Fitbit (and other!) activity monitor track-all

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Do you have (or have interest in) a Fitbit health tracking device thingamabob? Or perhaps the Jawbone Up? Withings Pulse? Maybe a smart scale? Whathaveyou?

It's come up several times in our weight loss thread: a lot of us are using these gizmos to track our activity and health. Fitbit seems to be the most popular right now, but this space is moving very quickly and there's no telling what people will be using in a year or two.

Anyway, not everybody using a Fitbit is trying to lose weight (or vice-versa), so I figured this deserved a thread of its own! Let us chat here about our steps and flights of stairs and sleep hours and the other silly metrics which our little devices can give us.

Fitbit also has some "friend" features, which I think are pretty neat! You can join us in the GWJ Fitbit community!

To get this party started, here's an essay from David Sedaris about his Fitbit. And for anybody who wants to Fitbit friend me up, the link's in my sig.

October 30 update: Holy cow, check out this awesomeness from Microsoft!

Right now I've just got access to Fitbit's Aria scale. I made an account for it, after we got it to connect to my wife's Fitbit account. It's nice, for ease of tracking, but not game-changing. I'd like to get an activity tracker at some point, but I'm holding out until Fitbit comes out with their replacement for the Force.

Tanglebones wrote:

Right now I've just got access to Fitbit's Aria scale. I made an account for it, after we got it to connect to my wife's Fitbit account. It's nice, for ease of tracking, but not game-changing.

I've also been using the Aria for a few months now and I tend to agree: neat, but not game changing.

As part of an effort to manage weight and/or increase muscle mass, it's convenient to not have to manually record your data, and the ability to peruse it and view trends on the web is certainly neat, but the scale (unlike the activity tracker) doesn't give you access to truly new information. Body fat scales have been around for quite a while.

I'm still interested in the Aria scale, because I find I forget to record my data even though I do weigh every morning. Also, I tend to "forget" to record when I have a bad day. I still haven't convinced myself to buy it though.

I agree, the Aria by itself isn't game-changing; it's more powerful when combined with a tracker, so you can better see the connection between activity and weight.

Oh man. I got a Fitbit One about 1 year ago, and a couple of weeks ago it accidentally went through the wash. It doesn't work any more.

I have a Fitbit Zip because my workplace, umm, encourages a "friendly competition" in the daily number of steps among individuals and teams. That's the new face of employer-provided health insurance in 21st century for you, but that's a topic for another conversation. Here is my profile.

I could get a cheapo pedometer for free, or a Fitbit and a couple of other products on discount. I like Fitbit Zip because I don't have to wear it on my wrist. Instead, it's clipped on the inside of the waistband of my pants, discreetly. The only problem is that I forget to clip it on now and then, and last Sunday I forgot it at a BBQ party over at my friends'.

concentric wrote:

Oh man. I got a Fitbit One about 1 year ago, and a couple of weeks ago it accidentally went through the wash. It doesn't work any more.

Give em a call. If it's under a year they'll probably replace it for free...

I've got a Flex and the Aria scale and I really like having all of the information in one place. It's been instrumental in me losing weight and getting more active.

I bought Fitbit Forces for my wife & I back in February. I love mine and wear it every day -- I had stopped wearing watches about a decade ago, so it felt very strange to have something on my wrist again, but I've gotten used to it. The OLED screen, while small, is very sleek and elegant, and makes it so much more worth it to wear on the wrist vs the Flex's simplistic 4 lights. That said... my wife wore her Force for about 2 weeks before developing a very bad case of contact dermatitis (hence, why Fitbit has offered a voluntary recall and is no longer selling the Force model; other Fitbit models don't have this problem).

The Fitbit software (on iOS/Android) and the web site have some neat metrics, stats tracking, etc, which helped sell me on the Fitbit brand. There are a ton of other wearable devices like this due to be released over the next 6-18 months, though, so I think there's going to be some great competition coming.

Also, Fitbit has some public APIs which other companies have taken advantage of, so if you don't like the Fitbit site, you can still upload your data to them, and then share it with other companies which may have different ways to slice and present the data (and it's all locked tight, so you can select what data to export on a per-site basis, I believe).

