Fitbit - Pro's Con's is it worth it?

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  • tracie_minus100
    tracie_minus100 Posts: 465 Member
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    Absolutely worth it, in my opinion. I have a Fitbit One, and it's been a very big contributor to my 90lb weightloss over the past 10 months. It's extremely motivating for me.
  • earlnabby
    earlnabby Posts: 8,171 Member
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    I had a Fitbit Flex for almost 2 years and now wear a Vivofit2. They are definitely worth it if you need to track how much you move. I have also found the calories burned estimates to be really close to my real life calories burned.

    Having said that, the ones with the HRM included in the wrist unit are not nearly as accurate at estimating burns and are not worth the extra money IMHO. You need an HRM that is worn with a chest strap.
  • AOdell79
    AOdell79 Posts: 94 Member
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    I have the Fitbit zip and I LOVE IT. I wear it everyday clipped under my clothes.
  • OldAssDude
    OldAssDude Posts: 1,436 Member
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    I started out with the Jawbone UP24. Activity trackers are what got me started in all this stuff. I have since had Fitbit's, Garmin's, and Polar's. As I got more into the exercise session part of it, my needs changed and I needed something that I could customize my exercise sessions instead of having a few premade exercise types to choose from. I wound up settling on the Polar V800...

    amazon.com/Polar-Sports-Watch-without-Monitor/dp/B00JSO9UC8/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1448333414&sr=8-3&keywords=polar+v800

    I suggest doing a little research and looking at ones that have the features you are looking for, and watch a bunch of reviews on YouTube. If you are looking to track your heart rate, I recommend one with a chest strap heart rate monitor as they are very accurate. The ones that read your heart rate on your wrist are a little iffy IMO.
  • RonnieLodge
    RonnieLodge Posts: 665 Member
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    Suzibluski wrote: »
    HI All, Right now I can not track accurately and am thinking about a fitbit., for those of you that have them or another kind can you tell me about your experience?
    Thank you

    Got the Charge HR Fitbit in May - have worn it every single day since.
    I love that it syncs up with MFP and the dashboard, as well as the weekly progress reports that are emailed.
    Having fun doing challenges with friends who also have Fitbits to see who can do the most steps in a week - I didn't think the tracking sleep would be of any use, but it is quite interesting to see!

    Sadly the only downfall is that it doesn't give me the power to out-exercise eating more than I should if I want to drop weight!
  • Protranser
    Protranser Posts: 517 Member
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    If you sync your fitbit to MFP, your fitbit tells MFP what your calorie burn is for each day you wear it. MFP will calculate your eating goal based on what you specified your desired rate of loss is and your fitbit calorie burn.
  • PAV8888
    PAV8888 Posts: 13,729 Member
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    Another data point argues that Fitbit TDEE for an average person is pretty dang accurate for steady state cardio activities.

    Started using Charge HR in February 2015. Was already at a deficit for 10 months at that time. Walking for exercise with total daily steps in the 15 to 20K range.

    Body comp by DEXA scans. Fat estimated @ 3500 Cal per lb; lean mass @ 1500 Cal per lb.
    Intake via MFP.
    TDEE via Fitbit.

    Fitbit TDEE over-estimates increased from less than 2% to 4.85% to 5.5%.
    The increases coincide with increased lean mass loss moving from a 13:1 fat to lean mass loss ratio down to a 3:1 one.

    To my mind this argues that the over-estimation is likely caused by adaptation to both the exercise and the deficit, thus Fitbit has no way to account for it until they allow individualized correction.

  • PinkPixiexox
    PinkPixiexox Posts: 4,142 Member
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    Ah, wouldn't be without my fitbit! :)
    I use it to work out my 'maintenance' calories. All I really need to know is - as long as I eat under that specific number, I'm going to lose.
  • VisofSer
    VisofSer Posts: 130 Member
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    I moved from a FitBit One to a Polar Loop and then up to a FitBit Charge HR. Definitely love it, the strap design was a big reason why I chose the Charge.

