Fitbit or HR monitor help

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CyeRyn
CyeRyn Posts: 389 Member
in Getting Started
I was thinking of getting a fitbit or HR watch to track my calories but I have one problem, I can not wear watches or anything on my wrists at my work. Is there stuff like this that can be worn on the upper arm under clothing? Something that wont get caught in a machine. Or is all the fitbit/HR stuff for wrists?

Replies

  • killerqueen21
    killerqueen21 Posts: 157 Member
    edited January 2015
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    A fitbit one can be worn on your pants or on your bra.

    ETA: a fitbit one won't really track your calories all day though. It'll give you an estimate. A body media may work better for you.
  • bittaanne
    bittaanne Posts: 10
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    I have a misfit flash and you can wear it anywhere (chest, neck, wrist, shoe, pants....etc). It comes with a sports band and a clip. They even sell accessories to wear it like a necklace.
  • zenner22
    zenner22 Posts: 33 Member
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    I have a Jawbone Up that is meant for the wrist, but I usually wear it in my pocket while I'm at work. I'll even stick it in my sock while I'm working out for a more accurate step count.
  • samantha1242
    samantha1242 Posts: 816 Member
    edited January 2015
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    I have a Fitbit Zip and it hooks onto my pants either in my pocket, belt, or over the top band. I love it!

    I also have a HRM, but I only use that for my workouts. It has a watch (Polar FT7) and a chest band. However, I don't think a HRM of this type would work for what you are looking for.
  • snowy0wl
    snowy0wl Posts: 179 Member
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    Bodymedia works o the arm. Getting a new one is pricy considering the subscription rate but I use it constantly and compared everyday actives with other brands and found it simular. I love the detail it can give compared to other models and ms ir was big back in 2009 and r he integration works nice in andriod and the phone is not required to be on you for it to work. You just sync it later. One problem it may not record accurately for you so ther is a risk therw. It workd for me.
  • fatjon73
    fatjon73 Posts: 379 Member
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    CyeRyn wrote: »
    I was thinking of getting a fitbit or HR watch to track my calories but I have one problem, I can not wear watches or anything on my wrists at my work. Is there stuff like this that can be worn on the upper arm under clothing? Something that wont get caught in a machine. Or is all the fitbit/HR stuff for wrists?

    I bought my FB HR on Friday and too have an issue with wearing it at work.....I tried it on my ankle at the weekend and it works better than on my arm.....seems to overestimate on my arm......

    To fit it to my wrist I added something to the strap, so I could strap it all way round my ankle, then I put my sock over that, I did not notice it at all today, was there for 9 hrs....

    Hope this helps...
  • Rlavigne93
    Rlavigne93 Posts: 119 Member
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    I just got a fitbit HR last week. We can't wear anything on our wrists at work either, so I keep it in my pocket and turn off the HR monitoring while I'm there. I wore a pedometer for the first two days to compare, and it seems to still track steps and stairs accurately in your pocket.
  • Sued0nim
    Sued0nim Posts: 17,456 Member
    edited February 2015
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    Why do people think these things track calories?

    They estimate a calorie burn based on heart rate, HR is not equal to calorie burn...there is a statistically sound formula underpinning the Calorie burn estimates in steady state cardio only ...beyond that,many other kind of activity / exercise not so much eg you can't use a HR monitor to give you accurate calorie burn with HIIT, interval training, weight training etc

    If you want to track activity in terms of amount of steps then a fitbit one or zip is more than adequate and will clip to your waistband or bra ..I am not convinced by the HR ones...I only wear my HR (polar ft4 with chest strap) for specific workouts and even then I take about 70% of the calorie estimate only and over time judge accuracy based on my RL weight

    I do eat all my fitbit calories generally though ...I have found the step based calculation quite accurate...yet to be convinced of the HR versions that you wear all day
  • blankiefinder
    blankiefinder Posts: 3,599 Member
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    Rabbit is absolutely right, you can't wear a HRM to track your calories burned through a day. It is only meant for steady state cardio, and even that should be paused every time you pause, and should be taken with a grain (or two, or three) of salt.

