Fitbit yes or no?

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24

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  • jonnythan
    jonnythan Posts: 10,161 Member
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    I absolutely love mine.

    It's a lot of fun, and I actually found myself climbing stairs randomly just to get the 50 floor badge for the day.

    I love how easy it makes everything. I don't need to guesstimate how many calories I'm burning doing something, especially something weird like walking around at the hospital for hours or at tennis practice. It just syncs everything right to MFP.
  • ittybittybadonkadonk
    ittybittybadonkadonk Posts: 11,634 Member
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    I love my fitbit one ... I got mine at bestbuy so I didnt have to wait and wait and wait ( I am impatient when I order things from the mail) LOL .....its a great motivator. .....I would recommend it to anyone
  • carfamily08
    carfamily08 Posts: 179
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    I love mine. I got it in January and have worn it almost 24/7 since. It's a great motivator to keep moving and gives me an idea of my overall daily burn (which has been pretty accurate per my TDEE calculations and weight loss rate). I like the sleep tracking too, I actually get more sleep than I thought - who knew?! haha! Highly recommend it!
  • Misspositiveme
    Misspositiveme Posts: 60 Member
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    yes worth the investment
  • kchang77
    kchang77 Posts: 76 Member
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    YES!!!
  • jonnythan
    jonnythan Posts: 10,161 Member
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    Depends on what you are looking for in a device. I also don't see how something you put in your pocket and doesn't measure your heart rate can be a good gauge of calories burned.

    It measures your actual movement, which is what actually consumes energy. I'd think the Fitbit would be more accurate.

    A heart rate monitor only measures your heart rate. It cannot correct in any way for how efficient your system is. Two people of the same size/weight can have vastly different heart rates while doing the same activity but be burning approximately the same calories.

    Knowing your heart rate is only useful if you can actually correlate it to your particular VO2 max at that heart rate. Heck, the same person could start running and within 2-3 weeks have a 20% lower heart rate when cruising at 6 mph.... but his calories used hasn't gone down 20% unless his actual running technique has improved.

    Neither one is going to be very accurate, but I don't think HRMs are necessarily any more accurate than an activity tracker.
  • AngelAtkins61
    AngelAtkins61 Posts: 52 Member
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    I LOVE LOVE LOVE MINE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Best hundred bucks I ever spent! Be sure to buy it DIRECTLY from them. They stand behind them 100%. I lost TWO of them and they replaced them!!!!!!!!!!! I was so lost without it!!! I almost had a meltdown today because I left it home when my husband and I sent shopping LOL
    Its truly an amazing weight loss/get in shape aid!
  • AngelAtkins61
    AngelAtkins61 Posts: 52 Member
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    It does not measure heartrate.. not sure where you got that from?
  • AngelAtkins61
    AngelAtkins61 Posts: 52 Member
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    It takes them away if you have been VERY active at one point and then plop your hiney down and do nothing. Thats what I gathered from keeping track of when it does that...
  • STrooper
    STrooper Posts: 659 Member
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    Yes! I've had my Ultra since June. As accurate as a good pedometer. Very accurate on climbs. If you get the One you can measure floors climbed and it gives you a sense of your sleep characteristics (Zip does not do that). Haven't really heard anything about the flex. It generally plays well with MFP though I prefer MFP's food diary.

    Match the names of the meals in both softwares and the summary from the meals you put here on MFP will find their way to Fitbits software.

    There are a couple of cautions about things being double counted but a lot of that has been solved.

    You can see an example of a Fitbit profile at my Fitbit profile at

    http://www.fitbit.com/user/23BVQ9
  • jonnythan
    jonnythan Posts: 10,161 Member
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    Here's a picture I put together of how MFP and Fitbit integrate:

    http://dl.dropbox.com/u/12873062/fitbit mfp.jpg

    fitbit%20mfp.jpg
  • SameMe_JustLess
    SameMe_JustLess Posts: 245 Member
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    LOVE! I have the original Ultra. I am going to upgrade to the Flex when it comes out in April.
  • AngelAtkins61
    AngelAtkins61 Posts: 52 Member
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    the UP Looks interesting. I do not like how it does not wirelessly synch or track stiars. That would make it really awesome!
  • x_JT_x
    x_JT_x Posts: 364
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    It depends on what you're looking for in a device. If you do primarily step based exercise and only want to know your calorie burn then you might be satisfied with the FitBit. It estimates caloric burn based on algorithms using your height, weight, age etc. It you primarily do exercise other than step-based: videos, weightlifting etc then the FitBit isn't all that helpful.

