Fitbit? Before I buy...

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evt84
evt84 Posts: 71 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
Can anyone give me some insight on the Fitbit?

I currently have a Polar HRM and in the last year I've had multiple problems with it (not sensing heart rate, battery dying quickly, strap sensor not working, etc...)

I loved the Polar HRM because I wanted something I could put on to ONLY track my workout calories burned (T25, Insanity, Body Beast). It was nice to turn it on, track my calories burned, and input them into MFP.

Because the Polar is giving me so many problems (yet again not sensing heart rate, therefore not calculating anything) I'm looking into FitBit.

Is that a good decision for tracking ONLY workout calories? I don't want something I need to wear 24/7 and track my sleep pattern, etc...I just want something I can put on during my workout and get an idea of how many calories I've burned...preferably without a chest strap, etc.

Any suggestions? Is fitbit the way to go or is that mainly for people who want to track their 24/7 calories burned?

thanks!

Replies

  • brianpperkins
    brianpperkins Posts: 6,124 Member
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    NO.

    A fitbit is designed for all day wear ... not to track the caloric burn only from workouts. This is going to sound blunt but your post makes it obvious that you haven't even bothered to look at what a fitbit really is.
  • JCLondonUK
    JCLondonUK Posts: 159
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    A Fitbit won't help you track calories burned during workouts like Insanity. It primarily tracks steps (as well as sleep etc), so it wouldn't give an accurate reading. You'd be better off getting your HRM fixed, or getting a new one.
  • techteachergirl
    techteachergirl Posts: 161 Member
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    I LOVE MY FITBIT!! With that being said, I agree with the above posters! If you are only looking at tracking workout calories you need to just get a HRM and not the FITBIT. The goal is for the all day wear and to look and your movement throughout the day.
  • evt84
    evt84 Posts: 71 Member
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    Actually, Brian, I did bother to look into what a fitbit is all about. However--I couldn't find anywhere on the site that stated whether it had the capability of being turned on/off for workouts only. Hence the reason I came HERE to get some advice. Thanks though for your "blunt" response. Much appreciated.....
  • brasballs40
    brasballs40 Posts: 1
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    you might consider hand washing the Polar strap... Salt can build up causing issues
  • slimmerang
    slimmerang Posts: 79 Member
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    Agreed. I use both and it sounds like you just have a bad HRM. I love my HRM for my workout calories. I have not had any of the issues you have and I have had mine since 07. The fitbit is awesome but not for what you want to use it for. Hope that helps a little. Good luck.
  • evt84
    evt84 Posts: 71 Member
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    Thanks everyone! Yes--I love my Polar HRM...it's just so frustrating to have so many issues with it in less than a year. I guess my best route is to either get mine repaired, or look into other comparable HRM's.
  • Kinseykick
    Kinseykick Posts: 59
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    I looked a lot into all sorts of calorie counters. The fitbit is an activity monitor. It is meant to be worn all day and monitor the amount of activity you do throughout the day, give you goals, and try to motivate you to be more active. What it sounds like you need is just a heartrate monitor. The only way to get the most accurate reading on calories burned and if you are in the correct workout zones is a HR monitor. The fitbit really just counts your steps and does a bunch of other fancy things that it doesn't sound like you need.

    I would go with another HRM or get yours fixed :) hope that helps!
  • mohanj
    mohanj Posts: 381 Member
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    I used Fitbit one for the past 10 months and loved it. But twice I forgot and it went into to washer/dryer cycle and I was pleasantly surprised that it still worked fine. But it stopped working when I was charging it probably the walk in the heavy rain that day might have caused it. Anyway, I am shopping again to buy one. I realized I do not use the sleep or alarm feature and hence the Fitbit Zip which is a half price than the Fitbit one is sufficient. The only downfall of Fitbit Zip is the battery is not rechargeable and we have to replace it and also it may not sync with my Google moto phone according to reviews.
  • rm33064
    rm33064 Posts: 270 Member
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    You should still wear a fitbit if you're interested in knowing how many calories you are really expending over the course of the day. Why are you concerned about accurately tracking your workout expenditure but don't care about tracking the calories burned from your daily activities? Anyways since you have data from your hrm you should have a pretty good idea how many calories you burn per minute for each of your routines, you can always just time yourself and add the calories manually. If you want a different monitor, look into the body media fit, most people are really happy with it and it will auto sync to MFP. It's meant to be worn all the time but you could just wear during workouts if that's what you want to do.
  • teemama2
    teemama2 Posts: 72 Member
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    I have the Fitbit flex and I agree with above posters - Fitbit is for 24/7.
  • mdcoug
    mdcoug Posts: 397 Member
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    Look into an Endomondo-compatible heart-rate strap. I was just talking to my sister this weekend and that's what she uses. It syncs with their app and that app connects to MFP. You don't even have to enter in your exercise here, it does it for you, after you're done.

    Another possibility is maybe the battery on the strap? I don't know. I've been having issues with mine and that's the only thing I can think of.
  • tammymoore24
    tammymoore24 Posts: 2,147 Member
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    For the original poster - this is not what you are looking for. This is to be worn all day.
    For others thinking about the Fitbit here is my experience with Fitbit Zip...I did research before I bought and saw that it counted steps, but they call it an activity monitor, so I guess I didn't really understand how/what it tracks...

    I have the Fitbit Zip. It does not track ACTIVITY - it tracks the amount of STEPS you take - it is a pedometer (not sure if it calculates backward steps as I haven't tested that, but I have tested side-stepping and sideways does not register). If you are doing other activities, you can log the activity on the Fitbit site and it will add in the calories burned from that activity to your daily total. For example, last night after dinner, I was cleaning up the kitchen for a half hour. Putting away the leftovers, washing pots, unloading and loading the dishwasher, wiping down the counter - I was "active" and moving around for the full 1/2 hour, but it only registered 3 steps because my movements were side steps (sink to stove) or short steps. The tracking showed I was inactive except for the 3 steps, so I manually added the "washing dishes" activity for that time period.

    Overall, I like it because it helps keep me moving. Most of the actual "exercise" I do is walking anyway so it tracks well for me. I found the step count to be accurate.

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