Fitbit, Fuelband, etc..

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eso2012
eso2012 Posts: 337 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
Has anyone tried Fitbit, Nike Fuelband or similar products? Curious about your experience and recommendations. Thanks!
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  • eso2012
    eso2012 Posts: 337 Member
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    Bump!
  • butlerchr
    butlerchr Posts: 1
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    I've been wondering the same thing. From what I've been able to discover in research Nike fuelband is little more locked down in that you can't manually add exercises it can't track (swimming, biking, etc) or track caloric intake. Fitbit seems to be a little more open since you manually add those activities. It seems that using fitbit and MyFitnessPal (MFP) is one of the better options.
  • terraskye
    terraskye Posts: 370 Member
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    I'm torn between those or upgrading my polar hrm. the fuelband looks awesome but then again i want to make sure it works properly. The fitbit looks promising but I'm worried I'll lose it in a week.


    decisions decisions
  • Resalyn
    Resalyn Posts: 528 Member
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    I have the Fitbit, been using it about a month, love it! But if you are used to using an HRM while you work out, you will be disappointed in the Fitbit. It really is more of a regular daily activity tracker, tracking steps, floors climbed, and you can also wear it while you sleep and it will track basic sleep efficiency too.

    It also will track your calories burned based on your basic BMR - and will track distance accurately if you enter your walking and running stride lengths into the website. But it really won't replace your HRM. I know there are peeps on here who have both - wear the HRM while doing heavy workouts and the Fitbit the rest of the time....

    I personally love it because it gives me feedback throughout the day which gives me goals to shoot for. LIke right now, I know I've already climbed 7 floors today - so I better take a few "stair breaks" at work because my personal goal is to get over 25 floors today...
  • Speedtrap
    Speedtrap Posts: 216
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    I have been using the fitbit for about 5 months now and I love it.
    It tracks my movements through out the day, but most of all it is a motivator.

    I choose the stairs more often, I will walk more rather than drive.

    Just remember it is a tool, and IMO a good one, but it is not accurate when compared to my HRM.
  • OLFATUG
    OLFATUG Posts: 393 Member
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    My wife bought me a Fuelband, and I am disappointed with it. It's a stylish looking watch, and does a great job of tracking steps and calories whilst running. It doesn't capture *anything* with other workouts (spin classes, strength training, etc.). It doesn't connect to a HRM at all, and as another user said it does not allow you to manually update anything either.
  • eso2012
    eso2012 Posts: 337 Member
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    My wife bought me a Fuelband, and I am disappointed with it. It's a stylish looking watch, and does a great job of tracking steps and calories whilst running. It doesn't capture *anything* with other workouts (spin classes, strength training, etc.). It doesn't connect to a HRM at all, and as another user said it does not allow you to manually update anything either.

    Good to know! My husband was about to get me one - I think we need to rethink the usability of Fuelband. Thanks.
  • eso2012
    eso2012 Posts: 337 Member
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    I have the Fitbit, been using it about a month, love it! But if you are used to using an HRM while you work out, you will be disappointed in the Fitbit. It really is more of a regular daily activity tracker, tracking steps, floors climbed, and you can also wear it while you sleep and it will track basic sleep efficiency too.

    It also will track your calories burned based on your basic BMR - and will track distance accurately if you enter your walking and running stride lengths into the website. But it really won't replace your HRM. I know there are peeps on here who have both - wear the HRM while doing heavy workouts and the Fitbit the rest of the time....

    I personally love it because it gives me feedback throughout the day which gives me goals to shoot for. LIke right now, I know I've already climbed 7 floors today - so I better take a few "stair breaks" at work because my personal goal is to get over 25 floors today...

    Thanks for the insights! What HRM do you use?
  • Awkward30
    Awkward30 Posts: 1,927 Member
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    I know you didn't ask about it, but I love the body media fit type devices. I use a bodybugg, but the interface and stuff is better for body media fit. Some people think it doesn't do well with biking and you can't wear it while swimming, but I pretty much just wear it all the time and eat 500 less than whatever it tells me and voila! instant deficit.
  • Resalyn
    Resalyn Posts: 528 Member
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    I have the Fitbit, been using it about a month, love it! But if you are used to using an HRM while you work out, you will be disappointed in the Fitbit. It really is more of a regular daily activity tracker, tracking steps, floors climbed, and you can also wear it while you sleep and it will track basic sleep efficiency too.

    It also will track your calories burned based on your basic BMR - and will track distance accurately if you enter your walking and running stride lengths into the website. But it really won't replace your HRM. I know there are peeps on here who have both - wear the HRM while doing heavy workouts and the Fitbit the rest of the time....

    I personally love it because it gives me feedback throughout the day which gives me goals to shoot for. LIke right now, I know I've already climbed 7 floors today - so I better take a few "stair breaks" at work because my personal goal is to get over 25 floors today...

