# Fitbit Fans (The Official Thread)



## Betsy the Quilter

Hey, my new favorite gizmo is my Fitbit One.  I needed a new pedometer, and I had some gift credit so I went for it.  I know we've got others who've used Fitbits.

I love that the Fitbit software syncs up with the My Fitness Pal, too.  That app is much better for doing the food counts, which I'm trying to get better about.

And I've tried the sleep tracker, and it's made me realize that I'm really not getting enough sleep.  Anyone else use the sleep tracker?

Betsy


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## KindleGirl

I've had the Fitbit One for a few months now, but only recently have I remembered to put it on when I get up. I've had issues with getting it to sync with the Fitbit App like it's supposed to. Apparently a glitch they are working on. Anyway, I didn't know or remember that it can sync with My Fitness Pal...is it easy to set that up?? I already have that app but haven't done much with it. I will have to check that out.

I haven't used the sleep tracker. I already know I don't get enough sleep and figured a reminder would make me feel even worse.


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## Betsy the Quilter

Which app are you having trouble synching with? It syncs great with my iPod Touch, most of the time. Every now and then it's slow. But I usually check the status with my i'Touch rather than look at the thingy itself. I have the Fitbit app for the Fire but don't sync it with that as often.

It wasn't hard to set up My Fitness Pal. I can't remember now--I think I gave Fitbit the password for MFP or vice versa, LOL! Let me go check...

Here's the answer from the MFP site--you authorize it from the MFP site:
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/help/faq/295-how-do-i-link-my-fitbit-account-with-my-myfitnesspal-account

Betsy


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## mom133d (aka Liz)

DH and I both have the Zip. We do not track sleep with them. I use the old iTouch DH had as an alarm clock through through the "Sleep Cycle" app. It monitors your movements and allegedly starts the alarm when you are coming out of rem sleep. Since I'm still sleepy, I can't say that that works. But it does start soft and gradually increases the volume so I'm not jarred awake.


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## readingril

I've lost 30 pounds since November thanks to MFP and the Fitbit Zip I got in February... really increased the activity level to do 10,000 steps daily! Unfortunately the Zip doesn't do sleep so we sleep apart.


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## Pawz4me

I've been thinking about the Fitbit Flex.  But I don't know.  I've got the media bombarding me with the message that I don't get enough exercise or enough sleep.  Do I really need to pay $100 for a device to tell me the same thing??


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## Betsy the Quilter

readingril said:


> I've lost 30 pounds since November thanks to MFP and the Fitbit Zip I got in February... really increased the activity level to do 10,000 steps daily! Unfortunately the Zip doesn't do sleep so we sleep apart.


Good for you, readingril! You're inspiring me!

Betsy


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## yogini2

My workplace gave everyone who completed a simple health screen with a Zip and $100.  I really like this simple device.  It seems to keep track of my steps accurately.  I used the BodyBugg for about a year and they both basically do the same thing but Zip is less obtrusive and cheaper.  (For us, free). There are other features to the BodyBugg, but the Zip doesn't have a  monthly cost to it like the BodyBugg.  The interesting aspect of Zip is that it will tell you how many calories you can still eat at any given time.  For instance, if I've been sitting for half a day and eaten breakfast, it will say something like "congratulations, you have 350 calories left to eat.  350 calories, I still have two meals to go. It lets me know that I should get off my butt and move a little or whatever food I'm going to eat is going to be a gain and not a loss.


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## Anita

I've used fitbit for several years.  In fact right now I am wearing both the Ultra and the Flex. I've only had the flex less than a week, so I am doing a silly comparison study  

Tracking sleep with the fitbit has allowed me to see how important the quality of the sleep is for me, versus the length of time spent sleeping.  Because I can *see* the some concrete evidence of my sleep length and quality I have taken concrete steps to improve my sleep quality with yoga, meditation, going to bed earlier and all of that.  I have focused on trying to improve quality over quantity, but watching my sleep patterns over time has shown that I need a certain length of sleep in order to get quality of sleep. 

I have found out that after I 'go to sleep' I have approximately a 1.5 to 2 hour period of 'light sleep' before I going into a deep sleep.  Then have another 1.5 to 2 hour period of light sleep before I wake up.  That's okay, and it's normal for me - the trick is to get to bed early enough to allow some solid sleep time in between those periods of light sleep    and at the same time allow for the fact that I will wake up at least once to go to the bathroom.   My body goes through those sleep phases automatically no matter how I may try to circumvent it.  

When I use an alarm clock it wakes me by light, not by sound, so I pretty much always wake up slowly.  Very rarely do I wake up from a sound sleep (i.e. I don't get the morning period of light sleep), but when I do so I wake up tired and frankly a little cranky.  

What I call 'light sleep' is a period that the fitbit report shows as several short 'awake' periods mixed with short 'sleep' periods.  During those times I don't consciously wake up.  Once or twice a night I do wake up consciously and I automatically look at the clock - I have found that the fitbit report is tracking those times correctly. 

Quality of sleep is as important to me as quantity. I have found that to have one without the other will leave me tired the next day. If I sleep for 8 or 9 hours, but the quality is poor I will be just as tired as only getting 4 hours of good quality sleep. 

Obviously the fitbit is not a scientifically perfect method of sleep tracking, but it is a very useful tool for tracking trends.


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## Jane917

I have a pedometer, and strive for 10,000 steps daily (though fail most days). I am not sure what Fitbit is.


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## Betsy the Quilter

Fitbit is a digital pedometer that connects to your computer or mobile device through Bluetooth. They have several different ones. I'm using the "One" which tracks steps, stairs and how many calories you have burned.



Betsy


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## balaspa

Besty, I can't believe you just posted this!  My wife and I, just today, got FitBits in the mail.  She is signing up because they are having a FitBit competition at work and we're already trying to figure out all of the activities we can do to get the number of steps up.  

This is so awesome.


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## Betsy the Quilter

Bryan,

that sounds like so much fun!  Keep us posted.

Betsy


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## KindleGirl

Betsy the Quilter said:


> Which app are you having trouble synching with? It syncs great with my iPod Touch, most of the time. Every now and then it's slow. But I usually check the status with my i'Touch rather than look at the thingy itself. I have the Fitbit app for the Fire but don't sync it with that as often.
> 
> It wasn't hard to set up My Fitness Pal. I can't remember now--I think I gave Fitbit the password for MFP or vice versa, LOL! Let me go check...
> 
> Here's the answer from the MFP site--you authorize it from the MFP site:
> http://www.myfitnesspal.com/help/faq/295-how-do-i-link-my-fitbit-account-with-my-myfitnesspal-account
> 
> Betsy


I'm having trouble syncing with the Fitbit app on my ipad and iphone. According to their customer service, it is a known issue and they are trying to fix it. It used to work fine, but now it says it is syncing but it doesn't. I updated the app on my itouch last night and it said something about them working on the problems in the "what's new" part of the update. Hopefully they get it fixed quickly.

I connected with the MyFitnessPal app and that looks great. I love the barcode scanner for entering the foods...very handy and quick! Now if I can just get the Fitbit info to sync it will be wonderful!


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## mom133d (aka Liz)

Betsy, In the meantime, I have been going into the Fitbit app and forcing it to sync with my Zip. DH noticed that my Bluetooth indicator doesn't turn on until I do that. There is a brief delay before MyFitnessPal app processes the info from the Fitbit app.


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## balaspa

We're getting them set up this weekend and downloading the apps and stuff.  Then we're gonna start walking and I do intend to do the sleep tracking thing.


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## Thumper

I have the original Fitbit...and a Body Media, a Nike Fuel Band, and a regular pedometer.










