Are fitbits worth it?

I love my Fitbit! Keeps me motivated to move! Mine does steps, and it’s not just the arm swing, because I’ve kept an eye on it and it still registers when I’m walking with my hands in my jacket pockets.

It gives me extra insights into calories burnt, improvement in heart health, resting heart rate, sleep health, distance covered and minutes in elevated heart rate (exercise).

The one thing I’d change - if it didn’t need charging, ever! I hate when I have to charge it and I miss steps and other data! 😂

Yes, there are things that register as steps that aren’t steps (changing gear in a manual car, for example) but overall I’d definitely replace mine at my own expense if it packed up - original bought as a joint gift from one of my sons and one of my daughters).

Depends on why you want it. Activity trackers aren’t a miracle, they’re a tool. There is no statistical evidence that shows a difference in weight loss between people with activity trackers and people without. That being said, I like my fitbit and I feel it does help me. It buzzes every hour if I am inactive and I like the accountability of trying to get a certain number of steps in, though I usually hit my goal while cooking dinner. I also really like the heartrate tracker. It’s far from perfect, but I have a high heart rate, so it is nice to see my resting heartrate trend down. (And as a female trying to get pregnant, it does have “female health” trackers and I have noticed my resting heartrate jumps up about 6-8bpm when I ovulate).

@Shortgirlrunning Is the Garmin a clip-on or a wrist thing?

I have an apple watch and I find it useful and for the most part accurate. However at present the Apple watch doesn't have sleep monitoring capability, which fitbit has. Fitbit price point is lower and since it has fewer features it is easier to use and has longer battery life.

It all depends on what's important to you for monitoring and battery life. I don't know of any of the modern products that isn't pretty good at meeting its claims. If you swim you'll need to make sure that's a feature on the product; you can't usually get swim-monitoring for less than about $200.

I find that it is useful to monitor calories with one of these devices as there are times when I'm ravenous and could really use the 'permission' to eat another 100-200 calories. With activity monitoring I can 'earn' those calories so my mfp targets for the day go up and I can feel like I'm still succeeding at my diet instead of failing to meet my goals.

vanityy99 wrote: »

Today was my first time ever looking into it I might get one for myself but I’m very skeptical.

It can count the amount of steps you’re taking how? By the way you swing your arms?🤔 How accurate are those things?

Do they help you? How? What do you like about them? How have the benefited you?

Any step counter (whether it is worm on the arm, the belt, the bra, etc) registers vibrations the body feels from the step. Some are more accurate than others depending on how sensitive they are. NONE measure according to swinging your arms (contrary to misinformation on the internet). Any will be reasonably accurate.

A fitness tracker that is an upgrade from a pedometer will count steps but it also works with information you give it (usually via a website or phone app) to help calculate calories burned. Many will sync with MFP to also figure in calories eaten. Some need you to log on their app if they don't work with MFP. The more you use it, the more personal data it has to calculate from so the more accurate it will be.

Fitness trackers with chest straps to measure heart rate will give even more information but it is only accurate when doing steady state cardio.

Fitness trackers with a built in HRM worn on the wrist can be accurate for steady state cardio but also can be way off the rest of the time. Some will also have GPS which will adjust for mileage and changes in elevation. Basic models will go by the info you give it as far as your stride length.

I have a Garmin Vivofit and yes, it was very much worth it. I have had it for over 4 years now (it doesn't need charging but works on watch batteries) and it still works just as well as it did originally. It counts steps and calculates calories burned. It also is a decent wristwatch with the mesh band I bought separately. When I want accurate mileage, I use Map My Run as a GPS app. Getting a tracker with GPS also had things I do not need. I don't do much cardio so anything with an HRM is a waste. I have not noticed too many extra steps and rarely does it not count the steps I take.

It is very worth it to me. I’ve had one since 2/2013. I’ve had three different Fitbits over that time. A One, a Charge, and a Charge 2. Best motivator to get me to move more.

Its worth it if it was $5.

tirowow12385 wrote: »

Its worth it if it was $5.

One way to test it out is to find a used one on eBay. Probably won't be as low as $5, but I bet you can find an older one for under $20. Then, if you love it, you can get a new one later.

I love my Fitbit. I don't know exactly how it works, but I can tell it's pretty accurate with my steps (not accurate with percieved calorie burn, but I don't use it for that).

If nothing else, it's an effective tool to keep me moving throughout the day.