    If you're asking because you want to find out your actual TDEE, then you just need to log 100% accurately, log your calories burned from exercise, and monitor your weight over a specific time. Let's say 4 weeks. At the end of the four weeks, add up your deficits (what MFP already has built in, be careful if it has you eating at 1200 calories, because that means you've hit the MFP limit and your deficit might be an odd number + your daily deficits - any daily overages) and compare the deficit over the four weeks with what you've actually lost. You can even use an excel spreadsheet for this.
  • Sued0nim
    Sued0nim Posts: 17,456 Member
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    Or if you have a fitbit you can link to trendweight.com and it does the work for you

    Not that I ever turn down the chance to do a spreadsheet *geek*
  • fatjon73
    fatjon73 Posts: 379 Member
    edited February 2015
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    rabbitjb wrote: »
    Or if you have a fitbit you can link to trendweight.com and it does the work for you

    Not that I ever turn down the chance to do a spreadsheet *geek*

    wanna talk about spreadsheets.....read this...


    http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10084832/how-obsessed-have-you-become-over-this#latest


    ..lol......trust me I am tracking everything accurately, I too am a data geek, you cant get true readings from false data...hence the Fitbit......

    I do not exercise that much, due to a back injury, and a car crash 2 yrs ago too....so mainly do walking on my treadmill, bit of running to get heart up that's all.......I do some weights to stay strong....but again, not heavy...more lots of reps at low weight for now....

    Anyway, I am on 1770 average over a week for the last 7 weeks, I log accurately, weigh my food etc, I am 41, 5'10 and 248lbs....need to lose quite a bit.....I am going on Holiday end of April so wanted to shift as much as possible for that, so set a high goal of 2lbs a week, at light activity (I work in a factory) it gave me 1850 a day.......so averaging 1770 I should be 14+ down after 7 weeks.......so far 4lbs and stopped......another reason I bought the FB......I wanted to see my daily routine at work etc so I could accurately work out my intake / outtake etc.......Do you not think the HR is good enough to give me my daily activity??? I will not eat all its adjustment back.....

    Today I have done 8274 steps, 25 flights stairs, adjustment of 870 add that to my sedentary goal of 1550 gives me 2400 odd.....I have eaten under 1800....so I should be fine....

    Again any thought would be great....cheers...



  • blankiefinder
    blankiefinder Posts: 3,599 Member
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    A HRM like a Polar will not give you any clue how many calories you are burning during a day while you are working, weight lifting, or just living in general. Even for walking it's iffy. Something that tracks steps would be much better suited to this purpose.

    What is the 1850 you said it gave you? Is that your TDEE? Your MFP allowance to lose a certain number of pounds per week? Sorry, I couldn't tell from your post.
  • fatjon73
    fatjon73 Posts: 379 Member
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    1850 is my MFP goal with 2lbs loss set...
  • blankiefinder
    blankiefinder Posts: 3,599 Member
    edited February 2015
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    fatjon73 wrote: »
    1850 is my MFP goal with 2lbs loss set...

    Thanks, just wanted to be sure before I said anything else. So if MFP has you eating 1850 to lose 2 per week, and you are only losing .6, then either your actual BMR and TDEE are different from what MFP calculates, or you are eating more than you think. (Correct me if I'm wrong, I believe you stated that you don't eat back any exercise calories.)

    I just saw that you edited your previous post too and added in some more info so I will comment on that too.

    1. Are you using a food scale? It is always better to log food in grams and weigh everything, especially anything like peanut butter. Even lunch meats that have a serving size of 32g for 3 slices, weigh them, 3 slices could easily be 50g so more like 1.7 servings.

    2. Don't take any calorie burn for anything you do in your daily life like normal walking and stairs. Only log intentional exercise, and even then, be careful of inflated calorie counts. You mentioned that your FB gave you 800+ calories for your 8000 steps plus 25 stairs. I would have to do Zumba for an hour and then another hour on an exercise bike to burn that many calories. I would also be sweating quite hard.

    3. If all else fails, read this post on Logging Accuracy, and see your doctor for a thyroid check.
  • fatjon73
    fatjon73 Posts: 379 Member
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    Thanks. Yes I weigh food and log as accurately as I can. I even log butter and ketchup. I will wait a week or 2 yet with the fb then adjust according to that. The last 4 weeks of food logging is very accurate.

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