Opinions on activity trackers?

YourIrishFriend
YourIrishFriend Posts: 6
in Health and Weight Loss
I happen to own a fitbit flex I picked up on sale a while back, that has been gathering dust over the last few months. With getting serious into losing weight again I'm wondering just how useful these things are and if anyone has any experience with them?

I know MFP allows me to connect it to my account for logging calories etc, but I do remember it being slightly inaccurate. I believe it has a built in step counter and also somehow tracks calories burned. Again how accurate are these things? Last thing I want is so strap it to my arm for a week and realise it's over estimated my calories burned and I end up eating way over my limit without realising. On paper they seem very useful and helpful but realistically what can anyone tell me about them?

Any and all posts appreciated

Replies

  • Sued0nim
    Sued0nim Posts: 17,456 Member
    It's been fairly accurate for me and the main thing is gets you moving more as a constant reminder

    You don't have to eat back all the calories if you don't want to

    Make sure you have plugged in your stride length and leave it on your non dominant hand, it gets more accurate over time
  • WestCoastJo82
    WestCoastJo82 Posts: 2,304 Member
    I just got a Charge HR and its estimate for me is pretty accurate. I'm a data geek and I love seeing the numbers for how much I move in a day and at what part of the day. I'm a professor so I can compare teaching days to non-teaching days, days I go into to campus vs work at home. I've also found that it really works with my competitive nature to make sure I get enough steps in. For example, today is a work at home day, and instead of messing around on the internet the whole time during lunch, I took the dog for a longer walk and am messing around on the internet just a bit. If you already have one, I have no idea why you wouldn't strap it on and see if you like it.
  • Sued0nim
    Sued0nim Posts: 17,456 Member
    Also it extrapolates burn based on what you've already done so if you're very active first thing then do nothing it will overestimate your daily burn in the beginning ...that can be disconcerting when you go back next day and find you actually over ate
  • theecatt
    theecatt Posts: 31 Member
    I have the FitBit Surge (with has HRM in the watch). I like it, and it's extra motivation to hit my 10k steps goal per day. The calorie estimates seem to be accurate, or at least in-line with other estimates (MFP), etc.

    I think I'm going to trade it back for the Charge HR though, as the smart-watch features are kinda lame for the extra $100.
  • Indigoblu1
    Indigoblu1 Posts: 127 Member
    edited February 2015
    I work with a woman who has a fitbit. To me, it is just a pedometer that you wear around your wrist. Hers does nothing more than count steps. My cheapo clip on pedometer counts steps, miles and calories burned (I know this is not 100% accurate). We compared steps one day-and the fitbit and pedometer matched step for step.
  • YourIrishFriend
    YourIrishFriend Posts: 6
    Thanks for all the great replies. So many so fast :open_mouth: this community is so helpful :)
  • m1ch3ll3k3llyy
    m1ch3ll3k3llyy Posts: 7
    I love my fitbit flex. It motives me more throughout the day!
  • Mrsallen6_11
    Mrsallen6_11 Posts: 416 Member
    I have a Fitbug Orb and a Sync pedometer, one for my wrist and one for my hip and they both tend to match up pretty well by the end of each day (steps and calories burned). Sometimes they differ by a few steps or calories but they seem pretty accurate to me based the amount of activity I do each day.
  • YourIrishFriend
    YourIrishFriend Posts: 6
    m1ch3ll3k3llyy wrote: »
    I love my fitbit flex. It motives me more throughout the day!

    Yeah they're cool, the waterproof feature is so handy when bathing and if swimming :) How have you found it with regards to accuracy? I actually wore it on my dominant hand for a long time and never really messed with the settings. Some days when I was active it would clock up to 10K steps and I simply assumed it was broken, but maybe I did actually walk that much!

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