What is a fitness tracker

mountainmare
mountainmare Posts: 294 Member
edited November 2024 in Health and Weight Loss
Okay--so now you know I am probably old!!! I just graduated from a cell phone with a pull up antenna to a --wait for it---FLIP PHONE!!! (my husband has an iphone but even after taking lessons we didn't take enough notes to remember how to use it.
So---can I get a "fitness tracker" thing that will tell me how many calories I burn in a day? I don't care about steps, I'm not going to sync, I don't want to be reminded to get up (I'm old--I have to get up to pee), I would just like to know how much I use. I have a very nice Polar HRM--(which was a gift and I know I never used all the extra stuff it did) but that worked when I walked or did a DVD but not for the whole day. I liked it for that--hated the chest strap and the fact that it wouldn't always stay put. I still use those estimates for my exercise calories.
Does a fitness tracker do what I want it to do? Or is it another gadget that I probably won't appreciate? (the flip phone works great-but I'm one of those people who just use it for emergencies--I don't need to be connected all the time).
Do they have "basic" fitness trackers? I'm happy with my progress, this is not an emergency but I have a pile of Dicks gift cards and was thinking of using them for a tracker instead of shoes.

Replies

  • Neiross1
    Neiross1 Posts: 42 Member
    edited July 2018
    It most likely isn't worth the money. You may need to charge it every night. The calories burned are just estimation and from the ones I've seen to get the most out of them you need a newer model phone (most of them have all the features of a fitness watch). If you have a step counter you can self record you calories burned through the exercise tab.
  • malibu927
    malibu927 Posts: 17,562 Member
    You can get a basic pedometer to get an idea of how many steps you're taking, but I don't know if they can give you a calorie burn
    Neiross1 wrote: »
    It most likely isn't worth the money. You need to charge it every night. The calories burned are just estimation and from the ones I've seen to get the most out of them you need a newer model phone (most of them have all the features of a fitness watch). If you have a step counter you can self record you calories burned through the exercise tab.

    None of the Fitbits I've owned had to be charged every night...usually about every 5-6 days.
  • Neiross1
    Neiross1 Posts: 42 Member
    malibu927 wrote: »
    You can get a basic pedometer to get an idea of how many steps you're taking, but I don't know if they can give you a calorie burn
    Neiross1 wrote: »
    It most likely isn't worth the money. You need to charge it every night. The calories burned are just estimation and from the ones I've seen to get the most out of them you need a newer model phone (most of them have all the features of a fitness watch). If you have a step counter you can self record you calories burned through the exercise tab.

    None of the Fitbits I've owned had to be charged every night...usually about every 5-6 days.

    I was thinking of the Samsung gear watches. I am wrong.
  • yirara
    yirara Posts: 10,075 Member
    Calorie burns are just an estimate. And they do get it wrong in so many cases. If they have a pulse sensor they you might get very low calorie estimates if your heartrate is lower than the average, or very high ones if your heartrate happens to be higher. The same is also true if you're not fit and your heartrate shoots up with minimal activity, or if you're stressed out. Yes, there are people who get good estimates, but there are probably equal amounts of people who get rather wrong estimates. If they have sleep analysis then that's not much more than a gadget either as you can't really well determine sleep zones based on movement and heartrate. And you'd still need a computer or phone with bluetooth to do anything with the data in the end.
  • mountainmare
    mountainmare Posts: 294 Member
    Thank you everyone for saving me money. I do have a low heart rate (according to the Polar) and I know that when I was riding my horse a spook would have me "burning" a ton of calories when sitting still. I just see so much about them that i thought that by some miracle you wore this on your wrist (with no chest strap) and it magically said how much you burned during the day. It was just for fun--I figure that when I get to maintain I'll have plenty of time to know my daily calories.
  • lorib642
    lorib642 Posts: 1,942 Member
    I like using my fitbit. You do need to sync it to see your calorie expenditure
  • ruqayyahsmum
    ruqayyahsmum Posts: 1,513 Member
    edited July 2018
    I like my Fitbit but for reasons that don't interest you such as the reminder to move, step challenges with others that have me making the effort to go on extra long walks and the heart rate function as if I feel really dizzy and ill and my heart rates high I know I need to medicate, I'm my heart's normal it's run of the mill illness
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