Are Activity Trackers worth the money?
blukat40
Posts: 5 Member
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+
Just curious before I drop $100+
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Replies
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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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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.0
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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.0 -
I have a fitbit flex. My ticker should tell you if it was worth it. Huge motivator. HUGE0
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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.0 -
My fitbit makes me meet my 10,000 steps a day goal. When the battery died I stopped walking as much.0
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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.0 -
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.0 -
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.0
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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.0 -
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.0
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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.0 -
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.0
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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.0
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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.0 -
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!0 -
Worth it for me. I use a BodyMedia FIT and it was worth every penny.0
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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.0 -
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.0 -
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.0 -
Activity tracker was the best investment I've made towards my fitness goals. However, intrinsic motivation is internal, therefore, you'll have to assess whether it's a good fit for you. Personally, I love seeing my progress when I use mine (sportline and s health) and it's a great reminder to keep on moving..0
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I have an HRM that I love. It can be cranky sometimes and I feel like that stops me in the middle of my workout to adjust it and get my heart rate back. I think my battery may be running low though. I sometimes will feel done with my workout and look and see I only burned 170 calories and will go some more to at least get to 200. So in that sense it definitely makes me move. BUT ..sometimes I feel like my body could go more, but it says I have burned say 333 calories and I go.. oh.. that's enough and I stop. lol
I hate working out without it tho. I don't like being uncertain as to how many calories I have burned.0 -
The saying "I never leave the house without it" goes further with my Fitbit One; I never go anywhere IN the house - aswell as out of the house - without it. Has it helped me lose more weight and get more active than before I had it? (May this year). I would certainly say it has, yes.
But the major caveat I would say is that you *need* to buy into the mindset of pushing / challenging yourself, if not you are spending a lot of money to do what you were always doing and it's a bit of a white elephant.0 -
I just bought a fit bit zip (60-ish bucks). I love it. I find excuses to walk more.0
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I bought a fitbit one, and when I used it... it was motivating. Then I would misplace it, use it, lose it again...etc. You do have to commit to using it regularly and trusting the process. If you are not all in, you will be like me-kinda in so not worth the money. I have read all these comments and have started using it again. It does work.0
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Well I really love my Fitbit!
1st for reminding me to move
2nd for knowing my true tdee
3rd for lovely green logging lately (hehe it adds too much cal on MFP
, can't dare to eat all em back:) 0 -
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+
I love my polar ft7 HRM because it gives me a more accurate calorie burn then MFP in my opinion. I've tested the exercise out and mfp always gives me way too high a calorie burn which therefore for me offsets my calories to eat back. I like seeing my heart rate zone and watching the calories add up, its rewarding for me.0 -
WOW! Love all the responses. At nearly 52 I am finding myself very motivated. I have used and still have a Garmin 305 HRM so that part is simple. However, I can only wear that when working out and more specifically it is tailored to Running, Walking and Cycling. I am not finding myself doing any of those these days. I looked at the Vivofit and because it uses Garmin Connect, I am certain the workout categories there are not going to match what I do these days so let the editing and re-syncing begin. I am thinking I am over thinking. Ha!0
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It really depends on you. For myself, an activity tracker would be a complete waste of money...I'm active, I know I'm active and can realistically and accurately determine what my activity level is without using some gadget. Even when I started out, I was just all about the free math.."oh...I want to lose about 1 Lb per week and I've lost about 1.5 - 2 Lbs per week for the last 4 weeks...guess that means I can eat a little more"...and so on and so forth.
I did find my HRM to be a valuable resource early on for my fitness and determining my level of effort...these days, my perceived level of effort pretty much coincides with what a HRM tells me so I don't use it as much anymore...but I love my bike computer.0 -
I'm very happy with my BodyMedia Fit Link Armband. When I did my research a couple of years ago, I decided it was probably better than a bracelet-style tracker for how I move, and I was afraid I would wash/lose a FitBit. I'm also something of a numbers geek, and I liked the website enough to be willing to pay the monthly fee.
As others have said, having a tracker is great for motivation, and I feel like it gives a more accurate idea of my calorie burn than the MFP numbers and those from my various iPhone apps.
The downside is that I gets lot of questions/looks if it's visible when I'm out in public. That's never been a problem in the gym or when I'm walking/running, though.
Bottom line: I'll purchase another tracker when and if this one dies - it works for my approach to fitness.
PS - These are on sale right now and BodyMedia is offering 6 months free for the online activity tracker. The integration with MFP works pretty well, too.0
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