Step Tracking Accuracy

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Pittgirl3
Pittgirl3 Posts: 69 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
so I recently bought my first Jawbone Up fitness tracker and I woke up to check my stats in the morning and it said that I had already taken 500 steps
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  • DeguelloTex
    DeguelloTex Posts: 6,658 Member
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    That doesn't really matter much, if at all.
  • Caletara
    Caletara Posts: 27 Member
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    Did you wear it to sleep? It tracks tossing and turning as steps since you burn calories. I've found both my jawbone Up24 and my fitbit to be accurate.
  • brianpperkins
    brianpperkins Posts: 6,124 Member
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    Caletara wrote: »
    Did you wear it to sleep? It tracks tossing and turning as steps since you burn calories. I've found both my jawbone Up24 and my fitbit to be accurate.


    No. It counts them as steps because it misinterprets movement during sleep as walking.
  • DeguelloTex
    DeguelloTex Posts: 6,658 Member
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    Mine doesn't count "steps" during sleep, but I put it in sleep mode.
  • blossomingbutterfly
    blossomingbutterfly Posts: 743 Member
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    I don't think that's an issue. Do you get up at night and walk to the bathroom or to get a glass of water or whatnot? Did you go to bed after 12am? It resets at 12am. See how it goes after a few weeks and see how it goes. So far I've had the Up2 for 2 months and I have found it to be pretty accurate.
  • blossomingbutterfly
    blossomingbutterfly Posts: 743 Member
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    DeguelloTex wrote: »
    Mine doesn't count "steps" during sleep, but I put it in sleep mode.

    Even when mine is in sleep mode it does record steps if I get up and walk to the kitchen to grab a glass of water or whatever. I am not sure if that makes a difference for steps. Putting it into sleep mode gives you information for your sleep tracking.
  • DeguelloTex
    DeguelloTex Posts: 6,658 Member
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    extremelygrumpycat wrote: »
    DeguelloTex wrote: »
    Mine doesn't count "steps" during sleep, but I put it in sleep mode.

    Even when mine is in sleep mode it does record steps if I get up and walk to the kitchen to grab a glass of water or whatever. I am not sure if that makes a difference for steps. Putting it into sleep mode gives you information for your sleep tracking.
    Well, yes, if I take steps it records steps. I was responding to a post that said it treats sleep movement as steps. Mine doesn't and never has.

  • editorgrrl
    editorgrrl Posts: 7,060 Member
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    Pittgirl3 wrote: »
    so I recently bought my first Jawbone Up fitness tracker and I woke up to check my stats in the morning and it said that I had already taken 500 steps

    Did you go to bed after midnight, and/or get up during the night?

    The only way to gauge the accuracy of your UP total burn (which is TDEE) is to trust it for a few weeks, then reevaluate your progress. I've had an UP since May 2013, and I lost the weight and have maintained ever since.

    MFP has a Jawbone UP Bracelet group: http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/group/13420-jawbone-up-bracelet
  • joeyzuraski
    joeyzuraski Posts: 47 Member
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    I believe with new trackers and mine may have been the same, they automatically added 500 estimated at what time of day you started it.
  • Ohwhynot
    Ohwhynot Posts: 356 Member
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    My fitbit is set to less sensitive but I still have somehow hit 10k steps once on the toilet and another time sitting at a bar. :/ I mean, I'm happy to take the credit, but I don't trust it anymore.
  • editorgrrl
    editorgrrl Posts: 7,060 Member
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    Ohwhynot wrote: »
    My fitbit is set to less sensitive but I still have somehow hit 10k steps once on the toilet and another time sitting at a bar. :/ I mean, I'm happy to take the credit, but I don't trust it anymore.

    You mean you got your 10,000th step whilst you were on the toilet? I get "steps" drying my hair and miss steps pushing a shopping cart, but that's within an acceptable margin of error.

    If your tracker is defective, Fitbit customer service will replace it.
  • Pittgirl3
    Pittgirl3 Posts: 69 Member
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    DeguelloTex wrote: »
    Mine doesn't count "steps" during sleep, but I put it in sleep mode.

    I put mine in sleep mode to, but when I woke up I had magically taken 350 steps
  • Pittgirl3
    Pittgirl3 Posts: 69 Member
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    extremelygrumpycat wrote: »
    I don't think that's an issue. Do you get up at night and walk to the bathroom or to get a glass of water or whatnot? Did you go to bed after 12am? It resets at 12am. See how it goes after a few weeks and see how it goes. So far I've had the Up2 for 2 months and I have found it to be pretty accurate.

    Nope. I sleep and stay asleep. No walking.
  • Pittgirl3
    Pittgirl3 Posts: 69 Member
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    editorgrrl wrote: »
    Pittgirl3 wrote: »
    so I recently bought my first Jawbone Up fitness tracker and I woke up to check my stats in the morning and it said that I had already taken 500 steps

    Did you go to bed after midnight, and/or get up during the night?

    The only way to gauge the accuracy of your UP total burn (which is TDEE) is to trust it for a few weeks, then reevaluate your progress. I've had an UP since May 2013, and I lost the weight and have maintained ever since.

    MFP has a Jawbone UP Bracelet group: http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/group/13420-jawbone-up-bracelet

    O ok. That's a good suggestion. Maybe I need to give it more time.
  • Pittgirl3
    Pittgirl3 Posts: 69 Member
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    joeyzuraski wrote: »
    I believe with new trackers and mine may have been the same, they automatically added 500 estimated at what time of day you started it.

    What do you mean they automaticallu added 500 steps?
  • Pittgirl3
    Pittgirl3 Posts: 69 Member
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    Thanks for all the helpful responses everyone
  • earlnabby
    earlnabby Posts: 8,171 Member
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    I don't put my Fitbit into sleep mode and I usually wake up to about 50 steps. One or two trips to the bathroom in the night plus my morning trip there accounts for those steps.

    Are you sure it is not calories it is adding? I get up around 6 AM and have already burned about 350 calories.
  • brianpperkins
    brianpperkins Posts: 6,124 Member
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    shell1005 wrote: »
    My FitBit is really accurate. I've never had extra steps added. Well one time, but I didn't wear it to sleep and it was next to my fan and the vibrations made it go crazy and I woke up with 20K in steps. But otherwise, mine is like clockwork.

    Did you count your actual steps for comparison or are you just assuming it is accurate?
  • earlnabby
    earlnabby Posts: 8,171 Member
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    brianpperkins wrote: »
    shell1005 wrote: »
    My FitBit is really accurate. I've never had extra steps added. Well one time, but I didn't wear it to sleep and it was next to my fan and the vibrations made it go crazy and I woke up with 20K in steps. But otherwise, mine is like clockwork.

    Did you count your actual steps for comparison or are you just assuming it is accurate?

    I'm not the person you asked, but I have checked my Fitbit accuracy several ways, including counting actual steps. It is very accurate. Not 100%, but I wouldn't expect perfection. I would say it is closer to 95% accurate overall and very close to 100% when I go on a purposeful walk.

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