Are Activity Trackers worth the money?

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blukat40
blukat40 Posts: 5 Member
in Getting Started
Are activity trackers worth the money or is the better question, How useful is the information? It seems that manually logging your workouts or activity coupled with the nutrition tracking provided my MFP would be enough. Am I just being a Negative Nelly?

Just curious before I drop $100+
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Replies

  • jrline
    jrline Posts: 2,353 Member
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    They are cool and can help to motivate people. Only you know if it will be a motivator for you.

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  • Justamom410
    Justamom410 Posts: 90 Member
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    I personally like the reminder on my wrist that I need to move more. I work from home at a desk job...and sometimes the day gets away from me and I've barely moved...but the FitBit on my wrist makes me get up and walk up and down the stairs a few times. It's a small reminder for myself. I also like seeing how many steps I've taken in a day, and how well I'm sleeping at night.
  • cosmonew
    cosmonew Posts: 513 Member
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    Depends on you... do you think it will make you more active? could it be a reward you have been wanting. Do you want to get HRM (Heart Rate monitor) feedback.
    Many critics suggest a smart phone app is just as good.
    I personally have run the gammit with trackers, I currently use a lifetrak and nike + running app simultaneously... but they both give me different information than the treadmill does and it is frustrating.
    I have also had a fitbit, a nike fuel and a tom tom runner.
    I really liked the community with the fitbit but am more active than just doing "steps" which is what it claims to track.
    There are a ton of cell phone apps that will track your data as well.
    Bottom line do I like my trackers????? Absolutely. I think they push me to do more.
  • iamuniqueiam
    iamuniqueiam Posts: 68 Member
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    I have a fitbit flex. My ticker should tell you if it was worth it. Huge motivator. HUGE
  • Capt_Apollo
    Capt_Apollo Posts: 9,026 Member
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    depends on your training goals.

    i'm a triathlete. i need a garmin that is good for my swimming, biking, running. so i got myself a $400 device that does all three. not only does it do all three, it lets me do one other thing- leave my house without my phone.
  • SusanKing1981
    SusanKing1981 Posts: 257 Member
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    My fitbit makes me meet my 10,000 steps a day goal. When the battery died I stopped walking as much.
  • fuelednfit
    fuelednfit Posts: 177 Member
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    They can be good as a motivation to move more, but you could simply get a less expensive pedometer or pedometer app to do the same. If you want more accurate estimate of your calories burn during exercise a heart rate monitor is more appropriate. Personally I went for the heart rate monitor.

    My philosophy was start moving, you don't need to spend money to start moving, if money is a problem.
  • bohoT
    bohoT Posts: 37 Member
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    The activity tracker I have (Basis B2) is way more accurate than the preloaded actives in MFP. Since I eat back my exercise calories that’s huge. I was way over estimating a lot of my activites.

    That being said, if you don't have the money you can probably make a pretty good guess and get results.
  • upsaluki
    upsaluki Posts: 553 Member
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    I would start with one of the map my fitness phone apps first. For .99 it will track your workouts and post them to the myfitnesspal app for you. That's hard to beat for the money.
  • A_Dabauer
    A_Dabauer Posts: 212 Member
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    I agree with the people above. Really depends on you. For me, I love my fitbit. But I'm recovering from a long period of being ill. Doing a lot of the higher intensity workouts is out of the question for me just due to basic conditioning. For me it's a great way to make sure I'm up, being active, and getting good exercise without doing a 45-60 minute class or workout.

    My goals on my fit bit are 10K steps and 60 very active minutes. 60 very active minutes would equate to a class, except I can do it in 5, 10, or 20 minute intervals as my body accommodates.

    If you are already really active and you've figured out ways to incorporate fitness into your day you might not have the need for one as much.

    All depends on you.
  • ILiftHeavyAcrylics
    ILiftHeavyAcrylics Posts: 27,732 Member
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    I love my fitbit and I think it's worth the money. But I don't think they're necessary. I lost all my weight and kept it off for over a year before I bought the fitbit. What it does for me is helps me more accurately track calories out and it keeps me moving in general.
  • lizzybathory
    lizzybathory Posts: 229
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    It really depends on you. For me, the answer is no, and that's because most of my exercise I do by bicycle, which trackers aren't usually great at tracking anyway... and I'm going to do that activity every day, whether or not there's a band on my wrist tracking whether or not I've reached a goal. (Bike commuting; no way around it!) So for me, seeing a band on my wrist isn't going to make me bike further or anything like that.

    But if you're hoping to meet a 10k steps/day goal or something like that, and fitting in little bits of activity here and there, then having a tracker is a good way to keep yourself honest about how much activity you're actually getting. If you work in an office, and you think it'll motivate you to get up and walk for a minute or two; or if you have a more active job (managing a store or a warehouse, for example, and spending a lot of your day walking) and you want to be honest with yourself about how many calories you should be eating back, a tracker could be great.

    In my case, having a tracker wouldn't help me track most of my exercise calories, and I don't need it as motivation to do more, so it'd be silly for me to spend $100 on it. But for a lot of people, it is the extra push they need to go for a walk after work or something like that.
  • DM01234
    DM01234 Posts: 317 Member
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    Timely post for me since I've been wondering the same. I used a pedometer for a long while and that was sort of helpful, but that was years ago.
  • jharwell58
    jharwell58 Posts: 30 Member
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    My kids gave me a Garmin for my birthday and I LOVE it, but I'm not sure I would have spent the money if it was out of my bank account. Previous to that I was using a tracking app that didn't have near the bells and whistles as the Garmin. I think it's all personal preference and how much you want to spend. One thing....the Garmin has certainly kept me interested...I am able to go back a few months and see how much I have improved my fitness levels.
  • dawnmcneil10
    dawnmcneil10 Posts: 638 Member
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    It truly depends on you.

