What good is a Fit Bit?

Got_Discipline
Got_Discipline Posts: 65 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Does any one use a Fit Bit?

Are they worth the money?

What all are they good for?

Ok so it is a pedometer and there by also calculates calories burned, but what about your heart rate does it take that into account?

Are these things any good at tracking calories burned durring a weight lifting work out, what about a beach body work out where I am not exactly taking steps but I am moving around?

What else am I missing here?

Replies

  • kimny72
    kimny72 Posts: 16,011 Member
    The Fitbits are not HR monitors, just fancy pedometers. They sync with your computer or phone so you can track your progress over the day/week/month. I have the Flex and what it does for me is sit on my wrist and remind me to get the heck up and walk around. It buzzes and flashes when I make my step goal and I will find myself walking around the parking lot to make my goal!
    I also like to play with numbers on their website, and it syncs with MFP to get included in my net calorie calc.

    Not good for tracking activities that don't incorporate steps, you still have to log them manually. So great for some people, not so great for others!
  • stephgas
    stephgas Posts: 159 Member
    The Fitbits are not HR monitors, just fancy pedometers. They sync with your computer or phone so you can track your progress over the day/week/month. I have the Flex and what it does for me is sit on my wrist and remind me to get the heck up and walk around. It buzzes and flashes when I make my step goal and I will find myself walking around the parking lot to make my goal!
    I also like to play with numbers on their website, and it syncs with MFP to get included in my net calorie calc.

    Not good for tracking activities that don't incorporate steps, you still have to log them manually. So great for some people, not so great for others!

    this. they're really fancy pedometers with some extra bells and whistles. i got the tiny fitbit zip, which really is just a pedometer that talks to my iPhone and links up with mfp.
  • KCMission
    KCMission Posts: 43 Member
    I personally love my fitbit, it does what I purchased it to do.

    If it does not do what you are wanting - the simple answer is don't buy it :)

    I also use a an HRM for my workouts, not my fitbit - it's just there to remind me to get it on....
  • Veil5577
    Veil5577 Posts: 868 Member
    So for walking they're good? Are they accurate?
  • Riverglow
    Riverglow Posts: 6 Member
    Yep, I have a fitbit force and I like it a lot, but it's definitely not for everyone. All it does is count steps and (semi-accurately) track flights of stairs climbed and how much sleep you get at night. For me, it's worth the money because it motivates me to walk more and compete with my friends, but it does not automatically log any other types of exercise.
  • Fit_Housewife
    Fit_Housewife Posts: 168 Member
    Waiting for mine to come in the mail can't wait :)
  • LifeWithPie
    LifeWithPie Posts: 552 Member
    So for walking they're good? Are they accurate?

    As a pedometer and a tiny little 'motivator / reminder' they're excellent. I think they're pretty accurate.
    I love mine.
  • radmack
    radmack Posts: 272 Member
    My husband tracked our latest walk with a ap using GPS and the length was within a couple of a 10ths of a mile (fitbit under reporting).
  • stephgas
    stephgas Posts: 159 Member
    So for walking they're good? Are they accurate?

    i've found it to be very accurate. i was trying to use the pedometer function on my iPhone 5s and that stunk. supposedly the fitbit zip doesn't count stairs, but it seems to count when i go up and down the stairs at work as steps.
  • Riverglow
    Riverglow Posts: 6 Member
    So for walking they're good? Are they accurate?

    I've owned a Fitbit One (that you clip to your pocket) and a Fitbit Force (that you strap around your wrist). I wore them both one day and they were pretty close to being the same. When I compare how far I walked with what the Fitbit says, they are very close to the same, but the Fitbit does pick up some false positives throughout the day (like when you're riding in the car). You can remove these from your total step count, but overall, I'm pretty happy with the accuracy. The flights of stairs climbed is usually accurate as well, but sometimes it's HUGELY off (like 50 flights worth) because of air pressure changes or the wind or something.
  • earlnabby
    earlnabby Posts: 8,171 Member
    So for walking they're good? Are they accurate?

    I have found mine to be very accurate while walking, working on the cross-fit, and in my water aerobics class (the flex is water resistant). It is not perfect, nothing is, but it does have a low margin of error. I drove for 90 minutes and it recorded less than 50 steps which probably came from vibrations while driving over road construction.
  • itsbasschick
    itsbasschick Posts: 1,584 Member
    it does not take your heart rate of body fat into account, so the numbers it gives you will be general. because of these things, and the fact that you must remember to either log your time in the car or use drivebit (MUCH easier) to stop your fitbit from counting for every car trip, i haven't been thrilled with it. some people here are okay with that, but considering i've seen a 45 minute drive add as little as 300 steps or even up to 1500, that just messes it all up for me.

    i have found it's walking count to be very accurate.

    it does take your height, weight and age into account when figuring calorie burn, and it does communicate with MFP, which is sort of cool on days where you do a lot of walking, like days at disneyland. last time we did disneyland, it gave my MFP several hundred activity calories burned, and that did seem to be true. some people love their fitbit as seeing what they've stepped makes them want to step more. the flex, btw, may also count arm gestures as steps, which is why i got the one.

