Need help with fitbit, it's tracking my arm movements as steps

icemom011
icemom011 Posts: 999 Member
edited November 23 in Fitness and Exercise
I've just got fitbit charge 2. And I'm pretty disappointed, as it tracks my arms' movements instead of steps. For instance, today i got to 1500 steps just making our breakfast for the first 30 minutes after waking up, lol. And it managed to count over 9 miles for my distance today ( based on it's erroneous step counting? ). It was my first day wearing it today, i had it set up, but does anybody knows if this could be avoided somehow so i get more accurate results? I walk around all day long, and use my hands a lot.

Replies

  • maggibailey
    maggibailey Posts: 289 Member
    Do you have it on your dominant hand? I wear mine on my none dominant, and have it set on my dominant so it is a little less likely to over count. But it also “learns you” as you wear it so don’t give up. And you move a lot when you cook!
  • icemom011
    icemom011 Posts: 999 Member
    Thank you, @maggibailey , i did that. The steps and distance are lower this way, but it's definitely crediting me miles and steps when i drive from one place to the next ( nature of work). I had it set to measure distance as a main goal, but changed back to steps when i saw that. I just want an accurate calculator of my daily activities
  • KANGOOJUMPS
    KANGOOJUMPS Posts: 6,474 Member
    that's how everyone cheats, by swinging their hands, they can add up very fast. but you always know a cheater on the challenges.
  • Beruskoni
    Beruskoni Posts: 5 Member
    I noticed that as well. I don’t change anything though as it’s me moving after all that burns calories too.
  • cs2thecox
    cs2thecox Posts: 533 Member
    Beruskoni wrote: »
    I noticed that as well. I don’t change anything though as it’s me moving after all that burns calories too.

    That's basically how I feel about it!

    Mine gives me more pseudo-steps when I drive my not-very-power-steering sports car than my cushy Volvo, but it's definitely harder work, and it only credits me a few tens of steps in general, so I figure it's reasonable enough for my purposes even though I didn't do any actual steps during that time.

    I wear mine on my dominant wrist, and have it set that way.
    My boyfriend wears his on his non-dominant.
    When we spend the day doing pretty much exactly the same things, I tend to come in with 10-15% more steps than him, and we reckon (some non scientific measuring striding up and down the garden!) that that accounts for the fact I'm shorter and simply take more steps to cover the same distance.
  • BingeNinjaNate
    BingeNinjaNate Posts: 88 Member
    For situations like this I use the app drivebit, you start it when you start driving or washing up etc and press finish when you've completed the activity. It will then remove any steps accumulated during that period. Alternatively you could manually add driving in the fitbit exercise log, just remember to make a note of the start and finish times.

    Personally I usually just leave it as when I push my sons stroller it under counts steps, so by the end of the day it evens out and is pretty accurate for me.
  • icemom011
    icemom011 Posts: 999 Member
    BingeNinjaNate wrote: »
    For situations like this I use the app drivebit, you start it when you start driving or washing up etc and press finish when you've completed the activity. It will then remove any steps accumulated during that period. Alternatively you could manually add driving in the fitbit exercise log, just remember to make a note of the start and finish times.

    Personally I usually just leave it as when I push my sons stroller it under counts steps, so by the end of the day it evens out and is pretty accurate for me.
    It doesn't sound like a way to simplify my life, lol. Thank you, though, i appreciate the tip. It might be useful for longer drives.
  • icemom011
    icemom011 Posts: 999 Member
    Beruskoni wrote: »
    I noticed that as well. I don’t change anything though as it’s me moving after all that burns calories too.

    Yeah, probably not as much, but still. I won't be changing the way i eat, I'm in maintenance for over a year, just wanted to see what i actually do throughout the day regularly, plus was hoping to get same for when i work out. The sleep analysis is interesting, but now i wonder how accurate that is, considering issues during the day.
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