Do you use a fitness tracker?
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melissaka7
Posts: 277 Member
Like fitbit, jawbone, polar hrm, garmin, etc? What do you like about it? What all does it do?
I've researched these damn things to death and cannot decide if I need one. I work a sedentary job, but I do fitness vidoes like Insanity, T25, PiYo, and Insanity Max:30. I also weight train 2 days a week. My wants are something that tells me how many calories I've burned either through the whole day or just during my work outs. I'd also like to know how many steps I've taken. I just don't know if I really need something or not.
I've researched these damn things to death and cannot decide if I need one. I work a sedentary job, but I do fitness vidoes like Insanity, T25, PiYo, and Insanity Max:30. I also weight train 2 days a week. My wants are something that tells me how many calories I've burned either through the whole day or just during my work outs. I'd also like to know how many steps I've taken. I just don't know if I really need something or not.
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Replies
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Fitbits and Jawbones are fancy pedometers. They won't tell you your heart rate which is a more accurate reading for calories burned. But they do have all sorts of other features. I am not a fan, but others are.
I just received a Polar FT7 for Christmas and absolutely love it. It is still an estimate of calories burned, but it tells me the duration of my workout, my average HR and max HR. I glance at it to see if I should be working harder (for a higher HR). It will be a game for me to burn more calories each workout, etc.
I still only eat back about 1/2 the calories it says I burn.0 -
I just got a vivofit with a chest strap for christmas. I like that it counts steps and I love the HRM to help me accurately track calorie burn. I also like that the battery is supposed to last for a year.
I don't like that it isn't working with MFP or that my Iphone4 is too old to sync with it. I read that since the website had the big change back in December the garmin connect app isn't working. They are purportedly working on getting that working again.
The other thing I haven't decided on yet is that it tells you calories burned rather than calories you have left. So I might have burned 2,000 but unless I log in to garmin connect dashboard and sync that with MFP, I don't know how many calories I have left to eat.
Jury is out for me still.0 -
I just received a Polar FT7 for Christmas and absolutely love it. It is still an estimate of calories burned, but it tells me the duration of my workout, my average HR and max HR. I glance at it to see if I should be working harder (for a higher HR). It will be a game for me to burn more calories each workout, etc.
I've been leaning towards a Polar. Does it do anything when you're not working out? Like if I wore it to work without the chest strap would it tell time or steps taken? Or would it really be something I could only get use of of when working out?0 -
I use the vivosmart, it estimates calories burned throughout the day, and you can use a chest strap HRM for workouts for more accuracy. Vivofit is a less expensive option and is also good!0
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erindunphy wrote: »I use the vivosmart, it estimates calories burned throughout the day, and you can use a chest strap HRM for workouts for more accuracy. Vivofit is a less expensive option and is also good!
I looked at the vivosmart today and REALLY liked it. I have $100 in amazon money, so I'd have to come up with the remaining though.0 -
I got a fitbit flex for Christmas. I like it so far. I'm not sure how accurate it is, but it keeps me on track and motivated. So that's a plus!0
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I just bought my second Fitbit One. @esjones12 is correct in that it is a pedometer, but it also tracks your calories burned and active minutes. Depending on the model, it will also tell you how many flights of stairs you climbed. It syncs flawlessly with MFP also.
I have worn my Fitbit continuously since purchase in 2011, before I joined MFP. There are challenges you can join on the Fitbit mobile app or you can just challenge yourself.