    none of these activity counters can count weight lifting well, although you can log them - but then you could log it at MFP, which won't give you any calories even though you burn them. you might want to try a heart rate monitor with the free version of endomondo on your phone. i haven't yet tried endomondo with lifting, but it has the best selection of activities i've seen in a fitness app, and it will connect with the polar H7.
  • yankeedownsouth
    yankeedownsouth Posts: 717 Member
    I have the Force, and I love it! It is very accurate with steps, but it's really really inaccurate with floors. I just disregard those now... It's great for motivation and also just to make sure you're meeting your daily step goal.
  • earlnabby
    earlnabby Posts: 8,171 Member
    The Fitbits are not HR monitors, just fancy pedometers. They sync with your computer or phone so you can track your progress over the day/week/month. I have the Flex and what it does for me is sit on my wrist and remind me to get the heck up and walk around. It buzzes and flashes when I make my step goal and I will find myself walking around the parking lot to make my goal!
    I also like to play with numbers on their website, and it syncs with MFP to get included in my net calorie calc.

    Not good for tracking activities that don't incorporate steps, you still have to log them manually. So great for some people, not so great for others!

    I also like that it tracks my sleep duration and quality and the website gives me a place to record my daily blood glucose tests. All information I want is right there. I love getting my weekly reports email.
  • shireeniebeanie
    shireeniebeanie Posts: 293 Member
    Love it! I trust it more because it's with me all day and knows exactly how much, and how quickly, I moved around.
  • Got_Discipline
    Got_Discipline Posts: 65 Member
    Sounds great guys thanks for the help. Now that I know what it is I don't think I will spend the money on one. Even though they are great motivators I find myself most days not entering all of my activities because it will put my calories WAY WAY to high.

    Thanks for the help :happy:
  • Sued0nim
    Sued0nim Posts: 17,456 Member
    I love my flex but you have to understand how it synchs to MFP over the day as it gives a much bigger estimate based on what you've already done extrapolated than you might end up with...so I eat to the cals on fitbit app but log on MFP alone (food and other exercise)

    The day after it all works out but during the day itself it can be out
  • Sued0nim
    Sued0nim Posts: 17,456 Member
    Eg fitbit I've 'nailed it' today (it's 11pm) which means I'm within 50 of target cals but MFP says I still have 731 to eat

    Tomorrow they'll be closer as MFP changes the fitbit estimate of 600+ to the actual if about 130 (didn't do many steps today)
  • michikade
    michikade Posts: 313 Member
    Some people love them, others think they're worthless, but my zip was way eye opening when I got it. I had no idea how little I actually moved! It was embarrassing.

    Yeah, a cheap pedometer could have done the same thing but I like the tracking over time and the way it compiles reports. Easier than doing it myself, heh. To me it was worth the $60 (plus around $5 in replacement batteries - I've had it for a little over a year.)
  • SueInAz
    SueInAz Posts: 6,592 Member
    So for walking they're good? Are they accurate?

    As a pedometer and a tiny little 'motivator / reminder' they're excellent. I think they're pretty accurate.
    I love mine.
    As long as you've accurately entered your walking and running pace into the Fitbit app, it's accurate. I wear both my Fitbit One and my Garmin 410 GPS watch on my morning runs. I run and walk in intervals, which you might think would throw it off, but the total distance run is within a tenth of a mile every time.

    I love the sleep function, too. It's the main reason I asked for the One for Xmas two years ago over any other pedometer.
  • jim180155
    jim180155 Posts: 769 Member
    I have the Fitbit One and haven't had any problems with false steps resulting from driving. I did try wearing it on my waist while cycling and got a bunch of unwanted false steps, so I don't wear it when cycling any more.

    A Fitbit is no good for calorie estimates while weight lifting. Nor is a HRM; HRMs are designed for steady-state cardio, not the brief periods of intensity followed by long periods of rest associated with weight lifting. But I can tell you what they are good for:

    This morning I got up and did a one hour upper body workout. Since there's no way to get a good, accurate estimate for the calorie burn, I plug in 200 calories. That might be a little off, but I don't think it's off by more than 100.

    I then ran for 2.5 miles. MapMyRide credited me with 277calories for my run, which I think may be a little high, but it all balances out by the end of the day.

    Since then I've walked another 6.5 miles. Between MFP and Fitbit, my calorie estimate for those 6.5 miles is 480, or 74 calories per mile. That estimate is a little low and should probably be somewhere between 80 and 100, but that's okay too. Like I said, it all balances out by the end of the day. I'll probably get in a couple more walking miles before the end of the day.

    It's that last part that's important. Before I bought a Fitbit, I used to work out in the mornings and then figure I was done for the day. My Fitbit made me realize I am very sedentary when I'm not purposely exercising. My Fitbit motivates me to be active throughout the day and to find excuses to walk at every chance I get. Before Fitbit, I might've been getting in a mile after my workout.

    And the best part -- it's nice to have an extra 500 to 800 calories deficit that I can eat back or leave as a deficit. Most days I just eat part of it back.

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