Ditching the Fitbit

janetkennedymerritt
janetkennedymerritt Posts: 12 Member
edited August 2022 in Health and Weight Loss
Going to try to track my calories, do more chores and get at least a 30 minute walk each day plus a 10 minute weight workout. I feel like the Fitbit is demotivating me. Have 100 lbs to lose. Anyone feel same?

Replies

  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 32,012 Member
    No, not really. My fitness tracker's just a neutral tool, not really either motivating or demotivating. In what way do you find your Fitbit demotivating, out of curiosity?

    It sounds like you have a good common-sense plan for getting started. If you feel like the Fitbit doesn't help you . . . well, I'm a big believer in finding a personalized workable path, and that tends to be different for everyone. If the Fitbit isn't helpful, why not ditch it for a while, see how it goes? If it works great for you to do that, it kinda doesn't matter whether it works or doesn't for other people, y'know?

    Welcome to the MFP Community, and best wishes for success going forward!

  • Alatariel75
    Alatariel75 Posts: 17,959 Member
    I think depending on your personality type, you might get hung up on the data. People "joke" about exercise not counting when you're not wearing your Fitbit - and sometimes it doesn't feel like a joke but actual anxiety that "if it doesn't get counted it didn't count". I can also see how some people might live and die by the number on the tracker more than others might, stressing themselves about not hitting the right numbers or conversely relying solely on the tracker to tell them when they've done enough and not being dynamic and progressive with workouts.

    I like my tracker and I find my step goal motivating to get me moving, but it doesn't bother me when I don't. Don't get me wrong - I have a LOT of hang ups and issues when it comes to diet and exercise, but right now my tracker isn't one.
  • middlehaitch
    middlehaitch Posts: 8,483 Member
    edited August 2022
    Never found a good reason to own a tracking data device so abandon yours if you wish. Nothing bad will happen to you and you can always pick it up again if you do find a use for it.

    I tried one, my DiL’s, years ago when training for my 1st 10km.
    Abandoned it within a fortnight.

    I knew my cal burn already for the distance, and I had a watch to check my time.

    I also knew my average cal burn for most of my activities, daily and exercise, so didn’t feel the need to keep track of anything more.

    Of note, My exercise is recreational not competitive so don’t need to analyze performance.

    I’m not a data geek and have little interest in accumulating any.

    Your proposition for moving forward sounds grand to me.

    Cheers, h.
    Should add. The Fitbit experiment was 2009 or 10. I have maintained my weight and fitness level nicely.
  • Chef_Barbell
    Chef_Barbell Posts: 6,646 Member
    Love mine. Love data. Love science. 🤷‍♀️
  • Redordeadhead
    Redordeadhead Posts: 1,188 Member
    On the contrary, mine is definitely a motivator for me but it's personal, for you it may not be. Give it a try without the fitbit and see!
  • Jthanmyfitnesspal
    Jthanmyfitnesspal Posts: 3,521 Member
    I am generally motivated by my tracker and inspired by the virtual exercise community I've joined via Strava. But, everyone's different. I'd be interested to hear what about it demotivates you.

    My only issue with Garmin is that there's a discrepancy in how the exercise calories are counted and transferred to MFP. It's a subtle issue and I won't launch into it yet again (we've discussed it to death). Best practice for weight loss is to eat back any exercise calories conservatively, leaving a few "on the table."

    Best of luck!
  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 33,939 Member
    I lost 80ish pounds just using the tools on this site, and a digital food scale and a regular body-weight scale.

    FitBit will be there if/when you want to use it again.
  • Azurite27
    Azurite27 Posts: 554 Member
    I finally broke down and got a fitbit. I find it really helpful. Sometimes exercise doesn't get counted but I don't worry about it since it must not be strenuous enough to be a significant amount of calories. I do like seeing a better idea of how much I'm burning and need to eat on low activity days vs high activity days. The hourly activity goal thing can be a little anxiety inducing but I just need to learn to not let it affect me or it can be turned off if needed. The question should be why you feel it's demotivating?
  • glassyo
    glassyo Posts: 7,586 Member
    LOL I really need to know the answer to why it's demotivating too.
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 27,895 Member
    While I am supportive of your choice to ditch your fibit, I wanted to say if if it is demotivating because you keep finding yourself in a calorie deficit, you can set yourself to Sedentary and disable negative adjustments.

    I've lost a fitbit twice and feel no pressing urge to replace it. I have a "dumb" pedometer. I also use MapMyFitness on my phone, but log the exercise manually on MFP - I mostly like MapMyFitness for the map.
  • HoneyBadger302
    HoneyBadger302 Posts: 1,970 Member
    If anything I find it a little motivating, and I also enjoy the feedback as far as sleep patterns and such since it's helped me develop a realistic sleep routine/goal FOR ME, not just on how "tired" I may feel this day or that day.

    That said, I have no problem manually adding certain exercises or activities as needed, and also know there are days the info is a bit padded compared to what I actually accomplished.

    I got mine when I had a job where my activity level varied wildly one day to the next, and I was really struggling to figure out how much I could - or couldn't - eat. One week I may have been averaging over 20K steps a day, and the next week would be less than 8K/day....some days were even more extreme one day to the next. The FitBit helped me narrow down what I could consume over each particular week/day, and helped me get a better idea on actual energy expenditure with the variations.

    Prior to that job, I had a pretty set routine and jobs, so my activity was pretty similar day to day and I could just eat about the same amount each day and know I could lose. I didn't feel the need for a tracker at that time.
  • musicfan68
    musicfan68 Posts: 1,123 Member
    I also find it motivating. It makes me realize how few steps I get on some days, and motivates me to go out and walk more. I can't think of a reason it would be demotivating, but if it is to you, don't use it.
  • GinLee61
    GinLee61 Posts: 1,189 Member
    edited August 2022
    The opposite is true for me. Wearing my fitness tracker motivates me to move more. I also like that it monitors my heart rate, which allows me to track not only my exercise minutes but also my level of activity, eg intense, aerobic, anaerobic, etc. I truly think it has really helped to improve my cardiac fitness level. MFP does not support syncing with the brand that I have so I manually add my exercise minutes in each day in order to know how many calories I need to eat in order to stay healthy while continuing to lose.

    Not sure why it would be demotivating but if you find that to be the case for you then just don't use it.

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