Is the Fitbit worth it?

mari5466
mari5466 Posts: 137 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I see a lot of people on here using them to keep track of their calories and I went to Target to see how much they were and it's around $100 which to me seems outrageous to pay for an activity tracker and step counter but maybe their is something I don't know about it. Also does anyone have a cheaper alternative? Does anyone feel they are inaccurate or very useful?
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Replies

  • MelissaPhippsFeagins
    MelissaPhippsFeagins Posts: 8,063 Member
    I wear my Fitbit because my employer pays me a fitness bonus if I hit my step goal monthly. I will say I didn't realize how much I was walking before I got it, but I can't say that it has really changed any of my habits, either eating or exercise. Mine is the Flex. The most basic one out there, I think.

    I am buying my husband a charge 2 for Christmas because he wants it. I'm not sure how he settled on that one, but I know he researched every activity tracker out there.
  • HaleCry
    HaleCry Posts: 387 Member
    I've got the Alta, and I absolutely love it. I love seeing how my sleep pattern is, I love text and call buzzes (I have my phone constantly on silent so it's helpful), I love being in challenges and being motivated to get more steps in to beat people. I love the feeling I get when I reach my step goal. I love my fitbit. It cost me about £100 but to me, it was 110% worth it.
  • dustedwithsugar
    dustedwithsugar Posts: 179 Member
    I love my Fitbit!! I have charge hr. It's completely accurate for me so if I follow the calories given by it I lose EXACTLY how much and how fast I want. It's awesome! Also I like to see all the stats like sleep pattern, calories charts, number of active minutes. Tbh at this point I can't imagine losing weight without it.
  • Ming1951
    Ming1951 Posts: 514 Member
    I bought my fitbit about 3 years ago maybe a bit longer. I have the most simple one its the zip, not sure they still make it, it does steps and calories burn. I wear it on my bra strap daily. Honestly I am lost without it. About a year ago I lost it and fitbit actually did a one time replacement,, how is that for customer service. While it was lost I didn't stay on track somehow this lil thing does keep me motivated to move.
  • haviegirl
    haviegirl Posts: 230 Member
    I have the Charge HR and the Alta. My husband wears the Blaze. Together we lost over 90 pounds, using Fitbit and MFP together. For us, totally worth it.
  • mamacita99
    mamacita99 Posts: 66 Member
    I've got the HR charge & love it. I do challenges with other Fitbit users & always try to win. Last week I was at 35 miles for the week. I like tracking sleep patterns & the Fitbit also buzzes me when I have a call & tells me the number calling. I bought the protection plan because I wear it always & they replaced it once already free of charge. No return necessary-they just said to recycle the broken one. Customer service is fantastic!
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
    It was really nice for me to give me an idea of what my normal activity is like. I didn't like the one you have to clip though (for me it's awkward to put on my bra and there's not much else to put it on in the Summer when I wear dresses) so I stopped wearing it.