The Fuel Band is worthless. It only registers about a third of the steps I take, and when I contacted Nike support the message I got was "well, yeah, it's only 80% accurate. we're working on that."  The picture shows a quick test I did...I walked 1700 steps, the Fuel gave me fewer than 300.

The other three are all pretty accurate, but I like the Fitbit best. The Body Media is spiffy, but it's so THERE and makes me itch. And the Fitbit's display is such I can check it on the go, unlike the Body Media, and it's spot on as far as steps measured and the calorie burn is within 4-5% of what Body Media says I burn.

I've never tried it for sleep...I did use the Body Media at night for a long time, but it's not like it changed how I slept. On or off, I wake up a lot.

Bonus: using the Fitbit is free. Body Media...nope.


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## KindleGirl

Finally got my syncing problem fixed yesterday without the help of their customer service. They kept telling me to restart my One and remove the app and reinstall, but that wasn't doing anything. So I finally decided to set it up as a new One and start over. I lost all of the data that was on it previously that hadn't synced, but it was worth it to get it working again! Woohoo! I am loving this thing partnered with the MFP app. Love that it tells me what I have left in calories to eat for the day! Now we'll see if it translates into any weight loss over time. 

I tried the sleep tracker last night for the first time. It confirmed what I already knew...not enough sleep and I wake up a lot, but maybe if I keep using it I will find a pattern and be able to change something. Not real confident of that, but it is interesting to see the graph anyway.


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## Betsy the Quilter

Thumper, thanks for the feedback on the accuracy, that's nice to know!  

KindleGirl--I'm glad you like MFP--I saw several people on the forum mention it and it sounded great.  I love it.  Glad you have the sync working now.  Mine hung up a couple times early on but it's been working great now.

Betsy


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## Pawz4me

Review of Fitbit Flex


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## Betsy the Quilter

Thanks, Pawz4me!

If I lose my One   I may replace it with a Flex...

Betsy


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## Betsy the Quilter

I notice there is an update for the iApp...and it also says to reboot the iPhone if you are having problems synching...

Betsy


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## ◄ Jess ►

I just bought the fitbit flex a few minutes ago! Unfortunately, it's out of stock on amazon right now, so I'm not sure when it will arrive, but I'm pretty excited for it!


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## Betsy the Quilter

Yay, Jess!

I've been using my Fitbit to help motivate me to get walking again now that my ankle is healing. (Hairline fracture in my ankle a couple of months ago.)  Haven't gotten up to 10000 steps in a day yet, but did get to 8000 one day.

I should get the all clear from the orthopedist this week....

Betsy


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## KindleGirl

◄ Jess ► said:


> I just bought the fitbit flex a few minutes ago! Unfortunately, it's out of stock on amazon right now, so I'm not sure when it will arrive, but I'm pretty excited for it!


Have fun with it! Let us know how you like it after you use it.


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## geoffthomas

This looks like an interesting device.
And I have been using MFP and think it is a great app - but you can use the website if you just have a laptop.  The dietician at the cardiac rehab center recommended it.


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## KindleGirl

geoffthomas said:


> This looks like an interesting device.
> And I have been using MFP and think it is a great app - but you can use the website if you just have a laptop. The dietician at the cardiac rehab center recommended it.


That's good to know that a dietician is recommending the MFP app. I am really finding it handy. I love going to the website and adding a recipe to it and letting it figure out all of the nutrition info. for me, then adding it to my daily log.


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## balaspa

My wife and I set ours up over the weekend.  We are now walking like crazy and dancing around the house...LOL.  It has totally sparked the competitive instincts in us and we've become active.  I have no clue how anyone gets 10,000 steps, though.  Sheesh, even walking around and then going for walks around the neighborhood, I just keep coming in around 8,000 steps.


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## Betsy the Quilter

My high day so far has been 8000 steps.  But the orthopedist today said I could walk for exercise* (good thing, I'd been walking) but nothing to jar the ankle.  So I'm going to try to start working up to my 4 miles, which for me is 10000 steps.

Betsy
*got a "non-displaced" fracture to a bone in my ankle in February; still healing.


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## ◄ Jess ►

Once I get my fitbit (still no word on when they will ship!), I'm planning to go for the 10,000 steps/day goal as well. The fitbit actually links up with a program through my health insurance, and I get rewarded for getting over 10,000 steps/day. I read that's somewhere around 5 miles, and I walk 3 miles/day just commuting to work, so I think I'll be able to get 10,000 with a short walk in the evening.


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## Betsy the Quilter

The number of steps per mile varies from person to person, depending on your stride (which is somewhat dependent on your leg length).  Most pedometers that I've used have you measure a set distance--for example extend a tape measure its full length, or some other measured distance, and count the number of steps it takes to cover that ground using the stride you use when walking.  My stride is 25 inches, or roughly 2.1 ft.  10,000 steps x 2.1 feet per step = 21000 feet covered.  21000 feet/5280 feet per mile = 4 miles (or close enough).  So that's why I use 4 miles.

The important thing, though, is getting the 10000 steps.  (And if it's only 4 miles for 10000 steps, and you're already walking 3 miles, you should have no problem getting the 10K.  That's great that your health insurance has a program.

Betsy


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## Seamonkey

I've had my fitbit one  since late last year.

It really is a great incentive to move around.. I'm more active between machines at Curves, I take stairs much more, I can do two sets of stairs in the house while I microwave for 1 minute 

I've only been to 10K steps once, but if I get over 5K I'm happy, and usually go beyond that.

My pattern with Kindles was to upgrade often (K1, K2, DX, K3g, Original Fire, Fire HD 8.9") so why don't I have a Flex?    Stairs!!    I love that the One counts flights of stairs and my all time high day had me doing 83 flights of stairs!


I'm also not sure I want a band around my wrist 24/7.  I wear a watch daily and kind of like bracelets too.

The sleep tracker.. well right away I saw that I was getting poor sleep quality and waking up many times during the night.  My doctor asked if I wanted to do a sleep study.. not really, but I did.  I had few reasons to have one (that I knew of) but the test showed moderate to severe sleep apnea and I've been on cpap since then and sleep has greatly improved, once I got the right mask.

I just use the Dashboard on my computer and it auto synchs or I force a sync.  using the dongle and of course charge using the dongle.

I love that it alerts me to a low battery, on the fitbit, by email or on the website.

I also love the little off the wall messages that display at random times.

I've been very happy with it and the couple of times I've left it at home by accident, have felt petulant and bereft. Petulant in that I don't want to go climb stairs while waiting for a patient (several local hospitals have some great stairs to climb).. but luckily I rarely forget my little pal.

My insurance (and I think all Blue Shield medicare plans and other companies as well, but not Kaiser) pay for a basic gym membership, or Curves, you just have to go 8 times a month for them to keep paying.  And I get 2000-2500 steps going around the circuit twice (not on most machines but in between them where I dance around like a fool).

My cat is used to me dancing around at times while we play with wand toys.  She looks like she thinks I've gone mad.


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## Pawz4me

I bought a good pedometer (Omron) several years ago to do the 10,000 steps thing.  After wearing it a few days, I was very surprised to find I was surpassing 10,000 steps in the course of a normal day.  Assuming it was accurate, of course.  I guess that's what walking dogs and chasing young kids around does for you.  Unfortunately, I know I'm not getting anywhere near that amount now.  Which is why I'm considering getting a Fitbit.  Or maybe I should just dig the Omron out?


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## KindleGirl

Seamonkey...thanks for pointing out that the Flex doesn't count stairs. That's why I went for the One when I made the purchase last December. We live in a 2 story house with a basement so I am constantly going up or down it seems. I was curious to see how many times I made the climb. The count seems pretty accurate, although it seems to miss a flight or two here and there. Laundry days are really crazy on the stair counts!

