Fitbit or not?

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teacher_transformation
teacher_transformation Posts: 45
in Health and Weight Loss
Hi there,
I am looking for advice/ opinons. I have a heart rate monitor and love it. It is Polar FT4 and I wear it for everything cardio when I workout. Recently, I have had many friends use the Fitbit. What are your thoughts on this? Should I get one? Are the calories accurate, etc.

Thanks!

Replies

  • Ready2Rock206
    Ready2Rock206 Posts: 9,488 Member
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    I have the FitBit One. I don't have it linked to MFP anymore, but I do find it useful to remind me I need to get off my butt and move around more. Its a great motivator for me.

    It's accurate for step related activities. If you want to track how many calories you're burning for like bike riding or weight training or things where you use your arms more than your feet, then no - it's not the most accurate thing. But that never bothered me. I just like it more for the motivation and didn't care if it shorted me exercise calories (When I had it linked).

    There's also several websites where you can link it and earn prizes for using it. (Earndit, Everymove, Achievemint) - Extra motivation!
  • teacher_transformation
    teacher_transformation Posts: 45
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    Thank you for the response! Does it count steps, total calories burned all day, and sleep?
  • BeckyD1105
    BeckyD1105 Posts: 444 Member
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    I've had a fitbit for about 2-3 weeks now. Like the previous poster said it definitely reminds me to move around more. It works for step related activities but if I'm doing some other sort of exercise, I will also wear my HRM and use the burn off of that. When you link your MFP to Fitbit, it will add a column on the exercise for start time. I enter the start time, minutes and calorie burn from my HRM and then that overrides the calorie burn for fitbit during that time frame so it seems to work well.

    Overall I think having the One is helping me be more conscious of being active and also what I'm eating. I can see patterns in various things and it has helped refocus my weight loss efforts.
  • JenJBS
    JenJBS Posts: 83
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    I really love my Fitbit One and find it extremely accurate. Fitbit is great!
  • teacher_transformation
    teacher_transformation Posts: 45
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    I really love my Fitbit One and find it extremely accurate. Fitbit is great!

    Is there a difference between Fitbit One and Fitbit?
  • Amerielle
    Amerielle Posts: 153 Member
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    If you have many friends who use a fitbit you should get one too! It is so fun to "compete" with each other. :smile: I can't tell you how many times I have gone for an extra walk in the evening to get a few extra steps so I can outstep one of my friends. lol
  • maillemaker
    maillemaker Posts: 1,253 Member
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    My understanding is that these things are basically just digital step trackers, right? They don't do anything for tracking exercise like weightlifting or swimming?
  • Katterin227
    Katterin227 Posts: 105 Member
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    Is there a difference between Fitbit One and Fitbit?

    There are a few different models of Fitbit. The wristband one is the Fitbit Flex; I considered getting one, but in the end I concluded that I wanted something I could wear discreetly at nearly all times, regardless of other wardrobe considerations. The Fitbit One is the same price (~$100) as the Fitbit Flex and measures most of the same things, but clips to your waistband or bra (or some people just carry it in their pocket). There is also the Fitbit Zip, which is cheaper but has fewer functions.

    I just got my Fitbit One last Thursday and I love it so far!
  • GiveMeCoffee
    GiveMeCoffee Posts: 3,556 Member
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    I just bought a Fitbit Flex this week and so far I'm loving it. It's a great tool to use to get up and move more. Plus having friends who have way more steps than I do makes me want to work harder.... I'm slightly competitive.
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
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    I used mine for a few months, until I got a good idea of how to get my 10,000 steps a day. I admit I've been lazy and not really bothering recharging it and carrying it everywhere for a while though, but it's definitely useful.
  • cadaver0usb0nes
    cadaver0usb0nes Posts: 151 Member
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    I love my fitbit one, it counts steps, floors, calories burned, and you can track sleep. And if anything happens with it they are very good at replacing it. My bluetooth stopped working after about 6 months and within a week I had a new one shipped without even having to send proof of purchase.
  • tropicaltiger
    tropicaltiger Posts: 254
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    I use the fitbit one been using for 2 months-I don't track my sleep-but I track my steps I try to do atleast 10,000 steps aday-and its fun when you compete againist others
  • Tyree985
    Tyree985 Posts: 22 Member
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    I've used my Fitbit for over a year and I love it! I wear it just about everyday to try and get my butt up and move.
  • scrapjen
    scrapjen Posts: 387 Member
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    Anyone who knows me knows I'm a Fitbit fan. I've had mine for about four years now and still love the feedback it provides. I keep a blog, and I talk about my Fitbit a lot! I did a general post detailing all you can expect if you get one, if that helps (lots of graphs)...
    http://jenbsjourney.blogspot.com/2013/08/wondering-about-fitbit.html

