I eat, then I'm going to lose weight. I have yet to find anyone to dispute that, and actually it's pretty much proven to be true.

It provides a lot of other information that I like too: stair's climbed, how well you sleep, how far you walked (in miles), etc.

It has a "silent alarm" feature. I recently had surgery and the pain meds they gave me were to be taken every 4 hours. SO, I set the silent alarm when I took it so I'd know when I could take it again. It made things VERY easy. I especially did that during the night when I'd be sleeping so I wouldn't have to worry about waking up, trying to figure out what time it was and when the last time I had the pain meds and do the math. I also use that feature as my alarm clock during the week.

To me - it's WELL worth the price.