The wrist band of the flex sounds handy sometimes, but I also don't know if I'd like it around my wrist 24/7. I like that I can pretty much hide the One while clipped on my jeans and I don't know it's there. Although I am afraid I will forget it there and end up washing it with my jeans! But since I now use it along with the MFP app to track calories, etc. I tend to remember it as I want every step to count so I can earn more calories!! I usually hit 10K steps each day unless it's a lazy day for me.

The little messages are fun but I usually miss them because I'm not looking for them. I usually catch my name but not the message before that.


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## readingril

My Fire's TTS has really gotten a work-out, as well as the treadmill, since I've gotten the Fitbit. When I'm off I try to use the treadmill in the a.m. with whatever I'm currently reading / listening to via TTS , and I walk the dog in the afternoon on nice days to whatever my current Audible listen is. Not sure as I'll get that walk in today as there are storms predicted and the sky looks very threatening.

I really like the Zip since it uses a lithium battery and I don't have to worry about finding the time to charge it. The battery life still looks really good per the website and I've been using the Zip since February 27th. 

I'm also addicted to tracking @ myfitnesspal.com. Haven't missed a day there since I started in October. If my internetz died, I'd probably become very despondent. LOL


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## Seamonkey

I ususally miss the message as well!  But now and then I catch them and they are pretty funny.

I live in a townhome so the stair feature is great.  It does cheat on you now and then..  last night I was at a hospital for a seminar and there was a nice stairway, open in the lobby of the pavilion building where the seminar was held (I've been to that building for a colonscopy and carotid artery ultrasound in the past) and I got there early so I was going up and down the stairs and sometimes it would give me two flights (long stairs) but sometimes just one.

One of the speakers came over to me and said I wouldn't need that part of her talk, about exercise and exercising at odd moments instead of just sitting.  She is in charge of their employee health program and also works with patients (last night's theme was individual risks for cancer and prevention and also things to do during treatment.. exercise is still very helpful).  They put pedometers on every employee!  And they get cash incentives for certain milestones like 10,000 steps.

After I was on cpap, by the way, the fitbit started reporting much higher sleep numbers and percents, fewer wake ups, etc.

I would like to think I could get more steps in if I wasn't driving cancer patients so much, but to be honest, the days when I'm not driving are sometimes my lowest days in terms of numbers, unless I'm volunteering at the shelter where I'm walking and on my feet, even working with cats.  I tend to go to Curves on days I'm out driving so that adds in numbers.

Strangest number.. I took an elevator but since I was alone, I was jogging in place for the whole ride and it gave me credit for a couple or stairs.  I do take the stairs instead often.


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## Betsy the Quilter

Pawz4me said:


> I bought a good pedometer (Omron) several years ago to do the 10,000 steps thing. After wearing it a few days, I was very surprised to find I was surpassing 10,000 steps in the course of a normal day. Assuming it was accurate, of course. I guess that's what walking dogs and chasing young kids around does for you. Unfortunately, I know I'm not getting anywhere near that amount now. Which is why I'm considering getting a Fitbit. Or maybe I should just dig the Omron out?


The Omron is a good pedometer....I have one. I like the tracking on the Fitbit better, but it was a pricey jump. But I wanted the ease of tracking and synching with my iPod Touch.

Betsy


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## balaspa

How on earth does anyone do 10,000 steps?  Sheesh...


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## Betsy the Quilter

Unless you're in a job where you do a lot of walking (a nurse at a hospital, for example), you usually have to suplement your normal walking by a walk just for exercise that makes up the difference.  I need to add an exercise walk of at least two miles in addition to a normal day.  If it's a day where I do a lot of computer work, I may need a three mile walk.

Betsy


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## mom133d (aka Liz)

Today, we're off to King's Dominion. Should get a lot of steps today!


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## Betsy the Quilter

Yay, Liz!  Let us know how many you get.

Betsy


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## KindleGirl

I actually hit 15,000 steps on Thursday! But yes, I walked 3 miles on the treadmill and went to the mall that day in addition to my normal walking around the house. The mall wasn't as much as I hoped it would be, but it did add up a bit. I was hoping that shopping was more of a workout than it turned out to be.   With 4 kids to clean up after and 3 floors in the house I can usually get a decent amount just trying to keep up with things around here, but I could see how having a desk job, etc. would really squash the possibilities.


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## mom133d (aka Liz)

Betsy the Quilter said:


> Yay, Liz! Let us know how many you get.
> 
> Betsy


14,492! DH got 17,791! But we're convinced some of that are the coasters, little man didn't want to ride many so I sat out with him. Still, that's a lot of steps, and my legs are now reminding me of that.


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## ◄ Jess ►

I ended up canceling my order for the flex because I had no idea when it was eventually going to ship and the reviews said it could be a bit inaccurate. Instead, I ordered a zip and today was my first day wearing it. I'm loving it so far! I got it synced up with my health insurance program and myfitnesspal (which I only recently discovered) and so far today, I've walked a little over 8000 steps so taking a quick walk in the evening to hit 10,000 seems reasonable.


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## geoffthomas

Currently there is a great deal on the One or the Flex from Brads deals as follows:
Drop the price of the Fitbit Wireless Activity and Sleep Tracker Flex Wristband or the Fitbit One from $99.95 to $79.95 via code MEMDAY20 at Brookstone.com. Better yet, get this $50 Brookstone Groupon voucher code for $25 and add it at checkout to cut your total to $29.95 for a net price of $54.95 plus $9.99 shipping. You cannot get either model for at least $30 more anywhere else. Sales tax is charged in most states. 
I just ordered mine and my cost was $70 which included $5.50 sales tax and $9.99 shipping and handling.  Pretty good deal.

just sayin......


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## Betsy the Quilter

Good deal, Geoff!  I'm almost tempted to get a second one for a backup!

Betsy


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## Tripp

I have been reading this with a lot of interest.  I am a Weight Watchers member, so I have been using their Active link monitor.  What I like about it is that it converts exercise to earned points which is a huge incentive.  Though, if I wasn't WW, I would probably use the Fit Bit, cause I think it has more features.  

My company has an on the move program every year in June/July and I joined this year.  They made it impossible not to join...I get free fitness center membership for those two months (company fitness center). But wait, that's not all...if I walk 6000 steps a day or exercise for 15 minutes a day and make sure I record it each week, then I get a $50.00 Amazon GC.  But wait, that's still not all....if I get 12,000 steps a day or exercise for 30 minutes a day, I get a $100.00 Amazon GC.  I have been keeping track and I am going for the 30 minute exercise.  I do about 50 minutes a day and at most am getting 11,000 steps.  I want that GC too badly.  Think of all the ebooks I can get!


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## ◄ Jess ►

Oh wow, that's an awesome deal, Geoff. I'm tempted to get one of them for myself and try it out...

I am loving my zip so far! I earned a second one with the points I earned from using the first one (through Humana's health program), so I'm giving that one to my husband. I accidentally left the zip in my pants pocket on Saturday when I did laundry. It came out of the washer with a : P face on screen, which made me laugh. It was fine, thankfully. Won't make that mistake again! So far, I'm having no trouble getting over 10,000 steps every day, even if I have to do laps around the apartment in the evening (which drives my husband CRAZY).


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## mom133d (aka Liz)

Gave hubby the Fitbit Aria for his birthday. He set it up on Sunday and now the scale syncs with our Fitbit accounts. He said that our old scale was off because the Aria said he was 3 lbs less than on Friday. My weight was close. Said I went up a pound.


