wanna fitbit! Are they worth it?

I never leave home without it. It's all I use. I don't have to log anything, because my main source of exercise is walking and weights. I LOVE it.

I had one and they provide motivation. I want my flower to grow!
One charge lasts about 2 weeks and wireless. Syncing.is good.
Links directly to MFP, if you add exercises. You need to be accurate with timing, otherwise. It "double dips".
Only criticism is the bracket/belt clip breaks easily and they are easily lost!
I have not been able to find mine for a few weeks and is expensive to replace.

I am using a pedometer in its place.

I got one free:happy: Workplace Wellness Initiative. I love it so far, I was a little nervous about linking it to MFP, but so far I like the results. 3lbs the first week wearing it:bigsmile: I left it at home tonight, (I was running behind) and I feel naked, now I don't know my steps. It helps motivate me to keep moving so I think it's worth it. I think it is probably worth full price, but do a google search for coupon codes, maybe you would get lucky and find a discount.

I have a question. I do a lot of strength training workouts during which I don't actually move much. Obviously the fitbit wouldn't be able to actually gauge the correct amount of calories burned from this, would it? So how would that work, would I be able to add the exercise onto MFP like normal and then the calories would work themselves out somehow? A bit confusing how it all works.

No

Fizzletto, you would have to manually log your strength training. I've had FitBit since 2/1/12. I lost more weight faster (almost too fast, really) using FitBit/MFP combo than MFP alone. My hubsand lost a ton of weight as well. The two together really work for us. FitBit has great customer service, too. When I drowned mine by accidentally flipping it off my waistband into the john, they replaced it even though it was my fault.

Trick is to figure out what you're logging where. I log all food on MFP and all activity on FitBit. I use a Garmin for runs and bike riding, so I enter the data from the Garmin into FitBit and it crosses over to MFP for caloric burn. I let FitBit figure the calories; it gets very close to what Garmin gives me with a HRM strap.

bump

If you mainly walk or run outside, then yes. If you do other stuff or work out indoors, you're better off with a HRM.
I walk and run and that's pretty much all my exercise, I love my fitbit.
For a good example, here's my stats. I keep everything public.

http://www.fitbit.com/user/236FKH

I think it is worth every penny. It is such a great self motivator, you want to see the steps increase, the miles increase, the floors increase but most of all I want to see the flower grow.....it keeps me moving. I never leave home without mine clipped to my bra.

i have a fitbit ultra, i love it. I also have a FT60 HRM that I use for workouts.

Love the fitbit though for general step counting and stuff.

I have a question. I do a lot of strength training workouts during which I don't actually move much. Obviously the fitbit wouldn't be able to actually gauge the correct amount of calories burned from this, would it? So how would that work, would I be able to add the exercise onto MFP like normal and then the calories would work themselves out somehow? A bit confusing how it all works.

That is the one problem with Fitbit. I wear mine every day and it's great for any step based workout. It won't work for a weight workout because you're not moving. I do a HIIT workout and my Fitbit shows about 240 calories burned. I bought a Polar HRM and wear it in combination with my Fitbit during workouts and based on that, I'm burning about 500 calories. I hate to say you need both, but unless you can really get a good estimation of your calorie burn by looking it up on MFP, then you kind of need both. I'm not going to be happy with a 250 calorie error! As long as you enter your exercise start time/stop time and calories burned into MFP, it will sync with Fitbit so it's not double counting. You'll see your Fitbit numbers change as soon as it syncs with MFP.

Hope this helps!

I love mine! I use it to track my routine activity. When I work out, I use a heart rate monitor and log those calories based on that. It is hard to select the appropriate activity level to set my calories since 1/2 of my day (work) is sitting at a desk and the other 1/2 is taking care of my two little kids. So, I set my activity to "lightly active" and allow my fitbit to track activity and add calories to my goal as appropriate. Before I started doing this, I was ravenous all the time and couldn't figure out why. What I found is that I'm much more active in the second half of my day (burning an extra 1500- 2000 calories over the course of the evening) and need more calories. It's also quite motivational to see step count and calorie estimate grow through the day.

I would recommend waiting a few weeks though. An updated version (Fitbit One) is coming out that adds water resistance and bluetooth sync. For those with the ultra, I recommend not using the belt clip...just clip the device onto your pocket. It stays in place very well...less likely to fall off and get lost.

This is a bit off topic. I as well only sleep short periods of time according to FB. Maybe we actually sleep better, it just consideres that we wake up when we turn sides?

what does it look like on MFP when it logs the "exercise"? Is it something you have to label manually or does it assign a label/title? For example: burned 250 calories doing __________.

I wanted one, but I didn't want to buy one, so I waited for my birthday. It's been 2 weeks, and so far, I really like it! It's motivated me to move more than I would have, and push myself just a little further than I would have done on my own.

The sleep feature I could probably live without, often times I don't use it because I fall asleep where ever I am (for instance, on the couch) and I wake up after a few hours and drag myself to bed.