    I purchased a Garmin GPS running watch for myself when I hit "goal" last fall to give me an idea how many calories I was burning since I knew finding the right mix of exercise and calories would help me keep the weight off.

    If you're not so concerned over calorie burn having a pedometer is a much cheaper option. I considered a fit bit of some kind but like you I didn't want to spend the extra money on something that I may or may not really want/need. I pulled out an old pedometer a few weeks back, dusted it off, replaced the battery and I've been using that to track my steps, I try to get in 10,000 steps a day as a minimum and personally that's been enough for me.
  • Veronnie87
    Veronnie87 Posts: 40 Member
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    Do you NEED an activity tracker: No, of course not. Manually tracking definitely works.

    Is an activity tracker helpful: I personally find mine very useful.

    I have a FitBit One (I opted for the One over the Flex after doing quite a bit of research on what I wanted out of a tracker) and I LOVE it. Actually seeing how many steps you have taken can be a real wake-up call. I thought I took more steps in an average day than I actually do! I'm now taking my dog on extra-long walks so that I can make my target of 10,000 steps a day and she and I are both benefitting. Would I have started doing this if I hadn't had that number in hand? Probably not, because I thought I was doing a lot better than I was. I also enjoy the weekly report that gets e-mailed to me. Seeing my numbers averaged over a week helps keep me from obsessing too much about individual days where I didn't make my target.

    If you do decide to get one, make sure to calculate your stride length, etc. so that it can measure as accurately as possible.

    Take the time to a) decide if this is something you will actually find worthwhile and b) figure out what functions matter to you. Maybe sleep tracking isn't a priority, or maybe you would prefer a model that comes with loads of functions. I also chose my FitBit One because I am able to sync my data to MFP so that I am tracking everything in one place.

    Good luck!
  • randomtai
    randomtai Posts: 9,003 Member
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    Worth it for me. I use a BodyMedia FIT and it was worth every penny.
  • ILiftHeavyAcrylics
    ILiftHeavyAcrylics Posts: 27,732 Member
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    Do you NEED an activity tracker: No, of course not. Manually tracking definitely works.

    Is an activity tracker helpful: I personally find mine very useful.

    I have a FitBit One (I opted for the One over the Flex after doing quite a bit of research on what I wanted out of a tracker) and I LOVE it. Actually seeing how many steps you have taken can be a real wake-up call. I thought I took more steps in an average day than I actually do! I'm now taking my dog on extra-long walks so that I can make my target of 10,000 steps a day and she and I are both benefitting. Would I have started doing this if I hadn't had that number in hand? Probably not, because I thought I was doing a lot better than I was. I also enjoy the weekly report that gets e-mailed to me. Seeing my numbers averaged over a week helps keep me from obsessing too much about individual days where I didn't make my target.

    If you do decide to get one, make sure to calculate your stride length, etc. so that it can measure as accurately as possible.

    Take the time to a) decide if this is something you will actually find worthwhile and b) figure out what functions matter to you. Maybe sleep tracking isn't a priority, or maybe you would prefer a model that comes with loads of functions. I also chose my FitBit One because I am able to sync my data to MFP so that I am tracking everything in one place.

    Good luck!

    It was a wake-up call to me too. I workout several times per week but other than that I was just sitting around all the time. So I'd have days that were <3000 steps.
  • andielyn
    andielyn Posts: 233 Member
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    I've had a Fitbit less than a month--a present to replace my dying HRM that I've had for years. Truthfully I wasn't real sure I'd like it (I didn't ask for it) but here's my experience so far:

    1) I thought I had a sedentary job but never knew how much I really am up and down during my workday. I had been grossly underestimating my activity level

    2) Confirmation that I sleep horribly

    3) Motivates me to get my steps in and my 30 minutes of more robust activity daily

    4) Does not replace an HRM, it compliments it

    5) I wear it 24/7. I was shy at first but now I wear it, own it, embrace it

    Bottomline I love it. It's a gadget no doubt, and like everything it is what it is and everything is an ESTIMATION but I love the feedback. I have the Flex model that you wear on your wrist.
  • vamaena
    vamaena Posts: 217 Member
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    I personally like the reminder on my wrist that I need to move more. I work from home at a desk job...and sometimes the day gets away from me and I've barely moved...but the FitBit on my wrist makes me get up and walk up and down the stairs a few times. It's a small reminder for myself. I also like seeing how many steps I've taken in a day, and how well I'm sleeping at night.

    This pretty much sums up why I love my fitbit. Only difference is I don't work at home, but I do have a job where I could be seated all day so it reminds me to get up and go file for a bit to increase my activity.

    I recently moved and misplaced the charger for my fitbit so I stopped wearing it for two days (I went on a spree yesterday searching through all the boxes to find the charger). My activity must have gone down without me realizing it since I've gained weight! Today my fitbit is fully charged and back on my wrist. I hadn't realized how much of a difference it makes to me (I know it's completely in my head but whatever works, right?)

    Ultimately, only you will know if having an activity tracker will make a difference to you or not.

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