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## Seamonkey

Geoff, great deal!  Welcome to FitBit

I'm tempted by the Aria but my scale is upstairs in one end of the condo and my wifi is downstairs in the middle.. not sure about synching.  And I have a perfectly good scale that also gives fat % and water %.

How did I miss a BradsDeal on fitbit??  I get the emails daily..  it is tempting to buy a backup One, especially since the Flex isn't a step up, or even level, for me, wanting to track stairs.

I have to walk over 4 miles in a day to get to 10,000 steps.  I'm happy going over 5000 most days.

Now a deal on the Aria would have me snapping fast at it.


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## Seamonkey

I'm in the middle of it, but the Brads Deal code is still valid AND it works on the Aria Scale too..  $20 off
And just bought the $50 at Brookstone for $25 Groupon deal as well.. still active.


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## Betsy the Quilter

Hmmm....the code is MEMDAY20?  Says it's expired.  Do I just go to Brookstone and put it in the Promo Code or do I have to go through Brad's Deals?  Who are Brad's Deals?  I never heard of them...

Betsy


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## Seamonkey

I was having a bit of trouble applying the Groupon deal and what a delightful CSR I got a Brookstone.  She said you enter it later, but put through the entire order for me.

So the Groupon $50 (that you buy for $25) and the $20 off from BradsDeals..  you cannot also get free shipping if you get the $20 off but shipping is $9.99, so of course I took the $20.  and this was on the Aria wifi Scale that will synch with the fitbit dashboard!!

She said the FitBit Flex is flying out the door, tons of orders, I assume with the BradsDeal and Groupon..  I did tell her how the One also counts stairs.  

So refreshing to not just get customer service in English but direct from the southern US


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## Seamonkey

Betsy.. here is the BradsDeal:

http://www.bradsdeals.com/deals/fitbit-flex-or-one-wireless-tracker-55-p130943.html

For the $20 off use code ACDAD20

The deal also links to the Groupon code which apparently you enter later in the transaction.. I called customer service to ask and she just put in the order for me!


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## geoffthomas

You enter the code when you place the order, use the groupon when you go to pay.
But you have to get the groupon before you place the order, it just takes a minute.


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## Seamonkey

Yes.. I just got impatient.. but I got both discounts.


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## Betsy the Quilter

Thanks, I've been wanting the scale--I got it for $76 + the cost of the Groupon coupon--$25; $101 including shipping and tax.  A good deal.

Betsy


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## Seamonkey

Did you get black or white?  I got black.


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## Betsy the Quilter

I got white, goes with my bathroom....

Betsy


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## Betsy the Quilter

Woohoo!  Finally was able to walk enough to get 10000 steps!    First time with my Fitbit!

Seamonkey--

did your scale arrive yet?  Mine is supposed to get here tomorrow...

Betsy


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## Someone Nameless

hummmm. cant decide between the One and the Flex.


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## Betsy the Quilter

Someone Nameless said:


> hummmm. cant decide between the One and the Flex.


Here's a comparison chart.
http://www.fitbit.com/comparison/trackers

Some highlights:
The Flex is more waterproof than the One
The One tracks steps climbed, the Flex doesn't.
You can wear the One invisibly, the Flex will be around your wrist.

Betsy


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## Seamonkey

My scale was shipped.. I'll have to check.  Tomorrow would be nice since I'll be out driving patients Thurs and Fri.

Fitbit Flex says goal setting.. you can do that on the website with the one but it doesn't tell you about reaching a goal.

One has an actual display on the device so you can check for your steps, calories, miles and stairs, plus level of activity and even the time 

But you cannot wear the ONE in the shower..  not that I've ever wanted to do that!!

Mine arrived in  Vernon, CA today  at 6:56pm 

Hmm but scheduled delivery date is 6/6??  They could WALK it down here in that time!  

But of course, since I will likely be home tomorrow, it will come Thursday.

I've only  bested 10,000 steps once.


----------



## Betsy the Quilter

Mine arrived in Springfield VA today at 4AM, and Springfield is where UPS delivers from for my neighborhood, so I thought it might be delivered today, even though the scheduled delivery is tomorrow.  But, no, this afternoon the tracking said "transferred to Postal Service."  

Betsy


----------



## _Sheila_

I've had a FitBit for years.  On vacation (in Ireland) with my Dad and niece -- I averaged 19,000 steps a day.  I lost 24 pounds (in 7 weeks).

I've ordered a Flex.  Can't wait.  It's on backorder.  

I'm hoping I'm as happy with the Flex as I have been with the FitBit I have.  I like the thought of putting it on and not worrying about it again for a week.  We shall see.

Sheila


----------



## ◄ Jess ►

Wow, that's impressive, Sheila! My best so far is 15,000. I'm averaging about 11,000 per day. My husband loves his fitbit far more than I expected! He's really gotten into the competitiveness and loves to walk more than me everyday. I don't mind because it means he walks from his office to mine after work and we get to walk home together. I almost bought the aria scale, but I'm kind of glad I didn't because I sometimes like to weigh other things on it (like me holding my cat) and I wouldn't want it to record all those weights. So far, I've lost 3 pounds (in 2 weeks), but that's still pretty good for me because I only started at 143, so there's not a ton to lose.


----------



## mom133d (aka Liz)

◄ Jess ► said:


> ... glad I didn't because I sometimes like to weigh other things on it (like me holding my cat) and I wouldn't want it to record all those weights. So far, I've lost 3 pounds (in 2 weeks), but that's still pretty good for me because I only started at 143, so there's not a ton to lose.


Good point. I'll make sure DH doesn't get rid of our old scale. And Grats on the loss!


----------



## Someone Nameless

I decided on the Fitbit One because of the features and the price.  It's $10 less at Brookstone.  Now I'm trying to figure out how to keep from losing it.


----------



## Betsy the Quilter

The One comes with a little rubberized case and clip.  At some point, I'm going to order a backup 'cause I can see it wearing out.  My preference is to wear it attached to my bra, near the center, with the device on the inside.  I figure it's not going to go anywhere if it falls out of the little case.  Although it seems reaasonably secure in the case, I have pushed it out a couple times checking my stats.  If I wear it on a waistband, I also put the device on the inside.

My main fear with the one is not losing it, but leaving it on an item of clothing and sending it through the wash.

I'm paranoid about it!

With the scale, you can choose another user before weighing, and one option is a "Guest" and I don't believe it remembers the "Guests."  Mine should arrive today, I'll let you know how it works.

EDIT:  Back when I was walking a lot, I routinely got my 10K steps...but it's been tough getting back up to that with my bad ankle.  I'm really excited that maybe the ankle is finally healing (though I have some swelling today).


Betsy


----------



## _Sheila_

I, too, wear mine in my bra.  If I'm not doing that, for whatever reason, I tend to wear it in the change pocket in my jeans or inside the leg pocket of cargo pants.  Or I'll put it on my waistband at an angle behind a belt loop.  Mine has never come lose.  I've not yet sent it through the wash (although it did make it into the laundry room one day) 

The only problem I've run into is when charging it - I forget that I took it off and put it on the stand.  

Sheila


----------



## Seamonkey

My scale arrived in Anaheim (even closer to home) early in the morning but instead of saying "out for delivery" this morning, it just says "Destination Scan".  I guess they are determined not to deliver it today?

