Fitness tracker recommendation

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karajhol
karajhol Posts: 18 Member
edited December 2016 in Health and Weight Loss
I need to know an accurate number of calories burned during exercise. I swim, use cardio machines, cycle, and do yoga. I dint want a tracker that has to be worn 24/7, just during workouts. It's got to be waterproof. I'm thinking about the Misfit Shine. Recommendations please?

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  • Aliteralballofsunshine
    Aliteralballofsunshine Posts: 37 Member
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    Fitbit Flex 2
    Vivoactive HR
    I've used both before and they are great.
  • rachelr1116
    rachelr1116 Posts: 334 Member
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    I have a Misfit Shine (not the newer Shine 2). I thought I'd like it because I also like to swim and cycle. It doesn't really give you a calorie burn estimate based on activity, it's based on the whole day, so you'd have to wear it all the time. I used to have mine synced to MFP but the calorie burn estimates it was giving me were off so I unsynced it. It's also not super easy to switch from say swimming to cycling. For swimming you have to wear it on the wristband and for cycling you have to use the activity clip (which I lost and you can't order from Misfit anymore because everything is now for the Shine 2) and wear it on your ankle or shoe. And when you switch from wearing it on your wrist to wearing it on your ankle you have to sync it with your phone to tell it you're switching wearing positions. It's an ok tracker but I'm currently shopping for a replacement.
  • karajhol
    karajhol Posts: 18 Member
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    deshaunreed953 wrote: »
    Fitbit Flex 2
    Vivoactive HR
    I've used both before and they are great.

    The flex 2 looks almost perfect, but I guess it doesn't measure heart rate. How can it measure calories burned without measuring heart rate? The primary reason I need a tracker is to get an accurate calories burned estimate. I've been told that MFP estimates aren't accurate.

  • rachelr1116
    rachelr1116 Posts: 334 Member
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    Not all fitness trackers measure heart rate. The Shine does not. The ones without heart rate monitors will calculate your calories burned using your age, height, and weight. I had a Fitbit Zip and it's calories burned estimates were really accurate.
  • TeaBea
    TeaBea Posts: 14,517 Member
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    karajhol wrote: »
    deshaunreed953 wrote: »
    Fitbit Flex 2
    Vivoactive HR
    I've used both before and they are great.

    The flex 2 looks almost perfect, but I guess it doesn't measure heart rate. How can it measure calories burned without measuring heart rate? The primary reason I need a tracker is to get an accurate calories burned estimate. I've been told that MFP estimates aren't accurate.

    Heart rate monitors are best for steady state cardio (just one algorithm). Heart rate monitors are more accurate when you are wearing a chest strap (not wrist only). Don't put too much stock in "accurate" calorie burns......you are still looking at estimates.

    The nice thing about something worn 24/7 is it captures your whole day. Many activity trackers sync to MFP, this compares your actual activity level to your stated one. Enabling negative adjustments will keep you honest. Really, just find the best fit & work with it a bit.

    http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/group/1290-fitbit-users
  • karajhol
    karajhol Posts: 18 Member
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    rachelr1116 wrote: »
    Not all fitness trackers measure heart rate. The Shine does not. The ones without heart rate monitors will calculate your calories burned using your age, height, and weight. I had a Fitbit Zip and it's calories burned estimates were really accurate.

    Not trying to be argumentative, but how do you know it's accurate? I just don't get it... does it work with stationary activities like elliptical?
  • rachelr1116
    rachelr1116 Posts: 334 Member
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    Because I was usually eating all of the "extra" calories my Fitbit gave me and I was still losing weight at the rate I had chosen when I set up MFP and my Fitbit. With the Misfit, if I ate all of the "extra" calories I earned from activities I never lost at the rate my calorie goal was set at.

    The Fitbit Zip I had is one of the clip on models so it would track all step based activities. It started becoming less accurate for me when I started doing more non-step based activities like swimming and cycling. When I was cycling it would count all the bumps I hit as steps. That probably wouldn't happen with a wrist worn model like the Flex.
  • TeaBea
    TeaBea Posts: 14,517 Member
    edited December 2016
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    karajhol wrote: »
    rachelr1116 wrote: »
    Not all fitness trackers measure heart rate. The Shine does not. The ones without heart rate monitors will calculate your calories burned using your age, height, and weight. I had a Fitbit Zip and it's calories burned estimates were really accurate.

