FitBit - Yes or No
cyamissy
Posts: 14 Member
I am looking at the FitBit - what does everyone feel about this? Pros and cons. Thanks so much!
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Replies
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Yes, yes, and yes!!! One of my maxims is that if you want to change something, all you have to do is measure it. Once you see a number that represents your activity, that number will increase. You WILL become more active, just because you can SEE the number. Having that number gives you something to focus on and take pride in on a daily basis.0
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Yes
But basic like the zip
Not the HRM0 -
BIG yes !!!, i find myself walking more and more just to reach my goals where as before i just got a taxi everywhere lol. Its also great to see those extra calories i can eat
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It depends on what your goals are. If you want to be motivated to move more, and seeing the actual numbers will motivate you, then yes, definitely get a Fitbit. I know lots of people who are moving much more now that they have one. Seeing low step counts makes us realize how little we were really moving before and having a concrete number and a goal is definitely motivating.
If something like that won't be motivating to you then it may not be worth your money.
ETA: I love my Fitbit One. I've had it for 2.5 years now and I wear it every single day.0 -
Yes- But I only use it as a step counter and force myself to get those 10k a day!
I don't use the calorie burn function of it because I think it's highly inflated.0 -
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I love my charge HR. I find it makes calorie logging super accurate. With the combination of MFP and fitbit, I log my food on MFP. Just be aware that if you back to your food diary for a previous day about 100-200 of the calories it said you burned will be gone (if you allow negative calorie adjustments). Dunno why, just does it.0
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YES! It's made all the difference for me.0
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Yes! I definitely get off my butt more since having mine. I have the fitbit charge hr. I love, love, love it! I also have the fitbit Aria scale. The pair are seriously one of the best purchases that I ever made. I'm down 40 pounds since getting mine February 19th of this year.0
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I have a zip. Love Love Love it.0
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abetterluke wrote: »
I chose against the fitbit charge HR because my main reason for wanting this was to get my best estimate of calories burned. After reading several reviews of people wearing it along with their chest strap HRM's, I was disheartened to find review after review stating it's inaccuracy. I decided to get a polar HRM with a chest strap since my old one bit the dust, it should arrive in the mail any day now. I'm very excited. I may still get a fitbit zip to see my daily step goals/activity outside of the gym but I would not rely on it for anything more.0 -
I have a Fitbit One and love it.0
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IAmTheGlue wrote: »Yes! I definitely get off my butt more since having mine. I have the fitbit charge hr. I love, love, love it! I also have the fitbit Aria scale. The pair are seriously one of the best purchases that I ever made. I'm down 40 pounds since getting mine February 19th of this year.
I've seen that scale, what do you like about it? Is it different from other scales?0 -
I just ordered the flex, it will be here tomorrow and I am soooo excited!0
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Hmmm...I have a polar HRM with the chest strap but haven't used it yet (you know...i've only had it since...uhh...christmas...)
I just like the big screen on the Surge and the fact that it can interface with your phone for caller ID and such...0 -
abetterluke wrote: »
Sure but I've posted this quite a bit
I think the HRM wearable are a marketeers dream tbh
Unless you have a reason to want to trace your heart rate eg some type of heart condition
If you want it for more accurate calorie estimation of TDEE then it's guff IMHO, and I haven't been convinced otherwise on any of the wearables
The way a HRM works to estimate calorie burn is based on a formula pinned to steady state cardio
The rest of the time the pedometer would take over as the prime activity tracker ..hr does not equate to calorie burn
And that's what the standard models do0 -
I own a Garmin Vivofit and I love it. It makes my progress visible and helps to keep me on track. Also, I sync my Garmin Connect account with my MyFitnessPal account and it shows me all of my progress (or sometimes lack of progress!) in one place.0
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I love my charge HR. I find it makes calorie logging super accurate. With the combination of MFP and fitbit, I log my food on MFP. Just be aware that if you back to your food diary for a previous day about 100-200 of the calories it said you burned will be gone (if you allow negative calorie adjustments). Dunno why, just does it.
The fitbit extrapolates your TDEE based on activity to that time when you synched it
So if you exercise early / move more early in the day and then do less / nothing it will adjust the actual TDEE based on what you actually did over the 24 hours
This is true of all fitbits
It begins to learn you over time though - clever little thing0 -
I bought my boyfriend the fitbit surge and he is loving it! You definitely don't NEED one to lose weight, but it is SUCH a big help. It's made him more active and a lot more motivated to keep active. He also uses MFP now and using both is really, really helping him. It's a good way to just make sure you're being active, really.
Seeing him do so great with it has made me get one myself. I got the fitbit charge HR and it should be here tomorrow. I can't wait!
Imo, if you can get one (as in you're not going to go broke over it) and you want one, then I say get one!0 -
abetterluke wrote: »
Sure but I've posted this quite a bit
I think the HRM wearable are a marketeers dream tbh
Unless you have a reason to want to trace your heart rate eg some type of heart condition
If you want it for more accurate calorie estimation of TDEE then it's guff IMHO, and I haven't been convinced otherwise on any of the wearables
The way a HRM works to estimate calorie burn is based on a formula pinned to steady state cardio
The rest of the time the pedometer would take over as the prime activity tracker ..hr does not equate to calorie burn
And that's what the standard models do
Interesting. So from your explanation you'd say that the Polar HRM's aren't worth it either? I have one that I haven't used yet...0 -
No from me, thank you.