Location Date Local Time Description  
5/30/2013 4:44 PM BILLING INFORMATION RECEIVED  
EARTH CITY, MO (US) 5/30/2013 7:38 PM ORIGIN SCAN  
EARTH CITY, MO (US) 5/31/2013 2:13 AM DEPARTURE SCAN  
KANSAS CITY, KS (US) 5/31/2013 6:13 AM ARRIVAL SCAN  
KANSAS CITY, KS (US) 5/31/2013 9:35 AM DEPARTURE SCAN  
VERNON, CA (US) 6/4/2013 6:56 PM ARRIVAL SCAN  
VERNON, CA (US) 6/4/2013 9:38 PM LOCATION SCAN  
VERNON, CA (US) 6/5/2013 1:55 AM DEPARTURE SCAN  
ANAHEIM, CA (US) 6/5/2013 2:32 AM ARRIVAL SCAN  
ANAHEIM, CA (US) 6/5/2013 5:47 AM DESTINATION SCAN 

I have a similar scale and you can maintain setups for several people.  You have to set it up with your weght, height, gender, age, so it can calculate the meaning of the readings.  So someone and spouse would have separate records.  You could even set one up including the cat.

On my current scale, which doesn't keep records and doesn't send info anywhere, it is amazing to weigh WITH the cat, because the cat seems to add greatly to the fat percent, even though she has some muscle in there.  Guest is a good idea to avoid that info going to the fitbit dashboard, app, whatever.


----------



## Seamonkey

I wear my fit bit on my waistband, unless I'm already in a nightgown (or still, as I might be while eating my morning yogurt), then it goes on the neck line of that garment or a tshirt.

I used the wrist holder thing at night to monitor my sleep, so I only take it off while changing clothes, showering and the brief times I'm charging it.  I thread one side of my glasses through the clip while I'm in the shower, so I notice it..

I think only two times I've left for the day and later discovered I had left the fitbit at home.  Made me cranky to think of the steps and stairs I was not recording.  I know you can enter them but I just feel better sticking to what the device records.


----------



## Betsy the Quilter

My scale arrived! Very cool

Setup was easy. My bathroom is right across the hall from my wireless router, so signal strength wasn't an issue.

http://www.fitbit.com/setup/aria

You have the option of setting up using software downloaded to your computer or doing it from a mobile device. (See the link below the big Download button.) I opted for the mobile device so I could stay in the room with the scale. I just followed the directions on the screen.

Hubby stepped on the scale and it just assigned him to Guest without any prompting on my part.

EDIT: I also stepped on the scale, it sent the weight (sadly) to my Fitbit account. And now we begin....

Betsy

Sent from Killashandra, my Fire HD8.9 4G


----------



## ◄ Jess ►

Betsy the Quilter said:


> With the scale, you can choose another user before weighing, and one option is a "Guest" and I don't believe it remembers the "Guests." Mine should arrive today, I'll let you know how it works.


Oh, that's such a smart feature! I may have to reconsider after all.

I started off clipping my fitbit to my bra, but switched to my pocket because I like to look at it throughout the day. Might be a little awkward to glance down my shirt.


----------



## Betsy the Quilter

◄ Jess ► said:


> Oh, that's such a smart feature! I may have to reconsider after all.


Now that I have mine, this is how it works: I'm the only FitBitter in my family so it was easy. I stepped on it and weighed in (after setting up the scale). So it has my "initials" as my username: BET (it has to be three letters). And uploaded the weight. Then, hubby stepped on. If someone steps on who is more than 8 pounds different than a current user on the scale, it assumes that it's a new person. So, it assigned him to "Guest." If we had been within 8 pounds of each other, it would have asked him to step off and pick a user. I guess if we had been even closer, it might have assumed it was me? Dunno...



> I started off clipping my fitbit to my bra, but switched to my pocket because I like to look at it throughout the day. Might be a little awkward to glance down my shirt.


 

Betsy


----------



## Seamonkey

I had the same issue with the bra.. I like to check mine I guess relatively often, so on the outside of my pants is best for me.

I do hope mine works on the wifi.  My wifi is in the corner of the living room dowstairs and the scale will be upstairs in a bathroom that is over the other corner of the living room.  My bedroom is upstairs and farther away and I get wifi up there for my Kindle/Fire and used to have a laptop up there..  Mine should arrive tomorrow.  I'll be out to Curves and to take a patient too and from her oncologist and maybe she will have chemo, if he thinks she is able to tolerate it, but then I'll scoot  home and it will probably not arrive until late in the day.

I won't have to deal with anyone stepping on the scale, for the most part, and Katniss is almost 15 pounds so the scale shouldn't just think I've had a sudden weight gain!


----------



## Seamonkey

Arrgh.. now mine says that early this afternoon it was "transferred to local post office" in Anaheim (not my local post office) and to allow for 1 or 2 days.  Again, I could walk there and back in less time (my feet would be toast, though, but my fitbit would be happy).


----------



## Betsy the Quilter

Seamonkey said:


> Arrgh.. now mine says that early this afternoon it was "transferred to local post office" in Anaheim (not my local post office) and to allow for 1 or 2 days. Again, I could walk there and back in less time (my feet would be toast, though, but my fitbit would be happy).


Aaargh.... It'll be soon.....

Betsy


----------



## Seamonkey

Honestly, I wasn't even tracking it until you posted about yours being due to arrive.  In the scheme of things, it is nothing.  And I'll have another day or two not being ratted on by a device to another device..


----------



## KindleGirl

I envision my One going thru the wash at some point also, or falling somewhere I don't want it to! I clip mine on the inside of the waist, and although the rubbery clip never falls off, I have had the One actually fall out of the clip without much effort. I think the more it's used the easier it is to do that. 

The scale sounds really nice. I have a currently working scale so I probably can't justify a new one, but it sure sounds handy.


----------



## Betsy the Quilter

Our scale was 55 years old, according to my hubby, but the rust didn't go with my decor and it was hard to read through the foggy glass, but it still worked!  I decided it was time....



Betsy


----------



## Seamonkey

Mine arrived.. I was a bit put out when it said I must put it on a hard floor near my wifi.. thankfully I have hard floor in the entry but that isn't so close.. so I was running back and forth.

Seems that you can have multiple people set up but only if they have fitbit devices?  

Also it weighs me almost 2 pounds heavier than my old scale (which isn't THAT old and actually gives you fat % AND water %.  humph.

But I like the look.  

Seems Katniss, who weighed 14lb15oz at the vet is also weighing higher..  15lb2oz!


----------



## Thumper

Well...I did learn that if your Fitbit goes through the washer and dryer, it racks up over a mile...










The spin cycle must have confused it...19 floors climbed and 2000+ calories burned.

But it still works!


----------



## Betsy the Quilter

LOL!

And reassuring too!!

Just think how many bonus calories you can eat today.


Betsy


----------



## Seamonkey

Too funny!  19 flights of stairs!!

Per the new scale, I lost 3.5 pounds between 3pm and 6:22pm!  I know that can happen.. but that is even less than the old scale was this morning. 

But the wifi worked nicely from upstairs to downstairs.


----------



## Betsy the Quilter

I'm finding having the scale there staring at me with its cyclops eye every time I pass it is keeping me more honest.  I WANT that number to go down tomorrow morning when I look at my graph on my i'Touch.... (I'm holding myself to one weigh in a day.)

Betsy


----------



## KindleGirl

Thumper said:


> Well...I did learn that if your Fitbit goes through the washer and dryer, it racks up over a mile...
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> The spin cycle must have confused it...19 floors climbed and 2000+ calories burned.
> 
> But it still works!


Good to know Thumper! I'm sure it's only a matter of time before mine ends up there too!


----------



## Seamonkey

Heh.. well I think I've weight twice today, already.

The Groupon deal is still on..


----------



## Betsy the Quilter

Seamonkey said:


> I had the same issue with the bra.. I like to check mine I guess relatively often, so on the outside of my pants is best for me.


I should have added that I check mine using my i'Touch. I open the app and it syncs. I check mine pretty often too! It's my OCD.