    Thanks for the insights! What HRM do you use?

    I don't use an HRM, haven't spent the money on one yet - but I've heard good things about the Polar FT6 and Polar FT7....
  • professorRAT
    professorRAT Posts: 690 Member
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    I have a fuelband and a bodybugg. I am a little dissapointed in the fuelband. It really tracks arm movements, so if you are on a bike with your hands on the bars it won't pick up anything. It also doesn't pick up much during strength training. If you are primarily a jogger or walker it might be fine. On the up side, it is encouraging me to try to get more steps in throughout my normal day!

    The Bodybugg is cool because it uses other things (heart rate, etc) to estimate calories burned. However, you have to pay for a subscription to upload the data. So, it has drawbacks too. It is also clunky and not as easy to wear as the fuelband. For the bodybugg, however, you can use it temporarily until you get a good idea of how many calories you burn under various scenarios.

    Like with most things, it depends on your specific situation. Pros and cons to all of them!
  • dewgirl321
    dewgirl321 Posts: 296 Member
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    I know you didn't ask about it, but I love the body media fit type devices. I use a bodybugg, but the interface and stuff is better for body media fit. Some people think it doesn't do well with biking and you can't wear it while swimming, but I pretty much just wear it all the time and eat 500 less than whatever it tells me and voila! instant deficit.

    Same here. It really takes the guesswork out of the process and eliminates the need to add up a bunch of activities / exercises. I have the bodybugg as well, and have also heard the bodymedia site is better. It's only about $5-10 per month for the subscription so don't let that scare you off!
  • hsrunningmom
    hsrunningmom Posts: 126 Member
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    bump
  • laurae
    laurae Posts: 115 Member
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    I just recently got a Fitbit and love it! I still use my heart rate monitor for my main workout of the day, but the Fitbit is great for knowing my overall daily calorie burn. I do wear it for the daily workout as well, but I am sure to log my time in MFP when logging the exercise so the Fitbit can adjust itself accordingly when it syncs.
  • 1amdeev
    1amdeev Posts: 42 Member
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    I have the Fitbit and I love it. I got it about 6 weeks ago and I use it with MFP. I love all the information it collects throughout the day and use it to motivate me to move more and more each day. The one caveat is that I have actually had it fall off of my waistband at least twice. I was lucky that once I was with someone saw it fall off my waist and the second time it actually slipped off while I was driving. I would have been absolutely devestated if I lost it. So the lesson is make sure you clip it on securely. Great product for me.
  • Jacwhite22
    Jacwhite22 Posts: 7,012 Member
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    Has anyone tried Fitbit, Nike Fuelband or similar products? Curious about your experience and recommendations. Thanks!

    I have both. If I had to pick one I would go with the fitbit. It is more accurate and easier to use. I do like the social aspect of the fuelband and several times it has caused me to push longer at the end of the day because I have hit cal goal on fitbit but hadn't hit nike fuel goal yet. I dont allow myself to miss either goal....
  • Raddichio
    Raddichio Posts: 163 Member
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    I just recently got a Fitbit and love it! I still use my heart rate monitor for my main workout of the day, but the Fitbit is great for knowing my overall daily calorie burn. I do wear it for the daily workout as well, but I am sure to log my time in MFP when logging the exercise so the Fitbit can adjust itself accordingly when it syncs.


    Can you explain what you mean by logigng your exercise time at MFP so Fitbit can adjust itself when it syncs? Does Fitbit actually sync with MFP? I thought it synced with the Fitbit site, using the provided software? What adjustment does it make with exercise recorded at MFP?

    I have been thinking about getting a Fitbit myself, so I'm really interested in knowing more about how you use it and the practical applications it would provide. I also have a Polar HRM and just recenty started recording the calories it gives for exercise sessions on MFP.
  • Raddichio
    Raddichio Posts: 163 Member
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    bump to see if we can get more comments.
  • mabear74
    mabear74 Posts: 248
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    I'm another bodymedia fit lover.........I have actually had mine for 3 years now, and couldn't imagine not having it. It keeps me honest! I also have a fitbit ultra but I don't like it as much, especially since I noticed it counting steps while I was driving on some back country roads (which I'm on several times a day)
  • KelliW_runner
    KelliW_runner Posts: 150 Member
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    There is a fitbit user group on this site.

    To answer the original question, I have a fitbit and a Garmin Forerunner 610 HRM. I wear the fitbit all day and wear the HRM just for running, high intensity hiking, or indoor cardio. The fitbit runs a calculation to estimate calorie burn, which is a useful guide but not 100% accurate. More useful to monitor relative activity levels. The HRM provides more accurate calorie burns which you can use to override with manual activities on fitbit website.

    All fitbit activities can be set to sync with MFP. So you log activities on fitbit and log food on MFP and the sites talk to each other. Very handy and has been successful for me for the last 4 months.

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