Fitbit....should I get one? I already have a hrm ??

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  • brinsy
    brinsy Posts: 226 Member
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    That's what I was slightly thinking of.. My job is sedentary. Was thinking that maybe the fitbit would help me to move more...maybe.
  • vjw221
    vjw221 Posts: 34 Member
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    Both. HRM for actual workouts and FItbit for the rest of theday. MFP and FITbit work great together and FItbit gives you a daily TDEE. it's the best way to tell how active or sedentry you truely are. I also have the Fitbit Aria Wifi scale that loads my weight to fitbit and MFP.
  • scrapjen
    scrapjen Posts: 387 Member
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    I've had a Fitbit for years and would feel absolutely incomplete without it. I wear it 24/7, only taking it off for showers. It does more than just count steps, it gives you a visual representation of your day chronologically. It's so interesting to SEE it, very motivating for me too. And it's so easy, just clip it on and don't even think about it. It syncs automatically.

    After seeing all the buzz here about HRM, I decided to invest in one. I like it ok, but I only put it on for exercise, and I do several smaller workouts during the day, so that actually IS a bit of a pain, and it is a bit uncomfortable. I did a workout the other day, and I watched my heart rate ... BUT I HAD FORGOTTEN TO START IT, so I still had no idea what it's estimation for my workout would have been (I did still have my Fitbit on, so I had that at least).

    I did a blog post about the Fitbit (lots of visuals/graphs, so you can see what you would get)
    http://jenbsjourney.blogspot.com/2013/08/wondering-about-fitbit.html

    I also really like how the Fitbit (the One and Flex anyway) track sleep too. And how it syncs with MFP ... the Fitbit also syncs with several "reward" sites (Everymove, Earndit, Achievemint, Walgreens) ... I'm awaiting a $25 check from Achievemint now, I've earned a couple $5 Amazon gift cards, $10 in Walgreens credit and donated a bunch to charity. It did a blog post on that too ...
    http://jenbsjourney.blogspot.com/2013/08/get-rewarded-for-getting-fit.html

    I don't work for Fitbit *Ü* ... just a fan. I got a Flex for my 17-year old and a One for my 14 year old, and both my parents have them now too. We have fun Fitbit Family competitions. I usually win.

    I have the scale too ...
  • bobbystrongarm
    bobbystrongarm Posts: 72
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    Curious...

    Those of you tracking all your calories all day long with fitbit and a HRM, seeing as these devices all have about a 70-80% margin of error, doesn't this just set you up for eating too many back?

    If you're only going to eat some of them back, like we do with just a HRM, whats the point of being so specific?
  • brinsy
    brinsy Posts: 226 Member
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    Ok lol. Not to decide between flex or one :-/
  • brinsy
    brinsy Posts: 226 Member
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    I wouldn't eat back fitbit calories. Just want to make sure I'm moving enough everyday.
  • smerkord
    smerkord Posts: 101 Member
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    I borrowed a fitbit for 3 days and gave it back because I found it useless for my activity. To me, it is a glorified pedometer that couldn't keep up with my running, and it certainly didn't know how to process cross fit activities. If you care about how many steps you take in a day or how many flights of stairs you climb, it can be fun, but I found I wanted more and I think the HRM is the way to go.
  • vjw221
    vjw221 Posts: 34 Member
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    Curious...

    Those of you tracking all your calories all day long with fitbit and a HRM, seeing as these devices all have about a 70-80% margin of error, doesn't this just set you up for eating too many back?

    If you're only going to eat some of them back, like we do with just a HRM, whats the point of being so specific?

    a TDEE or MFP calorie plan is based on general human calculations and assumptions of activity level. THe fitbit gives you an actual level of activity so if it says i burned 2500 cals today because i sat at my desk ad only got up to walk around only during lunch then i know i should eat 1500 cals for a 1000 cal deficit.

    all the numbers regardless of where you get them from can set anyone up for eating too many calories. but seeing actual numbers that are a representation of what I personally do is better than using numbers that are based on the average human and is just a shot in the the dark.
  • vjw221
    vjw221 Posts: 34 Member
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    Ok lol. Not to decide between flex or one :-/

    depends on how you want to wear it. Flex is on your arm and is water proofish and the one clips to clothes. the one i believe has a display for how many steps and the flex just gives a 3 out 5 bars complete kinda reading for how many steps.
  • bobbystrongarm
    bobbystrongarm Posts: 72
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    Well it should give you a more accurate TDEE.

