Good results with Fitbit Charge Hr??

Jenny9989
Jenny9989 Posts: 4 Member
edited September 2015 in Health and Weight Loss
I'm curious to hear about success using the Fitbit Charge Hr. It's easy to find posts about all that is wrong with it cause unhappy people have lots to say! I just bought one and have used it for 3 days. I'm not anywhere near an athlete and I have no desire to be one. I got the Charge Hr to give me a better idea of how many calories I burn in a day and to help make sure I'm more active. I have 30 pounds to lose and I have been eating based on my fitness pals guidelines but would like to try to eat based on the info my fitness pal gets from fit bit. Who has gone ahead and trusted their Fitbit?? How did it go?

Replies

  • gvhunterollie
    gvhunterollie Posts: 74 Member
    In for responses because I've had my HR for over a month and don't trust eating what it indicates I can (or don't trust my logging is accurate enough to do that).
  • minties82
    minties82 Posts: 907 Member
    I'm more than happy with mine. It motivates me to move more, and it seems VERY accurate.
  • Jessro21
    Jessro21 Posts: 4 Member
    I've been looking for the same! I've had mine about a week now. It has its flaws, but all in all I like it. I wouldn't trust it's calorie counting 100%, it does tend to be a bit over the top. That said, it can give you a baseline as to whether you were more active or not on a given day, which could be your greenlight to have something extra.

    It's hr function is good walking, working out at the gym, but after about 120bpm it tends to not work so well. Which isn't the be all and end all. Today was the first time I tested it on the bike, and the bikes already have hr, so was unphased. Still logs your workout, still tracks calories fairly accurately (for workouts, not the whole day)

    A lot of people complain about lack of info in the sleep function. I don't mind it. I just wanted to see weekly averages, how restless I was, how quick I sleep. Any more I feel would be unnecessary. Probably interesting, kill some time, but not vital.

    It's made me try be more active when I'm doing not particularly much, and I'm already active, so I think a lot can benefit from it.

    I like it. But there probably will be better technology in 12+ months. But it's here now
  • Jessro21
    Jessro21 Posts: 4 Member
    About the calories side of it(just re read your post). When I'm trying to lose weight, I eat about 1850 cals per day. I could probably eat 2100 and still lose weight.

    Fitbit tells me on some days I'm burning 3500 calories. I do not have a fast metabolism, so I know this is inaccurate. If I ate that much, well yeh, I'd put on weight. A maintainence around for me would be around 2300(but I don't track when I maintain). So that's my experience
  • Jesi1011
    Jesi1011 Posts: 200 Member
    I just got mine about 3 days ago. I feel like it over counts my steps. For instance using the bathroom washing my hands and trying added about 100steps. I'm not really sure why? However it pushes me to get to 10000 steps.

    I also have 30lbs to loose. I'm currently eating my 1200cals from MFP and usually about 100-250 of the Fitbit calories. Fitbit usually adds about 400. I've only done it a few days so idk if it's working yet for weight loss


    Question::: so I wear the charge hr everyday/all day. I use the app on my phone. And I sync the charge to my app but then I also have the "mobile device" on the app. Do I need to have both synced or does that mess it up?
  • alligatorrawr
    alligatorrawr Posts: 144 Member
    I love it! I don't eat and extra calories because it told me I burned them, I might have a scoop of protein w/ unsweetened almond milk if I am still hungry after my regular diet. I love the HR, it keeps me motivated and I love to see the progress of my heart rate (183 to 165!) with my diet and exercise.
  • Alatariel75
    Alatariel75 Posts: 18,217 Member
    I've had mine since the start of the year and have lost just over 10kg/23lbs. It's not super fast progress, but after losing over 20kg/40lbs last year, I honestly think I would have "fallen off the wagon" by now if not for my HR. It's really kept me going, got me moving, and kept things in the forefront of my mind. I feel like I have a much better idea of how my body works and what I'm buring and I've really got a great sense of achievement of what I have done to progress my fitness this year, after doing a lot of losing weight, but not really increasing fitness last year.
  • Pawsforme
    Pawsforme Posts: 645 Member
    I've had mine for about a month and I love it. I'm finding it to be fairly accurate (comparing what it says I've burned to the calories I've consumed and the weight loss I've had). I did have to do some tweaking to make it as accurate as possible. One thing that really helped is wearing it on my left (non dominant) wrist but adjusting the setting as if it's on my dominant wrist. That cuts down a lot on it logging extra steps. Also, make sure you measure your stride length accurately and enter it in the settings.
  • choppie70
    choppie70 Posts: 544 Member
    I got my Charge HR in mid May. I started making sure I got at least 13,000 steps a day starting on June 21. I have lost 23 lbs as of this morning. I eat about 1/3 of my exercise calories back.