    The main reason I haven't got a new one is that a bit chunk of my activity is my stationary bike so it would be pretty worthless accounting for that...
  • GottaBurnEmAll
    GottaBurnEmAll Posts: 7,722 Member
    Getting one motivated me to become more active. I now have the Charge 2 and love it to bits. Completely worth it.
  • catalyst4514
    catalyst4514 Posts: 11 Member
    I have the Fitbit One and love it because it's discreet and simple. Step count appears to be right on the money. It was around $75 I think but worth every penny in terms of motivation and data.
  • cappri
    cappri Posts: 1,089 Member
    I love my Fitbit! My whole family has them and we do a daily step challenge. It's a low key way to check in with my college kids and my parents. It also keeps me honest on making sure I'm active during the whole day not just working out once and then sitting on my butt.
  • tress29
    tress29 Posts: 614 Member
    I've been using my phone for a step counter, but I often walk away from my desk without it. I'll have to keep an eye on prices during the holidays.
  • Snrussell09
    Snrussell09 Posts: 51 Member
    For someone who wasn't very active, it really helped me get more active but now I really only use the HR part of it for my workouts for the stats. I also love the Fitbit app dashboard that lets you set all of your goals and it shows your progress throughout the day. Great way to hold yourself accountable and have your goals/progress right there and you can watch the charts and stuff fill up! It did wonders for my sister and I when we first started.
  • neldabg
    neldabg Posts: 1,452 Member
    Completely worth it to me. I got my Charge HR when it was on sale. Keep an eye out for holiday sales if you do decide to get a FitBit.
    My FitBit truly made me realize the importance/impact of frequent movement versus structured exercise. I still set aside time for yoga and bodyweight exercises, but my TDEE numbers are mainly due to the summation of mini-walks and extra steps taken throughout the day.
    I've been told here on MFP that my FitBit was likely inflating my calories burned for walks and stuff, but anytime I've consistently eaten less, I slowly but surely lose weight overtime. Idk how FitBit works its numbers, or if there's something off in my logging, but it works for me.
    As others mentioned, the challenges and data are also a great part of the device.
    FitBit isn't perfect, and that's okay. I've yet to come across any piece of technology that functions perfectly. However, I find that it is a handy tool that supports my goals.
  • Snrussell09
    Snrussell09 Posts: 51 Member
    Yeah it is definitely not perfect. I have the Charge HR too. I don't need mine to be crazy accurate because I usually don't "eat back the exercise" so I like to just get a ballpark number of how many calories I burn. I think it inflates the numbers a lot but it has worked for me. It depends on what you expect from it.
  • SCoil123
    SCoil123 Posts: 2,110 Member
    I have become more active since getting my flex. I love it. I do a lot of challenges through fitbit and hate to lose so it keeps me moving. I have a desk job and in the year that Ive had fitbit I have gone from averaging 5k steps a day to 8-10k, not counting workouts.

    I also enjoy tracking sleep and make more effort now to get enough sleep and track whar disrupts sleep for me.
  • Arapacana1
    Arapacana1 Posts: 117 Member
    edited November 2016
    I love my Charge HR. It takes all the guesswork out of exercise calories and makes weight loss very simple. Want to lose 1 pound a week? Eat 500 calories less than the total calories burned every day. Want to lose 2 pounds a week? Eat 1000 calories less than you burn a day. I'm sure it will also be very helpful once I hit maintenance. So far, I've found my Fitbit to be very accurate. (And my Body Pump class apparently only burns around 200 calories an hour)
  • nosebag1212
    nosebag1212 Posts: 621 Member
    Yes it's worth it, I have a Charge HR and love it, it really opens your eyes to how just generally being active during the day (NEAT) can boost your TDEE,
  • adamyovanovich
    adamyovanovich Posts: 163 Member
    It was a great tool to see how lazy i was. I work in an office watching monitors all day, then bus an hour each way home. I was getting 2-3000 steps a day, maybe 2 flights of stairs. Well i saw i was doing absolutely nothing with my body. So i started moving more, now i hit 5500 on a lazy day, and 10,000 on an active day, i stopped taking the elevator and try to hit my stair goal daily.

    They have adventures that help push you to get to your goal. And i love the HR monitor. Its a great tool to assess your fitness levels and help you get more active
  • blkandwhite77
    blkandwhite77 Posts: 281 Member
    I love mine. I won't pay attention to my steps if I don't and I can find myself being ridiculously seditary. Also remember Black Friday sales are just around the corner and a lot of stores should be having them at a great sale price. We got our flex last year for $49 each.
  • krael65
    krael65 Posts: 306 Member
    Completely worth it for me. I have the Blaze and I love it. It's a great motivator and has helped me up my TDEE just by moving more. Before I got it, my weight loss stalled for about 2 months. After I started wearing it, I realized how low my TDEE really was, despite working out regularly (hence the 'stall' in weight loss). The data it provides has helped me to drop below my original weight goal. I find the data to be pretty accurate for me. I agree with others who say they can't imagine being without now.

  • sapphirecat94
    sapphirecat94 Posts: 2 Member
    I have the Alta, and my husband has the HR Charge. We got them this summer, and it's the first time we've been successful in our efforts to finally lose weight. We are using them in tandem with MFP, and have both lost over 30 lbs. since June. I have farther to go than he does - I'd like to lose 70 more pounds - but it's definitely been worth it. I love having the text and call alerts on my Alta, and the activity reminders are key for me, as I spend way too much time sitting in front of a computer. We walk almost every night to aim for our 10,000 (or at least 30 min. of walking). Well worth the expense in my opinion.
  • PAV8888
    PAV8888 Posts: 14,238 Member
    edited November 2016
    While for me it is a worthwhile investment it won't be one for everyone.