Betsy


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## Seamonkey

I don`t have and device always on and at hand, and a simple press of the button on the one works for me.

I am loving the scale, especially when when it displays the check Mark.  Easily entertained.


----------



## Betsy the Quilter

Different strokes!  I almost always have either my iPad or my i'Touch handy, and it's a couple clicks for me to bring it up.  Easier for me than rooting around on my waistband, more discreet and easier to read and I prefer it on my bra anyway.    But the important thing is to find what works for you!

Yes, I love the big ol' checkmark on the scale.  I don't like some of the other numbers.    But it's keeping me honest...

Betsy


----------



## Seamonkey

Numbers?  There are numbers?

~ 

Yes, those can use some work..


----------



## Someone Nameless

Just got my fitbit today and set it up.  I'm a little concerned because I've only set up my account and it synced and said I'd been 113 steps and I haven't even put it on!!!


----------



## Betsy the Quilter

Someone Nameless said:


> Just got my fitbit today and set it up. I'm a little concerned because I've only set up my account and it synced and said I'd been 113 steps and I haven't even put it on!!!


Well, it probably can't tell the difference between handling it and the movement from walking. If you feel guilty, leave it on a table and walk 113 steps and then put it on. 

Betsy


----------



## balaspa

Still doing mine.  I sometimes think mine is in love with me.  In fac, it tells me it likes me and stuff all the time.  My wife says mine flirts with me, but her's hates her.


----------



## Someone Nameless

I'm not feeling too guilty.    I just hope it is fairly accurate.


----------



## Seamonkey

I think they are surprisingly accurate but now and then.. they seem human.

Mine flirts with me but I swear the other day it said "BITE ME LYNN".  Cannot be sure.


----------



## Someone Nameless

Mine says I rock. That is it.


----------



## Seamonkey

Oh it says many things.  (I rock, too)


----------



## corkyb

yooohooo ladies (and gents, I'm used to the accessories board, which I do think is all women since napcat abandoned us years ago).  Thank you, thank you , thank you.
I logged on here two days ago and, of course, Brad's deal had expired.  Always my luck.
I had an old Brookstone expired groupon which I had used but it said I didn't.  So I tried to use it for the $25 it is now worth and it wouldn't work.
So Brookstone has $20 off for Dad's day (HURRY) and I decided to take a chance and buy a new groupon.  $25, for $50.  GULP.  You are only supposed to ever buy one groupon per company.  I ordered the Flex, it took the $20, looked like it took the groupon, but didn't show up in my final charge.  GULP.  I called.  Order not showing up yet.  I called back in two hours.  PRoblem with order, we;ll get back to you tomorrow.  No email, no phone call yesterday.  Called and they said the groupon had been applied.  Cost me @ $47 for the FIT BIT FLEX.  It had been back ordered and expected to ship July 10.  I will be in Texas, RATS.  I asked and they said looks like it's shipping 6/20 and will take 3 to 5 days to be delivered once it ships.  I have wanted a fitbit for a LONG time in the hopes that it will get me moving.  I hope I am not disappointed it doesn't do stairs (but then neither do I,   ).  Seriously, I am pretty sure I would misplace or lose the One and/or forget to put it on in the morning, so I ordered the Flex and hope it doesn't bug my wrist.  I have Fibromyalgia and sometimes cannot stand any jewelry whatsoever.  Othertimes, I wear a lot.

So I am anxiously awaiting to join my friends exercising.  However, there is absolutely no reason I can't start right now, is there?  Nope.  But will i?  Nope, probably not.  I also won a six month membership to the local Jewish Community Center gym.  I have to activate by June 30.  Hope I don't waste that.  

I need to get healthier with exercise.  I am a real couch potato and could sit in a chair endlessly on my computer, reading, etc.  

Anyway, just wanted to chime in and let you know I am joining the ranks of FITBIT and hope to make it FIT soon.  BTW, that scale I couldn't even look.  I am committed to weighing only one time per month so that I am not obsessed with how much weight I am or am not losing.  I've lost 70 lbs in 3.5 years at a rate that is slower than molasses, even though I don't eat molasses, or any other sugar for that matter.  I would like to lose about 15 more, but when I start weighing every day, I become obsessed with the weight instead of doing the recovery oriented things I need to be doing to be healthy and happy.  So no scale that speaks to me and does check offs, etc.  YIKES.  I'd miss work if I had one of those.    

Have a good day, everone.


----------



## Betsy the Quilter

Yay, Corky!

Yes, you can start now!

Betsy


----------



## Someone Nameless

I went on my regular morning walk and it was 5161 steps.  I'm really impressed with myself!  I'm doing better than I thought.  He just said "hold me"...


----------



## Seamonkey

If only my volunteering involved more walking and less driving... 

Isn't it fun to get credit for what you do?


----------



## Betsy the Quilter

We're in Colorado and yesterday we visited Red Rocks, which I'd been to...but I hadn't visited the amphitheatre before.  How awesome.  We climbed it, whew!  But I got credit for 22 flights, LOL!  New badge, as I'd only gotten up to 8 flights til then.



My One told me it liked me last night.  

Betsy


----------



## readingril

Y'all are making me jealous. My Zip never talks to me!


----------



## Betsy the Quilter

Here's a pic of the Amphitheatre...

Betsy


----------



## Seamonkey

YAY for badges!


----------



## Betsy the Quilter

Getting lots of great step totals in on my trip, yay!

We were on a excursion train in Georgetoen, CO, and the conductor announced that they had found a Fitbit. (It was a One.) I panicked, but it wasn't mine! Hope the person got reunited...

Here's a pic of the train:










Betsy


----------



## MamaProfCrash

I just ordered a Firbit and can't wait to have it get here. I ordered the one and it comes with a bracellet so you can use it at night. I am going to be interested to see how well it works. I do use My Fitness Pal to track food consumption so I like that the two work together. My questions is pretty silly, if I am tracking with the FitBit, do I still enter my time on the elliptical or in spin class or just the FitBit number?


----------



## Someone Nameless

When you are sleeping, how does the One distinguish between restless and awake?  How does it know?


----------



## MamaProfCrash

I would guess blood pressure changes and other electromagnetic signatures that the human body gives off.


----------



## gadgetgirl003

Someone Nameless said:


> When you are sleeping, how does the One distinguish between restless and awake? How does it know?


From the Fitbit website https://help.fitbit.com/customer/portal/articles/176096-how-does-my-fitbit-tracker-know-when-i%E2%80%99m-asleep-

"How does my Fitbit tracker know when I'm asleep?
Last updated: May 20, 2013 04:56PM

Your tracker has a motion sensor that analyzes your movement patterns in such a way that it can distinguish between when you are awake and when you are asleep. It works most accurately when worn on your wrist during sleep, because arm movements are a good indicator of how heavily you are sleeping."


----------



## Someone Nameless

I got up in the night to go to the bathroom.  I remember getting back in bed and telling my hubby I was cold.  The Fitbit did not know that I woke up last night.


----------



## MamaProfCrash

Honestly, I am looking for it to count steps and sync with my iPad. It would be nice if it had a heart rate monitor and the like, I am sure something like that will be released at a reasonable price, but I don't think I am going to trust the sleep thing. Not to mention, I already know my sleep sucks, I have an 11 month old in the house.


----------



## Seamonkey

My fitbit alerted me to much more fitful sleep than I had realized, very low efficiency.  I had a sleep study and indeed I had OSA (obstructive sleep apnea) .. and went on cpap therapy.  Fitbit  now reports better sleep percents.

Last night I slept very poorly and the fitbit noted that.  I actually forgot to press the button to start the sleep timer, but you can go in on the dashboard and enter sleep start and stop time.  It showed what I knew.. that I woke up quite often last night.

