Fitbit

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  • shan7naf
    shan7naf Posts: 2 Member
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    I love my fitbit zip! It's perfect for what I need as I don't need to track sleep or stairs climbed.
    It's pretty accurate. I wear it on treadmill & it matches the same distance the treadmill says. Best $60 spent!
  • Froggy_
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    I've had my Fitbit One for a few months now, and have found it a huge motivational tool to get me moving and out of my sedentary lifestyle. I just make sure it's in a pocket in my clothes (or clipped inside my bra - as per the instructions - if I'm not wearing anything with pockets in it) and it measures my steps, flights of stairs climbed, and calories burnt. I wear it in the supplied wristband when I go to bed to monitor my sleep, and only take it off to charge it or take a shower (it's sweatproof, but not waterproof).
    If you do get one, go online to personalise it - you need to log your weight, your weight target (e.g. loss or maintenance) and tell it your average stride length. Without these bits of personalisation the calorie count and distances won't be correct.
    I now us MFP to record all of my food intake, and the Fitbit software to record all my exercise, and have found them both to be very motivational.
    I've lost about 15 kg (2 stones) in 4 months. I'm no runner, but the stair-counter and step counter are very accurate for me as most of my exercise is based in my own home. It's also pretty accurate when hillwalking, although you need to keep moving for the hill-climbing bit to be accurate — it doesn't count part flights of stairs, for example, so if I go upstairs at home it counts as "1", but if I go upstairs and rest half-way up before continuing, it doesn't count as anything. I didn't realise this when I first got it, and was proud of myself for climbing a really steep hill, and gutted to see it counted as only "1" as I'd kept stopping. Recently, I climbed the same hill without stopping at all, and it was recorded as "13", which is pretty much what I'd expect.
    I've bought myself a rowing machine, and when I use it, I merely record the time, distance and calories burned from the rower onto the Fitbit webpage, and the calories burned are reflected in all the stats (and passed across to MFP to give me an "extra" food allowance if I've burnt enough of them!). As others have said, the Fitbit won't record such things accurately, but it doesn't claim to do so.
    If I'm just pottering around the house, the steps recorded are pretty accurate, but the distance won't be as good as my stride is not consistent, but if I'm out and about for a proper walk, it is pretty accurate as it knows my walking stride length. (If I ran, I'd need to tell it my average running stride length, too).
    I'm now "moderately active" as opposed to sedentary, and am motivated to become more so, thanks to my Fitbit One and MFP.
    If you are motivated by numbers and graphs and trying to beat your own "best", then I definitely recommend it. Yes, it's "just" a fancy pedometer, but one that is accurate for what it purports to do, and doesn't need to be clipped to a waistband. It's neat and easy to wear in a pocket (although that also makes it easy to lose if it's not a secure/deep pocket!), and will even tell you the time and double as a silent alarm clock. I'd really miss mine if I had to be without it now . . . . .
  • unamoss
    unamoss Posts: 28 Member
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    I love my one. It works beautifully with MFP and it really helps you get in touch with just how much activity is necessary in your day to help you be successful with weight loss. I wear it clipped on my bra or waistband. I use the wrist band at night. There is absolutely no reason to wear it 24/7 (like in the shower etc). It's just another wonderful tool designed to help you (but it's not a magic bullet).

    The best part about it was learning that I was a lot more active than I thought. I used to think I was such a badass for walking 3 or 4 miles at the gym. Imagine my surprised that on a good day I learned that I usually walk an additional 3 or 4 miles just "doing my thing." It was nice to know I wasn't such a disaster, lol.