I love the Flex and the Charge but they are not friendly to me due to arthritis. I made a sales associate open the box so that I could try the band on. Which was a good thing because I could not get the clasp to work. I did try two to see if it was just the one item I had trouble with, but it wasn't. My husband also could not get the blessed things hooked on me correctly either. I can see by your picture that you are a young person so probably won't have this issue, but it is something that you should check before making the purchase.0 -
I had a Fit Bit Zip and it was okay for me. I wanted more out of it, like a HR monitor and better tracking. I just bought the Microsoft Band. Really loving the HR monitor on it - seems to do a good enough job (anything is better than nothing).0
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I have the Microsoft Band with Heart rate monitor and all of the bells and whistles.... I absolutely love it. It does a great job tracking workouts, steps takes, sleep walks, hikes and all the notifications from your phone can be set up to silently and discretely give you a light buzz on the wrist.0
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I just received a Fitbit Zip for Christmas. I really enjoy it! It keeps me motivated to go out and move more because how much I am moving is visible on my iPhone app, the Fitbit screen and on MFP. I have some doubts against the Fitbit's accuracy, but anything that gets me moving more is ok in my books. The Fitbit zip is super basic (cheaper), but the Fitbit charge that is coming out looks really awesome and tracks more in depth ($$).
I also have a Polar FT7 which I love as well. I use that to track my calories burned during my workouts. I don't know if you can wear it all day to get an accurate reading. The strap would be really annoying after a couple hours.
I am a visual person (spreadsheets, calendars, list - all make me so happy) and I LOVE numbers, so having something that displays numbers as progress (or lack their of) really helps motivate me. However, if this is not your personality type, you may not find it helpful.0 -
I tried out a Microsoft Band in their store last weekend ... it has all of the bells and whistles, HRM, GPS - you can even check messages but it's so annoyingly clunky and it faces down which made me fear I'd destroy the screen. I could see myself getting aggravated with that thing on my wrist all day.
I have a Polar FT4 - got it when I did Insanity, it was hard to guess-timate my burn and it turned out that I was burning way less than I assumed I was. I also take classes so I love my HRM. I also have a Fitbit Zip ... I don't really need it but it's helpful. I'm sedentary at the office and sometimes seeing how low my step count is motivates me to get off my *kitten*. The challenges in the FitBit app like "Holiday Hero" "Goal Day" and "Workweek Hustle" are fun. If you have a competitive spirit having a FitBit and adding a bunch of buddies can be great motivation.0 -
I have a Jawbone Up, but tracking my workouts on my Polar F7 is more accurate. Because I am already in shape, I consistently log a lower calorie burn than the published databases show.0
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No, don't see the point. I'd rather spend the money on a pair of running shoes.0
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I'd wait for the FitBit Surge, early 2015! it has a 24/7 heart rate monitor on the wrist for accurate calorie burn, as well as lots of other fancy bits!0
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enterdanger wrote: »I don't like that it isn't working with MFP or that my Iphone4 is too old to sync with it. I read that since the website had the big change back in December the garmin connect app isn't working. They are purportedly working on getting that working again.
@enterdanger I just got mine to work with MFP today. From Garmin connect, on your fitness & health tab (or whatever you renamed it), there is a tile that says "Calories in/out". Click the settings button, disconnect from myfitnesspal and then settings/connect to myfitnesspal.
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enterdanger wrote: »I don't like that it isn't working with MFP or that my Iphone4 is too old to sync with it. I read that since the website had the big change back in December the garmin connect app isn't working. They are purportedly working on getting that working again.
@enterdanger I just got mine to work with MFP today. From Garmin connect, on your fitness & health tab (or whatever you renamed it), there is a tile that says "Calories in/out". Click the settings button, disconnect from myfitnesspal and then settings/connect to myfitnesspal.
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I have a Garmin Forerunner 15. It combines the Vivofit pedometer with the Forerunner 10 GPS tracking for running which is perfect for me.0
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donnysoule wrote: »I have the Microsoft Band with Heart rate monitor and all of the bells and whistles.... I absolutely love it. It does a great job tracking workouts, steps takes, sleep walks, hikes and all the notifications from your phone can be set up to silently and discretely give you a light buzz on the wrist.
I would recommend this to anyone.
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I use a FitBit for my daily activity. I have step goals that I like to meet every day, and I eat based on how much I move. I have a watch that I wear when I'm running, it shows my time, how far I've gone and an estimated calorie burn. I don't think any of this is necessary, though.0
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I got a SmartBand free with a phone upgrade. It's not as fancy as the other ones and I just have it so I have a better idea how many calories I'm burning. That being said, this is extremely off with step tracking0
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