Fitbit...do you have one or something similar?

glowgirl14
glowgirl14 Posts: 200 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
So, basically, I suck at exercise, and I need to do better. I am terrible at making myself move if there is no accountability. I'm 60-ish pounds down, and have 10-20 to go. Maybe. If my body looked better, I would be satisfied with a higher weight. But basically, I need to get toned.

I also read recently here that the "calories burned" part of MFP might not be super accurate. I have been at a plateau (trying on and off) for well over a year, and I need to figure out what I'm doing wrong...

I have no one to work out with locally, and was looking for something to keep me motivated. I was looking at scales...the fancy ones that monitor your visceral fat and whatnot...but I was talking to a friend who is a nutritionist, and she suggested that might not be a worthwhile investment, since I'm already close to my goal, and now need to work on being FIT vs. losing weight. She suggested the fitbit.

I've been reading about it a little, but the reviews I've found aren't super helpful. The fitbit website says that it will sync with MFP, and my computer, but is this helpful? I love data...I am hoping that if I have some good data, I can find my problem and maybe fix it. I also know that I am more motivated when I wear a pedometer during the day, because I know why MY average is, and it feels good to hit or exceed that number. But I just have a cheap pedometer, and it doesn't compensate for strolling through the grocery store vs. chasing my kids around playing baseball.

I know there are a few gadgets like this, and I think I'm at the point where I'm ready to invest a little money into something that will help...but I wanted a few opinions before I do so...

So...

Fitbit, Jawbone up, something else? What do you have, or what do you covet?

Replies

  • ddzubow
    ddzubow Posts: 65 Member
    Fitbit has several tracking devices - the Zip, the Flex and the One. They measure different types of activity based on their price point. I have the Zip, which is the cheapest, but does everything I want it to - which is track my steps. I find it accurate and extremely motivational. The Flex and One will track flights of steps and sleeping patterns, and the One is basically a bracelet. I was tempted to get the One when it came out recently, but it's had pretty harsh reviews for inaccuracy due to it tracking steps based on arm movements.

    So, depending on what your needs are, there are definitely options out there. I think you'd find the Zip to be a great motivational tool if all you're looking for is a good pedometer and lots of data.
  • L_Stradford
    L_Stradford Posts: 156 Member
    I have a FitBit and I love it! I'm not even going to lie.....I get up at work just to walk around and then I sync up with MFP just to see how many more calories I burned and how many more I can eat! It sync up very well and you never have to put in an exercise, unless it's strength or swimming, etc....

    It's works fairly well if you like to do cardio, which I love. I have no complaints!
  • Samstan101
    Samstan101 Posts: 699 Member
    I have a Fitbit One and love it. I track food on MFP and activity on the Fitbit website. The additional calories I burn through exercise show in my food log here so I always know how many calories I have to play with whichI find very useful.

    As a bit of a data geek I love the amount of information I get in terms of steps taken, flights of stairs climbed (Fitbit One has a built in altimeter and counts a 10ft increase in height as a flight of stairs), distance walked, minutes slept (Fitbit One can be worn at night and put into sleep mode and will tell you how often you are restless and how often you wake in the night) and calories used at a given time (shows BMR progressively with time over the day plus additional cals burned so if your BMR was 2400 at 1am it would show 100 cals burned, by 12pm it'd show 1200 etc)... Sorry went off into data geek mode then ;) and it'll sync weight with MFP as well. In addition you can add friends and see where you rank in terms of steps etc.

    I hope this helps :)

    Edit: Just seen above someone say the One is the bracelet - its not. The Flex is the new Fitbit bracelet (and I don't think it tracks stairs climbed). As an additional note the Fitbits are splash/ sweat proof but not designed for full submersion eg swimming.
  • hdtracy
    hdtracy Posts: 49 Member
    The one thing you mentioned is that you really want to ‘tone up’. Which I interpret as probably meaning you’ll be doing more strength training type things at this point – which I’ll freely admit, the fitbit just doesn’t track very well at all.

    If you’re motivated by your pedometer now, a fitbit will definitely take that to the next level. There’s really supportive facebook/MFP groups for fitbit, and with badges and leaderboards and lots of pretty graphs to look at, it’s very easy to get addicted!

    Reasons I chose the fitibt over the Jawbone UP:
    Fitbit is a smooth band, reviews I read kept mentioning the UP snagging on clothes or stabbing people when you try to hug them, etc.
    Fitbit band MUCH smoother and flatter, can easily be put on and forgotten, but the UP is a lot more boxy.
    Fitbit will sync wirelessly to my phone throughout the day. UP needs to be manually synced by unplugging and plugging into the headphone jack of your phone.

