FitBit Ultra??

tiger12gal
tiger12gal Posts: 68 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
I just looked at the tools section on this site and there is something about a FitBit. Anyone one have one or use it? Is it worth the $100?

Thanks!!

Replies

  • bbturbofiregirl
    bbturbofiregirl Posts: 24
    I use the Polar! It was under $100 and works great.
  • reereejandro
    reereejandro Posts: 62 Member
    I am wondering how you guy use this device and how you corporate it into MFP... please advise :)
  • sarahrbraun
    sarahrbraun Posts: 2,261 Member
    it is a fancy pedometer....once you get it, go to the tools section and there is a button for syncing your fitbit with MFP.

    I actually just WEAR my fitbit and it does everything else. When I walk by my computer, it syncs with the fitbit site, which sends info to MFP. I get a "fitbit adjustment" under my exercise tab--today I already have 700+ calories from my workout this morning and general walking around ( like going to feed the chickens, etc). It's a little glitchy for me when it comes to stairs climbed ( I think it counts my sit-ups, etc as steps climbed), but that isn't something super important to me. It gives me a fairly good estimation of how many calories I burn 24/7, and no one has mentioned seeing it ( clipped to the center of my bra). I have lost over 8 pounds in the 6 1/2 weeks I have owned it.....
  • pooki24
    pooki24 Posts: 31
    I bought my fitbit a couple weeks ago and have been using it religiously. I love it because I like to challenge myself with the step and floor counts. There is a whole FitBit users group on here so you can do more research, but I highly recommend it.

    http://www.myfitnesspal.com/forums/show/1307-fitbit-users

    Note: I only use it to track steps, activity, and sleep. All my meals and exercise are tracked here. That seems the simplest way to avoid conflicts. When I go for a run, I start the activity timer on the fitbit and stop it when I finish. Then I log my run in at MFP along with the exact start time (which FB logs on your FB page) and then this is synced with FB. It's an extra step but only takes secs since I open both pages at the same time.

    As you look thru the user group, you will see that people can make it much more complicated, but I like to keep it simple.

    Hope this helps.
    Todd
  • MsTonyaRenee
    MsTonyaRenee Posts: 116 Member
    I bought one a few weeks ago as well. I love it. I feel like I get a better estimate of my actual activity level. So instead of logging my exercise I let my fitbit sync the amount of calories I've burned. It helps me realize when I am being just plain lazy or if maybe I need to eat a bit more because I've had a super active day. I had a hard time paying $100 bucks at first but I think it was worth it!
  • Curt959
    Curt959 Posts: 21
    I've had my Fitbit for ~ 4 months and I love it! It has been a great tool (working in concert with MFP) for me in my weight loss journey, I highly recommend it! Goooooooooo Tigerssssssssssssss!
  • pooki24
    pooki24 Posts: 31
    Sarah, I'm glad you brought up steps, since I forgot to mention it...for me, it works pretty well, and after today, I'm actually impressed. It has altimeter to track steps, so it works on inclines as well as stairs. It shouldn't be counting your sit-ups/crunches since you are not gaining altitude, so this may be another problem you are having...or maybe you have inclines that you weren't counting as steps.

    BTW, I would say it is worth the $100
  • bmw4deb
    bmw4deb Posts: 1,324 Member
    I have the polar hrm as well but I LOVE MY FITBIT it really oushes me to make sure and
    hit my goals each day 200% worth 100.00
  • melonclarinet
    melonclarinet Posts: 163 Member
    I love mine. I actually just stopped right now to sync mine (my laptop was off all day). I love that it communicates with MFP without me doing anything. I sometimes wonder how accurate it is...can it tell the difference between me walking on a treadmill with a 0 incline and a 15 incline? Not sure, but I love it none-the-less.
  • SueMizZou
    SueMizZou Posts: 140 Member
    I bought a fitbit in October and love it. I've lost 16 lbs since the purchase. It really keeps me motivated to move. Check out the fitbit website for more information.
  • Masq
    Masq Posts: 191 Member
    I like the fitbit too!
    I tried the fitbit and the Bodybugg for 2 weeks and returned the bodybugg. :wink:

    I did a comparison review on my blog..... http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/Masq

    I also ordered 3 fitbits on e bay for about $85 each
  • Penelope2Plyr
    Penelope2Plyr Posts: 166 Member
    Very definitely worth the $100 bucks. In fact I somehow lost mine while wearing it this week, and I ordered another one the very same day. Can't wait til it arrives tomorrow.
  • Bob314159
    Bob314159 Posts: 1,178 Member
    For me it has been well worth it - it measures general activity and walking/running - and that's all I need. It will not measure calories burned for other activities, but allows you to manually (on your computer) enter the time and duration of things like bicycling and that will be incorporated into your stats..

