Starting tomorrow with a FitBit! Advice?

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Catie_v2
Catie_v2 Posts: 67
in Introduce Yourself
Thanks for reading my post! I spent my weekend getting ready to start this journey tomorrow morning. Grocery shopping - check; lunch packed - check; chicken marinating - check; FitBit charged - check!

Now comes the hard part... many of us have been at the place numerous times in our weight loss efforts. Riding on the high of starting a new program....scared of failing yet again...any advice???

I have another concern I am hoping someone can help me with - I got a FitBit to use to have a more immediate read on how my efforts are going...steps taken, calories burned...I remember reading somewhere that I am to track all my food and exercise on this site, not on FitBit - is that right? Also - I "linked" the devise to this account - but what exactly does that do for me? Will it upload the data to this site? I am confused......

For all the other newbies here - we can do this!! For all those that are into their journey...your advice, suggestions and ideas are very welcome. Thanks! :)

Replies

  • grnice
    grnice Posts: 96
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    Hi. I love the Fitbit. Yes, track everything on here and sync it, I think that's the best way to do it. I don't care for the Fitbit website. I think the Fitbit is a great motivational tool but don't count on it for precision accuracy. In my opinion it overestimates your calorie burn daily but some other people say it's on target for them. Play around with it for a while and make your own determination.

    Good luck!
  • Waszo
    Waszo Posts: 41
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    I have a friend who has a fitbit. It downloads onto this site. He loves it. I may buy one as my pedometer bit the dust, so I need to replace it.
  • tinahorton
    tinahorton Posts: 4
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    I haven't tried the FitBit, but I can tell you, this WORKS. I have lost 30 pounds since end of February when I started back up for the thrid time. I started My Fitness Pal, and stopped twice before this time took. Find something to keep you motivated, find a friend to challenge you. I'm doing this with some work friends, so while we're on our own journeys (with various pot holes) we see eachother to keep motivated.
    You can do this! No one said it was easy, it's just worth it. Keep motivated!
  • FitForLife81
    FitForLife81 Posts: 372 Member
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    Congrats on the fitbit I LOVE LOVE MINE!!!! I actually discovered my maintance i sooo much higher than what I thought!!! =) Yes depending on how you have your settings it will sink in calories giving you more to eat once you have hit x amount of steps. For me I have my my settings on sedentary and I put my calories to my BMR and I eat everything it gives me but I am in maintance.

    So if you are set to lose 1lb a week it will adjust depending on how active you are. If you are not active at all you may not see any adjustment but if you are extremely active it will give you calories burned under exercise =)
  • ferraroma
    ferraroma Posts: 13
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    I am using one as well. I find it to be a great motivator when I see I haven't moved a lot during the day. The device will upload as long as you are logged in and close to the charger. It looks for the device every fee minutes. Hope that helps good luck. You can do this.
  • Jadesmommy2003
    Jadesmommy2003 Posts: 36 Member
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    Holla!. I use fitbit and polar FT60 HRM. I love my ftbit. Getting your sleep on a cycle is super important. At least 7 hours with 95% or better efficiency. Friend people and go after those badges. They are a super rush. Park as far away from the door and take the stair every chance you get because not only does your body notice your fitbit does and it compliments you every day. Welcome to the fun.
    Crystal
  • juanjones
    juanjones Posts: 5
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    Hi, i am new also and i am starting on tomorrow. I wish you the best. :-)
  • sarahrbraun
    sarahrbraun Posts: 2,261 Member
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    I have had my fitbit for just over a month now, and have lost 5.6 pounds since I have had it! Log everything here on MFP, as there tends to be less chance of "double dipping" that way.

    I wear my fitbit on the center of my bra, and no one has mentioned ever seeing it ( although I HAVE shown it to a few people).

    when you do something more intense than walking/running such as strength training, workout DVDs...or something like biking or swimming that the fitbit cannot pick up...make note of your start time and end time, then log it as cardio here on MFP--it will overwrite that time period on the fitbit site and allow you to correct the burn.

    If your fitbit syncs multiple times a day, don't go crazy eating your exercise calories right away--they might change in 20 minutes when the fitbit site and MFP "talk". If they are still there in an hour, then eat them :D ( I love being able to eat like 1000 calories more because I *know* how active I am on a given day)
  • majones_orl
    majones_orl Posts: 195 Member
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    I got a fitbit this weekend. Playing around with it.
    I load all my foots on MFP, and link my fitbit to MFP.
    We can compare notes. Sending a friend request.
  • sarbar71
    sarbar71 Posts: 191 Member
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    Thanks for posting this question - I have been considering buying a fitbit but wasn't really sure what it was all about. Sounds pretty cool!
  • _Sally_
    _Sally_ Posts: 514 Member
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    I use my fitbit to track non-workout activities (stair climbing, steps per day,etc.), but don't wear it during sweaty workouts (I use a HRM instead and track the calories and time/duration on MFP and it zeros out any fitbit activity during that time) because it is sensitive to sweat and being on sweaty clothes can damage it (I found this out first hand and had to replace it).
  • Isaanne
    Isaanne Posts: 41 Member
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    Wow - great tip about the sweat. I have one and wore it for awhile but find I forget it most of the time. I am a fit bit wannabe user! :blushing:

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