Uhoh. Fitness trackers.

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  • fmosracing
    fmosracing Posts: 3 Member
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    I lost 60 lbs last year after being given a FitBit for my 49th birthday. I used it to estimate my burn in conjunction tracking my calorie intake. I think people who want to consider it to be extremely precise and accurate misunderstand the device. However, claiming it's off my multiple times (x2, x3, etc) seems pretty unlikely, unless the test was rigged to drive the inaccuracy (like, say, claiming your car doesn't properly estimate mileage when you've only measured it while accelerating up an entrance ramp or coasting down a hill).

    I understood that it was measuring with a yardstick, not a micrometer. I understand that my experience is anecdotal, but it's also a simple device that quite literally changed my life.
  • gatorsong
    gatorsong Posts: 7,000 Member
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    No one source is going to be accurate, electronic or otherwise. Using multiple sources will help give a better idea of what is happening. Thinking that something is going to do it by itself is the danger. If one will take the time and use multiple tools for their intended purpose, it will help with the big picture. No two people are the same (not even twins) so everything has to work on averages.
  • rileysowner
    rileysowner Posts: 8,220 Member
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    geneticsteacher wrote: »
    On the evening news tonight, there was a story on fitness trackers. Fitbit, Garmin, and jawbone were tested and found to over estimate calories burned by 2x, 3x, and 4x. Sorry, I don't remember the models tested.

    Tested by whom and how? That is the first question that comes to my mind. I don't have a Fitbit, but I see many posts here about how well it works for TDEE estimation.
  • geneticsteacher
    geneticsteacher Posts: 623 Member
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    I don't know who tested them, looks like a sample size of n=1. Here is a link to the video:

    nbcnews.com/nightly-news/video/rossen-reports-how-accurate-are-those-wearable-fitness-trackers-725459011980
  • rileysowner
    rileysowner Posts: 8,220 Member
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    geneticsteacher wrote: »
    I don't know who tested them, looks like a sample size of n=1. Here is a link to the video:

    nbcnews.com/nightly-news/video/rossen-reports-how-accurate-are-those-wearable-fitness-trackers-725459011980

    So a sample size that is not in anyway statistically significant using the devices incorrectly (more than one on at at time). Not particularly convincing in light of the comments here, not only in this thread but on MFP as a whole, saying Fitbit in particular is quite accurate.
  • seekingdaintiness
    seekingdaintiness Posts: 137 Member
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    Sounds like a great reason not to eat back your exercise calories, which has to be the dumbest idea I ever heard anyway. That's not what I use a fitbit for anyhow - I use it to encourage me to move more.
  • Wysewoman53
    Wysewoman53 Posts: 582 Member
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    One thing I've done with my fitness tracker since I got it...it is a motivator...nothing more, nothing less. Using the tracker is not going to help me lose weight...eat right and watching portions will. What it does do is show me how much or how little I am moving in a day. I know that even my calorie burn isn't 100% using a tracker as there are some things I do that don't even register on the tracker but I'm definitely burning calories. It is just a tool to help keep me on track and I don't depend on it for everything. I use it more as a guideline and not the answer to everything.
  • 3dogsrunning
    3dogsrunning Posts: 27,167 Member
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    seekingdaintiness wrote: »
    Sounds like a great reason not to eat back your exercise calories, which has to be the dumbest idea I ever heard anyway. That's not what I use a fitbit for anyhow - I use it to encourage me to move more.

    @seekingdaintiness
    You realize that most methods of setting weight loss calorie intake take into account your activity level, so even if you aren't adding in your calories like on MFP, you are still "eating back" some of your exercise calories.
    You also realize that some people on here are very active and improving fitness is also a goal along with losing weight. Going for a walk and not eating those calories back is a world away from doing a 2-3 hour workout session and not eating them back.
  • Wysewoman53
    Wysewoman53 Posts: 582 Member
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    fmosracing wrote: »
    I lost 60 lbs last year after being given a FitBit for my 49th birthday. I used it to estimate my burn in conjunction tracking my calorie intake. I think people who want to consider it to be extremely precise and accurate misunderstand the device. However, claiming it's off my multiple times (x2, x3, etc) seems pretty unlikely, unless the test was rigged to drive the inaccuracy (like, say, claiming your car doesn't properly estimate mileage when you've only measured it while accelerating up an entrance ramp or coasting down a hill).

    I understood that it was measuring with a yardstick, not a micrometer. I understand that my experience is anecdotal, but it's also a simple device that quite literally changed my life.

    I couldn't agree more!! My tracker changed my life as well. I don't really care what the 'science' says.
  • NorthCascades
    NorthCascades Posts: 10,968 Member
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    geneticsteacher wrote: »
    On the evening news tonight, there was a story on fitness trackers. Fitbit, Garmin, and jawbone were tested and found to over estimate calories burned by 2x, 3x, and 4x. Sorry, I don't remember the models tested.

