Fitness Trackers Worth It?

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  • Paschen81
    Paschen81 Posts: 150 Member
    edited July 2017
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    I love mine. I have a gear fit 1. And love being able to track my heart rate throughout the entire workout and have a summary of high low and average rate. I love that if I stop moving (like waiting on traffic) the tracker pauses progress automatically and resumes when you do. It also let's you know when you are 25% complete 50% 75% and completed your without... With each interval it tells you time and pace and predicted time to complete at current pace... It can be motivating when your starting to tire but here you are so far done and have only X number of minutes left. I love that I can control the music player on my phone from my wrist so I can keep my phone secured. I like seeing my sleep stats... It helps me to track when I'm restless and when I get deep sleep. And I love that I can page my phone with it in the times I lay it down and forget where I laid it. I also like seeing the various notifications (calls texts ect) without having to pick up my phone and unlock the screen... It displays right there on my wrist. And I like changing the wallpaper (background) seasonally so right now it's a flag for the 4th of July. However... I'm a little bit of a tech geek so... Lol
  • Ainadan
    Ainadan Posts: 158 Member
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    I just got one on Friday. When do you get used to having a band on? I never wear bracelets or watches, and this thing is kind of annoying, lol.

    Aside from that, I am a data nerd, so I enjoy the analytics. We'll see about the challenges.
  • Gisel2015
    Gisel2015 Posts: 4,140 Member
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    Never had one; never saw the need to have one. I don't like gadgets, and I don't need them to give me motivation.
  • SafioraLinnea
    SafioraLinnea Posts: 628 Member
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    I loved everything about my Fitbit so much I upgraded from a charge HR to a surge but neither option lasted for me because pregnancy gave me awful carpal tunnel and holding my baby made it too uncomfortable to wear. I gave them away to a good home.

    If I get another wearable activity tracker I think I will skip the wrist option and go for either an arm band or chest band. Obviously my problem is not the norm for most people but I thought I would share.
  • Christine_72
    Christine_72 Posts: 16,049 Member
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    I love my Fitbit Alta, it definitely motivates me. I went from averaging 2000 steps a day before fitbit to 15000ish after.
    It also spurs me on to see the calories in my diary increasing through the day.
  • JaxxieKat
    JaxxieKat Posts: 427 Member
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    I, personally, don't feel the need for one. I don't track calories burned from just walking around. If I'm actively walking, like for exercise, I use my S Health app on my phone.
  • NooperZero1000
    NooperZero1000 Posts: 1 Member
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    So my wife and I just started working out and eating healthier. I don't see the need for any of these additional workout things because right now we are just trying to make it a routine. Once we go that down then idk if we will get any couple people from work say the fitbit is good for that but I just don't understand exactly what it does can't get a good explanation of it and my research shows all the things heart rate calories and everything. So my real question is from experience how has this helped you or if not please let me know just looking for some info.
  • wimdroid
    wimdroid Posts: 56 Member
    edited July 2017
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    yep, it does help if you see the figures.

    I used to do it based on my phone's step counter and Google Fit, then again I tend to leave my phone on kitchen table or so when I am home, so quite some gaps.

    Thought of fitbit, because so popular, but went for garmin Vivosmart HR+ after reading quite some complaints on fitbits dying, very happy with both the device and the app
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,372 Member
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    saltlakecitywestsider wrote: »
    I've been warned about too much cardio eating away at good metabolically active muscle mass.

    That's total bro-science.

    I have a Fitbit charge 2 and I love it. I never really realized what a HUGE difference in TDEE walking more steps makes.
  • laurenebargar
    laurenebargar Posts: 3,081 Member
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    I Love my fitbit charge 2 so much. Mines super accurate when it comes to how much i've burned throughout the day and I've had it long enough to know throughout the day when Im behind schedule on calorie burned (aka sitting wayyy to much) and then I know that i'll need a workout when I get home from work. It keeps me accountable, because most days after work I just wanna lay on the couch and binge netflix, but when I see that after work I normally have less than 3,000 steps (my office is SO small) it just really pushes me to go for a walk after work.

    Also I love hiking so getting to go for a long hike and seeing how many steps I got and miles I got in really makes me happy, and apparently my husband too because this weekend when we had our 15,000 step hike he was asking pretty often how many steps we were at! lol!