    Try to buy one from a store that offers a return policy.

    I note that Fitbit.com states that for products purchased directly through them in November and December (and we're currently in November :smile: ) you have till January 31 to return the product based on their satisfaction guaranteed return policy.

    https://www.fitbit.com/ca/returns

    As I am sure many here will verify, to date Fitbit, as a company, has been exceptionally good when it comes to honouring warranties. <not necessarily as good at building an indestructible product> :smiley:

    Of course a $15 pedometer can also, more or less, do what fitbit does. And a pen and paper can do what MFP does too!
  • daniip_la
    daniip_la Posts: 678 Member
    It motivated me to move more, and as a result I've lost a good bit of weight since getting mine. I've got the One, it clips to your bra. I love it, it's incredibly accurate, and I'd hate to go anywhere without it.
  • kksmom1789
    kksmom1789 Posts: 281 Member
    I have the Fitbit charge HR and I only take it off to shower and do the dishes! Since having it since January 2016 I've lost 20ish pounds it really does help show you how little your moving I have an office job and I realized how little I was actually moving I have fallen off the wagon here lately with my calorie counting but recently got re motivated and I'm hopin to lose another 20-30lbs in the next year
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  • SusanMFindlay
    SusanMFindlay Posts: 1,804 Member
    I love my FitBit Charge 2 - but I'm an admitted stats junkie and love all the graphs and such.

    It also made my weight loss make sense and, for that reason alone, was worth every penny. It turns out I get a lot of steps in a day and my TDEE is therefore way higher than any of the online calculators estimate. And they never have an option for "on my feet all day but hardly ever "work out". Which is ironic because what you do all day matters more than what you do for an hour at the gym (though, clearly, that matters too).

    My husband got one too, and it motivates him to get his 250 steps/hour and his 10K steps per day. So, he's losing weight too even though he doesn't count calories.
  • cbusnightowl
    cbusnightowl Posts: 132 Member
    I got mine earlier this week (charge 2) and woah Becky the adjustment is giant! I've looked around online, here & on fitbit forums and am trying to be patient for the appx two weeks get to know me whatever but I am freaking out a little on my net calorie stats on mfp. Maybe sedentary isn't the proper setting for me anymore...although I work 12 hour shifts at a computer, I also have been pretty consistent with my cardio in the past two months and have increased my step count almost double what it used to be thanks to my Charge 2! :smile: Anyway, sorry for knocking the thread off course for a little but I feel that this will be a good tool for my weight loss and will be more than helpful for my maintenance, once I hit it. No more yoyo-ing is my goal!
  • a45cal
    a45cal Posts: 85 Member
    I don't own a FitBit, but given that almost all of your responses so far are from people who do and who love it, I thought I'd put in my two cents to say that you're not alone in feeling like a hundred dollars is a lot to spend on what's basically a pedometer.

    If someone gave me one as a gift or something, I'd probably use it, but that sort of investment feels like far too much to me for something that isn't strictly necessary. So I'd say if you feel like your weightloss is ticking along well without it, don't let the fear of missing out push you into spending money you don't need to.

    And if you're just interested in tracking walks taken outdoors and such, I once had pretty good success using the free app from Runkeeper on my phone to see distance/time for my walks and estimate calorie burns.

    Just thought I'd offer an alternative.
  • SusanMFindlay
    SusanMFindlay Posts: 1,804 Member
    edited November 2016
    a45cal wrote: »
    I don't own a FitBit, but given that almost all of your responses so far are from people who do and who love it, I thought I'd put in my two cents to say that you're not alone in feeling like a hundred dollars is a lot to spend on what's basically a pedometer.

    This is a very valid point. This is why my husband insisted we go with HR monitoring ones. He wasn't willing to spend $100 on a pedometer. And, in fairness, we bought ours with a gift card from his work so they were effectively long service awards and didn't come out of our regular budget.

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