Is there any benefit to a fitness band?

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silentKayak
silentKayak Posts: 658 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
Probably a dumb question but can anyone tell me how a fitness band might benefit me?

My husband got me one for Christmas. I don't think I need it, but thought I'd check here before i have him take it back. To me it's just an ugly bracelet and another piece of technology to keep track of.

I have a sedentary lifestyle due to a desk job and commitments that keep me stuck in the house most of the time. I'm eating low-cal to lose weight. I exercise about 3-4 times a week, usually walking, treadmill, elliptical, rowing, or strength training. When I exercise I log 50% on MFP so I have a decent estimation of how many calories I can eat back. Because my calorie goal is set very low, I log non-exercise activity as well. For example, I'd log an hour-long shopping trip as 30 minutes leisurely walking.

With this method, I'm losing about 1.25 lb/week and am still about 40 lb away from my goal. I can see that as I get closer I might need to be more precise about my burns.

I don't have fitness goals besides "lose weight". I'm really not interested in tracking steps or exercising more except to create more of a calorie deficit and understand how much I can eat daily and continue to lose.

Does it actually measure differences in non-exercise activity? Just as one example - yesterday I was on my feet for 4-5 hours cooking in the kitchen. If I had the fitbit on, would it measure that as different from a day I sat at my desk all day? And would it be likely to overestimate or underestimate the difference? If I were doing it by gut instinct, I'd call it about 20 extra calories burned per hour of standing as opposed to sitting. Doesn't seem like a lot, but these measurements make a difference when you're working with a budget of 1400/day net.

Replies

  • jillmarie125
    jillmarie125 Posts: 418 Member
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    no i dont think they are needed at all. i have managed to lose 85 pounds without one. return it and buy some new jeans??? :)
  • editorgrrl
    editorgrrl Posts: 7,060 Member
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    You can learn more in the Fitbit Users group: http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/group/1290-fitbit-users

    Your Fitbit burn is your TDEE (total daily energy expenditure)—way more accurate than any online calculator. If you eat less than your Fitbit burn, you will lose weight.
  • editorgrrl
    editorgrrl Posts: 7,060 Member
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    Connect your accounts: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/apps/show/30

    Do not log any step-based activity. Your Fitbit is already tracking that for you.

    Log non-step exercise (like biking or swimming) in Fitbit—never MFP.

    Log food & drink (including water) in MFP.

    Enable negative calorie adjustments: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/account/diary_settings

    Set your activity level to sedentary: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/account/change_goals_guided & set your goal to .5 lb. per week for each 25 lbs. you need to lose.

    Follow your MFP goal, eating back your Fitbit adjustments.

    If you follow my instructions you'll be eating at TDEE minus an appropriate deficit. I lost the weight & have maintained for 6 months using these settings.
  • Emerald5671
    Emerald5671 Posts: 19 Member
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    Love my Fitbit! It helps me to be motivated to be more active.
  • malibu927
    malibu927 Posts: 17,565 Member
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    It isn't for everyone. I love my Fitbit personally. I work in retail and am moving around a lot. I can see exactly how much I'm doing and figure out if I need to add any extra activity to hit my 10,000 steps. It will only pick up if you're moving around, not just standing.

    Maybe try it out for a couple of weeks and if you don't think it's working for you, sell it on Ebay.
  • 33Freya
    33Freya Posts: 468 Member
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    Did you get the UP? I am enjoying mine!

    I got it for my birthday nearly a month ago. I too have lost plenty of weight without one., and while I don't NEED it, I find it beneficial and do continue to use it for several reasons:

    1. my fella got it for me and it was a gesture of his support toward my goals.
    2. It tracks my sleep, which is interesting. Turns out I get less sleep than I thought.
    3. it counts my steps, which is also interesting, and if my steps are too low, I take an extra walk to up them.
    *4. I have set it so between 7 and 5 while I sit at my desk job, if I'm seated more than 30 minutes, it buzzes and reminds me to get up and move around. I usually run up the stairs to get water at this point. Every little bit counts.
    *5. It reminds me of set times of day- specifically it buzzes when it's time for bed, and when I need to wake up.
    6. The app has fun tips and reminders. Plus the more I use it, the more me-related advice it gives, and I find that useful as well.
    7. The app throws out Challenges like "Today I will..." sometimes it's steps related, others, sleep related.
    8. It ties into MFP and works with it seamlessly.

    I have found that I move around more now that I wear the Jawbone Up. I have not been paid to send this message ;)

    Really though, try it out. You may enjoy it!
  • PacificLotus
    PacificLotus Posts: 83 Member
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    I like my fitbit for the motivation to move more, but not so much for measuring distance or calories. I have to do additional comparisons, but I'm pretty sure it underestimates distance and overestimates calorie burn, at least during a purposeful (for exercise) walk. But I still wear it every day, and still strive for at least 10,000 steps, so it does remind me to move my butt more. :)
  • TheRealParisLove
    TheRealParisLove Posts: 1,907 Member
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    It's not for everyone. I like mine, but I like measuring things. All kinds of things. I've got spreadsheets to track my spreadsheets. If you feel like its just one more thing to keep track of and would be more of a hassle than not, then perhaps trade it in for something else.

    My guess is that you know yourself and have pretty much already answered your own question.
  • editorgrrl
    editorgrrl Posts: 7,060 Member
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    PacificLotus wrote: »
    I have to do additional comparisons, but I'm pretty sure it underestimates distance and overestimates calorie burn, at least during a purposeful (for exercise) walk.

    With MFP alone, you log exercise to instantly "earn" calories. When you connect a Fitbit, MFP adjusts your daily calorie goal to TDEE minus your deficit.

    The only way to assess the accuracy is to follow the instructions I posted upthread for several weeks, then reevaluate your progress. At first I thought Fitbit was giving me too many calories, but I lost the weight—and kept it off.
  • kpk54
    kpk54 Posts: 4,474 Member
    edited December 2014
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    Zarkcon, I could have written your post. I'll start by saying there are innumerable folks who love their gadgets and are motivated by them but if you're losing the weight you want and motivated to do the exercise you want, take the gadget back and get something useful or desired. I'm 60 years old and have lost 63 pounds in 53 weeks. I'm now at maintenance and have been there for 7 months as of yesterday. I've never purchased any gadgets to monitor my activity but I do exercise. My goal is only 200 minutes/week now that I'm in maintenance and it is a variety of: outdoor walking, an inexpensive stationary recumbent bike (that I bought when I was unable to walk fast paced for exercise) and a bunch of youtube videos (aerobics, pilates, calisthenics, zumba, piloxing, etc). The only thing I need to keep me moving at my preferred pace when I walk for exercise is some fast paced music though I do use runkeeper (free app) just because I like to look at the little map of where I walked. :) The gadgets motivate some and challenge others. Thus far I've been motivated and don't foresee any specific training for anything in my future so the gadgets are not for me and may not be for you. It's OK.

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