FitBit

smcgrath45
smcgrath45 Posts: 23 Member
edited June 2018 in Health and Weight Loss
I stupidly threw out my FitBit today by accident. It was one of the original types, which only counted steps. I have been reading about the newer ones which tell you your heart rate and calories burned. I would like to lose 20 lbs and 5% bodyfat to be where I was 3 years ago. If you have a FitBit or activity tracker, do you feel it helped you achieve your goals? I would really like to see if I am working to my full potential at the gym or doing a lot of nothing. Wondering if the new models will do that for me. Lastly I would like to know how many calories a day I really should be eating.

Replies

  • tablefor5now
    tablefor5now Posts: 19 Member
    I have a Blaze and I quite like it. I did still log my specific workouts through MMF which feeds through to the fit bit, but mostly because I often do the same workouts so I like to compare them over time. My fit bit doesn't have an inbuilt gps. My brother has the Ionic, which does, and he really likes it. That being said, I am down 20kg so far so I guess it's helping. When I'm doing walks that have alot of stairs, I use it to monitor my heart rate.
  • Nativestar56
    Nativestar56 Posts: 112 Member
    I've had a charge 2 for just over 2 months now. I really like it. Its a great reminder to stay on track and challenge yourself. I find it fairly accurate for the calorie burns so being able to eat a bit more on active days and knowing to watch myself on rest days works for me better than sticking to a flat number every day.

    The auto detect is brilliant for when I cycle to work, I don't have to do anything to record it! It was always tricky to log them before as how do you account for the time you spend stopped at traffic lights? But with auto detect and HR they're logged quite accurately.

    It's alright for running but the connected GPS isn't great. I still haven't figured out if its a phone or fitbit issue though. My phone isn't listed as a supported device but apart from inaccurate GPS distances everything else works as it should. Inbuilt GPS might be better but those models are a lot more expensive.
  • ldwatene
    ldwatene Posts: 150 Member
    I have a charge 2 as well. I bought it mostly so I could make sure I was getting enough sleep. Sleeps always been my worst enemy. I also like how it tracks calories for different exercises especially since I lift weights more than anything else.
  • M0n1KCR
    M0n1KCR Posts: 149 Member
    I got a charge 2 in christmas. I love it, and find it really helpful. I just connected it to this site, and it detects my activity and, more important, syncs to MFP so I know how many calories I have left each day. Using it and logging my food, I've lost 15 kg in a little less than 6 months. Really happy with it.
  • whitpauly
    whitpauly Posts: 1,483 Member
    I got the fitbit Alta hr for Christmas,before that I had a flex,charge hr,I absolutely love my fitbit and will never be without it!! Not only does it keep track of steps,active minutes,sleep,etc now there's a"women's health" feature so I was able to uninstall my period tracker app cuz fitbit does it now
  • Dani9585
    Dani9585 Posts: 215 Member
    I have the Versa, after owning the One for YEARS. I love both so much! My fitbits have motivated me to become active and care about my health.
  • bfanny
    bfanny Posts: 440 Member
    M0n1KCR wrote: »
    I got a charge 2 in christmas. I love it, and find it really helpful. I just connected it to this site, and it detects my activity and, more important, syncs to MFP so I know how many calories I have left each day. Using it and logging my food, I've lost 15 kg in a little less than 6 months. Really happy with it.

    I’m a little confused, do you base your daily cals on your Fitbit or what MFP says? TIA

  • allisonlane161
    allisonlane161 Posts: 269 Member
    edited June 2018
    I love my Fitbit Charge 2 HR. It syncs with my phone GPS for running so I can get an idea of my estimated VO2 max (I'm pretty sure it's not accurate, but it shows your trend). For someone like me who is competitive, it was AWESOME when it changed to, "You're in excellent shape for a woman your age." It also fairly accurately tracks my sleep stages. That's another thing that's extremely valuable to me. I don't much care about the steps, but I find the calorie burn for exercise activities is pretty accurate. I do not sync with MFP and manually enter my exercise. I was finding MFP was also logging calories I think for my Fitbit steps, which felt double entered since many of my steps are in conjunction with my exercise activities. I'd rather just enter exercise in MFP based on what my Fitbit says I burned/distanced/logged.
  • hesn92
    hesn92 Posts: 5,966 Member
    I have a charge. It’s a couple years old. I love having it. It’s really motivating to me to be more active. And it’s nice to see how many calories I burn every day. I only wish I had a waterproof one so I could wear it in the pool.
  • hesn92
    hesn92 Posts: 5,966 Member
    bfanny wrote: »
    M0n1KCR wrote: »
    I got a charge 2 in christmas. I love it, and find it really helpful. I just connected it to this site, and it detects my activity and, more important, syncs to MFP so I know how many calories I have left each day. Using it and logging my food, I've lost 15 kg in a little less than 6 months. Really happy with it.

    I’m a little confused, do you base your daily cals on your Fitbit or what MFP says? TIA

    If you sync it to mfp and enable negative adjustments it will “true up” your calorie goal to what you actually burned that day according to your tracker
  • M0n1KCR
    M0n1KCR Posts: 149 Member
    bfanny wrote: »
    M0n1KCR wrote: »
    I got a charge 2 in christmas. I love it, and find it really helpful. I just connected it to this site, and it detects my activity and, more important, syncs to MFP so I know how many calories I have left each day. Using it and logging my food, I've lost 15 kg in a little less than 6 months. Really happy with it.

    I’m a little confused, do you base your daily cals on your Fitbit or what MFP says? TIA

    I base my daily calories in MFP. But Fitbit sends the data of the "real"* calories I've burned, so MFP adds calories on days I burn a lot, and subtracts them the lazy days, so I got more accurate information of how many calories I have left.

    (*I dont know if the calories measured by the Fitbit are the real ones, but it seems accurate in my case.)
  • toxikon
    toxikon Posts: 2,383 Member
    I have a Fitbit Alta HR and it seems quite accurate with calculating my TDEE each day. It's nice not having to log any exercises, I just get an automatic adjustment to my daily calorie goal. The calorie burn for strength-based workouts seems a bit low, but cardio seems to be accurate.
  • Lora2380
    Lora2380 Posts: 195 Member
    Anyone have their fit bit “go for a walk” while on the charger for the night? Woke up this morning put it on and I have 7500 steps already on it...
  • WholeFoods4Lyfe
    WholeFoods4Lyfe Posts: 1,518 Member
    Lora2380 wrote: »
    Anyone have their fit bit “go for a walk” while on the charger for the night? Woke up this morning put it on and I have 7500 steps already on it...

    I'd suggest contacting customer service.
  • glassyo
    glassyo Posts: 7,739 Member
    Lora2380 wrote: »
    Anyone have their fit bit “go for a walk” while on the charger for the night? Woke up this morning put it on and I have 7500 steps already on it...

    I'd suggest contacting customer service.

    Ot Ghostbusters.