    Wow this is long, but I got my fitbit charge 2 off craigslist for $50 and it was new in box. So buying used or online is another option if your worried about not liking it, I did that because I'm the type of person who gets really excited about something and then stops using it after a week, and it was too expensive for me to do that full price. But i've had it several months and im always wearing it and I love it more now then when I first got it.
  • cs2thecox
    cs2thecox Posts: 533 Member
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    I still have a Fitbit Flex that's going strong.
    I use it to keep an eye on my sleep, and also to note when I've had a less active day so I can either do something about it, or just not have dessert!
    It's also good for reminding me to eat more when I've been extra active. I moved house a few months ago, and my commute has got longer with more walking - like, 2000-3000 more steps a day. I was noticeably more tired, and felt underfuelled. I also dropped about 3kg that I wasn't looking to drop! When I had a few weeks of data to confirm that this really was the case, I had my trainer adjust my macros to give me the extra calories back.

    I think they're great, as long as you're not going to get obsessed by them, or think they're 100% accurate.
    (I also use a Polar HRM which I've had longer than the Fitbit, and Endomondo on my phone when I'm doing something I want to GPS track.)
  • moesis
    moesis Posts: 874 Member
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    A fitness tracker only provides value if you use the data it gives you. If you set goals and stick to those goals, it will provide value. I look at my Polar M400 every night after I finish walking my puppy, around 1900. If I have not met my goal, I'm not going to bed until it is met.

    Take an honest look at how you are going to use the information; will you hold yourself accountable or will you use hitting your 10,000 steps to justify that high calorie snack or will it just become something that you wear (like 90% of fitbit users).

    A fitness tracker is as valuable as you are disciplined.
  • OnthatStuff
    OnthatStuff Posts: 141 Member
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    If you have the money to spend, go for it. You can still lose weight and work hard in the gym w/out them. However, like others have mentioned, it's a neat sense of accomplishment being able to see a measure of your efforts in between weigh-in's.

    I've used the Garmin Vivosmart HR+ and later upgraded to the Garmin Vivoactive HR. Like @QS82 mentioned, the brand is legit. I went with Garmin because of the waterproof feature. The two I mentioned also have GPS that work without needing to carry a phone. Armbands aren't comfortable for me, so I like being able to leave my phone in a bag while at the gym or at home while running outside.

    I used to use Mapmyfitness and Endomondo to track my bike rides and other activities. I wanted an accurate measure of calories burned so that I would not overeat any of them back. The fitness trackers calculated a lower lower calorie burn than the apps estimated for the same activities. I kept the fitness tracker figuring that since its calculations also include heart rate, it should be more accurate than the estimates provided from the apps alone.


  • Bornabronco
    Bornabronco Posts: 13 Member
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    I currently have a FitBit Alta. I like it. I previously owned a Jawbone Up3. That was my favorite. The dashboards are great on both and I like that they track my sleep patterns. I am going to upgrade to the HR Alta soon. They both keep me motivated and link to MyFitnessPal. I also have BCBSTX and they link to the Well on Target app, earn me points that I can use to purchase merchandise with.

    Reward yourself and keep up the good work. Tomorrow is Amazon Prime Day, so you may be able to get a good deal on any fitness tracker!
  • sarahthes
    sarahthes Posts: 3,252 Member
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    Bornabronco wrote: »
    Reward yourself and keep up the good work. Tomorrow is Amazon Prime Day, so you may be able to get a good deal on any fitness tracker!

    $50 off the Fitbit Blaze in Canada. Saw some other Fitbit models on sale but that is the one I bought (my Charge warranty replacement for a bubbling/peeling strap is starting to have the same problem as the original).
  • dudasd1973
    dudasd1973 Posts: 275 Member
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    I wear my Moto360 Android Wear watch all day long to keep track of steps. I also have a Garmin Forerunner 235 that I use for running.
  • yirara
    yirara Posts: 9,398 Member
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    I just bought a Fitbit Charge 2. I hope I like it and it's not too big and uncomfortable on my tiny wrists. We'll see. Wish I'd found a shop that had it on display, but for some reason... oh well... Lets see how good it is.
  • TrueW
    TrueW Posts: 10 Member
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    @Paschen81 I also have the Gear 2! Everything in your post is correct plus more I use it periodically. I also have a Fitbit Charge HR 2 I received for my birthday 7 months ago it has none of the features or quality the Gear 2 has! I love it I am so hooked on Tracking my steps I have to see if it's compatible with MFP? Thank you I enjoyed your post!
  • yirara
    yirara Posts: 9,398 Member
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    I thought about the Gear 2, but the short battery life was a no for me. I travel a lot and prefer not to carry even more chargers and docking stations around with me. or charge up lots of tech before going on a weekend trip. The onboard GPS is cool, but I decided that it's not the right one for me.

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