New craving...for a FitBit

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mom2rpkp
mom2rpkp Posts: 182 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
If you have one, is it genuinely helpful or just a time-consuming toy?
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  • AV1978az
    AV1978az Posts: 25 Member
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    I like my MotoActv way better. It does what the fitbit does and more. And i can wear it as a watch :)
  • RebmaGe1sha
    RebmaGe1sha Posts: 61 Member
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    My boyfriend turned me on to the fitbit. I keep reading reviews for other similar devices and I haven't really found one that I can recommend. I would love to hear others' opinions as well. Great topic, thanks!

    *edit* By the way, I haven't tried any of them personally.
  • l_nelson20
    l_nelson20 Posts: 34 Member
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    I love mine. I have only had it for about 3 weeks so I am sure some of the novelty will wear-off, but I think it is a great motivator to push me to incorporate more activity into my day and to think of movement more broadly than just periods of exercise. I definitely more active since I got it.
  • Jac118
    Jac118 Posts: 34
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    I really loved my Fitbit - kept me motivated to make sure I got in at least 10,000 steps a day.

    Unfortunately I dropped it in the toilet while it was flushing one day and now the fishies are using it to track their steps I guess :/

    Just be careful it doesn't fall off your pants!
  • Aventuria
    Aventuria Posts: 151
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    I've had mine for three weeks too and I love it!

    I don't know what else is on the market but with the fitbit you can count the steps, km/miles, floors you climb (and you can't cheat on a gym floorclimber :blushing: ) and you can log activities. On the internet there are many things you can look up and you can sync it with MFP as well.

    I clip mine on the pants or underwear and you don't feel it, it's awesome.

    On the other hand you don't really need it. I use it to control my daily activity level (I try to always walk more that 10000 steps) but if you work out, walk throughout the day and do MFP that is enough I assume. :wink:
  • chickenz
    chickenz Posts: 101 Member
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    Returned mine. It tends to overestimate your steps and cals burned, it can easily fool you into cheating without realizing. Waste of money.
  • gmichaelguy
    gmichaelguy Posts: 123 Member
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    I've had mine for months and I wouldn't take a step without it. Absolutely love it. I also have their scale so all my fitness is tracked in one place. Highly recommend.
  • SueMizZou
    SueMizZou Posts: 146 Member
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    I am a fitbit user since October 2011. I find it a very useful tool. What it does best IMO is to motivate you to keep moving throughout the day. I wear it constantly and check it regularly. If I find my steps are low, I get up and move. I've gone from being completely sedentary to averaging 12000 steps per day. If you are looking for something to get you moving, this is it.
  • painterfam
    painterfam Posts: 5 Member
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    I absolutely LOVE mine. . . My son got me mine when the first came out. .I couldnt believe he paid $100 for a pedometer. . that was almost 2 years ago . and like a previous poster . .mine got wet (although I washed mine) .. I held out 2 weeks and then ordered a replacement.. Unlike one other poster I dont want to wear a watch . .I can easily clip this to my belt, pocket or wearever. and it logs everythng and keeps me "inspired" and now that I finally have a smartphone . .tying it with my food logs here really lays it out for me ..
  • determinedbutlazy
    determinedbutlazy Posts: 1,941 Member
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    If most of your exercise involved walking or running, YES. It is 100 percent worth the money and great as a motivational tool. I try to make my 10,000 steps every day and feel quite annoyed if I don't hit my target.
    Also, I love the integration with MFP, more accurately seeing what I'm burning daily has helped me bust a REALLY long plateau.
    If you do a lot of other exercise instead of walking or running (on the street, not treadmill) it would be better for you to get a good heart rate monitor, in my opinion.
  • jcs0530
    jcs0530 Posts: 70 Member
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    Love my fitbit. Dont leave home without it. I ended up getting my wife one also. Realized my exercise eqipment calorie count was too high. Stopped recording my exercises in MFP and started relying on my fitbit adjustments only. Loosing weight again. yah.
  • VelvetKey
    VelvetKey Posts: 193 Member
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    I have one of the early FitBits (only tracks steps, miles, calories, and activity level, not stairs climbed, etc.) and I absolutely love it when I can remember to wear it. (I attach it to my bra, and I'd never know its there.)