    I had the One for a couple weeks, but ultimately decided to swap it for a Flex, and I'm so glad I did :)
  • hdtracy
    hdtracy Posts: 49 Member

    Edit: Just seen above someone say the One is the bracelet - its not. The Flex is the new Fitbit bracelet (and I don't think it tracks stairs climbed). As an additional note the Fitbits are splash/ sweat proof but not designed for full submersion eg swimming.

    Yeah, the One is a clip on tracker like the Zip, but it counts stairs as well as has sleep tracking. The Flex is the bracelet model, that will count steps and measure sleep, but won't count stairs. According to the Flex user manual, the Flex can be submerged up to 30 feet underwater - although I've read of a couple conflicting reports on whether or not it truly can take that without breaking!
  • Hoodie16
    Hoodie16 Posts: 13 Member
    I have a BodyMedia Fit Link which does a lot more than the FitBit. I would recommend the BodyMedia Fit Link over a fitbit.
  • glowgirl14
    glowgirl14 Posts: 200 Member
    The one thing you mentioned is that you really want to ‘tone up’. Which I interpret as probably meaning you’ll be doing more strength training type things at this point – which I’ll freely admit, the fitbit just doesn’t track very well at all.

    If you’re motivated by your pedometer now, a fitbit will definitely take that to the next level. There’s really supportive facebook/MFP groups for fitbit, and with badges and leaderboards and lots of pretty graphs to look at, it’s very easy to get addicted!

    Reasons I chose the fitibt over the Jawbone UP:
    Fitbit is a smooth band, reviews I read kept mentioning the UP snagging on clothes or stabbing people when you try to hug them, etc.
    Fitbit band MUCH smoother and flatter, can easily be put on and forgotten, but the UP is a lot more boxy.
    Fitbit will sync wirelessly to my phone throughout the day. UP needs to be manually synced by unplugging and plugging into the headphone jack of your phone.

    I had the One for a couple weeks, but ultimately decided to swap it for a Flex, and I'm so glad I did :)

    Yes getting toned is a big goal for me, I lost the weight without exercise, and I'm really flabby now - feel like I'd look way better if i was a toned 130...I know I was much smaller when i was younger at this weight.

    So, toning for sure, but I know I need to be doing cardio too, and want something to track what I'm doing. Seems like one of these monitors will be a good fit for me. : )

    Did you find the One hard to wear? Is that why you switched to the flex?
  • glowgirl14
    glowgirl14 Posts: 200 Member
    Thanks so much for the replies -- I think with this info and the other research I've done, I'm going to go with a fitbit one or flex...probably the flex, so I can wear it and forget about it - I don't do stairs very often. : )
  • MrsSenecal
    MrsSenecal Posts: 312 Member
    I have a Jawbone Up that I absolutely love. I love how the App is set up and love wearing the band. Its very acccurate and you calibrate it to your stride. I didnt realize how accurate it was until I calibrating it. It said for me to walk at least .10 mile to calibrate it. I walked .21 miles to calibrate it and it had the same exact reading as the treadmill for how far I walked. That was pretty good and made me believe in my Up a lot more!
  • conniemaxwell5
    conniemaxwell5 Posts: 943 Member
    I have the Body Media Link arm band. I love the information it gives me, including sleep patterns and feedback on my diet and exercise. The one thing I don't like is that it's big and unattractive (elastic band on my upper arm). When I'm going sleeveless, I either wear it under capris on my leg or tuck the unit into my bra but I'm sure the information isn't as accurate when I do that.
  • gowrirao81
    gowrirao81 Posts: 139 Member
    I have a fitbit flex and I LOVE it! I was maybe doing about 5,000 steps a day prior to getting it but now manage atleast 15,000! IT's incredibly motivating and if you problem is laziness/moving more, this thing is worth its weight in gold!
  • Sunitagt
    Sunitagt Posts: 486 Member
    I just got the Withings Pulse and love it! Similar to the Fitbit One. I also find it very motivating and will take more walks than before to meet my 10,000 steps a day. It does not tell me total burn throughout the day, just what I burn from activity, so I add that in to my esimated BMR to get my daily TDEE and do more calculations on my own.