  • RMCottonRPh
    RMCottonRPh Posts: 41 Member
    I LOVE my HR! I think my burn is pretty accurate and it has allowed me to see I can eat MORE and still NAIL my weight loss goals every week. I have a job where I am on my feet 12 hours a day and I was grossly underestimating just how much I burn. I have only been wearing it 3 weeks, but have loss 10.5 lbs and have not gone hungry!
  • snowflake930
    snowflake930 Posts: 2,188 Member
    I love my fit bit! I got a One in February 2013. A Force (no longer avail) in Feb 2014, and have had my Charge HR since June 2015. I lost most of my weight before beginning to even walk more (-100 pounds). Got my first fit bit at -140 pounds, so I had really lost most of the weight before starting to use a fit bit. I don't sync it with MFP. I use it to motivate me to move more and it really accomplishes that for me. In Jan 2014, I made a personal goal for the year, to get 20K steps per day, and have been getting between 18K & 22K daily, ever since then.
    I especially love the HR aspect. Three years ago, I could not walk up a flight of stairs without becoming out of breath. Now, my resting HR is in the upper 40's to low 50's. All thanks to MFP and my fit bit!
  • ShastaOC
    ShastaOC Posts: 17 Member
    Thanks for all the helpful info! I just got mine and it generally gives me 500-700 more calories a day than I'm alloted. I was very, very curious if I should eat those back! Haha
  • Coley88
    Coley88 Posts: 114 Member
    I love my Charge HR. I've only had it for a little over a month, but I think it's an amazing device.
  • Jenny9989
    Jenny9989 Posts: 4 Member

    ShastaOC wrote: »
    Thanks for all the helpful info! I just got mine and it generally gives me 500-700 more calories a day than I'm alloted. I was very, very curious if I should eat those back! Haha

    I'm allowed that much extra too, makes me nervous. MFP allows me 1760 to loose a pound a week, but my personal trainer tells me not to eat under 2000 and says I'll still loose weight at 2000 even if I don't excersise. Once I get a few pounds off I think I'd be comfortable playing around with how much I eat
  • CooCooPuff
    CooCooPuff Posts: 4,374 Member
    edited September 2015
    Jenny9989 wrote: »
    ShastaOC wrote: »
    Thanks for all the helpful info! I just got mine and it generally gives me 500-700 more calories a day than I'm alloted. I was very, very curious if I should eat those back! Haha

    I'm allowed that much extra too, makes me nervous. MFP allows me 1760 to loose a pound a week, but my personal trainer tells me not to eat under 2000 and says I'll still loose weight at 2000 even if I don't excersise. Once I get a few pounds off I think I'd be comfortable playing around with how much I eat
    That's the base number if you do very little all day (with negative adjustments enabled, this could be lowered on a particularly inactive day). It doesn't include your steps or additional exercise.

    MFP gives me 1,760 to maintain on the sedentary setting. According to Trendweight, I still lost weight eating 50% of my Fitbit adjustments. I'm giving 65% a few weeks before I decide where to go.


  • Jenny9989
    Jenny9989 Posts: 4 Member

    That's the base number if you do very little all day (with negative adjustments enabled, this could be lowered on a particularly inactive day). It doesn't include your steps or additional exercise.

    MFP gives me 1,760 to maintain on the sedentary setting. According to Trendweight, I still lost weight eating 50% of my Fitbit adjustments. I'm giving 65% a few weeks before I decide where to go.

    I have mine set at lightly active and a lot of times when I try to eat 1760 I'm starving. I think this is why I sometimes fail. I get really hungry and then eat whatever I can get my hands on. Think I will try to be comfortable with a bit more.
  • I eat all my Fitbit calories and maintain my weight. Which is, usually, between 2100 and 2500 calories.
  • jessica22222
    jessica22222 Posts: 374 Member
    Just got mine as a gift. Disappointed I can't sync it unless I'm at a computer as I have an iPhone 4. I'm on vacation and don't have access to sync it to my phone yet so have no idea how great it is. I'm wearing it now and I guess I can see some grafts when I get home. I honestly wouldn't have asked for it knowing it wasn't compatible to my phone as I never ever use my computer and as lazy as it sounds I don't want to have to boot up my computer to see. I'll either upgrade my phone or return it.
  • Nanoo2013
    Nanoo2013 Posts: 32 Member
    choppie70 wrote: »
    I got my Charge HR in mid May. I started making sure I got at least 13,000 steps a day starting on June 21. I have lost 23 lbs as of this morning. I eat about 1/3 of my exercise calories back.