I know people absolutely love them, but it's just another "thing" to me.0 -
I have a Charge and it's alright. It doesn't have a HRM, which I don't think I need anyway.
Two complaints though...
One, some days, FtiBit and other tracking devices refuse to sync with MFP, which I think is a MFP issue, not a tracker issue.
Two, my FitBit always has a different distance than my treadmill. I set my workout for five miles on the treadmill to get my FitBit goal done. Treadmill says 5 miles. FitBit says 4.25. I'm not sure which one to believe. I don't know how to better calibrate either one. I don't mind doing the extra .75 mile to get my FitBit goal in, but dammit, I want it count everything so I can be at the top of my friends' list in the ranking!0 -
I am not an expert and am speaking from my personal experience. I am curious why others do not like the hrm option. I have the Fitbit charge hr. I know i have only had mine for 5 weeks, but i think knowing what your heart rate is while exercising is great to know. I have checked it against my smartphone, which has a S health app and the hr is consistent. From the basic research i have done i find that most programs use a similar formula to calculate a burn. I have found since i have been consistently exercising that i need to up my intensity to raise my heart rate and burn more calories. I hate the chest strap type hrm. I have tried both the fitbit charge hr and the surge. My husband has also been using a fitbit charge hr. We are both very happy with them and are both losing weight. I would say if you do not care about calorie burn and do not plan on eating back any exercise calories then no need for a HRM.0
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I have the Fitbit HR.
Last year I lost 17kg by dieting and walking (using the MapMyWalk app). I set my MFP "activity level" as sedentary and tried to keep within the recommended calories.
This year I bought the FitBit and did the same. Fitbit HR gives me more motivation, I like to see the logs of my activity and heart rate and stair climbs etc. and I now have a steps target to try to reach/beat.
However it seems my "normal" activity is higher than sedentary, so the fitbit/MFP link ups my recommended calories and if I eat them back I lose weight at a slower rate.
So it seems my "calorie deficit" last year was bigger than I thought.
Overall I think it's a good thing, and provides more motivation, but just watch out for the added calorie allowances and don't go overboard eating them back.0 -
abetterluke wrote: »
The surge is amazing and well worth the money. It will tell you how many calories burned running, lifting, spinning, elliptical, etc etc . Not many watches are that specific.0 -
I'm probably going to get demolished for this but I never eat my exercise calories back anyway....0
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I had a Fit Bit Force that I returned once the Charge came out. I love it! It keeps me motivated to get those 10K steps everyday. I wear every day so I don't miss out on steps.0
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abetterluke wrote: »abetterluke wrote: »
Sure but I've posted this quite a bit
I think the HRM wearable are a marketeers dream tbh
Unless you have a reason to want to trace your heart rate eg some type of heart condition
If you want it for more accurate calorie estimation of TDEE then it's guff IMHO, and I haven't been convinced otherwise on any of the wearables
The way a HRM works to estimate calorie burn is based on a formula pinned to steady state cardio
The rest of the time the pedometer would take over as the prime activity tracker ..hr does not equate to calorie burn
And that's what the standard models do
Interesting. So from your explanation you'd say that the Polar HRM's aren't worth it either? I have one that I haven't used yet...
Nope I've got a polar HRM and I wear it for specific workouts and log those on MFP ..they overwrite the fitbit activity for that time zone
HRMs are for steady state cardio so I take 100% of that burn, for weights/ HIIT and calisthenics I take about 60-70% because that's what, over time, I've found works0 -
This is an old blog post
But still relevant re the HRM calculation to calorie burn
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/Azdak/view/the-real-facts-about-hrms-and-calories-what-you-need-to-know-before-purchasing-an-hrm-or-using-one-214720 -
IAmTheGlue wrote: »Yes! I definitely get off my butt more since having mine. I have the fitbit charge hr. I love, love, love it! I also have the fitbit Aria scale. The pair are seriously one of the best purchases that I ever made. I'm down 40 pounds since getting mine February 19th of this year.
I've seen that scale, what do you like about it? Is it different from other scales?
I've had the scale for a couple weeks, and I think it's great, but I'm considering not using it.
It is great that the scale measures both weight and BF%. However, lots of cheaper electronic scales do this - it's not worth the money just for this. (Yes, we could argue about the accuracy of the BF% measurement, but I have compared it to hydrostatic weighing, and it's not too bad for me. And if you don't know your BF%, then ANY measurement is better than none)
The really great thing about it is that it automatically uploads. Now all you have to do is step on it each morning, and it's done. Don't have to worry about logging yourself.
The thing I don't like about it is the repeatability. It's really not bad, compared to other electronic scales. I have used other electronic scales and hated them because you could step on it three times in a row and get numbers that were POUNDS apart. Not so with the Aria - they're usually within half a pound of each other. However, I had been weighing myself daily with a balance beam, and the repeatability of THAT was so great that I could see how I did each and every day. I could tell the difference between a -1/4 pound day and a no change day. With the Aria, you're not as sure. My daily chart bounces around a bit more with the Aria than it does with the mechanical beam.0
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