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"Fitbit Flex" fitness monitor???

Melensdad

Melensdad

Jerk in a Hawaiian Shirt & SNOWCAT Moderator
Staff member
Anyone exercise? If so, do you use any of the new fangled fitness monitors?

We were at dinner the other day, overeating and swilling down beer, when I looked over and noticed the other father was wearing a fitness monitor on his wrist. Asked him if it was the NIKE monitor and he said no, its a "FitBit" monitor, costs less, does more. Tracks your steps, sleep, stairs climbed, goals, etc.

Just bought one for my brother for his birthday (he's a fitness geek) and ordered one for me too. I just want to monitor my walks and keep my on track for the upcoming walk across England.

So do any of you use these things?
 
Very interesting Bob. I won $100 dollars at a Yacht club event over the weekend (....really I just got most of the money back I'd put into it, but that's neither here nor there ...) I am going to order one for me. This is much slicker than the pedometer I had a few years back and can help me ensure I get the activity I 'think' I'm getting.

I'm putting a link here for me an anyone else who wants to order one. If you click the link here and then order I get a few cents to support the forums. :D

http://www.fitbit.com/flex

Fitbit's secure server would not answer in time for me to complete my order. I tried twice. So ...here is a link to the fitbit on Amazon.

[ame="http://www.amazon.com/Fitbit-Wireless-Activity-Sleep-Wristband/dp/B00BGO0Q9O"]Amazon.com: Fitbit Flex Wireless Activity + Sleep Wristband, Black: Health & Personal Care[/ame]
 
Doc said:
Very interesting Bob. I won $100 dollars at a Yacht club event over the weekend (....really I just got most of the money back I'd put into it, but that's neither here nor there ...) I am going to order one for me. This is much slicker than the pedometer I had a few years back and can help me ensure I get the activity I 'think' I'm getting.

I'm putting a link here for me an anyone else who wants to order one. If you click the link here and then order I get a few cents to support the forums. :D

http://www.fitbit.com/flex

Fitbit's secure server would not answer in time for me to complete my order. I tried twice. So ...here is a link to the fitbit on Amazon.

Amazon.com: Fitbit Flex Wireless Activity + Sleep Wristband, Black: Health & Personal Care
Click to expand...

If you are not picky about color, they have a slate blue color for about $6 cheaper than the black version.

Like I said I'm looking to keep track of my walking. I figure that it will probably taper off as the weather cools and the fencing season starts up. This may actually help keep me motivated?

The guy that has one that I was talking with seemed to LOVE his. The reviews in Wired Magazine, and several other Tech/Exercise websites seem to LOVE this thing too. All rate it as the best of the best, much better than the Nike Fuel and other brands out there. BUT, if you read user reviews they seem to split between the lovers and the folks who say the units are faulty. I'm hoping that I get a good one. I did order through Amazon, I know their return policy will help me if I get a bad unit.

On the bonus side, I wouldn't mind losing a bit of weight. I'm tipping the scale at just over 200# and I've never been that heavy before. So maybe my walking and this little FitBit will drop me back down to the 190# range where I belong?
 
I ordered right after I posted the amazon link. I bought from Amazon also. They were a couple dollars cheaper and I did go with black. I read a couple reviews where some were saying something called 'UP' had a few pluses over fitbit, but overall fitbit sounded perfect for me. I have been trying to be more active during the day and get in 10k steps but I've been doing it blindly. I am still trying to lose weight and would love to get down to 200, I have not seen that number on my scales for way to long.

Some complained that fitbit was not precise in that it might count steps when you are typing but as long as you realize that it is still better than nothing at all. From what I've read it does not count anything different for stairs like some others do, but that's okay. All are 'steps' so its all part of the total number. Not sure I'll like wearing it when I sleep. I know about how long I sleep and don't feel I need to monitor that but I might try it.

Some did complain that even though it is advertised as water proof that showering with it can cause it to collect some water. I don't wear a water proof watch when I shower so why wear a fitbit? Seems like common sense to take it off while showering.

Good find Bob. Thanks for sharing!!!! :tiphat:
 
My wife is on her second FitBit (lost the first one), and loves it. Helps her keep track of steps and other junk, as she's on her feet a lot of the day. SHe periodically shows it to her boss, and he's amazed that she logs over 10,000 steps per day. He now has one and sets a daily step goal for himself. If he does not achieve it at work (which rarely happens) then he walks after work to make up for the loss.
 
Activated my Fitbit a little while ago.

Charging my wife's Fitbit now.
 
Well I have to buy another fitbit for my brother.

The lovely Mrs_Bob is now wearing the fitbit that I bought for my brother. These little fitness trackers are pretty interesting. I've only been using mine for a little over 1 day, blew past my fitness objective on day 1. But it looks like I'll be 50% short of my goal today.
 
Doc, are you using your fitbit yet? What do you think?

