FitBit

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ogmama12
ogmama12 Posts: 23 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Has anyone tried this? I really want to, but want to hear what other people think before shelling out the dough.

Replies

  • ChrissiesGettingHealthy
    ChrissiesGettingHealthy Posts: 117
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    Agreed! I'd love to hear from someone whos already got one
  • Cal28
    Cal28 Posts: 514 Member
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    I started looking at this but I'm confused as to the difference between this and a HRM really. I've just ordered a Polar FT60 instead though (the FT4 is cheaper and I've been told its also pretty good) I think this might be for more day to day?
  • ogmama12
    ogmama12 Posts: 23 Member
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    The FitNit tracks sleep, steps, distance, calories burned, if you took the stairs (it has an accelerometer like in the wii), and there are fun things, like messages it gives you and a flower that grows or shrinks based on activity level. It also has a website that tracks your info. Google it. It really looks neat, but it's kinda pricey, at $99.
  • LadyFaile
    LadyFaile Posts: 60
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    I looked into this last week. After reading the reviews, I've decided against buying one. The concept is good, but there seems to be a lot of quality issues. And unfortunately these issues are showing up in the more recent reviews, not just older ones. I'm think that I'll spring for a HRM instead if I end up picking up a tool along these lines.
  • glassyo
    glassyo Posts: 7,653 Member
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    I have a fitbit and love it. In fact, I didn't start more or less consistently losing weight until I started paying attention to the fitbit numbers. I mainly maintained or lost .2 lbs each week with the mfp numbers, got a bodybugg and didn't believe for a second that I burned 300 calories more a day than the fitbit said (I've since started using the bodybugg website to it's full advantage so it could "learn" me so that's helped). And the fitbit is usually very close to my hrm numbers during exercise.

    But I also walk for exercise and do very little strength training.

    ALSO, their customer service is awesome so I'm not worried if it does happen to break (and I've had it for maybe a year and a half and it still works perfectly fine).
  • changeisintheair
    changeisintheair Posts: 1
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    I have a FitBit and love it. It tracks everything related to steps (walking, running, climbing stairs) throughout the day. It's definitely motivated me to move more and I love challenging myself to see how many steps I can get in a day.

    But I'm also a data geek, and I love seeing the minute-by-minute data on my workout. And the rest of the day it gives you data on how active you are within 5 minute intervals. If you don't care about the data, then maybe it's less exciting. :)

    I've had no problems so far and really love it.
  • Howbouto
    Howbouto Posts: 2,121 Member
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    I have the Fitbit and love it! Also it syncs w/ MFP and you only track food here and moves it to the fitbit site. As for quality issue, I would not worry about it, they have hands down the best customer service I have ever worked with. I bought mine when they were backordered so I ordered through Ebay. 2 months in, it stopped syncing. I email CS thinking they would tell me to go fly a kite I didn't buy it from them. They walked me through the reset process and when that didn't work they overnighted me a new one. In July, my husband washed it and it was ruined. I was going to ask for a new one for Christmas so I emailed them to get a discount as a returning customer. They overnighted me a new one FREE!!!! (They stated if I ruined this one I would need to pay to replace it).

    I also highly recommend it for a motivation tool. I can look down and see how active I have or haven't been. A HRM monitor gives you a very accurate amount for the caloires you burn during a workout but does not work accurately when your heart rate is under 100 bpm. This is the reason you can't where a HRM for long periods of time to get calorie burn. The fitbit allows minor exercise to add up, parking further away, taking stairs ect.
  • jdaddy615
    jdaddy615 Posts: 25
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    my work actually sponsored a challenge, and purchased over a thousand of them for team members to participate...with generally positive results. It's likely due to the fact that we ordered such a large quantity that we noticed the defective ones and issues more than a single user, but there were several issues. I personally went through two of them where the display stopped functioning after a few days of use. Several other people had the same issue, as well as unrepairable software issues, cracked plastics, not counting steps/counting too many, etc. I personally would not recommend them to anyone; however, with the few cases I heard about out of the 1000+ that were handed out, the scope of issues seems less severe.
    I will note that the company's customer service is amazing though. I was always responded to quickly, and in a friendly matter. Everyone who has had issues received replacements (some received several due to reoccuring issues). So, if it is something that intersts you, try it out...if you get a crap one, at least their customer service will fix your issue quickly...when they work, they are pretty cool.

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