Anyone currently using a fit bit charge with heart rate monitor?

I have had mine for a week, and so far so good :-) Heart rate is much more accurate during intense cardio than I had anticipated ([I had read a fair few negative reviews.) I had a fitbit one before I got the charge, and I have loved both. The heart rate feature is awesome.

I love my Charge HR. I don't rely on it for motivation, exactly, but it is a fun toy and I love data...and it provides lots of that.

ksinsane: the HR monitor in the Charge uses an optical sensor to monitor heartrate (it flashes light to highlight your capillaries and a sensor beside the LEDs counts the pulses of blood through the capillaries)...anything that interferes with the flashing light or the sensor (including water/sweat) will throw it off. The Charge will try to fill in the blanks between successful measurements and so you get the full graphs after your workout.

I like my Charge HR but do not think it is accurate for high intensity exercise. It shows me that I burn the same amount of calories walking for 60 minutes as I do during 60 minutes of high intensity kickboxing (Turbo Fire) lol

I had the Bodymedia armband for years and loved that, I believe that was very accurate. Too bad they stopped making them

The FitBit is fun though to compete with my friends for steps and I do like the smilie faces.

I just got mine last week, and I don't think it's as accurate as my other HR Monitor with the check strap but it's so much more convenient that I will take it!

I LOVE it!!!! I actually use it mainly for the # of steps and the heart rate. For what I need, the # of steps is accurate enough. The heart rate monitor is usually spot-on. It's great motivation with the challenges through the phone app.

I love mine. I got it three weeks ago and it is very eye opening and motivating. I now find ways to fit in exercise everyday because it's depressing to see how little I move if I don't. I also finally caught on to how the calories, calorie goal etc works with the dashboard on my computer, and that made all the difference for me in terms of starting to lose weight. I've had zero trouble with mine. One thought though, measure your wrist for sizing. I bought the small based on my wrist (6.2) and I would have been more comfortable with the large size.

I've had mine since they came out in January - love it! I tested the heart rate function during Zumba class with my Polar chest strap monitor and it was within a beat or two of the Polar every time I checked. Just got my husband one for Father's Day and he loves seeing which one of us had more steps in the day .

Bacchants wrote: »

Then I love the new update they just did, with a wrist flick you get the time which is really minor but I find convenient!

I hate it—so distracting! I preferred hitting the button to see the time.

I've had mine since March and LOVE IT! Yeah it has it's kinks but it's first gen. I find myself wanting to be much more active because I like too work week and weekend step challenges. It's fun! I was in a weight loss plateau for like 6 months but now I'm starting to lose again. I have to clean up my diet more if I want to see big losses though. Lol.

I bought the smaller size based on my wrist measurement, at first I was bummed I didn't get the bigger size but it loosened up real quick when I started losing again.

I've had the dash marks before where it wasn't reading my HR, but I just took it off real quick and wiped off the sweat from my arm and the fit bit, or I shove my shirt between the fitbit and my arm to get rid of my sweat. It still pretty accurately tracks your workout though, it just kind of averages your HR between when it was disrupted and when it picks up the HR again. It's usually only a matter of seconds anyways.

DvlDwnInGA wrote: »

I can tell you that if I were to eat at 500 calorie deficit daily and went by what my fitbit told me I burned, I would not be losing a pound a week.

The less you have to lose, the more slowly it comes off. That's just the way the human body works. If you're less than 50 lbs. overweight, you probably can't lose 1 lb. per week—with or without a Fitbit.

Set your goal to .5 lb. for every 25 lbs. you're overweight, enable negative calorie adjustments, and be patient.

DvlDwnInGA wrote: »

Last year I had my fitbit and this site linked. It did not take me long to realize that was a bad idea.

Just giving another side to the fitbit argument for this thread, as everyone else here seems to think they work great. I personally have seen some of their limitations and I am just saying use caution.

I agree. That's why I said "trust your Fitbit for several weeks, then reevaluate your progress." All the burns & calorie counts are nothing but estimates, so it takes a whole lot of trial & error to find what works for each of us.