What I am learning from using the fitbit is that I am an unhealthy slovenly slug of a human who needs to get off his ass :hammer:


Actually on days when I go for a hike I blow away the goals. But if I don't go for a hike, and its been 90 degrees and HUMID, so I've been a major slacker, then I am pretty much a couch potato who only hits about 1/2 his goal.
 
Melensdad said:
Doc, are you using your fitbit yet? What do you think?

What I am learning from using the fitbit is that I am an unhealthy slovenly slug of a human who needs to get off his ass :hammer:


Actually on days when I go for a hike I blow away the goals. But if I don't go for a hike, and its been 90 degrees and HUMID, so I've been a major slacker, then I am pretty much a couch potato who only hits about 1/2 his goal.
Click to expand...
Mine has not arrived yet, and I don't mind since I am on a little boating vacation. I suspect I would be rated a slovenly slug of a human who needs to get off his ass also. :bonk: :yum: I'll be back to my daily routine after labor day so that is when I can see how much exercise I get in a normal work day and then I'll get a clue how much I need to supplement.
 
My Fitbit arrived yesterday. I packed it in the boat bag and took it out on the boat today to read up on it and set it up. Bad move. All it gives for documentation is a pointer to a website. :bonk: I should've thought of that. So i could not do anything with Fitbit until getting home tonight. Just now going through the simple set up and charging the device. So far easy peezy.
 
Doc, not sure if you want to be "fitbit friends" but I sent you an invite to your forumsforums.com email address. I deleted to stock invite, that is all optimistic and motivational and replaced it with and honest invite about couch-potato status on fitbit.
 
I'll look for the invite. I just got notice I've walked my first 5000 fitbit steps. I'm surprised as yesterday was a boating / fun day, no effort at all to get in extra steps. Makes me wonder about the accuracy of the count. I plan to get baselines of how many steps I do in a normal work day and then see what I can do to increase that number.
 
Doc said:
I'll look for the invite. I just got notice I've walked my first 5000 fitbit steps. I'm surprised as yesterday was a boating / fun day, no effort at all to get in extra steps. Makes me wonder about the accuracy of the count. I plan to get baselines of how many steps I do in a normal work day and then see what I can do to increase that number.
Click to expand...
My wife easily hits 5000 steps inside her classroom.

My brother compared his fitbit with a walking program that he uses on his iPhone and found that the distances matched up very closely. I compare my fitbit to a handheld Garmin Oregon GPS that I take when I hike and it seems to match up distances well with that device. So I'm pretty comfortable with the accuracy, it is, as they say when throwing hand-grenades . . . close enough :wink:
 
My fitbit sent me an email.

Said the battery was running low and to put in on the charger.

Smart little gadget.
 
OK, I think my fitbit is rolling backwards.

Drinking some Sam Adams while sitting by the pool and watching the Cubs beat the Phillies is not what fitbit is supposed to help you do!
 
Well as much as I like fitbit for telling me that I am a lazy slug, it only tells me that because I am not walking long distances. It does not record fencing practices as activities. So I am wacking kids with metal rods and sweating my butt off, but fitbit doesn't see that as an activity because I'm not taking a lot of steps.
 
I was working at a big facility in Kansas City this week. A whole lot of walking. Plus, while there I just had to go see the Royals play the Indians Weds night. I had 3 10,000 step days in a row. Then it happened. I heard a pop in my knee and I could not walk normally any longer. I was on the way back to the car after the game. Car was in BFE. Went to a quick care and they helped a whole lot by wrapping, and putting a brace on and giving me pain pills. The airports were tough today but I made it with the brace and a crutch to lean on. The xrays indicated I have lots of wear on the knee and some artheritis. I see a knee doc on Monday and will need a MRI to see exactly what it will take to fix me. So ....my fitbit will get a break for a little while.

Bob,
I noticed your grand total going backwards. I logged in one day and you had 49k. A day or two later you had 35k. Strange. I just checked today and you are still at 35k. Something ain't right. :confused:
 
Doc said:
...
Bob,
I noticed your grand total going backwards. I logged in one day and you had 49k. A day or two later you had 35k. Strange. I just checked today and you are still at 35k. Something ain't right. :confused:
Click to expand...
I thought the same thing. I actually had my total up to 90,000, now its down and hovering about 35,000.

Its NOT a total.

I THOUGHT it was my total.

But I was WRONG.

Its actually a 7 day rolling total.

So when I go for hikes, like I was doing before fencing started, I was getting 10,000+ to 15,000+ steps per day. But now that I'm in fencing and just standing in place beating children with metal rods (yes, their parents send me "Thank You" cards) I actually get a lot of exercise but I don't do it by taking steps so its actually not uncommon for me to only get 4-5000 steps a day.

Because that "total" is a rolling total, one of my "hiking" days rolls off, and the step count for one of my "fencing" days takes its place. Therefore the "total" number goes down.
 
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