Do you need an activity tracker to lose weight?

I find it motivating so I'm really sad I can't find my sensor looking into buying a new one now.

sadiepie05 wrote: »

I was wondering if activity trackers really help with losing weight? Are they just for fun or an important tool? I'm a fairly active woman that needs (wants) to lose around 30lbs.

Long time MFP and fitness tracker user. One of my goals is a minimum of 10,000 steps daily so a pedometer of some type is necessary. No you do not need to use a fitness tracker to lose weight but they can be great motivators. I have a drawer full of them including a basic pedometers, Runtastic, Misfit, Jawbone and FitBit Charge HR as well as returned a Garmin. I now use Apple Watch. There are pluses and minuses to each especially the apps. If you highly value privacy and complete control of your data, Apple Watch is the way to go. The Activity and Exercise apps are a bit different than other trackers. All except the basics can feed into MFP although I don't but I do allow MFP to send calories in only to Apple Health. If you choose to use a fitness tracker, do a bit of research to find one that meets your needs.

My experience: Runtastic is clunky but their app is very nice. Misfit is a sweet little device but the app has a lot of problems often not syncing calories properly. Garmin was nice but quit working after 3 weeks and had one of the worst customer service issues ever! FitBit Charge HR isn't aesthetically pleasing but quickly became the most liked. The app is nice too except for sharing which gives a selfie instead of a map. Of note, Jawbone is getting out of the wearables so that will likely affect their usefulness at some time. By far the one I like the best is Apple Watch but it is not strictly just a fitness tracker.

They aren't necessary, but they absolutely helped me with my 30# weight loss a couple years ago. I learned important things: I'm not as sedentary as I think I am. So I could have been eating more. Which is why I'd failed every other time I'd tried to calorie count. Once I was eating an appropriate amount of food, I could stick with it, and I lost 30#.

I gained back a little over ten of those while taking care of my MIL through her ovarian cancer battle, but I'm back on the wagon again and my Fitbit is my most trusted companion on this journey.

sadiepie05 wrote: »

queenliz99 wrote: »

Activity trackers are for fun and you don't need one to lose weight. A calorie deficit is needed to lose weight.

http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10257474/starting-out-restarting-basics-inside/p1

Right, but do they help with a more accurate CICO?

Not necessarily, but maybe. Yes, I realize that's pretty noncommittal.

If it's set up correctly, used appropriately (or more importantly, not used when it's not supposed to be used), and is a "good" unit to begin with, it'll might help. If not, then it'll likely hinder your weight loss/gain/maintenance goal.