Can we talk activity trackers?

[ajfries]

I'm considering getting a Fitbit or something similar. I'd really like to increase how active I am and just start taking better care of my body. I think awareness is a good place to start.

 

I'm not particularly interested in tracking my sleep but I love the idea of a silent alarm. Not sure I want to wear something on my wrist all the time but if I were to go that route I think the Jawbone trackers look more my style.

 

Do you have a fitness tracker? Have you found it helpful?

[regentrude]

I have a fitbit wristband because my employer gives employees an incentive for being active. I did not think I'd like the writsband, but I barely notice it now. I do not keep it on during sleep.

For the first two weeks it would mildly increase my activity - like a game you want to beat. After that, I became quite blase about meeting the daily goal; if I walk 25,000 steps one day, I couldn't care less about only having 8,000 another day.

So, it does count steps, but it has not increased my activity level at all.

YMMV.

[Laura Corin]

I wear a Fitbit HR.  It doesn't particularly cause me to take more steps, but it does ensure that I get my heart rate up - important as I mostly walk, so it's easy to end up just strolling.

 

The Fitbit has started prompting me to move every hour - I'm finding that very useful as I have a sedentary job.  I also like the silent alarm (as Husband and I are often on different schedules) and knowing how many hours I have slept - the latter helps me to ensure I am getting the hours I need.

[TrixieB]

I have a Fitbit Zip (clips on to waistband/pocket).  I use it to track active minutes; my goal is 30+ active minutes 5 days a week.  I found that I can get plenty of steps in a day without being "active" so my little electronic conscience prods me to purposely go on a decent-paced walk or to do yoga, etc.

[Debbi in Texas]

I just last week downloaded SenseMe on my phone. It tracks by distance, time, calories burned, or steps. I prefer to use something I don't have to pay extra for.

[Chris in VA]

I have a garmin, but I used to have the Body Media. I really liked it, but you had to pay a monthly fee. THey've been bought out by jawbone.

 

The garmin is ok. I like counting steps, but I haven't really gotten into it. The food tracker is better on the Body Media and it really helped me.

[Annie G]

FItbit HR here.  It's been good for accountability. Dh and I both have one and even though we each have our own goals, we do still kind of compete as far as how often we meet our goals. We currently have step goals, amount of active minutes, stairs, and the hourly activity tracker like Laura mentioned.   So...four goals a day.   I love the silent alarm.  

 

It really helps me to see how sedentary my life can be when I don't make time to exercise.  Just working around the house never gets me to 10,000 steps. 

 

My biggest gripe is the battery life. My old pocket style Fitbit would last ten days between charges but my HR is more like 3 1/2.   It charges quickly, but I just miss when my old fitbit would last when I traveled for a week or so.   

[Pawz4me]

I use a Fitbit Charge HR.  I love it!  I had been throwing around the idea of a fitness tracker for awhile but never could get totally enthusiastic about it.  Then I was diagnosed with hypothyroidism and will forevermore need to take a pill each morning at least 30 minutes prior to having anything to eat or drink.  And I really, really like my coffee as soon as I stumble out of bed.  I bought the HR mostly for the silent alarm feature -- it wakes me up, I take my medicine and then doze for another 30-60 minutes before I really have to get up.  I was always reasonably active in terms of getting in plenty of movement throughout the day, so increasing steps really wasn't a need for me.  I have found it to be very valuable in making me more aware of spending time every day getting my heart rate elevated (active minutes).  And although I didn't think I would like or use it much, I've found the sleep info to be informative.

 

I agree about the battery life issue.  My solution to that is to pop it on the charger every time I take a shower.  That keeps it topped up, and it's a time I wouldn't be wearing it anyway.

[Dmmetler]

I've had a Jawbone UP and a MisFit Flash. Each was great for about 6 months, but once the first battery died, started failing soon after, even with a new battery. Of course, digital watches also don't seem to like my biochemistry, either. I'm afraid to buy anything more expensive.

