Fitbit Or Bodybug?

[jenlyn122 9]

Do you have any preferences? If so, which one? I am trying to figure out my next purchase. Thanks!

[KhadijahRose 66]

Love, love, looooove my body bugg!! Best fitness tool I've ever purchased! I don't know what a fitbit is but I was first introduced to the bodybugg by beachbody fans, I love Chalean Johnson (maker of Turbo Jam, Turbo Fire and Chalean Extreme) and its been a major help in keeping me focused on my weight loss goals.

[shakey88 37]

I have a FitBit and love it. I do not own a body bugg so I can't speak on that.

[pen527 6]

I just looked at these online and the fitbit looks so cool! I decided that I'm going to order one on Thursday when I get paid! How exciting! And.... my husband wants me to join the gym. If he's behind me on that, I'll really get in shape!

I'm totally geeked!!! Thanks for your post, you've got me going!

[TexasDianne 5]

I had a bodybugg for a while and it was AWESOME. I loved going through my day and then getting home and downloading my info and seeing that I needed to get up and move my butt for 30 mins if I wanted to hit my deficit for the day. It was very motivating for exercise.

[SageTracey 608]

I have the Body Media Fit and it's great. I can see how many calories burned, steps walked and even how much sleep I've had.

[Rachael1 5]

Fitbit is what I have, I love it. I clamp it on the middle of my bra, or on my pants or stick it in my pocket! LOVE IT! I can't speak to the bodybug.

[NWgirl 574]

There is another post about the Fitbit vs. Bodybugg going on http://www.lapbandtalk.com/topic/138780-fitbit/page__fromsearch__1.

What I posted there:

I have had both the Bodybugg and the Fitbit.

I started out with the Bodybugg in September 2010, and when the renewal came up on my subscription, I decided I was going to test the Fitbit vs Bodybugg. After two weeks I decided I wanted to keep the fitbit and sell the Bodybugg. Pros/cons of each item are below...

Pros for both items:

- Very accurate calorie counts

- measurement of low activity, medium activity, and high activity

- food logging

- variety of reports (when I ended my subscription, Fitbit did have more report types available (sleep, etc)

Cons of Bodybugg

- Big and bulky- must be worn on upper arm for best accuracy. Is very noticeable and attracts a lot of attention.

- A lot of people develop rashes under the strap and system due to moisture

- must pay membership fee to get access to website. If you let membership lapse, you cannot have access to your old data.

- food logging was far from great and often timed out.

Pros of Fitbit

- Free membership with option to upgrade to a premium membership. If you are a serious numbers person, then this is good, but otherwise the basic membership should fulfill all needs (shows food logs, activity logs, sleep logs)

- Small and easily hidden. I wear my Fitbit on my bra.

- built in display showing calories burned, steps, distance and (with the new Ultra) floors climbed

- GREAT customer service.

- much cheaper than Bodybugg

Overall, I really can't say anything negative about the Fitbit. It does everything the Bodybugg does at a fraction of the original cost and without any required membership fees.

I did have a problem with my original Fitbit before the one year warranty was up, and Fitbit immediately sent me out a brand new Ultra at no charge. Bodybugg customer service seemed lacking when I contacted them on occasion.

The bodybugg also stated I burned 300 more calories in a day than the Fitbit- I'm not sure which is more accurate, but I would rather be under stating vs. overstating my burns.

[TexasDianne 5]

Steph, thank you so much for such a great post. This is really helpful to me.

I have a first generation BodyBug, which I loved...but I do not like anything that requires me to have a membership (am I made of money? NO!) and I am one of the people who would break out where the bug "sat" on the back of my arm. Drove me nuts.

I'm going to look into FitBit.

I know the Bug monitors all your functions through changes in the skin's temp and texture, etc...not sure how FitBit can do that if it's clipped onto a bra, though, so I'd like to read through their FAQ's and see how it really works.

Having read your very organized and thoughtful post, though, it seems like Fit Bit is definitely the way to go. Thank you again so much for posting all this info!

[jenlyn122 9]

Steph, this is exactly what I needed! THANK YOU! As Dianne stated, I am not sure how FitBit monitors on your bra or pocket. Any thoughts?

[NWgirl 574]

I remember reading that the Fitbit is modeled after the system that the Wii uses to track movement... I'm not really sure how it works, but I'm guessing that there is some kind of motion field it uses to almost visualize what movement the body is making.

Like I said, the only real difference between the Bodybugg and the Fitbit is size, cost, and a small discrepancy in calorie counts.

I have tested the step tracker and as long as you put in your own stride length and don't leave it at default, the step count is right on. I really encourage you to buy the Fitbit and test it- you can always return if you don't like it.

For myself, I figured it was a very small amount to pay for such an investment in my own health.

Good luck

[thebandedman 3]

I use the BodyBugg S smartphone version. It does what I need it to do.

TBM

[Thee-O 15]

I have a Fit Bit and it is awesome. I am currently Beta testing FitBit syncing with MyFitnessPal and it is working great. LOVE IT!

[blondeej 111]

LOVE my Bodymedia Fit (same as BodyBugg). Don't know anything about the Fit Bit.

[blondeej 111]

I have a Fit Bit and it is awesome. I am currently Beta testing FitBit syncing with MyFitnessPal and it is working great. LOVE IT!

What's that mean?? I am not tech-savvy. lol BUT I AM a MFP junkie... would LOVE for my BMF to synch with my MFP!!!