Fitbit - explain to me like I'm 5

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jaga13
jaga13 Posts: 1,149 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Fitbit and related gadgets- please explain this like I'm 5 !!
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  • jaga13
    jaga13 Posts: 1,149 Member
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    Lol most of what I wrote didn't post. Trying again:

    1. Does the Fitbit (and similar products) only track steps (strides)? Would it recognize marching in place or dancing with any accuracy when there isn't any actual walking happening?

    2. Do they subtract the calorie equivalent of about 3000-5000 steps since mfp evidently factors those in already in the sedentary setting?

    3. Anything else I should know when considering buying one ?

    Thank you
  • SinomenJen
    SinomenJen Posts: 262 Member
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    Ok, you wear it on your body, most people wear it on their wrists, and it helps you know how active you are, like, how many steps you take, how far you go in a day, fitbit is what I use, I like that it has a community, you do challenges, like who can go the most steps, alot of them also will track other things, like some have a gps, some have a heart rate monitor, I like mine because it ties into mfp, and there is nothing that will move my butt like seeing it take away my calories when I am inactive!
  • Alatariel75
    Alatariel75 Posts: 17,959 Member
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    They measure steps, so dancing and walking in one place count.

    They don't start giving you extra calories until you hit a certain number of steps, infact they will deduct calories from your goal is you are set to 'lightly active' and then don't do enough steps (I'm set at 1440, but start the day with 1220, which goes up as I step throughout the morning)

    I have the Fitbit Charge HR and love it!
  • SinomenJen
    SinomenJen Posts: 262 Member
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    oh! now I see your other post. Mine tracks when I dance, when I do wii step (dont judge me, it is fun ) it will track less if your arm is not moving however, the new ones will let you specify what activity you are doing. My husband has lost almost 30, I have lost about 22lbs letting fitbit track, I am hoping Santa will bring me a FitBit Surge!
  • shadowfax_c11
    shadowfax_c11 Posts: 1,942 Member
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    A gadget that you wear 24/7 that records how much you move throughout the day and also may record your activity during sleep. It uses this information as well as your stats (age, height, weight, gender) to determine how many calories your body has burned in the day. It relays this information to My Fitness Pal which then adjusts your daily calorie goal so your NET calories consumed equals your daily calorie goal based on how much weight per week you have elected to try to lose.

    Also they provide incentive to move more via challenges with other Fitbit users and badges awarded for walking different distances or participating in challenges.

    The more you move the more you get to eat while still losing weight and the Gadget and the apps take a lot of the guesswork out of tracking exercise and daily activity level.


    I would be lost without my Fitbit.
  • jaga13
    jaga13 Posts: 1,149 Member
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    Thank you. I often prelog my day of eating and start off in the red so I know how Much exercise I'll need to do. It's exhausting tracking all my steps on my own. I used to wear a plain old pedometer but it doesn't recognize marching in place (hey, if I'm going to spend 10 minutes Washing dishes, 30 minutes cooking, and 5 minutes folding laundry, i figure I might as well march in place and earn some food!!)
  • FitGamerSmoak
    FitGamerSmoak Posts: 224 Member
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    I love my Fitbit charge hr. It measures everything I do. Sometimes i put it on my ankle when I'm hiding my son and dancing or running with a stroller so I can alternate arms but otherwise it's highly active when I wear it in either place.
  • Strawblackcat
    Strawblackcat Posts: 944 Member
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    I have the Charge HR as well

    Basically, they measure your activity throughout the day. Those that monitor heart rate monitor that as well, in addition to sleep cycles. Using the data you input into fitbit and MFP (age, height, gender, ect.) fitbit figures out about how many calories you burned through your daily activity based on your heart rate and steps. It puts that up against what MFP thinks that you've burned for the day, and gives you excersise calories for the different between the two if fitbit thinks that you've burned more. (EX: MFP says you burned 1600, and fitbit says you burned 2000, fitbit would tell MFP to give you 400 exercise calories)

    You have the option of logging food and weight on the fitbit app as well, but most people log those on MFP since the database is wider and the two apps sync together. You can also set some of the higher end models into "workout mode" so that you can view special graphs of just your workouts to measure progress and overall fitness. It also makes graphs and charts for your overall daily activity as well.

    They're pretty best devices. I was a statistics student back in high school, so all the graphs and visual measures of progress interest me, even though I'm just maintaining now. They're on sale now too, so you can get a HR for $119 instead of the $149 that they normally sell for.
  • cindytw
    cindytw Posts: 1,027 Member
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    I love my Fitbit Flex! I had a Fitbit One and I wanted something that would track my sleep without changing where I wore it (the One is a clip like a pedometer, you put it in a wristband at night.) I haven't worn anything on my wrists previously to the Flex in many years after a wall scraper incident that left me with scar tissue. I now am perfectly used to it, and feel weird without it! The Charge HR still seems big to me, but I would probably like the features. The Flex I like too because you can change out the bands to match your outfit! :smiley:

    I have found that for MFP, I put all my settings to Sedentary so that it really only goes UP from there. So if I am sedentary I get 1200. If I add steps it gives me more based on my steps and active minutes. If I do an activity that doesn't take steps, like standing there in one basic spot raking, I do add that manually on MFP. I don't add small chores like cooking or doing dishes.
  • Mondoweft
    Mondoweft Posts: 49 Member
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    If you do a lot of your steps whilst using your hands (carrying things or washing up) then I would get one that clips to your clothes rather than a wrist placed one. You can get aftermarket clothes clips for the flex on ebay though.
  • jaga13
    jaga13 Posts: 1,149 Member
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    Thank you all. I think
    I want one that I can wear on my ankle or clip to my clothes.
  • jaga13
    jaga13 Posts: 1,149 Member
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    One more question: how do you sync a device to mfp?
  • yarwell
    yarwell Posts: 10,477 Member
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    jaga13 wrote: »
    One more question: how do you sync a device to mfp?

