Fit Bit Ultra

titi4j
titi4j Posts: 97 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
Has anyone used the Fit Bit Ultra. I'm considering getting one and would love some feedback. Is it easy to operate? Do you find it useful? Do you feel like it encourages you more? Any info would be greatly appreciated.
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Replies

  • jms3533
    jms3533 Posts: 316 Member
    I used mine for a couple months, then switched to a Polar FT7 Heart Rate Monitor. If you think you will get serious about cardio, then I would just get an HRM instead. My sits on a table, not being used.

    Pls don't message me about selling my Fitbit, as a friend has already laid claim to it. Thanks!
  • AshleyMRawls
    AshleyMRawls Posts: 3 Member
    I own one and the scale (yes I went all out on it lol)

    Is it easy to use? Yes. Very. I leave the charging station plugged into my computer and everytime I walk past it, it automatically synchs everything that I've done. Even the setup was a lot easier than I thought it would be. You go to the website, download a program and it runs in the background of the computer all the time to synch with the device.

    Do you find it useful? I do. I had always played with the idea of getting a pedometer to find out what I was already doing to try to... you know... do it better. This takes all the hassle out of tracking what I do during the day or guestimating how active I've been.

    Do you feel like it encourages you? Yes -_- I have a friend who also has one who doesn't work a desk job like me, so seeing how many steps he does on a daily basis makes me want to do more. It also sets up daily goals for you (which you can alter to be higher or lower depending on your activity level) and I find myself usually right below them and at the end of the day working towards meeting them. Like the other night for example, I was at 9400 steps. My goal is 10,000. I went for an extra walk to meet my goal. Had I not had the fitbit tracking me I probably wouldn't have worried about it.

    I guess it really depends on how goal-oriented you are =/ Personally though, I really like it. It also pairs really well with myfitnesspal so that anything you track here gets reflected there so you don't need to track foods twice either.
  • AmandaTWaH
    AmandaTWaH Posts: 181 Member
    I love it. Basically, my fit bit dictates my activity level. I set MFP to sedentary and my FitBit tells MFP how many calories I burn per day from regular activity like walking around. It also tracks my outside walks for me. For tracking calories from more serious cardio you'll want a HRM though.
  • SFBarbear
    SFBarbear Posts: 146
    The "Bit" is fine.
    It's the website, Dashboard and customer service that is nonexsistant. A growing number of people are becoming rabid over the utter lack of Customer care and support by Fitbit!
  • mjc65
    mjc65 Posts: 58 Member
    I did have the Polar but couldn't get on with it as I found the online app somewhat uninformative, so move to Garmin. This seems to work much better for me, although my Polar is still here :)

    I have steered away from the Fit Bit and wear a BodyMedia Ki instead, but I found I get more from the HRM
  • Tennessee2019
    Tennessee2019 Posts: 676 Member
    I love mine & actually get mad at myself when I forget to clip it to the center of my bra in the morning to record how many steps I take each day. The fact that you can synch it with MFP is also great.
  • katemateg
    katemateg Posts: 334 Member
    Mine totally died after about 5 months. Fitbit never responded. Luckily I had bought I on Amazon who replaced it
  • mjc65
    mjc65 Posts: 58 Member
    I think the synchronization is what is missing from my current set up, but I can sync with Endomondo ok, but it would be nice to have everything sync with everything.

    One thing I will say for the Fit Bit is I get the impression their community is more active.
  • Tennessee2019
    Tennessee2019 Posts: 676 Member
    The "Bit" is fine.
    It's the website, Dashboard and customer service that is nonexsistant. A growing number of people are becoming rabid over the utter lack of Customer care and support by Fitbit!
    I don't know why so many people complain about their C/S department. I contacted (via email) their customer service department & within a few days, I had a very helpful response. The guy even apologized for not getting back to me in 24 hours like the website says they will. I LOVE the dashboard section of their website as well. I love mine & actually get mad at myself when I forget to clip it to the center of my bra in the morning to record how many steps I take each day. The fact that you can synch it with MFP is also great.
  • Gestahl
    Gestahl Posts: 110 Member
    I have one and love it. Very easy to operate once you've figured out your stride length, and quite helpful. The difference to take into consideration between a Fitbit and an HRM is whether you want to be doing a single dedicated workout or whether you want to encourage yourself to be generally more active. The Fitbit is a pedometer, and that works great for me because I get my exercise at the moment by taking long outdoor walks. If you're someone who prefers going to the gym, however, or you focus on some other form of exercise which includes more than running and walking, you'll want an HRM instead.

