Fitbit? love or leave it?

I looked into getting one and decided against it. They definitely seem to work well, and the syncing with your phone and MFP is pretty cool. I just couldn't justify the $100 price tag. Pedometers are pretty cheap and I have a free app on my phone for sleep tracking. I could definitely see getting one if I had the money to spare though.

I really love my fitbit flex. I walk a lot at work, and I really like seeing how many steps I take and challenging myself to walk even more. When I really need to get my steps in, it sort of pushes me to park farther away, take the stairs instead of the elevator etc etc. I also like that it syncs with MFP. I have used inexpensive pedometers before and they don't work nearly as well as this.

Just get a zip on ebay. I lucked out and got one for $15. There isn't really much difference between the zip and other models. If sleep tracking is your thing you can just use your phone and an app - you can use your phone to track steps, but the convenience of a small gadget you can carry at all times is superior. In the case of sleep, you aren't really lugging around your phone everywhere, you just have it next to you on your bed.

The only benefit I can think of for the more expensive models is tracking stairs, if you do a lot of stairs. I don't so it's not relevant to me (plus you can always add your stairs as an exercise).

I do not like things on my wrest, not to mention the potential for false steps if you do things that require repeated hand movements like chopping food. With the zip you can just wear it on your bra. Covert, easy and no false steps.

What's really different between counting steps and manual logging is that anything less than 5000 steps is considered sedentary. It allows you to gauge your activity level, and I find their calorie predictions to be accurate in my case.

I love mine One! It's a great motivator and helps me log my activity more accurately. I always use my Polar FT7 when I exercise but my One accounts for the rest of the stuff I do during the day that I would never log. Is it a glorified pedometer? Absolutely, and it's worth every penny in my opinion.

I have a similar product, the Garmin Vivofit. Same basic idea. I love it, especially since I normally sit at a desk all day but not always. It's really just a fancy pedometer but raising awareness of how active you actually are I find to be helpful. Especially since some days I'm sedentary and others much less so. I set MFP to sedentary then rely on my Vivofit to fill in the blanks when I'm not.

It is not an accurate measurement of calories burnt through the day. It is a rough estimate of activity levels and beats wearing a HRM all day. It's also fun to participate on step challenges which I think Fitbit has as well.

For the years of use you'll get out of it the $100 price isn't bad for something to help motivate you imo.

I picked up my fitbit one last week off of craigslist for $40. So far, I love it. I have it connected to MFP, runkeeper, and the Walgreens app to earn points. Most phones will count steps, but sometimes at home I do not always have my phone on me. It does not actually track "sleep" but your actual movement, which shows restlessness. Interesting to see how much you toss and turn and night. I also like the silent alarm. You can set the alarm and it will vibrate to wake you up.

I love mine as a motivational tool and I love the charts and stuff on the fitbit dashboard (and app). It works for me.

ETA: I have a Zip, got it on sale at best buy a long time ago when I had some left over best buy rewards certificates that were close to expiration so I don't remember exactly what I paid, somewhere in the $20-30 range (regularly $60). I don't care about the stairs bit really, and don't monitor sleep (if I do I just use an app on my phone that does the same thing) so it has enough tools for me, and I like that it takes batteries rather than charging -- yeah, it's an added expense but it's way nice to just kind of forget about it for 4-6 months, hahaha.

If you buy one from ebay or CL and it doesn't work (and many of them don't), you're S.O.L. Just a heads up. I've opened up around 6 packages over the years. I think 3 didn't work right and were replaced under warranty.

This shouldn't be an issue, only it failing after using it. On ebay paypal and your credit card have you completely covered, worse case is a bit of a hassle. For craigslist verifying that it is functional shouldn't be a problem.

I've got a One and it's fine. I love the tech integration (since I'm a nerd) but as far as results a cheap pedometer probably would have worked as well. Right now I'm planning on buying a Polar FT-60 to track my heart rate and calorie burn rather than how many steps I'm taking... I don't think the Fitbit is very accurate with calorie conversions.

I have a Fitbit Zip and love it. Getting it directly from the company was worth it for me. I had one malfunction for me after a few months of use and the company switched it out for me with no trouble at all. One year later and my clip broke. Again they replaced the clip with no trouble at all. I love how it syncs automatically with by iphone and it motivates me to move.

I just started using the fitbit flex last week and I love it... It pushes you to walk the 10,000 steps a day. It does not track well on the elliptical machine

I have an old Polar HRM and it's on it's last leg, so my hubby got me a Fitbit Flex for my b-day last week. Honestly I didn't know if I'd like it and if so thought I'd like the One. But I'm loving it so far! I still see the need to use an HRM for biking or other exercise, so I'll still be replacing my HRM soon (another Polar) but I am amazed at this little gadget. Yes it's a pedometer but so much more. First I thought of my job as very sedentary but a few days of wearing it at work I realize how much I really am up and down and walking around the building. I miss not having the stairs tracking on the Flex (it's on the One) because I live in a 2-story house and work in a 3-floor building and am on all 3 floors daily. But I think in the long haul this info might be superfluous, I love the integration between this site and Fitbit's. Still getting used to the calorie adjustment (and wish this site would add that to the news feed like it does for exercise). There's my input.

Absolutely one of the best purchases that I have ever made. It motivates me to get off my butt and move! I am a very competitive person though. If you use it the way it is intended it works wonders. I have lost 42 pounds in large part to the FitBit. Worth every penny!

I would definitely get one (but not the bracelet one) if I walked more, but even though I love walking for fitness it's just not in the cards lifestyle wise for me right now. I'm doing other workouts, at home, so the fitbit isn't for me.

If I walked a lot I'd get one in a heartbeat!

so far im totally loving mine. its really motivating. i got mine for about $75 on ebay. i too had a hard time paying the $100+ for a fitbit flex.