    Since I do dance games (DDR, Just Dance) for my cardio, there isn't really an accurate measure on MFP for that type of exercise (and logging it as jazzercise overestimates the calories burned, according to my FitBit), it keeps me very honest about what I'm actually doing.

    It's also nice that FitBit is integrated into MFP, so there's one more laziness excuse out the window--I don't actually have to do anything except walk by the wireless detector and it logs my activity automatically and adjusts my calorie count on MFP accordingly.

    To echo what another poster above said: if you're doing walking/running as your primary mode of exercise, a FitBit is totally worth it. If you're doing other methods of exercise such as cycling or weight training, a heart rate monitor might be worth looking into.
  • Lyssa62
    Lyssa62 Posts: 930 Member
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    I LOVE LOVE LOVE my fitbit. I keep it with me always and I love that it gives me little "encouragements" through the day to get up and move. I made a special trip one day on a whim and drove 35 miles to the nearest best buy to get it and it's been the best money spent EVER!
  • Its_Nat
    Its_Nat Posts: 184 Member
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    I'd be lost without mine. I l accidentally washed my first Fitbt (Frank), it was a sad, sad day. I ordered a new Fitbit (Felix), the very next day, and he's been in my bra or on my wrist ever since. $100 is a lot to me, but in all honesty, the info Frank gave me was integral to my weight loss progress, it all works so seamlessly I barely need to think about it.

    As another poster mentioned, if your main exercise is walking - then the Fitbit is invaluable. You don't need to post any of your exercise, it's all done automatically for you.

    Hail to Felix!
  • Lyssa62
    Lyssa62 Posts: 930 Member
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    Love my fitbit. Dont leave home without it. I ended up getting my wife one also. Realized my exercise eqipment calorie count was too high. Stopped recording my exercises in MFP and started relying on my fitbit adjustments only. Loosing weight again. yah.

    concur...I also stopped "logging" any activity other than sleep. Which is another cool feature. I always wonder what is up during the night I don't know about -- and why I feel exhausted in the am. The fitbit tracks all of that. I don't wear it every night but about once a week I will sleep with it to see how I am actually sleeping.
    I just put the fitbit in my pocket as soon as I get up and let it do it's thing. I can tell the spikes in calories burned and stuff and I know those were my "exercise" points.

    *edit to address the person who had their steps over estimated..maybe that was just a bad one. I take mine out of my pocket and watch my steps and they are dead on.
  • sarahrbraun
    sarahrbraun Posts: 2,261 Member
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    that is one craving TOTALLY worth giving in to!!

    I had heard about fitbit from a few different people, and kinda wanted one, but wasn't 100% sure that it was worth $100. Finally I decided that hubby and kids could get me one for Mother's day.

    I clipped it to my bra, and the first few weeks I checked it a million times a day. As time went by I checked it less. What I loved was that when I went away for Memorial Day weekend I came back and it synced all 3 days I was gone! At any point in the day I can click through my fitbit and see my total calorie burn--including the appropriate portion of my BMR.
  • kendrafallon
    kendrafallon Posts: 1,030 Member
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    Check out the Fitbit user group: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/groups/home/1290-fitbit-users

    I did love mine, but now I'm not so sure
  • Lesa_Sass
    Lesa_Sass Posts: 2,213 Member
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    My husband and I got one for our wedding anniversary in March. We love them! The other night I realized I was .03 miles away from having 7 miles of steps that day so I got up and ran in place to get it. It does make us more aware of moving. We are also very competitive with it, like yesterday, he had more steps than me so I jumped on the treadmill for 30 minutes. :bigsmile:

    There is just some thing about logging onto the dashboard and seeing that I have only traveled .76 miles for the day that motivates me to get off my behind.

    So yeah, we recommend them to everyone.

    PS: The calculations of the miles are calculated when you enter your stride into the software. Not everyone has the same stride so it is important that it be entered to calculate the miles correctly. The steps are on the money.
  • RooMcDermott
    RooMcDermott Posts: 105 Member
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    Love my fit bit and was so sad when it went through the wash a couple of weeks ago...have tried to live without it, but I am going to bite the bullet and buy another one.
  • determinedbutlazy
    determinedbutlazy Posts: 1,941 Member
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    Typical, just as I post about how much I love mine... It breaks.

    I've phoned Amazon and they're sending out a replacement today... I can't live without the damn thing!

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