    When it sites on my belt it keeps a daily tally of steps, stairs climbed, calories burned, so I can look at it and decide if I met my quota for the day. You cannot look at previous days without having computer access.

    I just took it on vacation and managed to get up to 20,000 steps a day, 2 months ago I was lucky if I did 3000
  • MMoriarty2012
    MMoriarty2012 Posts: 31
    <snip>

    I actually just WEAR my fitbit and it does everything else. <snip>

    This is me ... I set my MFP profile to "sedentary", MFP imports the data from the Fitbit site which pulls it from my Fitbit, and then any walking that I do that's more than MFP's calculation of sedentary gets logged as calories to eat back. :smile:

    I have an earlier Fitbit that came out before the Fitbit Ultra version, and if I lost it then I'd have to go out and replace it, it's a valuable part of my lifestyle change and has been part of my MFP utilization since I started back in February.
  • mmmyotwnz
    mmmyotwnz Posts: 119 Member
    I was wondering the same thing. I have another app that asks if I have it.
    I spent 65 on a pedometer/HRM/BP watch in April. It is interesting to use, but it doesn't talk to the computer or have a downloading capacity. I wish I had waited.
    It will be awhile before I have the extra funds to purchase one since i am moving a child into her University and new apartment. Now I have some knowledge to back it up with.
  • PaniStasia
    PaniStasia Posts: 4
    I like mine, because not even counting my workouts for the day, my total energy expenditure varies greatly from day-to-day because of my job. I don't fit into any of the MFP activity categories, because depending on what I'm doing at my job that day, I could be sitting at my desk for 8 hours, or today by the time I finished my rounds at the hospital at 4PM, I had already gone over 12,000 steps and climbed 25 flights of stairs. I used to be conservative on my MFP calorie goals and would put myself as sedentary so I didn't overeat on my less active days, and so I was grossly underestimating my caloric needs on my really active days at work. The Fitbit lets me have more realistic calorie goals by adjusting for all my extra non-exercise activities that are difficult to log. It has also definitely helped to push me further on my more sedentary days - I can tell my choices to take the stairs are having an impact, and it motivates me to do more.
  • sarahrbraun
    sarahrbraun Posts: 2,261 Member
    Sarah, I'm glad you brought up steps, since I forgot to mention it...for me, it works pretty well, and after today, I'm actually impressed. It has altimeter to track steps, so it works on inclines as well as stairs. It shouldn't be counting your sit-ups/crunches since you are not gaining altitude, so this may be another problem you are having...or maybe you have inclines that you weren't counting as steps.

    BTW, I would say it is worth the $100

    I know I only had 2 (legitimate) flights of steps on my fitbit when I sat down on the back extension machine...but by the time I got done with back extensions, seated crunches, and squats, I had picked up 3 more flights. flights of steps aren't anything I generally worry about...but it sure was interesting when I helped my parents move--30+ flights in less than 6 hours!
  • tiger12gal
    tiger12gal Posts: 68 Member
    Thank you for the input! Now to find the money for one!
  • dalyshas
    dalyshas Posts: 1
    I have noticed added flights when there shouldn't be--mine were while driving and I live in TX where it is pretty flat! :smile:

    If you put the fitbit in activity mode before you start doing your exercises, that might help. (Long press the button to begin the stopwatch, long press again to stop it). Then when you sync up, you can go to the log. There will be an activity log for the time you were in the activity mode. If you manually log an activity with the same start/end as the timestamp of that, fitbit will remove the steps/floors/calories logged and instead add the calories from the manual activity. You can have it calculate for you or you can manually put that in to.

    It's really awesome!

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