    I asked for the FitBit for Christmas. Used it for one week and sent it back. It was much too generalized for me, especially since I don't fall within the parameters of the algorithm for my stats. I ended up purchasing the Bodymedia Link and am much happier with that device. It provides much more personalized data, not to mention one's TDEE for the day. Very useful information to have.
  • DorisInTheDena
    DorisInTheDena Posts: 152 Member
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    I've had mine since July and love it! It keeps me moving!!
  • jonnythan
    jonnythan Posts: 10,161 Member
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    It depends on what you're looking for in a device. If you do primarily step based exercise and only want to know your calorie burn then you might be satisfied with the FitBit. It estimated caloric burn based on algorithms using your height, weight, age etc. It you primarily do exercise other than step-based: videos, weightlifting etc then the FitBit isn't all that helpful.

    I asked for the FitBit for Christmas. Used it for one week and sent it back. It was much too generalized for me, especially since I don't fall within the parameters of the algorithm for my stats. I ended up purchasing the Bodymedia Link and am much happier with that device. It provides much more personalized data, not to mention one's TDEE for the day. Very useful information to have.

    I'm not sure I follow. TDEE is what the Fitbit gives. What do you mean you don't fall within the parameters of the algorithm?
  • shade0343
    shade0343 Posts: 59 Member
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    It's great for reminding you to achieve a level of activity every day. Set goals and fitbit makes it easy to see if you are achieving them. I will say it's easy to misplace, you really have to stay aware of where it is or it can end up in the washer!
  • cmeroar68
    cmeroar68 Posts: 40 Member
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    Depends on what you are looking for in a device. I also don't see how something you put in your pocket and doesn't measure your heart rate can be a good gauge of calories burned.
    Ya know, I have wondered about that myself.
  • x_JT_x
    x_JT_x Posts: 364
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    It depends on what you're looking for in a device. If you do primarily step based exercise and only want to know your calorie burn then you might be satisfied with the FitBit. It estimated caloric burn based on algorithms using your height, weight, age etc. It you primarily do exercise other than step-based: videos, weightlifting etc then the FitBit isn't all that helpful.

    I asked for the FitBit for Christmas. Used it for one week and sent it back. It was much too generalized for me, especially since I don't fall within the parameters of the algorithm for my stats. I ended up purchasing the Bodymedia Link and am much happier with that device. It provides much more personalized data, not to mention one's TDEE for the day. Very useful information to have.

    I'm not sure I follow. TDEE is what the Fitbit gives. What do you mean you don't fall within the parameters of the algorithm?


    My metabolism runs 11% under what it should for my age/height/weight. The FitBit figures caloric burn based on that information. Since I don't fall into the 'average' person statistical group, the numbers aren't accurate for me.

    As far as the TDEE issue, the FitBit doesn't have the capacity to measure intensity. It only knows how many steps you took, not how hard you were working.
  • jonnythan
    jonnythan Posts: 10,161 Member
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    It depends on what you're looking for in a device. If you do primarily step based exercise and only want to know your calorie burn then you might be satisfied with the FitBit. It estimated caloric burn based on algorithms using your height, weight, age etc. It you primarily do exercise other than step-based: videos, weightlifting etc then the FitBit isn't all that helpful.

    I asked for the FitBit for Christmas. Used it for one week and sent it back. It was much too generalized for me, especially since I don't fall within the parameters of the algorithm for my stats. I ended up purchasing the Bodymedia Link and am much happier with that device. It provides much more personalized data, not to mention one's TDEE for the day. Very useful information to have.

    I'm not sure I follow. TDEE is what the Fitbit gives. What do you mean you don't fall within the parameters of the algorithm?


    My metabolism runs 11% under what it should for my age/height/weight. The FitBit figures caloric burn based on that information. Since I don't fall into the 'average' person statistical group, the numbers aren't accurate for me.

    As far as the TDEE issue, the FitBit doesn't have the capacity to measure intensity. It only knows how many steps you took, not how hard you were working.

    It actually does measure more than just steps. It's not a pedometer - it has a 3-axis accelerometer. It calculates how fast you're moving in addition to how many steps you're taking. It's actually really good at it. It can calculate how fast I'm running even on a treadmill.

    So, yeah, it does measure intensity. It'll give you different numbers for running a mile versus walking a mile - and it will fairly accurately calculate actual distance traveled.

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