    As some have said, I'm not a big fan of the site. However, the vast majority of customer services experiences I hear about are very positive.
  • pinkfluff79
    pinkfluff79 Posts: 32 Member
    I just started using mine today and I have run into a problem. Mine doesn't seem to sync my walking exercise with myfitnesspal. I have it on the charging station right now and still nothing. Do you have to have over the 10,000 steps for it to report anything? Any info would be very helpful. Thanks!
  • Ajmead
    Ajmead Posts: 56
    It's the best gadget I have brought. I like that you can earn badgets etc.
    I don't leave home without him lol x
  • hotmama1174
    hotmama1174 Posts: 109 Member
    I have had mine for about a month. I love it! I am determined everyday to hit the 10000 mark so I am up and walking around the office as much as I can. Instead of sending and email-i walk to that person's office. Instead or using the intercom system at work, I walk! Keeps me on the move. I have synched it with myfitness pal only because my hrm is broken. It does not get accurate calories burned (in my opinion) but again keeps my aware of low activity for the day. I don't use any other featture on the fitbit website (as of now). I get a high when I have gone over all of goals. It is quite addictive :).
  • emmie0622
    emmie0622 Posts: 167 Member
    I just started using mine today and I have run into a problem. Mine doesn't seem to sync my walking exercise with myfitnesspal. I have it on the charging station right now and still nothing. Do you have to have over the 10,000 steps for it to report anything? Any info would be very helpful. Thanks!

    On the dashboard page for fitbit right hand side should be a section for the apps, you will see MFP, click learn more and then select MFP ( there are other apps), then sync it then go to MFP, under Tools, Fitbit and and sync again, they then should be hooked up. If you are close to the fitbit dock station it automatically syncs Fitbit and MFP.

    Love my Fitbit, definitely gets me moving more
  • amyowens08
    amyowens08 Posts: 107 Member
    I wear mine everyday. It's NOT a heart rate monitor, but it accurately tracks the other calories burned throughout the day based on your movement. I LOVE mine.
  • itsjustdawn
    itsjustdawn Posts: 1,073 Member
    Fitbit quickly replaced 2 of mine. Customer service was great to me...
  • SherryTeach
    SherryTeach Posts: 2,836 Member
    The "Bit" is fine.
    It's the website, Dashboard and customer service that is nonexsistant. A growing number of people are becoming rabid over the utter lack of Customer care and support by Fitbit!

    As for customer service, when my dog ate my fitbit last week and I wrote to customer service admitting the truth, they responded within 5 hours asking for photos and a receipt. 12 hours after I did that, they had shipped me a new one for free.

    And twice when I couldn't figure out how to switch to lefty mode or change another setting, I wrote to customer support and got a well-explained answer within a few hours.
  • amyowens08
    amyowens08 Posts: 107 Member
    Fitbit quickly replaced 2 of mine. Customer service was great to me...

    Me too...mine stopped charging for some reason and they replaced it very quickly and for free. Very very happy with the customer service :)
  • teelynn35
    teelynn35 Posts: 239 Member
    I love mine, way easy to use.
  • arraggh
    arraggh Posts: 30 Member
    Love it :)
    Lookin for more fitbit friends...

    http://www.fitbit.com/user/237J6K
  • staps065
    staps065 Posts: 837 Member
    I like mine. Have been using it for about 5 month. It definitely motivates me. I try to do at least 10K steps every day. Yesterday, I walked 11K in steps and all I did was clean around the house! I walked that many steps. Sometimes, I barely do that with a ittle cardio and weight lifting. Holy cow!

    My wife thinks I'm crazy beacause I'll walk around the house between commercial breaks jsut to hit my dalit goal of 10K steps!
  • Emwalker3406
    Emwalker3406 Posts: 308 Member
    I have only had mine since Thursday but I have seen an improvement in my activity level. I love that all I "need" to do is log my food here on mfp and everything else syncs. I use to be ultra obsessed with apps to monitor everything then have to transfer that data here. Now Fitbit n mfp take care of themselves and I can take care of me. I love the cal in out gauge. It has motivated me to take a walk or do a lil something extra if I see im in the red. The sleep tracker mode was also an eye opener.
  • frenchrose1
    frenchrose1 Posts: 11 Member
    I have the Fitbit and I love it. My job does not require a lot of walking so it allows me to monitor my steps and I try to reach my set goal of 10,000 steps a day. I love that it sends me a weekly progress report and I always try to bet the prior weeks activity.If you like you can add me as a friend :smile:
  • KelliW_runner
    KelliW_runner Posts: 150 Member
    I've been using the same fitbit since January. I wear it all the time unless I'm going to the beach or water park. It syncs with MFP but I find I need to have reasonably moderate activity for it to give me any calorie credit (i.e. 5000 steps of running will give me more calories than 5000 steps sporadically at slow speed throughout the day - which makes sense). I do have a GPS HRM that I use specifically for running and occasionally for an Insanity workout. I can override the fitbit calculation for an activity but have found by and large that fitbit approximates burns pretty closely.

