fitbit monitors

gkr180
gkr180 Posts: 2
edited October 7 in Introduce Yourself
hi everyone, I am thinking of purchasing a fitbit monitor however most of my exercise comes from cycling, the question is, has anyone used one of these monitors and do they work while cycling. I tried to ask the question on their site and got no reply.

any input on this subject would be appreciated.

thanks

Replies

  • go2grrl
    go2grrl Posts: 190 Member
    I love my Fitbit mostly because it lets me know how much of my day is sedentary, lightly active, very active, etc so I can know what's working for me in terms of diet and what isn't. And the new sync with MFP is great. However, as it's a fancy pedometer, it's not designed to be used while cycling.

    The new sync method means you enter something like cycling here on MFP and plug in your numbers, either from your HRM or from MFP's calculations and it sends the info over to Fitbit.

    If you don't sync your Fitbit with MFP, you can log your cycling time as an activity over on Fitbit. You either enter it with info from an HRM or plug in time and intensity and let Fitbit figure out the rest.

    -Cynthia
  • TXPiper
    TXPiper Posts: 13
    Yep - what she said. :) You would manually entire your info for cycling. I do a rowing machine for my exercise and manually enter it. It is not a device that will register your activity when you are staying in one place. I have a Polar HRM that I have compared the FitBit estimation for my time on the rowing machine, and for at least that activity, they do a pretty good job estimating my calorie burn.
  • gkr180
    gkr180 Posts: 2
    thanks for the info. I guess I will stay with my polar hrm for the time being
  • jenfancher
    jenfancher Posts: 4 Member
    Do you take off the fitbit while cycling? Just got mine yesterday and I am unsure how logging exercise works between the two sites works. Any info is apprciated!
  • kristi_asco
    kristi_asco Posts: 183
    how can you connect the fitbit with MFP? i'm still not really sure how to work the darn thing! lol :laugh:
  • gregavila
    gregavila Posts: 723 Member
    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/apps/show/fitbit
    how can you connect the fitbit with MFP? i'm still not really sure how to work the darn thing! lol :laugh:
  • MissMaggie3
    MissMaggie3 Posts: 2,464 Member
    I really would like to know more about this too. I have very bad feet so can't walk very far or run. I use dvds at home (trying to stay low impact) and a stationary bike for cardio, and do a bit of weight training too. I'm into gadgets generally, and like the idea of linking up a fitbit with mfp, and have a birthday coming up! But I'm wondering if a fitbit is worth it for me, given that I don't walk much. I already use an iphone app to monitor my sleep. Does it do anything else?

    Any views?
  • kristi_asco
    kristi_asco Posts: 183
    it basically tells you how many calories you actually burn in a day just doing your normal daily tasks. i wear mine all the time now, even to work and class. when im at work it calculates extra calories burned if im running around like a chicken without a head or even just walking from class to class.

    then when i actually work out at the gym, i still wear it. a lot of times the machines at the gym don't give an accurate reading for how many calories you burned while working out. what i do is log what the machine tells me on MFP, and then it asks for the time you started your exercise. i put all that info in and then if i actually burned more than it says (which generally it always is) the fitbit updates MFP under your exercises to adjust how many calories you really burned off.

    i absolutely love mine and i'm so happy that i have one now! can't go a day without it!
  • kristi_asco
    kristi_asco Posts: 183
    oh and thank you greg for helping me link it!!
  • bmcdonough3
    bmcdonough3 Posts: 3 Member
    My friend and I are sketchy about buying a fitbit because they are so expensive. We do work outs like zumba. I have a lot of weight to lose, my roomie wants to tone and my other roomie has 100lbs to lose. Is it really worth buying it??
  • catshanle
    catshanle Posts: 16 Member
    I have only had my fitbit a few days but I absolutely love it. It has motivated me to do more steps etc. I noticed today that I was giving myself excuses to go upstairs more than usual just to see if I could get the 10 floor badge. I know how competitive I am with myself so I will be trying to outdo myself every day. This will be a big help for me doing exercising. It really is worth the money for me.
  • butterflycola
    butterflycola Posts: 7
    I have enjoyed my fitbit. I received it as a part of a bundle when I bought a xbox 360 Kinect for my family. I don't know that I would have bought it otherwise, but now that I have it, I love it and I wear it all the time. I enjoy the fact that the MFP site and Fitbit site is inactive and the calories are adjusted. I like the idea that is shows my sleep habits and exercise and activity habits. I LOVE MY FITBIT/MYFITNESSPAL.