    Both my parents are now Fitbitters too, as well as a couple of my kids, several brothers and their wives. We are a Fitbit family. I do have yet to get hubby on board :)

    I really love how Fitbit works with MFP, and as another posted mentioned, many other programs as well (Pact, Achievemint ... I've just started earning credit every week at Kmart for my exercise with their Fitstudio program ... I posted about that on my blog today). Seriously, my Fitbit has actually paid for itself!

    I do have a HRM as well (PolarFT) and I do like it. It is different. I will track and compare estimates from both (and any machine readouts)... after a while, you get a better understanding of what the Fitbit tracks well, and what it doesn't. As others have mentioned, it has it's limitations (weight lifting, swimming, biking). I have found my Fitbit and HRM to be very close for running/jogging. A little less for walking/elliptical/zumba ... for those, I'm not sure which is more correct, the Fitbit or the HRM (sometimes my HRM comes in SO low! Seriously, it only gave me 176 calories for an hour of Zumba ... granted, I wasn't putting too much into that session as the steps were too complex for me, but still!) I'm a bit obsessive when it comes to numbers, I love having feedback from different sources.

    I do realize a Fitbit isn't for everyone, but I personally LOVE it!
  • abelle2
    abelle2 Posts: 9 Member
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    I've had mine a month and I also love it. True it doesn't track weigh lifting or swimming, but you can add them as manual activities. And while it counted my steps and flights when I hiked a ski mountain yesterday, it did not take into account that I was carrying a 30 lb toddler! I don't mind it being slightly under every now and then, because that's not when it's most important. I need it to push me on days when I'm inactive. And for that, it absolutely works. Linking with friends and with MFP has made it more fun and informative. I have just a slight lead over all my friends at the moment, and while I'm sore and tired (from the ski mountain thing) I still went for a couple slow walks today - just to keep my steps up and stay in the lead.
  • StaciMarie1974
    StaciMarie1974 Posts: 4,138 Member
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    I have the One and love it. (I put it on my wish list & received it as a Christmas gift from my mother in law.)

    Its a way to measure my daily activity, and I really need that. I've admitted that I'm lazy by nature and like sitting around. I strive for 10-12k steps per day, which seems to match up pretty well with a 'lightly active' setting on MFP. By being more active and eating in a controlled range I have lost more than 25 pounds since Christmas and have another 10-15 (?) to go.

    Its not a magic tool - I still have to be accountable and put in the effort. The community feature is nice, as is the leaderboard ranking. For anyone with a competitive nature, this can work very well.

    I like the One (over the Flex) because it can display the information on the device. For the Flex you need to sync & view your stats on a computer or compatible smart phone. I also like being able to clip it to my body - I'm not in the habit of wearing a watch.

    Fitbit & MFP work well together. MFP is the better option (in my opinion) for logging food, but it received my activity information from Fitbit. I think the calorie burn estimation is fairly accurate if used properly. Keep in mind its a fancy pedometer. People often complain about not getting steps while biking or whatnot. If you're not doing something run/walk based then you'd need to log the activity.
  • cassienewquist
    cassienewquist Posts: 39 Member
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    I have loved my fitbit zip, until a car ran it over yesterday after it fell off of me while running. I am going to try the fitbit one now, and I like what I am reading about it. It is an excellent tool and works great with MFP.
  • nosebag1212
    nosebag1212 Posts: 621 Member
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    I use the bodymedia fit, it's more expensive than the fitbit but it's deadly accurate and clinically proven to be the most accurate calorie tracker on the market, you get what you pay for
  • CA_Underdog
    CA_Underdog Posts: 733 Member
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    Thank you for the response! Does it count steps,
    Yes, it does this very well! You'll see daily how many steps you've taken vs. your friends.
    total calories burned all day
    Not with any accuracy. It knows you took a step. It doesn't utilize how big that step was (unlike most pedometers), whether it was uphill, what you're carrying, how much it taxed your cardio system, or non-running activities. For those, use your Polar or a modern activity tracker (Loop, Vivofit).

    It can do a BMR calculation like MFP. E.g., "You're 200lbs and 7'0" tall so you burn xxx calories."
    , and sleep?
    Yup, it tracks sleep.

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