Official: FitBit Thread

[tlong 0]

Try www.myfooddiary.com

You log your food, exercise, notes, etc. I LOVE IT!!!!! And....It's FREE!!

I need a way to keep track of the calories I am burning doing my Couch to 5k and just being active. Is the Fitbit worth buying for this purpose? For those who have Fitbit's do you like them? How do they work?

[Disney 20]

If you are looking for something for the purpose of training in walking, running, or biking, then I would also suggest checking out the Garmin Forerunner 305 GPS watch. It's worn like a watch and tells you in real time your speed distance covered, minutes passes, heartrate and calorie burn. I am not sure how much the fitbit is but the Garmin runs $135 through Amazon. It comes ready to go for outdoor workouts. If you want to track your pace on a treadmill you'll also have to purchase the footpod which I think runs$50 more.

The Forerunner isn't for tracking calories and steps around the clock, but it is awesome for training. The data from the watch is later downloaded to a free site that shows your route on a map. You can click of any point and see your pace and heartrate in that point. It also shows overviews of the entire workout and stores all of your workouts.

I had a body bugg and while I found it interesting I wasn't dedicated enough to wear it all of the time. I like the Garmin's accuracy and detail a lot.My husband and I both have one as we train for a 1/2 marathon and we never leave on a walk/run without them. Just thought I'd toss it out there.

Good luck in your search!

Amanda

This sounds exactly like what I have been wanting. Do you know why it can track outdoor runs, but not treadmill runs (without the footpod) ? Thanks for any info on this

[wishes 125]

Oh wow, forerunner sounds awesome. I second Disney's question.

[lunarose 97]

The reason the Forerunner doesn't work on a treadmill is that it works by gps so as far as its concern you haven't moved. I am not too sure about a track depends on sensitivity. I used Timex's version had to wear a chest strap to get heart rate I found it a little complicated. You can find some good deals on used ones on Ebay I bought my bodybugg V2 (less popular because it uses AAA batteries rather then the rechargeable lithium V1 and V3 have) for less than $50. Membership through Bodymedia allows you to buy a month to month membership $13 while Apex/bodybugg.com makes you buy a six month membership $79.

[TijuanaPlication 87]

BTW one down side to the Garmin is that it doesn't calculate calories based on your heart rate... what kind of heart rate monitor is that!! Below is a copy and paste I got from product.support@garmin.com

"The forerunner 305 calculates calories

burned based on time, speed and distance. It DOES NOT USE THE HEART RATE

TO CALCULATE CALORIES, this is why such a low calorie count has been

calculated"

This was in response to my email asking "apparently only burnt 198 calories in 90 minutes when average heart rate was 150"

When you link it up to the software it provides for your PC you get a funny graph plotting where you've traveled. I was doing Step aerobics and it just looks like a doodle and you're just forwards, backwards and side to side.

I guess I need to get the footpod that Amanda131 talks about in her post. Shame that Garmin didn't think to mention that in their email to me.

If you are looking for something for the purpose of training in walking, running, or biking, then I would also suggest checking out the Garmin Forerunner 305 GPS watch. It's worn like a watch and tells you in real time your speed distance covered, minutes passes, heartrate and calorie burn. I am not sure how much the fitbit is but the Garmin runs $135 through Amazon. It comes ready to go for outdoor workouts. If you want to track your pace on a treadmill you'll also have to purchase the footpod which I think runs$50 more.

The Forerunner isn't for tracking calories and steps around the clock, but it is awesome for training. The data from the watch is later downloaded to a free site that shows your route on a map. You can click of any point and see your pace and heartrate in that point. It also shows overviews of the entire workout and stores all of your workouts.

I had a body bugg and while I found it interesting I wasn't dedicated enough to wear it all of the time. I like the Garmin's accuracy and detail a lot.My husband and I both have one as we train for a 1/2 marathon and we never leave on a walk/run without them. Just thought I'd toss it out there.

Good luck in your search!

Amanda

[kate 0]

I need a way to keep track of the calories I am burning doing my Couch to 5k and just being active. Is the Fitbit worth buying for this purpose? For those who have Fitbit's do you like them? How do they work?

why not just register on fit a day it keeps track of everything from calories from exercise to food intake

[Indymom 132]

I LOVE my fitbit! I was lucky enough to get it free from work (I'm taking part in a study). I like that it not only tracks your steps but your intensity as well - so I can look on the chart and see what times of the day I was more active, like briskly walking on a hiking trail vs. meandering around costco or the supermarket. I wear mine right in the middle of my bra and it seems to be pretty accurate (I think it might be a little generous on the number of steps but once you are using it consistently you'll know your baseline and can just improve from there, even if the step count is a tad bit higher than it should be).

I have been tracking all my food and you can build new foods if they aren't already in their database. They have a big database of restaurants too. I'm working with a fitbit coach due to the study, and she explained that for exercises that won't track well (like biking) you can just take off the fitbit during that time and then manually log that activity on the website. Same thing for swimming since you wouldn't be wearing it in the pool.

I can download all my tracking so that when I go to see my nutritionist I can print out my activity log, my food logs, etc.

Did I mention that I LOVED my Fitbit??

[dusaki3 1]

Fitbit tracks your calories burned, steps taken, distance traveled and sleep quality

It is very easy to carry.Simply carry it in your pocket or clip it to your clothing, and the Fitbit automatically keeps track of your fitness and sleep.Anytime when you walk by the included wireless base station, data from your Fitbit is silently uploaded

[wishes 125]

Seems definitely like a great pedometer, but I think I am more interested in a HRM to keep track of all my calories burned.

[dusaki3 1]

What about Fitbit... Is it really work???

[Shalon 10]

I just got the fitbit last week and I am not sure I am very impressed, so I decided to look for a thread on this site. This morning I got up and walked down the hallway and it was 16 steps, yet the fitbit also registered 47. It also says I have burned over 350 calories today, when all I did was walk down the hallway and sit on the couch.

I am considering sending it back. I don't think it's all that accurate.

[lessofme2010 25]

The fitbit works with the same technology as the wii.

The website is free to use to track everything!!

It is very reliable as far as steps go. You can wear it on your waist band or just keep it in your pocket.

The sleep tracker is cool and very interesting feedback.

You put the fitbit in a special wristband that it comes with and it tells you how long it took you to fall asleep also how many times you woke up.

It is usually 100.00 but goes on sale for 79.00 from tme to time. Definatly worth it in my opinion. I was looking into the body bugg when I bought mine. the seller for me is the website is free .. Not with the body bugg.

Julie

[runner 53]

I use dailymile.com

[Sonja 16]

I've heard they weren't accurate at all!

[Shalon 10]

I actually tweeted them with my issues and they sent me a new one. So far so good and completely accurate. It really does motivate you because I have been taking the stairs at work to get "credit" for them instead of the elevator. Mission accomplished.