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/apps - strictly you sync a device to its own service and then connect the service to MFP rather than MFP talking to the device.
  • jaga13
    jaga13 Posts: 1,149 Member
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    yarwell wrote: »
    jaga13 wrote: »
    One more question: how do you sync a device to mfp?

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/apps - strictly you sync a device to its own service and then connect the service to MFP rather than MFP talking to the device.

    Lol, that went over my head
  • yarwell
    yarwell Posts: 10,477 Member
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    go the apps page as per the link and do what it says for your app / device.

  • OyGeeBiv
    OyGeeBiv Posts: 733 Member
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    jaga13 wrote: »
    yarwell wrote: »
    jaga13 wrote: »
    One more question: how do you sync a device to mfp?

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/apps - strictly you sync a device to its own service and then connect the service to MFP rather than MFP talking to the device.

    Lol, that went over my head

    Once you get a device, you can go to the link above, and you'll be able to tell your device and MFP to sych up with each other. It'll be easier to answer exactly how to do it when you know exactly which device you'll be using.

    I'm using a Jawbone UP2, which tracks steps and sleep. It also takes input from MFP and rates the quality of my meals on a scale of 1-10, based on whatever criteria they use. I find it helpful and try to keep my food choices in the green zone. Another thing I like about the UP2 is that it's water-resistant enough to use in the shower (but NOT swimming!)

    Since you want one you can clip to your clothes, check to see if your phone tracks your steps already. iPhone does - you just need to get an app that'll let you *see* what it's tracking. If you keep your phone in your pocket most of the time, that may be enough for now. I did that for several months before I decided I wanted something that would give me more information than just steps.

    SIDE QUESTION

    Is it true that on the wrist, it only tracks steps if your arm is swinging? Would that account for the difference between what my wrist tracks and what my phone-in-pocket tracks?
  • jaga13
    jaga13 Posts: 1,149 Member
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    64crayons wrote: »
    jaga13 wrote: »
    yarwell wrote: »
    jaga13 wrote: »
    One more question: how do you sync a device to mfp?

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/apps - strictly you sync a device to its own service and then connect the service to MFP rather than MFP talking to the device.

    Lol, that went over my head

    Once you get a device, you can go to the link above, and you'll be able to tell your device and MFP to sych up with each other. It'll be easier to answer exactly how to do it when you know exactly which device you'll be using.

    I'm using a Jawbone UP2, which tracks steps and sleep. It also takes input from MFP and rates the quality of my meals on a scale of 1-10, based on whatever criteria they use. I find it helpful and try to keep my food choices in the green zone. Another thing I like about the UP2 is that it's water-resistant enough to use in the shower (but NOT swimming!)

    Since you want one you can clip to your clothes, check to see if your phone tracks your steps already. iPhone does - you just need to get an app that'll let you *see* what it's tracking. If you keep your phone in your pocket most of the time, that may be enough for now. I did that for several months before I decided I wanted something that would give me more information than just steps.

    SIDE QUESTION

    Is it true that on the wrist, it only tracks steps if your arm is swinging? Would that account for the difference between what my wrist tracks and what my phone-in-pocket tracks?

    Thank you. That makes sense.

    I don't keep my phone in my pocket plus I am
    Often active but not taking steps so I want to explore options for measuring non-strides.
  • OyGeeBiv
    OyGeeBiv Posts: 733 Member
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    Both the Jawbone and the iPhone track walking in place. There are plenty of times that's how I get my steps in for the day, as I'm not always able to get outside. I can't answer about dancing and things like that, but I imagine if it can track walking in place, it can track dancing.

    Also, I forgot to mention... the Jawbone recognizes when you do "a lot" in a short period of time, and will prompt you to see if it should be counting it as a workout - and then you can tell it what sort of activity you did.
  • shadowfax_c11
    shadowfax_c11 Posts: 1,942 Member
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    64crayons wrote: »

    SIDE QUESTION

    Is it true that on the wrist, it only tracks steps if your arm is swinging? Would that account for the difference between what my wrist tracks and what my phone-in-pocket tracks?

    Fitbit tracks movement in 3 dimensions. It is an accelerometer. So it won't register much of anything if you are marching in place and not moving in space, OTOH it does register for me when I am washing dishes and I do that while standing on my acupressure mat usually so no marching. I wear mine on my left wrist unless I am either in the doj or working on a horse's feet, then I buckle it to my bra strap.
  • jaga13
    jaga13 Posts: 1,149 Member
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    Where would I find the step tracker on my phone? I could see if that works for walking in place.

    I also remembered today that I have a heart rate monitor watch which tracks calories. I had only used it before for hr. Tried it today and assumed the calorie count would be way off but was surprised to see that it was similar to what I estimate with mfp.

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