A FitBit question

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esmecgg
esmecgg Posts: 38
in Fitness and Exercise
Hi!

So, I've been reading some of the posts on here, and I think I would like to get the FitBit Ultra. My question is: what are some things you wish you knew before you bought it? Was there anything about it you were surprised that it did/did not do? How was it different from your expectations (either in a positive or negative way)? Is there anything about it you would warn people about, or that would make you rethink the purchase?

Any responses would be appreciated. Thank you!
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Replies

  • gpstrucker
    gpstrucker Posts: 930 Member
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    It is exactly what it is advertised to be. Basically it is an all day pedometer that wirelessly syncs. I really like mine.
  • SSEVER1960
    SSEVER1960 Posts: 6
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    I loved mine when it synched to MFP without any problems. Last couple of weeks it just wont synch at all. Otherwise yes its great! Real motivator to work out and burn more calories. I hope they fix it soon....
  • SSEVER1960
    SSEVER1960 Posts: 6
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    Is yours working right?
  • melly7171
    melly7171 Posts: 54 Member
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    I love mine! Was alot smaller than i thought it would be and was surprised by how much it does with the extra sleep function. I think that is really cool! The only time i take mine of now is when i shower. I used to buy a pedometer and it would last a week or 2 of being used. My FitBit i have had for 2 months now and have used it continuously.

    Ohh yes i also love how it syncs wirelessly
  • Misiaxcore
    Misiaxcore Posts: 659 Member
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    It is exactly what it is advertised to be. Basically it is an all day pedometer that wirelessly syncs. I really like mine.

    ^This. Also, it was smaller than I thought it would be and a LOT more fragile than it should be. Have had mine since February. It looks a little beat but still works. Take care to not drop it or let it fall because it will get small cracks.
  • Neeser926
    Neeser926 Posts: 100 Member
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    I agree that it was smaller than I thought. I bought two at the end of July. One was a gift for my daughter. We have never taken them off except for showers! Seeing the calories my walking burns inspires me to keep going! I find I don't get discouraged if the scale doesn't move because I can see on the fitbit site that my movement is steadily increasing! If you get most of your exercise from bike riding or stair climbing machines you might not like it as much. Walking is my thing so I love it! Best investment in ME that I could have made!
  • princessage117
    princessage117 Posts: 171 Member
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    It definitely is not water proof! Also I am always worried about it, where is it, I get really disappointed if I leave the house and forget to wear it, and I am so nervous I am going to put it in the washer again. It's another worry like a cell phone to me.

    My last one I left on my pants and washed it. But I emailed customer service and they sent me a new one,that was so nice of them!
  • Tennessee2019
    Tennessee2019 Posts: 676 Member
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    It is exactly what it is advertised to be. Basically it is an all day pedometer that wirelessly syncs. I really like mine.

    The only difference i would make in this quote is the I LOVE mine.

    Also, Neeser926 says that you might not like it if you use it for a stair climber. It records how many stairs you climb, so I don't see how this would be something that you don't like it for.
  • 2hobbit1
    2hobbit1 Posts: 820 Member
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    Wear mine 24/7 - it comes off just to shower and recharge

    It helps a lot when I'm in slug mode and need to dial back my calories as well as when I'm in overdrive and need to kick them up. I like the sync with MFP option since the food diary is so much better here.

    The sleep mode with the recommended set up was not very accurate but since I shifted it to bra strap and set it to sensitive has been much more reliable. The feature is fun but nor really all that useful.

    The stair feature will not work if your on a stairclimber - it uses the change in altitude to register flights of stairs. It will register your steps though. If your on a bike you would need to put it on you sock to register, or you can use the activity period feature and then manually tell it what you did in that period.
  • rachelleahsmom
    rachelleahsmom Posts: 442 Member
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    Is it less accurate if you are a cyclist?
  • ambitious01
    ambitious01 Posts: 209 Member
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    Well, I wish I hadn't purchased it. I like that I compete with myself but I lost more weight before getting it!!! I could've bought something like a Polar hrm and been happier. And yes less accurate.:happy:
  • 5babs
    5babs Posts: 12
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    I just got mine last weekend and haven't figured everything out yet. But thought I'd let you know what I'm not sure about in case that's helpful.

    On the positive side, it is a great pedometer and does and awesome job at keeping up with my steps. If I start it and stop it for an activity, it seems really accurate in all ways.

    Because it is so new, here's what I haven't figured out yet. I wear mine to work and at the end of the day, I've walked 3+ miles and burned 1000+ calories. I believe the 3 mile part but not the 1000+ calories. If i went for a walk and walked 2 mph, I would NOT burn 1000 calories. So I'm not sure how the FitBit calculates the calories. Is it including the calories I burn just for being alive? If so, isn't MFP already using that info when it calculates how many calories I get to eat each day? I haven't had a chance to figure it out yet.
  • gpstrucker
    gpstrucker Posts: 930 Member
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    Well, I wish I hadn't purchased it. I like that I compete with myself but I lost more weight before getting it!!! I could've bought something like a Polar hrm and been happier. And yes less accurate.:happy:

    Many of us use the FitBit for all day activity monitoring and an HRM for actual exercise monitoring. Personally I use the FB and a Nike+ GPS Sport Watch.
  • Masq
    Masq Posts: 191 Member
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    Is it less accurate if you are a cyclist?