You can also set an alarm and it quite effectively wakes you up without disturbing anyone else with an alarm.

Mama.. I realize you undoubtedly don't need that feature currently, with the 11 month old.

But it will definitely count steps, miles and stairs for you.

Betsy, your One had a kindred spirit on the train!!

Also, last night my Aria wifi scale updated software while I was standing on it!  It told me so and the version, which, of course, I forget.


----------



## MamaProfCrash

I am sure the day will come when the sleep monitor will be appreciated. I have a feeling it is just a bit off for me. (grins)

I am glad to hear that it helped you with your sleep. Reading reviews makes it sound like there is a decent percent 5% or so have defective fitbits and the sleep thing seems to be one of the problems. Obviously I hope to be part of the "Love it" crowd.


----------



## Seamonkey

Probably so, though there are indeed pediatric users of cpap .  Some people simply have narrow airways, I gather, no matter how young or slim they may be.

The Fitbit just showed many times of wakefulness, but only a sleep study can diagnose sleep conditions.

Anyway, many fun uses for the Fitbit.

I was having a problem with mine and was given suggestions in their forum from Fitbit (might have been on Twitter, even) which had me download an update.  So they seem to be a responsive company.

And this is the first scale to ever have a wireless update, or any update, in my experience.


----------



## MamaProfCrash

OK so Fitbit is linked to my Myfitnesspal account. I am entering everything at my fitness. What do I do about time in the car? I am entering that at the Fitbit site but should I be doing that on Myfitnesspal as well?

Wore it sleeping last night. It tells me that I was 97% efficient in mysleep. It did seem to log the restless periods and there were a lot of them. So I am not sure how it got that level of efficientcy but that is ok. I kind of like the idea of just tracking how much actual sleep I am getting. I am assuming you can use it for napping as well?

I saw that you can use it to mark when you are doing activities. Has anyone done that? I might for when I am on the elliptical. Does it do a good job on ellipticals or should I be prepared to manually enter that time?


----------



## Betsy the Quilter

I'm going to enter exercise time for other than walking, though I've just started doing it.  Not sure what you mean about time in the car?

Betsy


----------



## MamaProfCrash

The Fitbit records bumps in the road and the like as steps so riding in the car increases your number of steps. If you go to your activity dashboard you can type auto, choose riding int he car, enter the time you were in the car, and it subtracts steps that it had given you credit for. I read about this when I was reading through reviews on Amazons website. Essentially, it inflates your step count. If you drive a lot, it could really inflate your step count.


----------



## ◄ Jess ►

If you enter it on the fitbit site, that should be good enough. Fitbit just sends info to myfitnesspal on how much exercise you did via walking, so if you subtract it out on fitbit, it will send the correct total to myfitnesspal. Does that make sense? That's how I understand it, anyway.


----------



## MamaProfCrash

Yup. That is what I am doing. The directions from Myfitnesspal when I linked the site was to complete all entries on their site but I couldn't figure out how to do the car there so I did it on Fitbit.


----------



## mom133d (aka Liz)

When I first looked for an exercise at Myfitness I ended up using the computer. But now "bike, stationary, general" shows up as recent on the app. Its under cardio. What I can't find is the exercise ball.

As far as fitbit inflating steps while driving, a developer addressed that on their site some time back. When whatever one looks like the One but wasn't called that... You can take your fitbit off and lay it flat while driving. But he made an excellent point, its a small number that gets added, and you do burn calories while driving. You aren't just sitting there, your arms and legs are moving, as is your head. I think it adds 20 or 30 steps on my commute.


----------



## Betsy the Quilter

MamaProfCrash said:


> The Fitbit records bumps in the road and the like as steps so riding in the car increases your number of steps. If you go to your activity dashboard you can type auto, choose riding int he car, enter the time you were in the car, and it subtracts steps that it had given you credit for. I read about this when I was reading through reviews on Amazons website. Essentially, it inflates your step count. If you drive a lot, it could really inflate your step count.


Ahhh. I don't worry that much about it, but then I'm not in the car a lot. I'm sure there are other things that I do that add steps, like squirming in my chair. I figure as long as I'm consistent, it's good enough. The idea is, am I getting a lot of steps in--am I getting more steps today than I did yesterday? As long as the general number gets up there, I don't worry too much. But then, as I said, I'm not in the car that much.

Betsy


----------



## MamaProfCrash

I use calisthenics (sp) to cover situps and pushups. Perhaps the same for the exercise ball.

The number of steps added is small and I probably won't worry about it until we have commutes greater then 10 minutes.


----------



## Seamonkey

I don't enter all that much, I guess.. that's a sedentary activity in itself.  I haven't noticed any giant amount of steps earned while driving and I do drive quite a bit.  But I'll have to check it on the speed bumps in my complex.  It also misses steps at times, too, so I figure it evens out.  I wear my One at the waist so that really isn't moving around when I drive, as a flex around the wrist might.

I have seen, rarely, the One give credit for an elevator ride.  Mostly it does not, but one time I purposely tried jjogging in the elevator while it went up 6 floors (I was alone) and it did give me I think 4 stairs.  However it fairly often cheats me out of flights of stairs I have taken, far more than any I've earned on elevators.  This may have been fixed.  Yesterday I took the elevator 5 floors to my dentist (I was late) and got no credit, but then after my appointment I went to my car and got some information for my hygienist and then I took the stairs up to floor 5 and it accurately credited me with 5 floors.  When I came home it did not credit me with going upstairs.  I've never bothered to adjust it for stairs, even the day I did 83 flights (actually a few more).

I'm going to try to log in my steps before/after a drive just to see what happens.


----------



## MamaProfCrash

Or take a look before you drive and see what happens.


----------



## corkyb

MamaProfCrash said:


> Or take a look before you drive and see what happens.


You all are making me wish I ordered the one. I ordered the flex. Mis it goi g to lg any exercise besides walking?

Plus Brookstone has royally screwed up my order and can't seem to locate my item number as an actual order,


----------



## Betsy the Quilter

If you have a fitbit account, Corky, you should be able to log in exercises besides walking (that's what I have to do with my One).

Sorry your order is screwed up!  Can you get information from your credit card company?

Betsy


----------



## MamaProfCrash

Hopefully you can find the info. I linked my fitbit account to the myfitnesspal account and track through my fitness. I am going to keep track of steps before and after elliptical workouts. I read the fitbit doesn't do a good job of tracking those. And I'll have to resume exercises with weights on stairs.

Oh, I take back my criticism of the sleep tracking. It's not bad. It's kind of cool to see how often you toss and turn.


----------



## KindleGirl

We just got back from vacation in Maryland and I have to say I definitely think it adds steps for driving. We were in the car 8 hours or so to get there and it said I had 6000+ steps when we got there. We did make stops and I did walk, but I doubt I had anywhere near that many on a day spent mostly in the car. I did look at the One on the way back though while we were driving and it wasn't adding steps at that point, but I didn't watch it a lot. 

On the other hand, we logged 32,000 steps (13.5 miles!) on one of the days in DC! It sure felt like it by the end of the day too. The kids had fun guessing how many steps we had taken along the way at various times of the day. We had some Metro trips in there too, which undoubtedly added to that total, but we covered tons of ground that day so I'm not going to worry about the small number of steps it added for that. That will be my lifetime record for one day I predict. I don't plan on walking 13.5 miles per day very often!

When I exercise other than walking, I do add it into MFP since the app says it is not good at tracking that stuff. When I do the workout with weights I just add it as cardio because it is with Jillian Michaels and you definitely have your heart pumping the whole time!