    Francis
  • jezlightyear
    jezlightyear Posts: 167 Member
    i am very much considering buying myself a fitbit when i get paid next week... it just seems like such a great way to track my progress and give me more of an excuse to actually get out there and be mobile in the real world, not just on the treadmill all the time!
    if anyone has any comments about their fitbit experiences then i'd love to read more about it! (:
  • Fit_Canuck
    Fit_Canuck Posts: 788 Member
    I bought a fitbit a while back but I haven't been using it lately. I wouldn't mind learning how to use it better and merging it with this site properly.
  • tenax
    tenax Posts: 97
    i've had my fitbit exactly one month today...and i've lost 15 lb. it keeps me disciplined on my food and exercise, that simple. the best xmas gift i'ver received. i wear it all the time except when i sleep (charge time even though it will go 7 to 10 days without a charge.
  • SamanthaBurr
    SamanthaBurr Posts: 6 Member
    I got my fitbit last week and love it!! I lost about 2 lbs in the week. I like that it keeps me active. Like another poster said, I want to hit those goals. I wear mine all the time. I use it to track my sleep, though I really don't need to.

    I take classes at our gym, I just log as normal after a class, the once the fitbit syncs it will add extra calories that I didn't. I sync a few times a day and then check here and it almost always adds extra calories just from my normal daily routine.
  • pamh5555
    pamh5555 Posts: 191 Member
    Here is where you synch the two sites.

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/fitbit
  • lkrause52
    lkrause52 Posts: 4 Member
    As I said before, I received my Fitbit as a Christmas gift from my son. (It was on my Santa list.) I just actually started using it on Sunday. It has been a great motivator for me to get more exercise in. I walk the stairs in the morning when I get to my building to get the floor badge and make it a point to get the 10,000 steps in a day. I have a desk job so I'm sitting alot, but since starting to wear the device I find myself printing more often instead of putting a bunch ready to print so that I get more steps. I haven't weighed myself but will do that tomorrow. I am also more mindful of what I eat and have linked this account to my Fitbit account.
  • kRpRpLgRl
    kRpRpLgRl Posts: 59 Member
    Bump
  • ajalcazar
    ajalcazar Posts: 76 Member
    I have only had my fitbit a few days but I absolutely love it. It has motivated me to do more steps etc. I noticed today that I was giving myself excuses to go upstairs more than usual just to see if I could get the 10 floor badge. I know how competitive I am with myself so I will be trying to outdo myself every day. This will be a big help for me doing exercising. It really is worth the money for me.

    LMAO!! I just got my fitbit yesterday and did the exact same thing today at school/work.
  • beutlerr
    beutlerr Posts: 4 Member
    I had the fitbit for 90 days but took it back since it seemed cumbersome to remember and keep in my pocket. I was also afraid I would lose it. I did like the stair function - I will probably get the nike fuelband when I can buy it for the normal price. My dietition has told me NOT to count the calories I exercise and more food I get to eat - she said while I am losing weight that I need to concentrate on eating the required amount of calories to not gain weight -
  • rskolin
    rskolin Posts: 1
    The Nike Fuel Band definitely looks cool. But from what I have read and seen so far, it doesn't even compare with the Fitbit. For one, it measures "Nike fuel", which is a metric that Nike came up with. So if you work out and get 22,000 Nike fuel points, what exactly does that mean? The other things it measures are calories burned and steps; no stairs, distance or sleep. It's worn on the wrist, so the measurement you get is from how much you move your arm, which questions its accuracy. A question I have about that is, what if you're doing an activity where you aren't moving your arms, like say, cycling, shopping or walking and pushing a shopping cart of baby stroller? Plus, it's $50 more expensive and only works with iOS.
This discussion has been closed.

Categories