Fitbit zip

Hope this helps.

Open the battery door using the battery door tool and remove the battery.
Wait 10 seconds.
Place the battery back into the tracker with the "+" side facing up, and close the door.
Your Zip will now be reset. You will see your tracker's version number, followed by a series of Fitbit Smilies. When you tap your tracker, you should be able to navigate through the screens as you normally would

Based on what you put in as your weight and height will help determine how many calories you burn without any movement or exercise. It estimates how many daily calories you are burning including the calories burned during sleep.

The Fitbits are all pretty useful to give you a general idea of your activity level, and to help motivate you to move more. However, if you want a tracker that is more accurate, Bodymedia Fit band measures more than just your steps. It's the most accurate one on the market thus far, and even it has a few drawbacks ($7 monthly subscription, for example)

Hi,

I'm looking for some help!

I've just bought a fit bit zip, taken it out of the box and added the app to my phone. However the calories burnt are coming up as 1270 which is impossible as I've only just started using it.

Does anyone know if there is a way to reset the actual calories and steps

Laura x

To actually answer your question (and not just weigh in on the usefulness of the Fitbit), the Fitbit calculates your calories burned just by being alive - the calories you burn through breathing, keeping your heart beating, your brain functioning, etc. This is calculated based on your age, sex, and weight, and they are usually added every 5 minutes. For example, my Fitbit Zip tells me I burn 6.4 calories every 5 minutes. That number was higher when I weighed more. So when I wake up in the morning and put on my Fitbit around 6 am, it already shows that I've burned ~460 calories, even though I was sleeping. Based on the time of day you fired up your Fitbit, those calories are probably what it calculates you've burned *just by being alive* today.

And to talk about the usefulness of the Fitbit - I think it's great. I find the calories it tells me I've burned in day, both through just being alive AND through my step-based activities to be relatively accurate - since it knows when I've sped up or slowed down and is not just averaging like the MFP calories burned estimates do, AND it's calculating those calories based on my personal information. Yes, it's probably not as accurate as a HRM, but it's far more accurate than MFP and I also find the it to be incredibly motivating - I make sure every day I get my 10,000 steps in, and I love the dashboard display with all the charts and graphs so I can track my progress through the day. Since I got my Fitbit in January I've upped my activity level and have lost 50 pounds - so something is working! :happy:

Yep - love my Zip. And yes, the calories you're seeing are estimated from midnight - it shows estimated cals for a 2 hour period. And while it's true that it tracks step-based exercise, you can also manually enter non step-based workouts like strength training on the webpage as well.

After more than two years of doing the TDEE method, then adding the Fitbit about six months ago, I've found that it's pretty close to the calculations I've used all along, and therefore pretty accurate with the burn estimation. It motivates me to move more, which is a good thing.

Since I do the TDEE method, I do not have my Zip linked to my MFP account, but like I said, it motivates me to move more and I like the calorie comparison between that, my TDEE estimates, and my HRM.

Waste of money!...Without a heart rate monitor you cannot truly know your calories burned...$20 fix with a cheap HRM wristband

as stated the calorie count is an estimate based on the information you gave it, it starts at midnight and shows the calories burned so far as an estimate based on your activity it can measure, so resetting it I would think won't change that number as it reflects what you are estimated to have burned doing nothing, I keep my mfp set on sedentary and my fitbit adjusts my calories spent and therefore my cals to eat based on step count, pace, and duration at pace, your first day with it comes up short as you didn't get to use it thru the day, but that will average out once you have had it awhile lol. I find it to be pretty accurate for me, as based on the info it sends mfp and my diary inputs (including non-step based activities) generally suggest via the in five weeks number you get at the end of the day that I will lose around .5 lbs per day and this is day 40 for me and I've lost 19.4 lbs, so I haven't noticed any over estimates, but your mileage may vary

Waste of money!...Without a heart rate monitor you cannot truly know your calories burned...$20 fix with a cheap HRM wristband

A HRM is just another estimate. And a $20 wristband one is going to be a very bad estimate for use during a workout and useless the other 23 hours of the day. A $80 chest strap HRM will be better for that one hour (and then useless for the other 23).

Without direct calorimetry in a lab 24/7, you will never "truly know your calories burned".

Fitbits are great for what they do, which is very much what the Body Media items do, but Fitbit does it without pretending it can detect anything about your calorie burn from your skin and without a monthly fee.

If the Body Media is the superior product, why does the same company also make the Jawbone Up, which is virtually a Fitbit clone in terms of function? The Jawbone even costs more, I think.