I got a One because it's not one of the wristies (had a Nike FuelBand for a year before that). It was great for several months, but the Bluetooth radio in it seems to have gone dead.

I'm going to see if their support people will help me out, then I can start tracking again. Even in the meantime, though, I've noticed some habit changes have stuck with me, like walking up escalators and getting off the metro a stop early when I have time.

concentric wrote:

Oh man. I got a Fitbit One about 1 year ago, and a couple of weeks ago it accidentally went through the wash. It doesn't work any more.

Try replacing the battery. I did the same thing and mine works now with a new battery.

I just got a Flex through my job, and I'm enjoying it so far. I don't know how much impact it is having, but I've definitely opted to take the twenty minute walk when I would have instead opted for the one stop subway ride on more than one occassion since getting it. Though I wish I had had this thing when I was a dog walker...

If you see me falling behind on the Fitbit Friends stats page, that's because I lost my Fitbit sensor last week.

I have had my Fitbit One and my Aria scale for a couple of months now and I really like the combination. I used to have a Jawbone Up (wrist wearable), but it just stopped working after a couple of months (it was supposed to be the improved version). Not sure if it was user error or just a bad product.

I now like the fact that the One just clips onto my belt, like a normal pedometer (a bit more discreet). The wireless syncing and battery life of the One are great (I have to do a 1 hour recharge about every 7-10 days, typically while I am sitting at my desk working).

As for the Aria scale, I really like having it be able to automatically track my weight loss progress and sync the data over my home wifi. If you have read any of the reviews for the Aria scale, you will see a multitude of users having problems with the initial setup. I was one of those users! I think I spent upwards of 2.5 hours to get it set up the first time (remember, this is a bathroom scale for goodness sake!). It was a bit finicky in recognizing my wifi network and I had some initial trouble just getting it into its calibration mode. I do have to say, though, once I got it set up I have not had any problems with it since (a nice "check mark" provides confirmation that my weigh-in has been logged to my profile). I would agree with everyone above about it being a nice scale, but not a real game-changer.

A friend of mine has been using his Fitbit in conjunction with a calorie tracking app to lose 80-90 pounds over the last year. He's gone from a 4X shirt to starting to break into the L size. Willpower has mostly been the key to his success but I think the "gamification" of the process has really helped him.

Nevin73 wrote:

A friend of mine has been using his Fitbit in conjunction with a calorie tracking app to lose 80-90 pounds over the last year.

This is what the wife and I have used, and I've lost about 30 pounds since getting the Fitbit. We have Fitbit sync its data over to Lose It! so we know when we're able to eat a bit more to counter exercise.

We seem to have developed a problem with our Aria scale; it has a couple lines in the display that aren't working properly. You can still figure out what it's saying but it's not cool. I'm not sure whether it's worth going for a warranty replacement or not.

dragos wrote:

I have had my Fitbit One and my Aria scale for a couple of months now and I really like the combination. I used to have a Jawbone Up (wrist wearable), but it just stopped working after a couple of months (it was supposed to be the improved version). Not sure if it was user error or just a bad product.

I now like the fact that the One just clips onto my belt, like a normal pedometer (a bit more discreet). The wireless syncing and battery life of the One are great (I have to do a 1 hour recharge about every 7-10 days, typically while I am sitting at my desk working).

I like the One for that reason too: it's more discreet than those dorky wristbands. However, Withings has a new wrist-based tracker coming out that basically looks like a really nice wristwatch:

IMAGE(http://www.dcrainmaker.com/images/2014/07/IMG_5564_thumb.jpg)

I'm really intrigued by that watch, and I'll be... watching to see how it turns out. The lack of Android support is a dealbreaker, but maybe they'll get that worked out.

I've got a FitBit Zip that I love. Just keep it in my pocket and it synchs with my phone and everything.

Used it and myfitnesspal to lose 30 lbs, then had some life stuff happen and stopped keeping up with things and gained most of it back. Diving back in now.

gore wrote:
Nevin73 wrote:

A friend of mine has been using his Fitbit in conjunction with a calorie tracking app to lose 80-90 pounds over the last year.

