FitBit - Do you have one? Would you recommend it?

I got one about eight weeks ago after close to nine months on a weight-loss plateau (despite being assiduous with logging and exercise). I've lost weight every week since then, usually close to what my calories in-out, with a Fitbit adjustment, would predict.

Basically the Fitbit has taught me that I'm a lot more active in my normal day than I thought and needed to eat more as a consequence. It's great for just logging away and posting an automatic adjustment to MFP.

For getting my weight-loss back on track I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it.

If I were to offer two negatives. First, I've not found it great for motivation, mainly because it is tucked away and I never see it (although the discreet nature of it is a plus). Second, it is a bit of a pain that it needs a base-station that effectively ties it to a computer, if you aren't near that computer, no MFP adjustment. Obviously, these may not be an issue depending on how you use it and your set-up.

I've been thinking about getting one, myself. I've been on a plateau for more than a year now... I need to do something different. The FitBit is a bit pricey for me, but I don't know what it's actually called so I can research some cheaper models, lol.

The FitBit is a bit pricey for me, but I don't know what it's actually called so I can research some cheaper models, lol.

It's a pedometer. On steroid. But a pedometer, none the less.

I've been interested in getting one and wondering how accurate they really are.

Accurate for what?

It counts your steps. And it does that EXTREMELY accurately. And it has an altimeter to measure your altitude (how high you are climbing).

It uses calculations that are available anywhere to calculate your calories burned. It uses either a predetermined distance or your inputted stride to calculate distance.

Not to be a debbie downer, but them's the facts.

I love my fitbit. I'd be lost without it. It maintains my motivation. It gets me off the couch.

The sleep feature is pretty cool. You put the fitbit into an armband, hit the activity button and go to sleep. It monitors your tossing and turning and how many times you are up walking about.

The website gives you information about your activity for the day / week / month / year.
It gives you "badges" when you hit certain milestones. 5000 steps. 10 flights. etc.

It syncs with MFP. FB will send an activity adjustment to your MFP account based on your activity for the day.

For runners, it also syncs with Endomondo, but I'm having a hard time with that. Not sure if it's me or the program.

The biggest issues I see are the ability to turn it off and on. And that it will count some steps and flights while you are driving. The website could be a little better with the ability to manipulate data (when you've been driving). The premium features don't look that great and definitely don't look like they are worth the money.

The FitBit is a bit pricey for me, but I don't know what it's actually called so I can research some cheaper models, lol.

It's a pedometer. On steroid. But a pedometer, none the less.

Ahh thank you!! I'm Googling now

yes
its worth it for the sleep tracker alone.

I love it! ...would also like to have more MFP friends who are using it

I'm another in the pro-Fitbit camp. When I first heard of it, I wondered why in the world anybody would pay nearly $100 for a glorified pedometer? When my employer did a fitness challenge thing that allowed me to buy one at a steep discount, I decided to check it out. But now that I've used it for a few months, I would have paid full price for it. And in fact, I paid full price to get one for my wife a few weeks ago.

Yes, at its basics, you can say it's a pedometer-on-steroids. But every generic pedometer my wife and I have ever bought in the past has been a cheap piece of junk that broke after a few weeks use. And the cheap ones tend to register 'steps' every time you scratch, shift in your chair, or breathe too heavily. I'm a pretty fidgety person, and the Fitbit doesn't seem to register false steps for me, even when I've been bouncing my foot to music while sitting in my office chair for a couple of hours. Also, because it uses 3D accelerometers to measure your movements, it's not required that it sit perfectly straight at your hip in order to work correctly. You can leave it loose in your pocket, or strap it to your bra (my wife does that).

I also like the fact that it gives me a measure of flights of stairs climbed and estimated calories burned (includes your BMR). There's also a generic "activity level" measurement, presented as a growing flower icon. The more active you are, the taller your flower gets. And the sleep monitoring function is interesting, too. It can give you an indication of how much sleep you actually get, how restless you are through the night, etc.

And on at least one occasion, I was walking down the stairs to leave work, saw that I was at 9 flights climbed for the day, so I climbed *back up* a flight of stairs, just so I could be sure I hit the 10-flights milestone.

I've had mine for about a week and I love it so far! I haven't had any problems with it, and it keeps me motivated to get up and move around to try to get more steps than the day before!

And on at least one occasion, I was walking down the stairs to leave work, saw that I was at 9 flights climbed for the day, so I climbed *back up* a flight of stairs, just so I could be sure I hit the 10-flights milestone.

Yep. I do that too.

Last night after my 15k run I was at 90 flights (It counts hills as flights too). As dead tired and as weak as my legs were, there was no way I could let let a 10 flights stop me from getting my hundred badge. So up and down the stairs at home I went.