    And for reference points on tracker accuracy, if a little dated, here is a small comparison table of the error percentage:

    BodyMedia FIT: 9.3%
    Fitbit Zip: 10.1%
    Fitbit One: 10.4%
    Jawbone Up: 12.2%
    ActiGraph: 12.6%
    Directlife: 12.8%
    Nike FuelBand: 13%
    Basis Band: 23.5%

    The two studies I am aware for this are here and here.
  • neldabg
    neldabg Posts: 1,452 Member
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    Okay. You people on MFP have me sold, and after doing some research, I've decided that I'm going to get a FitBit Charge HR. Haha. As a college student, I have limited funds, but I realize that this is actually the best time to get a Fitbit. It's Black Friday week, so I'll be looking around, but if you guys personally know a cheap place to buy a Fitbit product, let me know!
  • MissAbbee
    MissAbbee Posts: 41 Member
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    wearmi1 wrote: »
    I've had a Fitbit Flex for about 2 years now. Its eye opening to just how lazy I was before I had a fitness tracker. I like the competitions part of it, every week it's always a competition for bragging rights as to who got the most steps for the week. It's harmless fun but beneficial none the less.

    I must have been the laziest person before I got my fitbit.. I also used to be able to each so much food in one sitting before I started tracking properly!
  • Pawsforme
    Pawsforme Posts: 645 Member
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    I love my Fitbit Charge HR. I've had it for about 3.5 months and as far as I can tell by comparing the TDEE it gives, my calorie intake and rate of weight loss -- it slightly under estimates my TDEE.
  • rjan91
    rjan91 Posts: 194 Member
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    CoffeeNCardio wrote: »
    http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10120819/fitbit-margin-of-error-calculated


    Please take the time to read this. I did before I bought my charge HR and it has really helped me love it more!!!

    Very good read - thank you! I do not eat back all of my exercise calories - but I agree I do not make my in 5 weeks weight goal after I complete my diary daily very often. My weight loss has been slower than that.
    With that said I would be lost without my Charge HR. I use it for sleep, exercise, calories burned and HR monitoring. For me I use the HR for exercise as well as for monitoring my HR as I take medication that alters it. I would be lost without mine and would replace it in a heartbeat.....lol!
  • mylittlerainbow
    mylittlerainbow Posts: 822 Member
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    What a timely thread! I just started yesterday researching into the various wristbands that are out there. I wanted to make sure it would be worth the expense, and it sounds like the right one definitely would be!
  • rebeccahunt718
    rebeccahunt718 Posts: 48 Member
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    I use the fitbit HR and love it. I don't wear it after I shower at night until I wake up the next morning so I don't track my sleep/ times I wake up and are moving around. However, it gives me a little wiggle room on how many calories I can eat a day because it is tracking everything, including heart rate. If you are looking into one, I would recommend it. Though I have not started to really lose weight (mostly because I am a food addict with a husband who fuels it), when I was sticking to 1200-1400 calories a day, I was able to get my calorie deficit up to 500-1000 calories a day because I was seeing how much I was burning.
  • LivingtheLeanDream
    LivingtheLeanDream Posts: 13,342 Member
    edited November 2015
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    Love my Fitbit but any tracker would do the job if you would be motivated to move more. I've had my tracker for 2 years and its certainly helped me keep motivated to keep upping my steps and also is fairly accurate with my TDEE, it slightly under estimates but thats not a bad thing.
  • Kate_UK
    Kate_UK Posts: 1,300 Member
    edited November 2015
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    Sounds like a good decision! I LOVE my One, I feel lost on days I forget to put it on.
  • lucyleigh4
    lucyleigh4 Posts: 33 Member
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    I have the Fitbit Charge HR...mine does work correctly. I have lost about 25 pounds using a charge hr and mfp. I actually got up last night to walk 100 more steps so that I had 20,000 for the day..so, for me, it is pretty motivating. There are some great deals most place on the Charge HR for black friday. Most prices I am seeing are $119.99.

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