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Fitbit Exercise Tracking

myDeaconmyhand

myDeaconmyhand

First man to get a team of horses up Bear Mountain
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There is a health and exercise program for Wake employees called TLC and they track your exercise with fitbits. I'm going crazy with this thing! I have an IT job that requires a fair bit of walking, but now I get anxious every time I sit down for more than 5 or 10 minutes. I had seen these before I joined the program, but I thought it would be a waste of money because I don't exercise much. Now i'm trying to up my score every day like it's a video game or something. Has anyone else had a similar experience with a fitbit, jawbone, fuelband, etc.?
 
Wife got me a fitbit last week. The sleep thingy is cool. Other than that its like a step tracker - I synced it to my phone, so I look to make sure I haven't slothed it up during the day or if I need to go for a run after dinner. It is somewhat ok looking too, not as bulky as that nike thing.
 
I've used a Fitbit every day for almost a year. I really like it. It makes me very hesitant to miss a day of working out. I think it overestimates miles done on a treadmill a little and I don't know how accurate the stairs measurements are, but I am still a huge fan. I was surprised about how useful and seemingly accurate the sleep measurements are.

One warning. If you have a Fitbit (like I do) as opposed to one of the newer wristband ones, wear it clipped on the inside your pocket or it will fall off at some point. I've had several near losses.
 
I love my Fitbit. I don't have it synced to compete with anyone else, but it definitely motivates me to walk and move more.

I actually had the opposite experience though in terms of thinking it under counted my mileage when I was running a lot training for a half. I would map a route on the computer and Fitbit usually ended up a little short.
 
There is a goldmine waiting for someone who modifies this thing to track the amount of whacking off someone does and then routes the data to a central website to compete against other compulsive whackers.
 
LadyDeac03 said:
I love my Fitbit. I don't have it synced to compete with anyone else, but it definitely motivates me to walk and move more.

I actually had the opposite experience though in terms of thinking it under counted my mileage when I was running a lot training for a half. I would map a route on the computer and Fitbit usually ended up a little short.
Click to expand...

I only find it over-estimating for treadmill miles, not road miles. It may have something to do with my stride length, but it definitely gives me more miles than I run on the treadmill.
 
I find the stairs estimate to be nonsense and I ignore that. The sleep data is interesting trivia. Frankly it's good for tracking walking and nothing else, it does not track running with any degree of accuracy, let alone something like an elliptical machine or a bike.

I'm not the world's biggest FitBit fan and I wouldn't buy it again if I were to lose the one I've got. However, I do find on recovery days that I do try to make sure I do some extra walking so I don't have a negative calorie adjustment when it syncs to another site I use.
 
I've used one since April 2012. It was really interesting to see exactly how slothful I was and how many times I woke up during the night. I also log my food on the site, and that's probably been the bigger benefit because I'll think "seven layer death by chocolate cake? I don't think I'd even know how to log that. I'll pass."

The fitbit's step count usually is in agreement with my elliptical.
 
Here's an example from a recent night for me:

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I love mine. Stuck at a desk all day it makes me think when I am choosing a Parking place, and I now am one of those idiots that choses to park farther away from all the traffic, and get a few extra steps in. Have not taken an elevator since I owned one.

My 11 year old son does not sleep well so he wanted one for his birthday, now he uses it as a competition to get more rested sleep - a win/win. Depressing how many more steps a 11 year old gets than a working adult.
 
For the "exercise?" tagger: The fitbit doesn't just tracks steps, it also tracks the intensity of your activity, a person who just walks all day won't get any "very active" minutes, of which there is a minimum goal per day on your dashboard. It also estimates your calories burned based on your height/weight/age. It's overly simplistic and flawed, but it works.
 
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