    How many extra calories does it give you at 13k steps? I'm almost there and it's given me 1400. Seems like a lot. Of course I won't be eating them back.
  • mgoddard1527
    mgoddard1527 Posts: 20 Member
    edited September 2015
    Jesi1011 wrote: »
    I just got mine about 3 days ago. I feel like it over counts my steps. For instance using the bathroom washing my hands and trying added about 100steps. I'm not really sure why? However it pushes me to get to 10000 steps.

    I also have 30lbs to loose. I'm currently eating my 1200cals from MFP and usually about 100-250 of the Fitbit calories. Fitbit usually adds about 400. I've only done it a few days so idk if it's working yet for weight loss


    Question::: so I wear the charge hr everyday/all day. I use the app on my phone. And I sync the charge to my app but then I also have the "mobile device" on the app. Do I need to have both synced or does that mess it up?

    If you wear it on your dominant hand/wrist, make sure you change the setting for that....it's probably why you are getting the "extra" steps.
  • editorgrrl
    editorgrrl Posts: 7,060 Member
    I've used Fitbit + MFP for years, lost the weight, and kept it off. The only way to gauge the accuracy is to enable negative calorie adjustments in your diary settings, trust your Fitbit for several weeks, then reevaluate your progress.

    You can learn more in the Fitbit Users group: http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/group/1290-fitbit-users

    Your Fitbit burn is TDEE (total daily energy expenditure), the calories necessary to maintain your current weight. If (and only if) you enable negative calorie adjustments, your adjusted goal is TDEE minus deficit. But you still have to log everything you eat & drink accurately & honestly. Also, I log exercise in Fitbit—never MFP.
  • tiffkittyw
    tiffkittyw Posts: 366 Member
    edited September 2015
    I like my charge HR but since there is no way for it to know how fast your metabolism is I doubt I burn as many calories as it says. It does keep me on track with trying to reach 10,000 steps a day which is a challenge for me with a sedentary desk job.
  • newyorkcitymom
    newyorkcitymom Posts: 48 Member
    I love mine. Only had it for two weeks, but so far it seems very accurate - and it's telling me that I get pretty huge calorie burns. I've averaged around 3,000 calories burned a day and averaged about 2,000 calories eaten a day and I'm losing about 2lbs a week - so pretty much right on target. Two very nifty things about it: 1) if you click on the calories in/out tab on the dashboard, it will give you your total deficit for the week thus far; you can use this on a weekly basis to see how your deficit matches up to your actual loss; this can help you to make any accuracy adjustments; in other words, it's something you can verify rather than guess at; 2) if you weigh yourself daily, it will give you a running average of your weight for the week and shows previous weeks; I really like this as it helps me to see progress beyond the day to day fluctuations - I can easily see how my avg this week compares to previous weeks; I've had a lot of fluctuations in my day to day weight, but my week over week avg has been 2lbs/week - exactly on target. And yes, it does motivate you. I set my activity level on MFP as sedentary - if I really was that sedentary, there is no way in hell I could meet the calorie goals necessary, but this allows me to eat more calories on days I am more active; I find that on lighter activity days I naturally eat less. Finally, one very useful thing about the fitbit is the perspective it gives me on activity. I run and bike and do other workouts and these are great and definitely burn calories, but the primary thing that drives my TDEE (total calorie burn) is not my exercise but my overall level of activity. This helps me focus on leading a more active lifestyle generally and ensures that I am not complacent just because I worked out that day.
  • ilovesweeties
    ilovesweeties Posts: 84 Member
    I love mine...
    the primary thing that drives my TDEE (total calorie burn) is not my exercise but my overall level of activity. This helps me focus on leading a more active lifestyle generally and ensures that I am not complacent just because I worked out that day.

    Completely agree. I had a Flex for most of my weight loss, moved to Charge HR for maintenance. After more than a year of step counting my motivation remains high! I am not quite yet able to trust the calories burned it gives me as it seems so high. But since I have had it the HR, I seem to be losing roughly what it would predict. I am working on increasing my calories to maintenance by trying to get over the mental block that I am actually allowed to eat that much!

  • tiffkittyw
    tiffkittyw Posts: 366 Member
    The one thing I don't like about the Fitbit is that it doesn't tell you your projected calorie burn for the day. My BodyBugg would do that and it would help me plan how much more I could eat with the estimated TDEE. Fitbit only tells you your burn as of the moment you check it.
  • janejellyroll
    janejellyroll Posts: 25,763 Member
    I eat all my Fitbit calories and am comfortably maintaining my weight.