This is what the wife and I have used, and I've lost about 30 pounds since getting the Fitbit. We have Fitbit sync its data over to Lose It! so we know when we're able to eat a bit more to counter exercise.

We seem to have developed a problem with our Aria scale; it has a couple lines in the display that aren't working properly. You can still figure out what it's saying but it's not cool. I'm not sure whether it's worth going for a warranty replacement or not.

Actually now that you mention it, I believe that Lose It! is the app that my friend uses.

gore wrote:
dragos wrote:

I have had my Fitbit One and my Aria scale for a couple of months now and I really like the combination. I used to have a Jawbone Up (wrist wearable), but it just stopped working after a couple of months (it was supposed to be the improved version). Not sure if it was user error or just a bad product.

I now like the fact that the One just clips onto my belt, like a normal pedometer (a bit more discreet). The wireless syncing and battery life of the One are great (I have to do a 1 hour recharge about every 7-10 days, typically while I am sitting at my desk working).

I like the One for that reason too: it's more discreet than those dorky wristbands. However, Withings has a new wrist-based tracker coming out that basically looks like a really nice wristwatch:

IMAGE(http://www.dcrainmaker.com/images/2014/07/IMG_5564_thumb.jpg)

I'm really intrigued by that watch, and I'll be... watching to see how it turns out. The lack of Android support is a dealbreaker, but maybe they'll get that worked out.

Yikes at $390!

I just setup the Aria scale. I finally decided to get it because I noticed I was only entering my weight on days that it was going down which is not exactly accurate. I like it already because it said I lost some since my morning weigh in.

I started a GWJer group on Fitbit. I don't have the URL, but it should be searchable under GWJ or Gamers with Jobs.

So I've been dieting and working out for the past month or so and am looking at getting one of these for extra motivation. Any recommendations between the one and the flex? I'm leaning towards the One as I think I'd prefer something I could clip on to my clothes versus a band I have to wear on my wrist however I'd be nervous about it falling off and losing it. Does it clip pretty tight? Does the Flex offer any important features that the One doesn't?

pizzaddict wrote:

So I've been dieting and working out for the past month or so and am looking at getting one of these for extra motivation. Any recommendations between the one and the flex? I'm leaning towards the One as I think I'd prefer something I could clip on to my clothes versus a band I have to wear on my wrist however I'd be nervous about it falling off and losing it. Does it clip pretty tight? Does the Flex offer any important features that the One doesn't?

I'd suggest getting a wristband type monitor. I've lost two Fitbit Ones to the wash and just ordered my third a couple of days back - I wish I could switch to a wrist monitor but between a watch on one hand and a family bracelet on the other, I'm forced to stick with the pedometer style devices.

I was just looking at the video for the Withings Pulse. That looks to be pretty nice and can be used both as a wristband and pocket monitor. It is a bit more spendy though. Do these things ever go on sale on Amazon or is $100 the cheapest they ever get?

Nevermind on the Pulse, after a quick look at reviews it seems a lot of people are disappointed with the durability of it. Most say the Flex or One is a better made product.

I joined the GWJ group on Fitbit. Here's the link

https://www.fitbit.com/group/22NRZL

pizzaddict wrote:

I'm leaning towards the One as I think I'd prefer something I could clip on to my clothes versus a band I have to wear on my wrist however I'd be nervous about it falling off and losing it. Does it clip pretty tight? Does the Flex offer any important features that the One doesn't?

I've had a One since the end of January and keep it clipped to my pants pocket. There have been a couple of times that I almost lost it; in each case, it got snagged on the inside lining or pocket of a coat or jacket as I was taking it off.

The One displays much more information than the Flex. The Flex just has a series of lights that indicate roughly how close to your goal number of steps you are, while the One has a display that you can cycle through your step count, distance you've climbed (in flight of stairs-equivalents), and such. The Force had a display equivalent to the One's, but got recalled.

Hemidal wrote:

I joined the GWJ group on Fitbit. Here's the link

https://www.fitbit.com/group/22NRZL

Awesome! Added to the OP.

I joined the group as well. Friendly competition encouragement is always welcome.

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