    Not trying to be argumentative, but how do you know it's accurate? I just don't get it... does it work with stationary activities like elliptical?

    FitBits are really accurate for some people because they are a good fit for the type of activity those people do. FitBit is a step tracker. It's not going to measure strength training, yoga, or circuit training.....but a heart rate monitor is pretty much worthless for those activities too.

    Some people "know" their FitBits are accurate (FOR THEM) because they have had their FitBits synced to MFP while losing weight and now they still sync their FitBits while maintaining. They eat the number of calories their FitBit says to eat......and yes they do maintain.

    Anyone who syncs a tracker regularly will figure out (eventually) how accurate it is. It's just learning while losing weight. If you are losing slower (and logging accurately) then your activity tracker is over stated. If you are losing faster (and logging accurately) then your activity tracker is under stated. Logging food intake accurately is assumed here.....but that's not always the case either.

    No activity tracker or HRM is going to be 100% accurate. There are just too many factors your tracker/HRM can't know. Even then heart rate isn't the best measure.....it's just the measure that's the most convenient. Calorie burns calculated in a laboratory don't use a simple chest strap.
  • tmoneyag99
    tmoneyag99 Posts: 480 Member
    edited December 2016
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    I dint want a tracker that has to be worn 24/7, just during workouts. It's got to be waterproof. I'm thinking about the Misfit Shine. Recommendations please?

    Then you want a heart rate monitor (HRM). Garmin and Polar have some of the best but Garmin's App is way better hands down. (and compatible with MFP)

    Also there is the a HRM that you where on your for arm called the scosche tha gets amazing reviews.
    The HRMs that you wear on your chest and forearm are the most accurate things out there. They are by far more accurate than the wrist HRMs. (fitness trackers)



    I am not sure WHICH HRM's work while swimming but I know Polar and Garmin both make them. They even make bra versions.

    The fitness trackers like UP, Fitbit, and The Vivo line by Garmin are meant for beginners that are trying to get their weight under control or their fitness is not so complex they need multiple levels of measurements. (serious fitness folks measure stuff like VO2 Max etc)



    So there ya go. Hope all of this helps

  • ronjsteele1
    ronjsteele1 Posts: 1,064 Member
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    I love my Misfit Shine. It's perfect for my needs. But you do have to wear it all day if you want it to track your steps. It will track for just one activity but I think it would be a bit more of pain doing that b/c you have to set it each time and stop and start it. When I wear it all day it just automatically kicks into workout mode for me. I actually find it very accurate when it comes to exercise calories compared to what MFP gives me. I ignore what MFP shows for burns and use my Misfit burns. I still lose weight eating back my Misfit burn numbers. I like it so much we got our DD one for Christmas b/c she was wondering how much she walked at work. They *say* it's waterproof, but I've never gotten mine wet because I haven't read about any tracker actually surviving water even when they're suppose to. I don't swim, so that works for me.
  • shaunte92
    shaunte92 Posts: 127 Member
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    I have a Polar Ft 4 ... love it. I haven't tried many other brands though.

    My issue with the Polar Ft though is that sometimes it can't find my heart rate... which makes wearing it pointless. If I keep it clean I'd say this is only a probably about 10% of the time.
  • trudie_b
    trudie_b Posts: 230 Member
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    I'm actually really happy with my Charge 2.
  • Tacklewasher
    Tacklewasher Posts: 7,122 Member
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    Avoid the Garmin Vivosmart. Serious software issues. I gave mine to my wife as it is basically a glorified step counter.

    I replace it with the Garmin VivoActive HR. Much better and more flexible unit. Will track indoor swims but apparently doesn't work well with open water swims, but it seems none of the wrist trackers do as they can't keep a gps lock under water.
  • trigden1991
    trigden1991 Posts: 4,658 Member
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    Recently started using a Fitbit Charge HR and can't fault it. Step counter agrees with my iPhone pedometer and the TDEE value is within 80 calories of my actual calculated average TDEE.
  • kksmom1789
    kksmom1789 Posts: 281 Member
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    Love my charge 2 it's not waterproof but I'm losing exactly how I know I should be my friend got a flex 2 and she loves it and I believe you can swim with that tracker

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