    Good luck.
  • JessicaP1234
    JessicaP1234 Posts: 15 Member
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    I really like my fitbit flex but I personally don't think it was worth the $99 I spent on it. Since you wear it on your wrist the step count is always off. I can sit right here and just doing stuff basic it will claim Ive walked 40 steps. However I think its close enough to right. May be off by a few hundred steps a day. I also don't trust the calorie burned that it claims because sometimes it higher than I would think it would be for a simple walk. I don't eat the calories back that it claims unless I know I did a workout and know its pretty accurate. I do however think its great as motivation. If I see Im close to a certain number of steps I will make sure I do a little more to hit that goal. Especially if close to the 10k steps. Ill walk on the treadmill a little more if Im at 8k or something. For that reason its great. I think its a really expensive step counter and I think You could get away with buying a nice step counter and a heart rate monitor and get the same results you would just have to log your exercises itself. I link mine to myfitnesspal and I actually use it more through this site then the fitbit site. It shows your calories burned per day based on your TDEE and if you do more activity then it will add on top of that. You know your TDEE because of myfitness pal and you can add exercises based on a heartrate monitor and get more accurate calories burned logging yourself. If your a electronic nerd like myself fork out the extra money and buy it though. You will like it for what it is. The Sleep thing is way off.. If I set it sensitive it counts all the small jerks you do when going into REM sleep and if you set it to normal sensitivity it does seem to be sensitive enough because I know nights I struggled to sleep that it claimed I slept better than I did.
  • CamMac5150
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    My wife surprised me with one on Christmas and I'm hooked on it already. I had no idea it would be as useful as it already has proved to be. I recommend it.

    My wife surprised me Christmas morning as well with a Fitbit Force. I was a little apprehensive when I found out how much it cost, but am loving it more and more everyday. Between the Fitbit app and sync with MFP it is awesome. Definitely recommend.
  • Jambalady
    Jambalady Posts: 155 Member
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    My husband got me one for Christmas as well and I must admit, at first I was a little disappointed. But, after a week, I am getting officially obsessed with it.

    I find myself checking it throughout the day to see how I'm doing and if my steps or calories burned are low, I will adjust what I am doing to get extra steps in.

    It definitely keeps you accountable and motivates you to keep moving throughout the day to reach your goals.

    The wristband was very annoying at first to put on, but I read some tips on the Fitbit website to soak the band (just the ends of the band, and not the Force itself) in HOT tap water for like 2 minutes. I did this 2-3 times and now it goes on easy peasy.

    I love it so far. We'll see if I stick with it!
  • randrews0407
    randrews0407 Posts: 216 Member
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    I love my fitbit zip! It's perfect for what I need as I don't need to track sleep or stairs climbed.
    It's pretty accurate. I wear it on treadmill & it matches the same distance the treadmill says. Best $60 spent!

    I have the zip, got it for $50 with free shipping on Amazon - love it so far. For me, less is more - I didn't need sleep tracking etc and I didn't want a device I would have to charge or hook up to my computer. I have the Fuel Band from Nike which I have since stopped using and its part of the reason I didn't get the flex or the force. When I'd walk on cold days with my hands in my pocket I wouldn't earn any "fuel" and my step count would be off - also if I used the eliptical and kept my hands on the heart rate sensors it wouldn't track that I did anything. With my previous experience using a wrist tracker, I noticed your hands need to be invloved.
  • HPLW0705
    HPLW0705 Posts: 102
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    I have the Force and love it. I definitely feel it's worth the $130. I have a friend at work who actively competes with me, it's a great motivator. The only thing I don't like is the fact that the distance measured doesn't seem to match up with my run tracker app or my treadmill. I don't know which one to believe! Overall, I recommend it, great little tool that really helps keep you on track!
  • AmyRhubarb
    AmyRhubarb Posts: 6,890 Member
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    After much research and reading reviews from members here and on Amazon, I decided the Zip best suits my needs. Picked up a brand new one on eBay a few days ago for $38.95 shipped! That was just a couple of days ago, so I don't have it yet and can't tell ya how I like it! :tongue:

    There are tons of Fitbits, all models, on eBay right now, so if you do your homework and watch the auctions, you could score a brand new one for a great deal. I bought my HRM on eBay about 3 years ago, too - brand new, never had a problem with it, smokin' deal.
  • FJcntdwn2sknyluv
    FJcntdwn2sknyluv Posts: 651 Member
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    I used to have the FitBit Ultra but it ran away from home. I immediately replaced it with the FitBit One. Amazing motivator but I would stay away from the wrist mounted ones since they tend to be less accurate with activities when your hand is stable, like cycling.

    This I had a day I wore y fitbit one on my wrist all day and the calorie burn was higher even though I did the same thing as normal.. but I love mine and it's an eyeopener on how much you do or don't move :)