New fitbit person. Help?
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cmm7303
Posts: 423 Member
I have been using MFP for forever and it has been a great tool for me, and has done me a lot of good. In a show of support, my husband and roommate suggested (badgered) me into a Charge HR fitbit.
I set up an account, put it on and. . . now what? I know that my steps will be wrong because I am an American Sign Language Interpreter, and it counts my signing as steps, so I could honestly give two *kitten* about the step count. I am trying to figure out how to use fitbit as a tool, and to see how to link it to MFP (or if I should).
I've got my MFP set at 1200 calories, and I workout about 20 to 30 minutes a day (intentionally) other than walking, taking stairs, etc.
Advice?
I set up an account, put it on and. . . now what? I know that my steps will be wrong because I am an American Sign Language Interpreter, and it counts my signing as steps, so I could honestly give two *kitten* about the step count. I am trying to figure out how to use fitbit as a tool, and to see how to link it to MFP (or if I should).
I've got my MFP set at 1200 calories, and I workout about 20 to 30 minutes a day (intentionally) other than walking, taking stairs, etc.
Advice?
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Replies
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I suggest taking it off while you're signing. Perhaps strap it to a bag or purse or belt. I use a fb One that clips on so I dint have a prob with arm movements. MFP has a fb group that can help too. You have to use the MFP web site to sync, but not sure where, offhand.0
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I would exchange it for the One or the Zip. Those are intended to be worn on your torso and will not pick up any hand movement.
But if you don't care about steps, I'm not sure why you would want a pedometer? I've had the One, the Flex, and now the Alta. I love the Fitbits, but ultimately what they do very well is track how many steps you take during the day. I trust the calorie count it gives me solely based on that alone and it has been shown to be incredibly accurate.
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I suggest you return the glorified pedometer. Not worth the price for just a HRM, you can get a dedicated HRM for the price of a charge HR that is more accurate.1
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My charge HR was the first so-called tracker that I purchased. I pretty much hated it -- found it to be highly inaccurate, it wasn't waterproof, and didn't give me any useful information about other activities. If you're interested in Heart Rate, there are some other watches that provide EKG-accurate HR and probably more accurate stop counting (and certainly no worse). But good luck with it. You can link to the fitbit app from the apps option in the MFP mobile app (that's a lot of "apps").0
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If you don't care about the steps, I'm not sure that you're going to get much out of it. The heart rate data is probably helpful only in conjunction with the steps/workouts, although I've never used one, so take that with a grain of salt.
I agree with @WakkoW - the One or the Zip might be a better choice for you. Clipped on your hip, it would be much more accurate.1 -
I usually put my Charge in my pocket when I'm worried about extra steps being counted.0
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I would exchange it for the One or the Zip. Those are intended to be worn on your torso and will not pick up any hand movement.
But if you don't care about steps, I'm not sure why you would want a pedometer? I've had the One, the Flex, and now the Alta. I love the Fitbits, but ultimately what they do very well is track how many steps you take during the day. I trust the calorie count it gives me solely based on that alone and it has been shown to be incredibly accurate.
So, I walk very little, but am trying to up that, and hubby and roomie both have the fitbit (why they wanted us to match). Thing is, as someone with a host of movement problems and sleep disorders, I kind of like the sleep tool and the ability to track steps when walking on purpose.
I was wondering about the signing when I posted, but I didn't know if other people used it attached to their MFP accounts or not, or had similar weird issues.0 -
If you want one that's more accurate for steps and calories, check out the jawbone up3. It is supposed to be the best tracker for sleep. It tells me my light, deep, red and awake times. Seems pretty spot on too. I took off the Fitbit hr because it was over ousting steps and calories and I couldn't get a good hr readin while working out. I know everyone is all about Fitbit, I was not impressed although I did like some stuff about the app better. I do find having this on is making me pay more attention to moving more. For sure.1
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I would exchange it for the One or the Zip. Those are intended to be worn on your torso and will not pick up any hand movement.
But if you don't care about steps, I'm not sure why you would want a pedometer? I've had the One, the Flex, and now the Alta. I love the Fitbits, but ultimately what they do very well is track how many steps you take during the day. I trust the calorie count it gives me solely based on that alone and it has been shown to be incredibly accurate.
So, I walk very little, but am trying to up that, and hubby and roomie both have the fitbit (why they wanted us to match). Thing is, as someone with a host of movement problems and sleep disorders, I kind of like the sleep tool and the ability to track steps when walking on purpose.
I was wondering about the signing when I posted, but I didn't know if other people used it attached to their MFP accounts or not, or had similar weird issues.
The One has a sleep tracker. With as much hand movements as you'll be doing, even if you set the Charge to being on your dominant wrist, it will skew your steps, which will in turn skew your calories burned.