[City Mouse]

I have a Jawbone Up that I won in a drawing at work. I have only been using it for one week so far. With the firmware update, the battery is supposed to last 14 days. I haven't had to recharge it yet. It took me a couple of day to feel like I understood everything in the app, but I'm fine with it now. I have set multiple silent alarms for different days, and the food tracking part of the app is easy to use.

I would never have purchased one for myself, but I am really glad I have this one.

[gingersmom]

I have been using my Fitbit one for about 18 months now. I charge it every 2-3 weeks.

 

It definitely has made me more active. There is no more guessing or pretending how active I have been.

Edited April 11, 2016 by gingersmom

[Laurie4b]

I have a Fitbit wristband. I use it to keep track of "background" steps. For instance, it's really clear that I've exercised if I have hiked for an hour and I wouldn't need the Fitbit to keep track of that. Where it's useful to me is in helping me see how much incidental exercise I've gotten or not gotten and also to see if there have been long expanses of time when I've been sitting and not moving at all. I like the sleep feature to keep tabs on when I've actually fallen asleep/waked up. 

 

Drawbacks: I have had bad luck with the chargers. Fitbit does replace anything within a year of purchase, but it's just been something of a pain. I also wish they would give better notice when the battery is about to die. 

 

Overall, I do like it and it has been useful to me. I am motivated to get in all of my steps each day, so that is a major plus. Having the program keep track of my activity & sleeping also enables me to look at trends. 

[Soror]

I bought a Fitbit- I think it was a Fitbit One. I found it just depressing about the sleep, I know when I have a bad night or good night, seeing the numbers didn't really help me in any way. It would randomly mess up and not count my steps, not count stairs even when it was working( especially when I went up them quickly- which I'm prone to do) so I ended up sending it back. I did find it motivating, more so at first but I don't know that it would hold if I had it long term. I've thought buying a HR monitor as of late for training for running but I'm still undecided.

Edited April 10, 2016 by soror

[theelfqueen]

I have a Fitbit Charge.

 

The thing that makes it effective for bumping activity is challenges with your friends ... accountability yo myself is hit or miss. When I know my friends are watching and I'm down a thousand steps... that motivates me.

 

My advice for trackers:

1) When you get one spend the first week ignoring it ... wear it but don't try to up your step count. See what your baseline is. Then set your goal for 1000 steps higher than baseline. 1000 steps is about ten minutes of walking -totally doable, this is where you park further away and walk to the mailbox. Once you're making that goal regularly bump another 1000, take a 10 minute walk. Until you get to your overall goal being regular.

2) Find Fitbit friends!!! Competition is motivating!!

3) a bad day is a DAY ... just start new tomorrow and don't worry about it!

[theelfqueen]

And make sure to follow the sensitivity and hand dominance set up instructions

[trulycrabby]

Love my Garmin vivofit. It has been on my wrist for a year and four months; no charging required. One of these days it will require a new battery, but it is easy to change.

[MeaganS]

I got a fitbit Alta about a month ago. I chose fitbit because several members of my family have fitbit and I knew there would be a built in social aspect to it. So far I find it very motivating. There was a period of 4 days when I was well-under my goal and my sister sent me a text telling me to get up and going. That sort of accountability really helps me. And the gamification of it all helps motivate me too. Not for everyone, but it works for me. 😊

[KungFuPanda]

I thought about getting one, but I have too many students who complain that they're not picking up all of their steps during a dance class. You can be moving like crazy but if you're properly isolating the top of your body from the bottom you won't get credit for a lot of movement. Dance classes are 90 percent of my exercise. I'm afraid a tracker would just make me angry. I suggested wearing it on the ankle, but nobody has tried that yet.

[Pawz4me]

I thought about getting one, but I have too many students who complain that they're not picking up all of their steps during a dance class. You can be moving like crazy but if you're properly isolating the top of your body from the bottom you won't get credit for a lot of movement. Dance classes are 90 percent of my exercise. I'm afraid a tracker would just make me angry. I suggested wearing it on the ankle, but nobody has tried that yet.