    Since it has been 8 months+, I find the day/week/month charts quite useful and I can actually compare calories eaten versus calories burned vs. my weight during a given month and find that the calculations are usually pretty close to what the scale does. Exceptions I found are that I tend to burn more when doing significant strength training than what I type in as calorie burn (fitbit not good for tracking strength training but gives you the option to enter manual calorie burns or use some of the exercises on their site).

    Very pleased with it and I do feel it motivates me to move...
  • mransom1970
    mransom1970 Posts: 26 Member
    I really like mine, but It has stopped working several times because it gets wet when I sweat playing tennis. I have had to change where I put it and it still sometimes quits and does not record my whole tennis match. I still love the fact that it syncs with MFP but I ordered the BodyFit Media Armband and will start using that when it comes in. I may use both for a while :)

    I still love my Scale :)
  • Marie294
    Marie294 Posts: 304
    I LOVE mine when it works! It tracks calories and keeps me motivated. I love that it tracks flights of stairs you go up as well.

    That being said, I've only had it since mid August and it's given me a few problems. Sometimes it won't sync to my laptop, and currently the display will not work. It's still counting steps, but won't show me any data until I sync it with a computer. Customer service was kind and responded quickly - But how many times do I need to re-install the software and re-set the fitbit itself before it just does what it's supposed to? :)

    But seriously, when it works for me, it is very motivating! I'm always trying to hit my 10,000 steps for the day! :)
  • jms3533
    jms3533 Posts: 316 Member
    The "Bit" is fine.
    It's the website, Dashboard and customer service that is nonexsistant. A growing number of people are becoming rabid over the utter lack of Customer care and support by Fitbit!
    I don't know why so many people complain about their C/S department. I contacted (via email) their customer service department & within a few days, I had a very helpful response. The guy even apologized for not getting back to me in 24 hours like the website says they will. I LOVE the dashboard section of their website as well. I love mine & actually get mad at myself when I forget to clip it to the center of my bra in the morning to record how many steps I take each day. The fact that you can synch it with MFP is also great.

    Ditto, I have always found them to be helpful.
  • pinkfluff79
    pinkfluff79 Posts: 32 Member
    I didn't do anything as far as re synching since my last post. Eventually fitbit did sync the walking in to myfitness. There must be a delay in how long it is taking.
  • sarahrbraun
    sarahrbraun Posts: 2,261 Member
    I own one and the scale (yes I went all out on it lol)

    Is it easy to use? Yes. Very. I leave the charging station plugged into my computer and everytime I walk past it, it automatically synchs everything that I've done. Even the setup was a lot easier than I thought it would be. You go to the website, download a program and it runs in the background of the computer all the time to synch with the device.

    Do you find it useful? I do. I had always played with the idea of getting a pedometer to find out what I was already doing to try to... you know... do it better. This takes all the hassle out of tracking what I do during the day or guestimating how active I've been.

    Do you feel like it encourages you? Yes -_- I have a friend who also has one who doesn't work a desk job like me, so seeing how many steps he does on a daily basis makes me want to do more. It also sets up daily goals for you (which you can alter to be higher or lower depending on your activity level) and I find myself usually right below them and at the end of the day working towards meeting them. Like the other night for example, I was at 9400 steps. My goal is 10,000. I went for an extra walk to meet my goal. Had I not had the fitbit tracking me I probably wouldn't have worried about it.

    I guess it really depends on how goal-oriented you are =/ Personally though, I really like it. It also pairs really well with myfitnesspal so that anything you track here gets reflected there so you don't need to track foods twice either.

    THIS^^^ plus, would you wear a HRM 24/7? I rarely take off my fitbit. Because I am a 38DD, I wear a sports bra to bed. So I leave it clipped to my bra while I sleep, then I switch it to my regular bra after my workout, then back to my sports bra in the evening before bed. About once a week I put it on the charging station while I am on the computer.

    I can literally look at it some days and think "damn, I really DID walk a lot today!" I personally have noticed a trend--on grocery shopping days, I walk a TON. I usually have like 900 calories left for dinner ( and I only start out with 1450 for the day). On friday I walked 5.6miles!
  • tlblood
    tlblood Posts: 473 Member
    I have a FitBit and love it! It can estimate my calorie burn for the entire day where my HRM is only best when I'm working out. I wear the FitBit all the time, and wear my HRM when I'm exercising, then the calories I enter during my workout from my HRM overrides the calories from steps during the same time.

    I haven't had any issues with Customer Service. There was a while that the app was crappy, but they seemed to have that fixed now.

    The only thing that is kind of a pain is that the movement of a car ride can count steps and stairs you aren't taking, but I just set the stop watch feature and then log that time of "activity" as "automobile driving" and it removes the steps counted during that time. (Customer Support had to help me with figuring that one out).

    Also, if you get one, check Amazon.com! I got my Plum colored FitBit for about $10 less than the FitBit website sells them for.

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