Fitbit - yay or nay?

I have been wondering the exact same thing! I think it could be very helpful!

Do you find it's accurate clipped on to you? I've been toying with the idea for a few months, but I've been put off for several reasons - they're quite expensive, would I stick with it, and how accurate would it be. I'm a vet so quite often I have my hands in mucky places or I need them uber clean for surgery so the flex isn't ideal for me.

Fitbit One all the way - - have had it for 3 years....fabulous when synced with MFP...have lost 64 lbs...can't live without it!

I use MFP to journal my food and the Fitbit to track my exercise and calories burned...they're a dynamic duo. Set realistic goals and work towards them.

The Fitbit One also tracks sleep patterns so I wear it 24/7.

I have had the Fitbit Flex for one week. It takes a bit of research to get it all working smoothly. And I am not even sure I have it completely down yet.

I will preface this with the truth that I have NOT been back on track with my exercise for a few weeks. But I like the thing! I really like to see my sleep tracker. The first day I had it I slept wonderfully. The rest of this week, I have not slept well. And I reason that this is because the first day I had it I exercised. So for me, working out provides a more restful sleep.

It syncs with MFP and MFP seems to sync back with it. Since my food diary sort of appears on Fitbit stats. It just shows a meal and some calories and water. Still trying to figure it all out.

I like it so far. It will be more fun when the snow finally melts and I can walk more. I use a mini-stepper inside for now, but it's new as well.

I think it will be helpful in pushing me to finish up my "steps" goal for the day. I just have to figure out how to tell me that before 7PM so there is still time to get the steps in.

I have read reviews about the wrist band breaking after 3 months. So I baby that a bit. A charge has lasted all week. I don't know how helpful this is, but it's fun and has excellent resale value if you don't find it useful.

So far I like it.

I have the One. I considered the Flex but I was concerned that I'd get false steps from hand/arm movements.

I walk during my half hour lunch break. That's good for 1.5 to 2 miles. But the real value of the Fitbit is its motivational factor. Since getting my FB I find myself making up excuses to walk more whenever and wherever I can during the day, resulting in 5 to 7 miles of total walking, giving me an additional 500 to 900 calories burned each day.

If you're looking for a device to clip on only when you go for a run or a walk, don't buy the FB. Get a HRM instead. But if you want something that can track your runs and walks and also track daily general activity and most important - get you off your butt and get you moving - buy the FB.

I have a Fitbit One also, and absolutely love it! I find it very motivating and gives me a better idea of my daily energy expenditure as days can vary wildly in my job.

Took me a good week (and a lot of google-ing) to get it all working smoothly, but now I would feel lost without it! I also use a HRM to track my workouts, and it all syncs up between MFP and the Fitbit system.

I got a flex a couple of months ago. Its neat and I like it. If you need the money for something else though just save your money. It has not revolutionized my weight loss. It makes me more aware of my activity level or lack thereof so that is a good thing. I can tell days where i do not get enough activity shows up on the scale. I kind of knew this already though. its a fancy pedometer and if you like gadgets and information gathering its pretty cool. if you need the money I wouldnt get it or maybe go with one of the cheaper models which people seem to like as well.

Riding a bike- could I put the flex round my ankle in that instance? I dont cycle on a huge scale but I do home exercise dvds a lot would they be registered? I did toy with a polar watch but I like that the fitbit would sync on mfp! I did read about the force being recalled

You could use it for cycling, but cycling is not what it thinks it's measuring. The Fitbit is designed to measure steps, so it's good for walking, running, running in place, jumping, etc. If you strap it to your ankle and ride your bike, it'll think the motion is from steps, and spinning a pedal in circles is not the same as carrying your body weight and moving it through space.

So yes, it would give you results from cycling, but the results would be total nonsense.

I just received my fitbit Flex yesterday and so far I am liking it and have it synced to MFP. Clint9916, Your post was very helpful as far as the manual logging of certain cardio exercises into the flex.

I've been using the fitbit flex since Christmas and really like having the additional information. I spent some time on google trying to figure out how to get the most out of it and incorporated a few tricks that helped.

First, as one of the other poster's mentioned, it is an activity monitor and unlike heart rate monitors, it is meant to be worn 24/7 to get the most accurate estimate of your daily activity. I was pleasantly surprised at how well the flex tracked my steps - I wear it on my non-dominate hand and haven't noticed it picking up any other arm movements as steps. In fact, it seems to struggle to track steps if I use the 'ski poles' on the elliptical machine because it isn't a natural striding motion.

Since your daily activity includes your BMR, don't be shocked when the Fitbit app tells you that you've already burned xx amount of calories first thing in the morning.

When I go to the gym, I double tap it to put it into sleep mode during my workout and double tap again to go back to normal when I'm finished to get an activity record. I refer back to this record when I'm logging my workout in MFP. It helps me log my time more accurately so the two applications can work together. It also has opened my eyes to ACTUAL workout time vs time in the gym. We have a lot of chatty members who value the social time as much as the workout itself, so 90 minutes in the gym does not always equal 90 minutes of exercise. :laugh: :grumble: :laugh:

If you do a lot of stairs, or have a job where you should have things attached to your wrist, get a Fitbit One. If you want a tracker that you don't have to worry about accidentally putting through the washer, get the Flex. If you want to only track steady state cardio, save your money for a heart rate monitor.