    I guess I don't see the value in this because as an active 200lb+ guy the deviation from my estimated TDEE to actual TDEE is a small percentage of my daily intake. Some days I'm nearly at 3500 calories, a 100 calories is nothing to pay attention to.

    However, for smaller people where MFP has your daily calories ~1200 and you don't exercise a whole lot, a 100cal deviation from estimated TDEE to actual TDEE can be the difference between you being hungry or not.
  • AbstractAsterism
    AbstractAsterism Posts: 153 Member
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    Ok lol. Not to decide between flex or one :-/

    I got the Flex. I love it. It syncs to my phone and MFP, I love that it's water resistant (I have a two year old, it comes in handy!), and I love how it tracks movement and all that. My mom had a One, and it got washed. She still needs to replace it.
  • ChristineinMA
    ChristineinMA Posts: 312 Member
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    That's what I was slightly thinking of.. My job is sedentary. Was thinking that maybe the fitbit would help me to move more...maybe.

    I do not own a HRM, but I have had a Fitbit One since the end of May 2013 - I have found it does make me more active everywhere, but especially at work. I will take the stairs to the bathroom on the second floor or walk to the far end of the building to refill my water bottle - lots of extra steps add up throughout the day.

    Oh and fire drill at the office? More steps! :-)
  • jlbeals
    jlbeals Posts: 65 Member
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    Questions like this make it obvious that people don't quite understand what a fitbit IS. Asking if you should have one of these and/or an HRM is like asking if you should buy a treadmill or eat more vegetables. Both are good for you but they don't relate. The fitbit is a great motivator to be more active - it gives you an overview of your daily activity and keeps you accountable to that with the negative adjustments. Have you only climbed 7 flights of stairs today? What's 3 more - go for it! You've been sitting at your desk and haven't gotten many steps in - why not take the long way to the bathroom?

    That's what the fitbit is for. I do not use it to track my exercise - or if I leave it on, I always run it in conjunction with something else (HRM, runtastic app, etc.) and make corrections.

    The HRM tracks your exercise calories and heart rate improvements. You don't wear it all day.

    If all you are interested in is exercise calories and heart health, you don't need a fitbit. If you want a tool to keep you accountable all day long, then a fitbit would be infinitely more useful than a HRM.

    Both are not completely accurate, but are relatively good at what they are intended to do. Use the right tool for the job you want to accomplish. :) That's what it boils down to.
  • lindustum
    lindustum Posts: 212 Member
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    I wouldn't spend money on expensive devices if you need it for motivation. Sounds to me that you want one but are looking for a justification to actually spend the money. Heart over head?
    Tbh I don't get the point in pedometers- even knowing how active you are, it will not be considered by either MFP or TDEE methods, since that is incorporated in the "daily activity" setting. What I did to measure my activity was at the end of the week, I would sit and write down the minutes spend on walking (into town and back? went for a walk? etc.).

    With a sedentary lifestyle, I don't think you will be completely off in estimating your activity. I can see people in active jobs trying to do that, but not in a 9-5 desk job or something.

    Just my two copper, anyway.
  • bobbystrongarm
    bobbystrongarm Posts: 72
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    I wouldn't spend money on expensive devices if you need it for motivation. Sounds to me that you want one but are looking for a justification to actually spend the money. Heart over head?
    Tbh I don't get the point in pedometers- even knowing how active you are, it will not be considered by either MFP or TDEE methods, since that is incorporated in the "daily activity" setting. What I did to measure my activity was at the end of the week, I would sit and write down the minutes spend on walking (into town and back? went for a walk? etc.).