    It does not track cycling very well. It counts a LOT of steps that you aren't really doing. BUT, it will adjust your calories when you log your ride on MFP or the Fitbit website. It will not adjust your 'steps' when you log the activity... just the calories and maybe the stairs. I did a ten mile ride today and I didn't wear the fitbit. I have HRM that I wear for cycling.

    I did a blog on the fitbit vs the bodybugg if anyone is interested. The short of it was that I liked the fitbit a lot better and the bodybugg went back. :wink: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/Masq
  • esmecgg
    esmecgg Posts: 38
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    First, thanks everyone! I'm glad to hear all the opinions. General consensus seems to be it's a good investment? My activity is usually general walking, or being on a treadmill.

    @5babs - those are pretty much my other questions. Another is: does it automatically guess how many calories you've burned, based on the pedometer part and your stats? Or does everything have to be manually logged? If anyone could expand on this part of the device, that would be great :)

    The reason I'm looking into this is because I joined the local gym in early November of last year with my Mom. We got tired of the place itself, and the hours weren't really convenient. Just today, we bought a friend of mine's parents' treadmill, but I didn't look at it. Now that it's sitting in my (ok, my parents') house, I've discovered that it does not factor in any of your data when calculating calories. It only goes by distance. NO age, weight, etc.
    Thus, I'm looking for something that can calculate this for me. I have a pedometer, but it's very basic and honestly, I wear it but don't even really look at it. Something that automatically syncs with a website sounds more ideal, even more so when THAT syncs with MFP.

    Now knowing all this, would I be better off with something else instead? Any insight would be great, thanks!
  • Crosbinium
    Crosbinium Posts: 415 Member
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    I LOVE my fitbit. I will warn you that you may find yourself exhibting strange behavior such as walking out of your way to add extra steps or stairs.

    You do not need to do any additional logging if you link you mfo account to your fitbit. My calories burned estimated from walks using my fitbit have been pretty close to what my hrm says.

    Good customer service. There was an issue with syncing fitbit and mfp recently but it has been resolved.
  • gpstrucker
    gpstrucker Posts: 930 Member
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    First, thanks everyone! I'm glad to hear all the opinions. General consensus seems to be it's a good investment? My activity is usually general walking, or being on a treadmill.

    @5babs - those are pretty much my other questions. Another is: does it automatically guess how many calories you've burned, based on the pedometer part and your stats? Or does everything have to be manually logged? If anyone could expand on this part of the device, that would be great :)

    The reason I'm looking into this is because I joined the local gym in early November of last year with my Mom. We got tired of the place itself, and the hours weren't really convenient. Just today, we bought a friend of mine's parents' treadmill, but I didn't look at it. Now that it's sitting in my (ok, my parents') house, I've discovered that it does not factor in any of your data when calculating calories. It only goes by distance. NO age, weight, etc.
    Thus, I'm looking for something that can calculate this for me. I have a pedometer, but it's very basic and honestly, I wear it but don't even really look at it. Something that automatically syncs with a website sounds more ideal, even more so when THAT syncs with MFP.

    Now knowing all this, would I be better off with something else instead? Any insight would be great, thanks!

    I use my FB in this way: I have my activity level here at MFP set at sedentary and let the FB add my daily activity calories. It's been working for me. :D
  • gpstrucker
    gpstrucker Posts: 930 Member
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    I LOVE my fitbit. I will warn you that you may find yourself exhibting strange behavior such as walking out of your way to add extra steps or stairs.

    LOL no doubt. I do use stairs or walk the long way just to add extra steps and stairs to my numbers. Great motivator.
  • cindybickler
    cindybickler Posts: 113 Member
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    i love it, BUT it has died on me twice. I seem to sweat too much. i like to wear it on my long runs. it will show you how many flights of stairs you have climbed. but it gets to moist or wet from my sweat and stops working.....the last time i had it on the outside of my tank top, attached on the strap. waistband got too wet and the sports bra got too wet. i quit trying to dry it out in rice. it spent more time in rice then it does on me....
  • jmp1031
    jmp1031 Posts: 95 Member
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    like a lot of other ppl said, smaller than i thought. i really like the weekly stats email you get. it tells you your total calories burned, miles walked, stairs climbed etc and whether that was in increase or decrease from last week. i just find it motivating overall, like when i get close to my daily goal up 10 flights of stairs or so many steps, i find myself going that extra little bit to meet the goal when otherwise i would never give it a thought. only 2 times i can remember there being synching problems but that's all.

    "@5babs - those are pretty much my other questions. Another is: does it automatically guess how many calories you've burned, based on the pedometer part and your stats? Or does everything have to be manually logged? If anyone could expand on this part of the device, that would be great :) " - on the fitbit site you also have your gender, age, weight and height like on here so your estimated calorie burn is based on that. it's been farily accurate for me, but i would like to get a heart rate monitor for things like my circuit training DVDs because there is less movement so my calorie burn on the fitbit is lower than i think it really is. the fitbit doesn't factor in your intensity.

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