Fit-bit--is it worth it?

I have had my fitbit for almost a year I really like it. If you have the store called Bargain Hunt near you that is where I got mine over $80 off retail and brand new

yes to both questions

I ended up returning mine and I purchased it for 99 plus tax.. because there are Free apps on iPhone and android phones that do the exact same thing as the fitbit and you don't have to wear it on your wrist. I agree with the above it is like a very expensive pedometer.

CaitlinS311 wrote: »

Hi all. I'm curious to hear how many of you have Fit Bits? Do you like them or did they make you obsessive and a little crazy over steps and calories burned. I kind of like the idea but I'm trying to do everything in more moderation this time around and not have weight loss and fitness be the center of my life....

I had same questions, so thanks for doing this. Be back if I get.

I bought my Fitbit a little over a year ago. In the beginning, when I was just starting to exercise, I really liked it. I was mostly walking for exercise and it was fun to try to get to 10,000 steps everyday and earn the Fitbit badges. Now, I'm doing a lot of exercise that isn't step based (swimming and biking) and when I'm on my bike the Fitbit counts steps when I ride over bumps and it's a pain to have to go into the Fitbit app and track "Driving" during my cycling time so that I'm not getting credit for steps I didn't take. So, I decided this weekend to stop wearing it. I do think Fitbits have their place and for people that do a lot of walking or running for exercise they are a good way to measure progress and track calories burned.

Depends on the person. I don't obsess, but I do pay attention to it. I started with a Zip a couple of years ago, and loved the information it gave me. I like gadgets and I liked the info it gave me, and was pretty eye opening to see how little I moved some days!

I eventually got a One, which did a little more, and enjoyed the chance to track my sleep habits and to get some stairs logged whenever I was around them, which was and still is rare. Meeting my sleep goal, as well as step goal, are little challenges for myself.

I now have a Fitbit Charge HR, which I resisted for quite awhile since I didn't really want something on my wrist - that's what I liked about the Zip and the One, they were out of sight. But my old HRM finally died on me, and my One needed a new case, so I decided to go for the Charge HR and see how I liked it. And I do like it. I like being able to see my progress on my wrist rather than having to check my phone, or in private, peek down at the Zip or One!

It's a motivational thing for me. I have friends who have them, and we routinely set up the challenges to see who can get the most steps during the work week or weekend, or even hit goal first just for one day. Gives me an extra push to get up and move.

So yeah, I'd say for me, it's worth it.

CaitlinS311 wrote: »

Hi all. I'm curious to hear how many of you have Fit Bits? Do you like them or did they make you obsessive and a little crazy over steps and calories burned. I kind of like the idea but I'm trying to do everything in more moderation this time around and not have weight loss and fitness be the center of my life....

I have had one for over 3 years.
Love it. Perfect for me as all of my exercise is step based (I hike, walk and use the elliptical and treadmill mainly).
I never pay attention to calories burned as it is not important at all to me.
Very motivational to get me to move more, so it has made me obsessive in that regard. I routinely get over 20K per day.
I don't consider it expensive, worth every penny spent. I have had a One, Force, and now a Charge HR. I will be getting a Blaze for my birthday in September.

I had been using the Samsung app to track my steps through my phone for a while before I decided to get one. I leave my phone on the counter to charge during the evenings after work so I wasn't getting all my steps recorded, so it made sense to buy my own separate pedometer. I needed a wrist one because I knew I wouldn't put one on my hip every day. Overstock.com was having a sale so I got my Flex for like $45 with shipping, figured it was worth a try and I could always sell it to recover part of my losses if I didn't like it.

One of the biggest benefits for me is that I can easily and quickly use the app to set up friendly competitions with my friends, family, and coworkers (different competition groups of course). I have to be careful not to get obsessive over the numbers at the end of the day, but the competitive drive is enough for me to get up and away from my desk for a few minutes every hour, which is something I desperately need for my back problems.

I've had mine for a week now and I would say that I've already gotten my money's worth out of it. I think it largely depends on what you want it for, it suits my needs very well. The social aspect, convenience of use, and numerical data make it a very useful tool for me. I am keenly aware of the danger of obsession, however. I do worry.... I hope I can bring myself to ditch it if I start stressing over my step count. I have found that lowering my daily step goal makes the pressure much more manageable!

Hope this helps.

NorthCascades wrote: »

Which free or cheap apps can you use to track your heart rate during high intensity interval training, and to track your sleep?

I have used one called "Heart Rate Pro" (I think there's a free version as well but I felt it was worth the couple $'s or w/e to upgrade it. It was a little quirky at first fumbling with it while keeping leg movement going on my stationary bike rides, but it takes a one-time HR reading. This served my purpose - taking a few readings at different points/intensities during my rides. There may be an app out there that can record your HR over time but I haven't found one that gives a chart like on the Fitbit - arguably my one favorite feature with the Fitbit HR.

For sleep there are a number of good apps. I've used Sleep Cycle, but Sleepbot and Sleep As Android are also supposed to be good apps. You could probably search the AppStore for either and find some. Most are free or offer some sort of free trial, and probably worth playing around with to see which you like best before dropping coin on.

I had mine for a very short frustrating time. Ended up returning it and never want any kind of a pedometer ever again for me they are a waste of money and cause too much stress. Besides I do strength training and cardio I do not run or walk as workouts. I ride an ellipitical seated bike and use weight machiunes at my gym 4 days a week as a work outs

I love my fitbit. One of the best features is that it syncs with mfp. So I don't have to play exercise calorie guessing games.. It's also an incentive to see my calories increasing throughout the day in my diary

NorthCascades wrote: »

I'm confused. How do you use a one-time reading for HIIT workouts? Maybe we're using the same words to describe different things, or we have a different approach to it. I think of a HIIT workout as a series of repeats, like "go 30 seconds at 90 % max HR then 15 seconds rest, do this 5 times." At that level of intensity I'm too engrossed in my exercise to be able to interact with my phone, and also I want to know that I actually hit my target. Are you maybe going by pace targets instead?

I just take one-time readings at various points. Same basic exercise, but yes there is a difficulty factor in getting the metric while in a intenssity spike. It took some practice, and there may be some app that does it over time (I haven't explored this but someone else may know and I would be interested if there is), however for my purposes before getting the Fitbit it worked well enough to fetch my HR at different times. I'm doing this on a stationary bike so that probably makes it somewhat easier as well, since most of the rapid motion isn't occupying my arms and hands so much. I can see where this might be much more difficult on a walk/sprint HIIT or swinging around k-bells or such.

I went with a Misfit Flash for a few reasons. It's cheaper. I can use it for cycling (it also does swimming, plus the usual step based activities) and wear it on my shoe if I'm pushing a stroller or pulling a wagon. It uses a watch battery rather than requiring charging every few days. I've only had it a week, but I'm very happy with it. It syncs with MFP and updates my calorie goal as I go.

I like my fitbit but I will tell you it hasn't done anything for my waistline. I might walk a little bit more but not enough to really have large effects on my physical fitness.