    If you are going to be doing more strength training for toning, I would get a heart rate monitor like the Polar FT4. I got that one recently and it really gives a good picture of your workout when you are in the elevated heart rate level zone. And MFP was estimating about 200 calories more per 30 minutes than I was actually burning according to the HRM, which is great information to have.
  • AmyMgetsfit
    AmyMgetsfit Posts: 636 Member
    I have the Fitbit One. I love it. I clip it to my bra during the day and my tank top at night for sleep. I don't use the arm band they give you for sleeping. Since I sleep like a rock and barely move, I have never had a problem with it. You can create an account with fitbit and log your activities. So if you are lifting weights you can log that manually. The dashboard has a graph so you can see where you were really active or not during the day. It does count hills as a flight of stairs. My walking trail has a few hills on it and it counts it as 7 flights of stairs. You can sync it MFP. You can also sync it to Walgreens and earn rewards for extra discounts.
  • ddzubow
    ddzubow Posts: 65 Member
    Edit: Just seen above someone say the One is the bracelet - its not. The Flex is the new Fitbit bracelet (and I don't think it tracks stairs climbed). As an additional note the Fitbits are splash/ sweat proof but not designed for full submersion eg swimming.

    Thanks! That was my mistake. I knew which was which but was rushing out my post since I was at work...oops!
  • jadedone
    jadedone Posts: 2,446 Member
    I just got an UP, and I love the app and the sleep tracking.

    It also has a little reminder to let you know to move.

    The alarm options are awesome as well. I have been really working hard to get my 10k per day. I did not have success with pedometers before. And having to switch to sleep mode, and bra mode was way too much work for me.
  • AndiGirl70
    AndiGirl70 Posts: 542 Member
    I use the fitbit zip and I find it motivational to get a minimum of 10K steps in each day. I have it linked to MFP and it helps to challenge me every day.
  • MsEndomorph
    MsEndomorph Posts: 604 Member
    I'm going to be honest.

    I thought fitbits were lame and for people who were out of shape and 20-30 years older than I am.

    Then I saw one at Target and thought, I gotta check this out for myself. And I LOVE it. It's always clipped to my bra or on my wrist.

    It's really any activity level eye opener. I always had a really hard time trying to figure out if I qualify as sedentary, lightly active, active, whatever. And I've realized that's because I'm such an extremist. On Thursday I was up and about and went to the gym twice. I easily walked 15k steps and burned almost 2500 calories. Same for Friday. Yesterday I took 5,000 steps. I barely got out of bed or off the couch, which means I didn't need to consume as much food (I think fitbit wanted me to eat 900 calories or something crazy like that.)

    I use a HRM and log in my exercise calories and food into MFP and let the two sync themselves. Some days fitbit gives me exercise calories to eat (today I cleaned my house so I got more!) and some days (like yesterday) I watch my calories slowly slip away as I'm vegging to Lifetime movie marathons.
  • airangel59
    airangel59 Posts: 1,887 Member
    I got the Fitbit Flex about 2 weeks ago. I'm a recliner potato and despite reviews about the device not being all that accurate (depends on what review you read I suppose) , I figured ANYTHING that would get me up off recliner and moving would be worth while.

    I didn't want something I'd forget to put on when I did decide to migrate from the desk or recliner or throw in the wash or having it fall off etc....so Flex it was.

    I like that it works with my Samsung G3S, bluetooth, love the reports as well and use the sleep tracker. I don't do steps (not many stair opportunities in Tucson lol) so that aspect of it was not a concern for me.

    You can get it wet but I remove while showering as water does collect inside the compartment and I don't want it growing creeping crud or mold on my wrist. I don't even realize I'm wearing the band (small)..I wear it on my non dom wrist and wearing a watch (when I do) does create a small problem, but nothing I can't live with.

    I'm happy with the purchase, although did consider the One and Zip but wanted the sleep option, didn't want the stairs and really didn't want to worry about losing/forgetting to put it on.
  • glowgirl14
    glowgirl14 Posts: 200 Member
    Thanks to everyone for the comments! You gave me the answers I was looking for - real answers from people who will be using it the same way I am. : )

    So I have decided to go with the Fitbit One. Mainly because I'm excited about it, and Amazon was backed up for the flex. (Ships in 1 to four months??!!??) So we'll try the One and see how it works for me. I liked the idea of the flex more, because it is an armband I can put on and forget...and seems to be more low profile than the other bands out there. But, availability wins out.

    And, I must admit, I get a little excitable sometimes...I was concerned that my arm flailing might "give" me extra calories that I didn't actually burn. ; )

    Anyway...I'm sure I'll be posting my own review on this little gizmo. It should be here tomorrow, and I can't wait!! : ) : ) : )
  • Samstan101
    Samstan101 Posts: 699 Member
    One thing to be aware of with the One is that some people (me included) haven't found the little case the best. The clip itself is brilliant but the rubber surround is a little soft and I did manage once to ping it out of the case onto the floor when putting something in my pocket. A great tip I read elsewhere that I've employed to ensure I don't lose my Fitbit One is to put a small piece of Velcro inside the case (the side with hooks) and the other piece on the back of the Fitbit itself. I've done that and not had it come out of the case once.

    Good luck with your Fitbit One, I hope you find it as great as I do mine!

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