Go to Apps on here and you'll see where you can link your Fitbit to here.0 -
I agree with @malibu927 Return it and get a tracker that you don't have to wear on your wrist. If it picks up steps from sign language, then it's going to be pretty useless and inaccurate for you.. And as already mentioned, the Fitbit one has a sleep tracker and it clips on your bra or pants.0
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I suggest taking it off while you're signing. Perhaps strap it to a bag or purse or belt. I use a fb One that clips on so I dint have a prob with arm movements. MFP has a fb group that can help too. You have to use the MFP web site to sync, but not sure where, offhand.
I sign about 8 hours a day, usually most of my awake time, so I'm not sure how to make that work. I'm honestly enjoying the idea of an easy biometric data collector (resting HR, floors climbed, sleep quality, etc) that can only improve as I do. My signing will not end up decreasing, but my walking should pick up more, and I'd like to be able to note what a full-walking day looks like vs a mostly sitting day.
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I suggest you return the glorified pedometer. Not worth the price for just a HRM, you can get a dedicated HRM for the price of a charge HR that is more accurate.
Don't most of the HR monitors have chest-straps, though? I can't get away with that at work...
Like I said, I got it as a (mostly) gift so that the hubby and roomie can have me feel like we're in the FitBit club together (they LOVE theirs) and I'm just trying to get the hang of the thing.0 -
I would exchange it for the One or the Zip. Those are intended to be worn on your torso and will not pick up any hand movement.
But if you don't care about steps, I'm not sure why you would want a pedometer? I've had the One, the Flex, and now the Alta. I love the Fitbits, but ultimately what they do very well is track how many steps you take during the day. I trust the calorie count it gives me solely based on that alone and it has been shown to be incredibly accurate.
So, I walk very little, but am trying to up that, and hubby and roomie both have the fitbit (why they wanted us to match). Thing is, as someone with a host of movement problems and sleep disorders, I kind of like the sleep tool and the ability to track steps when walking on purpose.
I was wondering about the signing when I posted, but I didn't know if other people used it attached to their MFP accounts or not, or had similar weird issues.
The One has a sleep tracker. With as much hand movements as you'll be doing, even if you set the Charge to being on your dominant wrist, it will skew your steps, which will in turn skew your calories burned.
Go to Apps on here and you'll see where you can link your Fitbit to here.
Oh yeah, it has no idea what to do with my hand movements. Like, none. I can open the Fitbit app on my phone and tell it I think it is stupid and it will add five steps. ::sigh::
Still, it doesn't seem to add calories when I "walk" without walking if my HR doesn't go up? Or am I misunderstanding the little blinky watch?0 -
Check out the FitBit group here, they may be able to help.0
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I suggest you return the glorified pedometer. Not worth the price for just a HRM, you can get a dedicated HRM for the price of a charge HR that is more accurate.
Don't most of the HR monitors have chest-straps, though? I can't get away with that at work...
Like I said, I got it as a (mostly) gift so that the hubby and roomie can have me feel like we're in the FitBit club together (they LOVE theirs) and I'm just trying to get the hang of the thing.I suggest you return the glorified pedometer. Not worth the price for just a HRM, you can get a dedicated HRM for the price of a charge HR that is more accurate.
Don't most of the HR monitors have chest-straps, though? I can't get away with that at work...
Like I said, I got it as a (mostly) gift so that the hubby and roomie can have me feel like we're in the FitBit club together (they LOVE theirs) and I'm just trying to get the hang of the thing.
No reason to monitor your heartrate all day long. It will go up if you watch a scary movie, doesn't mean you are burning more calories. The all day heartrate monitoring is really just marketing.
The ones with chest straps are great for training. For instance, if you want to make sure your heartrate is low enough to start your next interval while doing 400 meter repeats. They don't really track calories all that well. There is some correlation between heartrate and calorie burn, but that's not what they are designed for.0 -
minniestar55 wrote: »Check out the FitBit group here, they may be able to help.
I haven't been able to find them. I knew there must be one, but...0 -
minniestar55 wrote: »Check out the FitBit group here, they may be able to help.
I haven't been able to find them. I knew there must be one, but...
http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/group/1290-fitbit-users1 -
No reason to monitor your heartrate all day long. It will go up if you watch a scary movie, doesn't mean you are burning more calories. The all day heartrate monitoring is really just marketing.
Technically, you do burn more calories watching a scary movie than a boring one. Not many more, but some. Your heart is a muscle, and beating faster (because of the startling scenes) takes energy. Not much, but a little. For sure not enough to be effective for weight loss purposes. And I agree that 24/7 heart monitoring is mostly a gimmick, knowing your resting heart rate is useful but knowing your HR while you sit at your desk or read a book generally isn't.0 -
I got a fitbit with hrm because I have an issue where my heart rate can drop too low.0
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So, fun piece of trivia: with an extender, the fitbit can be worn on an ankle! Useful tip from a Deaf fitness buddy. Voila, no issues with it tracking incorrectly, and now it does the useful step-thing as well as tells me when I'm having an anxiety episode. Win!
Thanks, folks.1
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