    Without that crucial bit of info, it's not terribly useful news. My Garmin (Fenix 3 HR + Vector 2) underestimates my bike calories by somewhere from 10 to 15 %.
  • Ipedal4pleasure
    Ipedal4pleasure Posts: 64 Member
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    I only use my Fitbit to count steps...I track calories burnt with my polar HRM.
  • rileysowner
    rileysowner Posts: 8,220 Member
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    Wysewoman53 wrote: »
    fmosracing wrote: »
    I lost 60 lbs last year after being given a FitBit for my 49th birthday. I used it to estimate my burn in conjunction tracking my calorie intake. I think people who want to consider it to be extremely precise and accurate misunderstand the device. However, claiming it's off my multiple times (x2, x3, etc) seems pretty unlikely, unless the test was rigged to drive the inaccuracy (like, say, claiming your car doesn't properly estimate mileage when you've only measured it while accelerating up an entrance ramp or coasting down a hill).

    I understood that it was measuring with a yardstick, not a micrometer. I understand that my experience is anecdotal, but it's also a simple device that quite literally changed my life.

    I couldn't agree more!! My tracker changed my life as well. I don't really care what the 'science' says.

    This news report is far from science. If a scientist tried to publish a paper with a sample size of 1, they would be considered crazy.
  • kimny72
    kimny72 Posts: 16,013 Member
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    I have found my Fitbit Flex to be fairly accurate. It is not an HRM though, not being sure which models were tested.

    ALL fitness trackers, online food logs, TDEE calculators, etc are estimates: there is no one formula that can accurately turn your activity or heart rate or food consumption into exact calorie figures, unless you lived in a lab hooked up to machines 24/7 (not even sure that would do it!). I don't remember anything on the Fitbit commercials, website, or packaging saying they give you an exact number you should trust implicitly. They are all just tools that require the user to reasonably educate themselves on those tools and their goals.

    My Fitbit has played a huge part in my becoming more active and losing the weight I needed to. But using my brain to figure out the best way to make use of it was even more important :wink:
  • 7elizamae
    7elizamae Posts: 758 Member
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    I love my fitbit! It keeps me motivated. I don't expect scientific precision -- just an estimate that can help keep me on track with activity and calories.
  • Christine_72
    Christine_72 Posts: 16,049 Member
    edited July 2016
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    Here's my usual day according to fitbit...
    t305nacb5abi.png
  • chunky_pinup
    chunky_pinup Posts: 758 Member
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    I dunno...I've lost 45 pounds following the calorie allotment afforded to me each day from my fitbit's estimated burn...I know that everyone is different, but it seems to be working just fine for me!
  • chunky_pinup
    chunky_pinup Posts: 758 Member
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    seekingdaintiness wrote: »
    Sounds like a great reason not to eat back your exercise calories, which has to be the dumbest idea I ever heard anyway. That's not what I use a fitbit for anyhow - I use it to encourage me to move more.

    Why is it dumb? According to what? Do you know each persons' goals? Doubtful. There's plenty of reasons to eat them back, and plenty of reasons not to. What is dumb is to generalize on something that is so broad.
  • Zipp237
    Zipp237 Posts: 255 Member
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    CattOfTheGarage wrote: »
    Zipp237 wrote: »
    They're just fun fitness toys. They don't claim to be accurate and I doubt anyone relies on them for anything other than fun. People have been playing with fitness toys for as long as I've been alive. Haven't seen it hurt anyone yet. Some people feel that they're helpful. They they're not accurate, so what.

    I think taking money from people by saying your product will do something, when in fact it can't do it, is harm.

    There may be small print saying it's an estimate, but all the marketing for these devices talks about how they will calculate your calorie burn, and these forums are full of people talking about how tracking exercise manually via mfp is so terribly inaccurate and you should use one of these instead. In fact, it seems their results are every bit as much of a generic rough guess as mfp's exercise numbers, which makes them not fit for purpose, imo.

    In fact they don't record enough data to get close to a "calculation" of calorie burn, so it's not a question of inaccuracy, it's a question of claiming they can do something when they are totally unequipped to do it. All very well to say it's just a toy and people shouldn't take it seriously, but that's not the way it's marketed, and a lot of people DO take them seriously.

    What people say on MFP is irrelevant. Unless the company has paid them, you cannot hold the company responsible for what "some guy on the Internet" said.

    The Fitbit people and all the other device companies say very plainly that they aren't accurate. It may be in small print, but that is where you have to look if you want the truth. The important stuff is always in the small print, not in the advertisement. If someone learns this lesson with a fitness device, it's a very cheap way to learn that lesson.

    No tracker and no computer app can tell you how many calories make a pound and how much exercise burns one. Not exactly. Your body isn't the same as mine, which isn't the same as the next guy's. They're just giving you estimates.

    If an individual happens to gain and lose by the numbers in the MFP app and the fitbit, precisely, it's a fluke. 3600.0 calories is rarely a pound in a human. The walk you do is going to burn more than the walk of someone else and probably more or less than the walk you took yesterday, even if you went the same distance.

    That doesn't mean they cannot help people. It also doesn't mean that people cannot enjoy them. If it motivates them, maybe it's worth $50 or $500 or whatever they've paid. A friend of mine keeps bugging me to get one so we can compete. She tells me how many steps she walked. It motivates her and she enjoys it, so it did her good.

    I'm not buying one, but I've seen for myself that they help people, so I'm pro-devices.
  • 20yearsyounger
    20yearsyounger Posts: 1,643 Member
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    I eat back my Garmin calories and have for the last 19 months. No problem maintaining.

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