    With a sedentary lifestyle, I don't think you will be completely off in estimating your activity. I can see people in active jobs trying to do that, but not in a 9-5 desk job or something.

    Just my two copper, anyway.

    You could always manually adjust your calorie settings FYI. We aren't stuck with what MFP tells us to do. I recommend you go play with the settings, it is quite customizable. Even if you don't change anything it is nice to know the functionality of the tool. One can alway use BMR+specific cals burned throughout the day and replace MFP's estimated TDEE.
  • lindustum
    lindustum Posts: 212 Member
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    You could always manually adjust your calorie settings FYI. We aren't stuck with what MFP tells us to do. I recommend you go play with the settings, it is quite customizable. Even if you don't change anything it is nice to know the functionality of the tool. One can alway use BMR+specific cals burned throughout the day and replace MFP's estimated TDEE.
    In case this was addressed to me: My calories and my macros are all custom set based on the TDEE spreadsheet. I still don't see what good a FitBit would do in this context.

    (in case you meant to address the OP- just ignore me :p )
  • vjw221
    vjw221 Posts: 34 Member
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    You could always manually adjust your calorie settings FYI. We aren't stuck with what MFP tells us to do. I recommend you go play with the settings, it is quite customizable. Even if you don't change anything it is nice to know the functionality of the tool. One can alway use BMR+specific cals burned throughout the day and replace MFP's estimated TDEE.
    In case this was addressed to me: My calories and my macros are all custom set based on the TDEE spreadsheet. I still don't see what good a FitBit would do in this context.

    (in case you meant to address the OP- just ignore me :p )


    Or you could not have to manually do anything as FItbit calculates all of that for you ( it gives you your daily TDEE in real time). and MFP breaks out the macros in your food as entered.
  • lindustum
    lindustum Posts: 212 Member
    Options
    You could always manually adjust your calorie settings FYI. We aren't stuck with what MFP tells us to do. I recommend you go play with the settings, it is quite customizable. Even if you don't change anything it is nice to know the functionality of the tool. One can alway use BMR+specific cals burned throughout the day and replace MFP's estimated TDEE.
    In case this was addressed to me: My calories and my macros are all custom set based on the TDEE spreadsheet. I still don't see what good a FitBit would do in this context.

    (in case you meant to address the OP- just ignore me :p )


    Or you could not have to manually do anything as FItbit calculates all of that for you ( it gives you your daily TDEE in real time). and MFP breaks out the macros in your food as entered.

    "Manually entering everything" takes 5 minutes. 40£-80£ costs outweigh the benefits (for me).
  • agressre
    agressre Posts: 24 Member
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    Wearing a fitbit helped motivate me to use part of my lunch break to take a walk and get in 3,000 steps. It has helped me get in the habit of walking to the grocery store or take my son to a park a few blocks further from the house or to use the bathroom downstairs. I knew I could do all those things before, and sometimes I did them, but knowing I am going to look at a number at the end of the day motivates me to do a bit more. That bit more adds up.

    I spent 20 years developing mediocre to bad habits. I have spent 5 years trying to develop good habits. My point? I have spent a great deal more time learning and reinforcing awful habits (limited activity, 5 Guys Burgers three nights a week) then I have re-developing good habits.

    Reading a silly number off of a pedometer has helped me to get off my butt and move at work. I normally leave the office with 6,000 steps and 12 trips up and down stairs. Toss in walks with my toddler, time on the elliptical, and regular activites at home and most days I am at 13,000 steps. When I started using the Fitbit, I was barely hitting 7,000.

    Yes it is an expensive pedometer but it is helping me develop good habits. I figure I have 15 years to go before the good habits trump the bad habits. I'll use whatever tools I need to do just that.
  • dmcgrath81
    dmcgrath81 Posts: 9 Member
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    I have had both the one and the flex. My one went thru the wash machine so I ordered the flex. I miss the tracking of the flights of stairs but i love that i never have to take it off my wrist. Not even to shower! I love that it tracks my sleep. My husband also wears one. I really love the fitbit line and would highly recommend it. I also have the aria scale which I love as well.

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