Hi all! I've never posted my own thread before but i'm looking for some imput on the FitBit. Does anyone else have this? Pros/cons? I like that it plays well with MFP which i use every day. My main concern is accuracy. How would it know the difference if i'm walking vs just moving my arm while working at my desk? It's expensive so i want to make sure it's a sound investment because i LOVE the idea. Thanks!

Stats:

Starting weight : 313

Current weight : 224

Surgery date : 10/08/2013

Current loss : 89 lbs

I have the fitbit force, love it! I have it paired with MFP as well. As far as accuracy, not sure. I guess with any type of pedometer, etc may be open for some discrepancies. I use it as a tool to gauge how active I am. I am finding I am not as active, outside of the gym, as I thought I was!! It helps me to walk more steps and use the stairs instead of the elevator. If you put it on your non dominate arm, that may make it more accurate.

<p>I have the fitbit force, love it! I have it paired with MFP as well. As far as accuracy, not sure. I guess with any type of pedometer, etc may be open for some discrepancies. I use it as a tool to gauge how active I am. I am finding I am not as active, outside of the gym, as I thought I was!! It helps me to walk more steps and use the stairs instead of the elevator. If you put it on your non dominate arm, that may make it more accurate.</p>

That's a great tip! Thank you! I guess i'm just concerned about it telling me i'm exercising more than I am or burning more calories than i am. How is the silent alarm? Does it actually work?

I got the FitBit Force last month and love it!

I have been learning more about my activity levels and also about my sleeping habits. It has been a good way to set my goals and keep my aim high to stay active.

As far as accuracy... I wear it all day and it may pick up some of my activity (that is not necessarily walking or jogging) and translate it into steps and even distance... but I do not sense such a great margin of error.

It is great at sensing "active minutes" which indicate continuous cardiovascular activity...

If I am walking I use it to track my distance.

It is also fairly accurate at reporting "floors" when I take the stairs.

Logging my sleep is a nice feature too... it probably also sets the FitBit into a mode that doesn't record steps or distance erroneously, and instead it logs if you have been restless or not asleep.

The alarm feature is really great. It vibrates with sufficient intensity to wake me up.

I really recommend it.

There are many devices in the market right now, but I feel this one has been doing great by me.

I also own the FitBit Aria wi-fi scale and it is great to keep track of my weight loss progress.

<p>I got the FitBit Force last month and love it!</p> <p> </p> <p>I have been learning more about my activity levels and also about my sleeping habits. It has been a good way to set my goals and keep my aim high to stay active.</p> <p> </p> <p>As far as accuracy... I wear it all day and it may pick up some of my activity (that is not necessarily walking or jogging) and translate it into steps and even distance... but I do not sense such a great margin of error.</p> <p> </p> <p>It is great at sensing "active minutes" which indicate continuous cardiovascular activity...</p> <p>If I am walking I use it to track my distance.</p> <p>It is also fairly accurate at reporting "floors" when I take the stairs.</p> <p>Logging my sleep is a nice feature too... it probably also sets the FitBit into a mode that doesn't record steps or distance erroneously, and instead it logs if you have been restless or not asleep.</p> <p> </p> <p>The alarm feature is really great. It vibrates with sufficient intensity to wake me up.</p> <p> </p> <p>I really recommend it.</p> <p>There are many devices in the market right now, but I feel this one has been doing great by me.</p> <p>I also own the FitBit Aria wi-fi scale and it is great to keep track of my weight loss progress.</p>

Thank you so much for your review! I'm getting more and more convinced. I figure that this is top of the line and it would be worth the money for the technology and accuracy. How does it give you all of this info? On the app? I assume all you see on the actual bracelet is the 5 lights for your daily progress?

I have one love it, mine is one my hip. I think it is called fitbit one. Anyways a lady in my office has both the force and the one I have, as she didn't know which one to buy. Is sits at a desk and does a lot of computer work. She has given up on the force because it was 10-15% more steps in a day. Because of wirst movement. She now uses the hip one only.

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/992573-fitbit-flex-vs-one-review

Check out this link, the lady in my office did the same thing as this lady in this post.

I've been using my FitBit One for about a year and a half and I love it. I keep mine clipped to my pants or inside my pocket. It definitely motivates me to move more and I check my progress throughtout the day. When I ride my bike, it counts pedal movement as steps so I'm not sure about how perfectly accurate it is. But it keeps me moving! Good luck!

<a data-ipb='nomediaparse' href='http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/992573-fitbit-flex-vs-one-review'>http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/992573-fitbit-flex-vs-one-review</a><br><br><br> Check out this link, the lady in my office did the same thing as this lady in this post.