 

With a Charge HR you can mark the beginning and end of an activity and then go to the Dashboard and log it manually. 

[Carol in Cal.]

My husband got a Google watch as a present and didn't want it so I took it.

It has a fitness app on it that syncs up with your phone.

It also amplifies 'maps' directions when you're driving, and shows a big arrow for which way you will go next, which is nice for longish freeway treks.

And it tells you when you have a phone call, I think there is a way to use it to talk as well.

It also plays downloaded music--I never did that.

 

Anyway, wearing the watch was nice but it used up so much data that I let it run out of battery and put it away after just one month.  Also, although it counted steps no matter where you were, it didn't track time if you were out of cell phone service range, which I thought was weird for a watch, but there you have it.

 

Anyway, about 9 months after this trial run, I noticed that the fitness app, which is one call 'FIT' with an orange and red heart icon, was still showing on my cell phone.  So I looked in it, and lo and behold, it had been tracking me all that time, but without the excessive data usage because it wasn't syncing to anything.  Of course, I don't carry my cell phone around all the time, so the data was quite incomplete, but I started to carry it around more often and now I check it a lot.  It assembles daily data on number of minutes of exercise, step count, active and inactive calories burned, and distance covered through exercise. 

It's handy--nice and slim so if I don't have a hip pocket I slip it into my bra.  One thing I like about this app is that automatically senses other kinds of activities to some extent.  I have a Health rider, and if I put my phone in my leggings when I'm using it, it interprets that as bicycling, which is probably roughly comparable from an activity standpoint.  One thing I wish that it could do that it doesn't is have a sense of when I'm going up and down hills and stairs--that's a different kind of strenuousness than the step count would imply. 

 

It doesn't have a heart monitor, which I would like. I have looked at gadgets with heart monitors before, and they always required some kind of chest band, which is unattractive to me.  Is that still true of the newer Fitbits or other devices?

[HollyDay]

I have the garmin vivosmart and I love it!  I mainly use it for tracking steps and notifying me of calls and texts.  I didn't think I'd like the phone notifications but I really do.

 

If you want something you don't have to always have on your wrist, have you looked at Misfit?  The tracker can be worn is many different ways. 

 

If possible, go to a local store and really get a good look at the trackers.  I did a lot of research and narrowed it down to 2.  Going to the local store and actually trying them on and seeing them in person tipped the scales for me. 

[FriedClams]

Fitbit HR here. I love it and it helps me move more. The hourly challenge thing is awesome. I love that I can change my goals (DH has a Garmin, and the goal changes daily but it's not something you can set yourself).

[kubiac]

Fitbit been great for me, mostly because "that which gets measured gets managed." If I see I'm running behind on my steps for the day, I'll try to walk for an errand instead of driving and that usually does the trick.

 

I use it in conjunction with an app called Activity Club which allows me to participate in a group (even if they use different activity tracker platforms like Apple Watch or Jawbone) and we can encourage each other with competitions and high fives. It's great for families or mommy groups to support each other in their health goals.

[Alice]

I have a Fitbit Zip. I like the Zip because I hate wearing anything on my wrist and I didn't really want one that counted anything more than steps/mileage. 

 

I have found it very helpful to me for increasing steps. It was helpful in seeing just how sedentary I am. :) I felt like I was really active at work because I am on my feet but I realized quickly that I don't actually move around much. If you are the kind of person who is naturally fairly active I'm not sure how helpful it is. I'm the kind of person who given the choice will sit on the couch with a book all day and never move...so it's good for me. :) 

 

I also find it helpful to give myself a concrete goal to aim for rather than just saying "I will be more active". I realize 10,000 steps is somewhat arbitrary and I realize it's not always exactly accurate, etc but I use it to givie myself a concrete goal and then being consistent about meeting it and trying to push myself to do more. I recently had a 100 day streak of 10,000 step days, which equates to a 100 days with a good long walk.