Polar vs Fitbit

I have a polar loop - user friendly and does everything a fitbit will do - also will sync with an H6 or H7 chest strap (has to be purchased separately) so you also have the HRM option with it - it does not sync with MFP if that's what you are looking for but that wasn't important to me when I purchased it.

If your new to weight loss, I would just start with your basic Polar HRM with chest strap for your workouts. That way you can keep track of your calorie intake from food and just net out the calories burned during exercise. The MFP program takes into account general calories burned through out the day so all you need to do is keep track of your exercise calories burned

As some have said, these products are meant for different purposes. I have the fitbit Flex which is a fitness wristband. Similar products are the Jawbone UP (horrible quality issues), Nike Fuelband and several others. Their purpose is to estimate your calorie burn by looking at how much you walk, your sleep quality and a couple of other parameters. As someone mentioned, it's not good for cycling and also doesn't measure calorie burn for swimming. However, the recommendation is that you walk at least 10,000 steps a day and that's what the Flex (and other Fitbit products) will give you. The Flex is waterproof (as opposed to the Force) so you wear it as a wristband all the time, shower and all. Take it off every 5 days or so to charge it; takes a couple hours only.

The Polar is a heart rate monitor (HRM) primarily. The downside is the chest strap so if you don't mind wearing that, then you can use it. It's high maintenance; have to wet the electrodes before you wear it, wash it off after, periodically wash the strap.... Personally, I don't like chest straps and I hate high maintenance. I have a Mio Alpha watch/HRM which syncs well with any phone app if the phone has Bluetooth 4.0. So I wear it as a watch (so don't need the "watch" feature of the Force) and when I run, I just activate the HRM with a push of a button. Also, can set a parameter to be sure I keep my HR in the fat burn zone and there's an audible and visual indicator (flashing light of different colors) if I run too slow or too fast. That is EASY to charge and only takes a couple of hours, maximum.

MFP is great for the intake part of calorie control. Fitbit is great for the burn (or output) of the calorie equation.

Let me see if I got this right...

The Fitbit will measure my activity and estimate my total daily calorie burn, as well as monitor my sleep patterns. A Polar HRM will measure my heart rate during workout (esp cardio) to help me reach and maintain training levels for my specific need (weight loss/fat burn, endurance/conditioning, speed, etc). A HRM is not designed to wear 24/7 (unless specifically designed for that), and therefore does not provide a total daily calorie burn.

I am interested in a product that will accurately record my calorie burn during my walks and C25K/C210K training and help me stay in the zone for max fatburn. So I'm thinking the Polar is my choice.

Yes - the Polar Loop also tracks the same as a fitbit but you can pair it with an H6 or H7 chest strap so it will also act as a HRM for workouts - but if your only concern is the calorie burn during your workout times I would just go with a Polar HRM (purchasing the loop and chest strap separately would be more pricey). I don't wear my Loop during sleep as that isn't really an option I cared about or needed.