Thanks so much for the link and info. It may be a stupid question but how do you know that the flex is over calculating and not that the one is under calculating? Since it's on your hip, etc.. Just a thought.

The FitBit Force has a display vs. The light dots that appear on the Flex model.

It doubles as a watch and the information about your daily progress appears directly on the screen. I like this as I use it as a time source.

I may agree that perhaps due to wrist movements it may register "more" activity than the other model which is worn by the hip...

I have the FitBit Flex (I purchased the month before they announced the release of the Force). I used to have a One.

I love it, love it, love it.

There are articles that I have read that state that FitBit is one of the more accurate monitors out there, but nothing is full proof. The steps are pretty accurate, but know that when you ride a bike, it will calculate steps - I take it off when I ride and I manually enter the activity.

I use it as a baseline for activity - when I first got the FitBit One years ago I wore it for a few days and realized I was only getting in about 4000 steps per day. I made my goal the next week to do 5000 steps, then up from there. I figured even if it wasn't calculating my milage correctly, I can track my steps accurately.

I don't synch with MFP - I log all my food on FitBit and it's a great tracker. I have not issue with MFP, I just started with FitBit and chose to log there.

<p>I have the FitBit Flex (I purchased the month before they announced the release of the Force). I used to have a One.</p> <p> </p> <p>I love it, love it, love it.</p> <p> </p> <p>There are articles that I have read that state that FitBit is one of the more accurate monitors out there, but nothing is full proof. The steps are pretty accurate, but know that when you ride a bike, it will calculate steps - I take it off when I ride and I manually enter the activity. </p> <p> </p> <p>I use it as a baseline for activity - when I first got the FitBit One years ago I wore it for a few days and realized I was only getting in about 4000 steps per day. I made my goal the next week to do 5000 steps, then up from there. I figured even if it wasn't calculating my milage correctly, I can track my steps accurately.</p> <p> </p> <p>I don't synch with MFP - I log all my food on FitBit and it's a great tracker. I have not issue with MFP, I just started with FitBit and chose to log there.</p>

Thanks so much for your comments! does FitBit have a comparable database for food as MFP?

As for over under calculating, i just trust the unit. I picked the one the had the best reviews for me and for what I was looking for. I read a lot of reviews

I bought the Fitbit One about two weeks ago, and I love it. I clicked mine onto my bra and can easily check it during the day, and it does motivate me to move more as well. I love that I can set it to vibrate a little reminder whenever I need to for moving because I also use the desk at work mostly--so right now since I usually get up and move at lunch I have it set to remind me to move at 10 AM and 2 PM. The alarm to wake up in the morning is good too, even though iPhone it would be too little to wake me. it's less harsh to wake up to then my alarm clock, and is a subtle reminder even when I first wake up that I will need to be active during the day and that my Fitbit is ready to track it!

The food database is not nearly as large as with MyFitnessPal, which I used to use. I decided I would try the one that came with my Fitbit, and am entering those things that are not on it but I like to use, but it has the same option of frequently used foods being easy to track. I also like that it has Snacks between meals already programmed as options and because the database is smaller I actually don't have to wade through so many choices trying to find the one I'm looking for. But if I get frustrated with too few choices I will go back to MyFitnessPal which you can link to the Fitbit so that food tracked on MyFitnessPal shows up on your Fitbit dashboard.

Good luck, and consider the clip online to avoid the arm movement thing. By the way, the clip is very very secure.

I have one. I used to take spin class and it didn't pick up the movement while cycling. I bought a Polar watch. It has a heart monitor that syncs to the watch and tells you how much you burn. Its pretty sweet.

Returned my Force 10 days after use.

GOOD:

Fit my wrist well, very light, could forget it was on

Looks good - if you like the "techie" look

Display; time especially ... Bright and clear

Records stairs very accurately

Price reasonable when compared to others with similar features

Vibrating alarm

Visual display of sleep patterns. (On app)

BAD:

Hard to get band snapped in properly. Watch out for this or no more Fitbit!

Steps counted way over actual. Compared to cheap pedometer .. 10 to 20% over depending on daily activity

Calories burned very optimistic!

Limitations to counting some activities (eg. Pushing grocery cart through Super Walmart -unless you try to steer the cart with one hand and let the arm with the fitbit dangle ... Try doing that for awhile and you will get extra exercise ..LOL

Although seeing sleep patterns is cool .... I know whether or not I've had a good night sleep

All total ... A lot of money for a gimmicky device.

Although not as fun, a standard pedometer seems to register activity better and by using MFP for food, exercise, etc you get a more accurate measurement of activities for a lot less money.

My $ .02 worth.