wanna fitbit! Are they worth it?

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.

If you exercise along with DVD's like Leslie Sansone or work out on an Elliptical, will Fitbit calculate the calories burned?

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

Holly, what type of fitbit do you have? Is it easy to synch with MFP or will I be doing a lot more work?

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

Holly, what type of fitbit do you have? Is it easy to synch with MFP or will I be doing a lot more work?

I have the FitBit Ultra. It is literally no effort to synch with MFP. As soon as you've hooked it up (in the "tools" section on MFP) it starts sharing info between the two sites. It is important to follow the directions provided when you hook it all up, set MFP to "sedentary" etc.

FitBit does take a few days to get an accurate read on your activity and "learn" to calculate your goals. Mine was giving me weird numbers the first few days, but I've lost 7lbs since I got it, I love it.

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 __________.

Take a look at my diary, it just says "fitbit adjustment" and then the calories.

bump