Friday, March 7, 2014

My FitBit Flex

I'm really happy with the changes I've made to my lifestyle. I feel healthy and strong. I enjoy exercising, and I enjoy eating clean. I exercise daily (varying intensities), but I know that my wrist injury and not being able to give 100% during my training and having to stay off weight lifting for 4 months has affected my strength, and in turn, it has had an impact on my body (shape, body fat%). Still, I do the best I can whenever I can. My diet is not perfect, but when I do go off track, it really is just that single incident versus an endless binge-fest.

Despite my good habits, my weight is at a standstill. I knew that I needed to be a bit more careful in tracking my food and my movements. That's what led me to buying a FitBit Flex. I asked a number of people who use it (and are all fitness inclined) whether they found it helpful. They all said yes. One of my friends has a similar exercise routine to me, and she said that despite her natural enthusiasm to work hard and push hard all the time, having a FitBit helped motivate her to move more.

So, I decided to get one.


My FitBit Flex

I've only had it for a few days, but I love it so far. It's easy to use, and I love the fact that it syncs up to my phone.

I'm always a bit skeptical of the numbers that appear on calorie counters and other similar gadgets. I feel like they overestimate the numbers. So, even though numbers, such as the ones I got on my first day (pictured below), make me feel happy, I'm taking them with a grain of salt. Just because it says that I burned 4,005 calories doesn't mean that I can eat at least another 1,000 calories and still be able to lose weight.

I think you still have to be sensible - eat at the right time and eat the right foods.

So, I'm using the FitBit as an extra source of knowledge for me. I'm tracking my foods. I'm tracking my movement. I'm monitoring my water intake and my sleep. Hopefully I'll be able to use all of this vigilance to my advantage!

If you're on FitBit and want to connect, look me up!



My Day 1 Stats: I worked out for 4 hours that day 
(1 hour weights, 1 hour Kajukenbo, 2 hours Muay Thai)

8 comments:

  1. Awesome! I had the Fitbit Ultra, but it didn't survive the last go through washer/dryer. Yep, I washed and dried it more than once. LOL I recently bought the Fitbit Zip. I tried to live without Fitbit, but I'm hooked.

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  2. I just got fitbit flex too....it's very nice I find it useful for tracking my sleep (I realized I barely sleep properly) but it does not track my rpm and stairs :(

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  3. I hope you continue to love your new fitbit. I'm trudging along with my old pedometer which I forget to wear about half the time. Happy workouts. :)

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  4. I'm a huge Fitbit Fan. I don't think I've ever hit 4000 claories burned in a day, even when I have a four-hour workout day and 30K steps! My goals are 22,000 steps in a day, and a burn of 3000, 100 active minutes. I don't get there every day, but some days I go over :) I love my Fitbit and it's feedback, but my weight is standing still too! I do try to leave some extra calories, just to err on the side of caution and possible overestimation.

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  5. I do love my Fitbit. I don't think the calories burned figure is exactly correct. I track my food through My Fitness Pal which talks to Fitbit so I know my calorie deficit for each day. I also go to WW meetings and get regularly weighed in. So I know how my actual weight loss over the past year compares to how much Fitbit says I should lose. It seems to be that my deficit is about 150 calories, on average, less than Fitbit says it is. Some of that is probably errors on the food end, particularly restaurants that are hard to estimate or restaurants or packaged foods where the posted calorie counts are wrong. But, I think some of it is Fitbit overestimating my calorie burn.

    That said, what works the best is to so much to think the Fitbit number for calorie burn is THE number but to look at it from a relative standpoint. That is, if I burned 2000 calories today and 1500 tomorrow then it is pretty clear I was more active today even if maybe that should have been 1900 and 1400.

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  6. I've had a Fitbit for over two years and I still love it and wear it everyday. It syncs with My Fitness Pal and calculates calories burned for exercise. I think it is pretty accurate. I never eat my calories earned, but it's nice to know they are there just in case :)

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  7. I'm glad to see that you realize the calories burned is usually high. Even with your hard earned double workout , 4000 calories is like running 40 miles!

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  8. I've been thinking about getting a fitbit for forever. Thanks for reviewing yours! Maybe I'll look in to getting one more closely. :)

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Thanks for stopping by and leaving a comment! I can use all the support I can get :)