----------



## geoffthomas

Hey Corky, have you called Brookstone customer service?
I got my order in later than I thought I did (a different story) and had the confirmation number from the paypal order.  But I never received an "invoice" thing from Brookstone. So every time I put the order number in on their site to track it, they said I did not have an order.  It turns out they don't "put it into the system" until they get ready to ship.  And they are backordered on the flex now - expect to get a couple of thousand of them in early July.  They promise that they already have the boxes and labels done and just waiting for the goods to put in them.  
Just to be sure though I would call them.


----------



## MamaProfCrash

I would suggest on longer trips recording you are in the car. I will probably that for anything over 30 minutes but that is me.

I can see how following all of this could be slightly addictive.


----------



## Seamonkey

MamaProfCrash said:


> Or take a look before you drive and see what happens.


I don't see a difference.. if I just note down the number before I drive and check after. I certainly am not hitting So Cal streets and freeways while watching a device!

I'm in the car more days than not, driving my patients to and from treatment and I haven't noticed inflation from driving.

I have seen reports like the ones above, but I'm just not getting that result from my One. Now if I had it strapped around my wrist, I can see where that would be more likely, but I wear mine at my waist any time I'm wearing a garment with a waistband.. I definitely get my biggest numbers when I walk, not when I drive. And at Curves for the movement between stations. I agree, it would be questionable to log 6000 steps while mostly in the car!! The Metro would be interesting.. if you were sitting down the whole time. When I was on jury duty, our courthouse has escalators for the first three floors and I got nothing from just standing and ascending but if the way was clear and I walked up while ascending, then I'd get steps and stair credit. Just standing still I got nothing. Again, jogging in an elevator while it ascends will convince the One that you are doing stairs since you are stepping and rising.

With the Curves equipment there are only a couple of machines that produce steps.. the stepper is one of those. I just move around between machines.. if the center of the floor isn't busy, I'm moving around, keeping my heart pumping and logging steps.

These devices are fascinating.

Betsy, has your scale said "hi" to you yet?

This morning Mine said "Hi" and then said to step off, then said it was thinking and something else, then produced the weight and %.

Not that it speaks out loud, mind you. I guess this is part of the new version that downloaded the other day while I was standing on the scale. Entertaining.. now if I would be dropping weight that would be more entertaining, though my fat% has dropped.


----------



## MamaProfCrash

Mine was adding steps in the car. I took it off and laid it flat but still got steps.


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## MamaProfCrash

And it says I climbed 52 flights of stairs. I played softball and did a lot of crouching during the game. I did some squats picking up the baby. I have not climbed any stairs.


----------



## KindleGirl

I hadn't noticed any inflated numbers from driving on a normal day, but then I'm not usually in the car that long either. I wear mine on my waistband also and when I checked in the car the other day it wasn't logging steps while driving, so I'm assuming it would take larger bumps to cause it to count it as steps.  

It sounds like they all have their own quirks, but all in all it's a good ballpark idea of where you are at.


----------



## Seamonkey

Mama, sounds like yours wants to encourage you   Sometimes mine doesn't give me credit for a full flight of stairs (not as often any more, though.. I wrong to them and did download an update.

52 flights?  Wow!  When I did 83 I really did even more.  But it certainly sounds like you were being active and that's the main point.


----------



## MamaProfCrash

Yup. That is the point.


----------



## Seamonkey

Hmm, for sleep tracking you can set it to sensitive or normal (normal seems to work better) but don't see that for anything else.  Anyway, guess I'm happy with mine not throwing in massive extra numbers.

I actually remembered to check today.  I drove 5 miles, did not get anything added to my miles for the day (Some people have claimed they got miles while driving) and I got 6 free steps, possibly due to speed bumps.  I'm not worried about 6 steps out of 8000 but definitely wouldn't want addition of large numbers.

I did get the Hot Air Balloon Badge last night when I hit 2000 flights of stairs.. sounds silly but I did do a couple of flights since I knew I was that close.  Any incentive..


----------



## Betsy the Quilter

Yay for the Hot Air Balloon badge!  I have hardly any badges.  

Betsy


----------



## MamaProfCrash

It does a good job on the elliptical. I added the eliptical to myfitnesspal with the time I was on the machine. Right now that time is being double counted. No biggie, I am simply sticking to the lower number of calories.


----------



## KindleGirl

MamaProfCrash said:


> It does a good job on the elliptical. I added the eliptical to myfitnesspal with the time I was on the machine. Right now that time is being double counted. No biggie, I am simply sticking to the lower number of calories.


After a short time MFP app should adjust the exercise total for you. Mine always does but it takes a short time for it to make the adjustment and show up.


----------



## MamaProfCrash

OK, so this thing has me doing stupid stuff, like starting laundry at 9 PM so I can get in one more flight of stairs and extra steps. Then walking a few laps in the house to get to 10,000 steps for the day. 

I am really liking it. I didn't bother looking at my sleep data for last night. After 7 nights of 60-120 minutes of crying, I decided that the grand cry it out sleep experiment was over and rocked baby boy back to sleep. There is only so much that I can take and his time crying was not diminishing in the middle of the night. ugh


----------



## Jane917

I am getting ready to swing over to the Fitbit side. I have only started to do my research, so I am a real newbie. I wear a pedometer, but I know it is not very accurate. I need to spend some time reviewing the models of Fitbit. Where is the best place to purchase? 

With the FB One, how do you wear it to bed to track sleep patterns?


----------



## Betsy the Quilter

You get a flat black wrist band with a pocket and velcro closure to wear.  Works pretty well...

Betsy


----------



## mom133d (aka Liz)

Jane917 said:


> Where is the best place to purchase?


I've gotten mine at Amazon. When I was in the market, Amazon had them for the same price as FitBit, plus free shipping for Prime. My Target ad the following week also had the same price.


----------



## Betsy the Quilter

I got mine at Amazon.  I got my Aria scale through the Brookstone/Groupon promotion posted about here.

Betsy


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## MamaProfCrash

I got mine through Amazon. Look at them carefully, the Fitbit One is sold for $85 and $99


----------



## Jane917

MamaProfCrash said:


> I got mine through Amazon. Look at them carefully, the Fitbit One is sold for $85 and $99


I only see the $99 model.

Did anyone get extra safety leashes?


----------



## Betsy the Quilter

I got one, but since I typically wear mine in my bra, I don't use it.  There's as much danger of the One working out of its little holder thingy as I think there is of it coming off your waistband...and there's no real way to stop it from doing that (which is why I wear mine in side my bra, in the "cleavage.")  I have had it come off my waistband, and had it worked out of the holder.

Betsy


----------



## Jane917

I just ordered the Fitbit. I even paid the $3.99 for one day delivery.


----------



## Betsy the Quilter

Jane917 said:


> I just ordered the Fitbit. I even paid the $3.99 for one day delivery.


Woohoo! Did you order the "One?" Love my One.

You'll want My Fitness Pal if you want to track your food...

Betsy


----------



## Jane917

Yes, I ordered the One. Where do I get my Fitness Pal? Apple App store?

My One will be here tomorrow! Woohoo!


----------



## Someone Nameless

I think you will love it, Jane.  I love mine.  It's been very interesting. I get my 10,000 steps almost every day as busy as I am right now.


----------



## Betsy the Quilter

Yes, there is a version in the Apple App store, and also an Android/Fire version in the Amazon App Store.  It's a great app...you can also add alternate exercises other than walking using MFP...

Betsy


----------



## Betsy the Quilter

Betsy the Quilter said:


> Which app are you having trouble synching with? It syncs great with my iPod Touch, most of the time. Every now and then it's slow. But I usually check the status with my i'Touch rather than look at the thingy itself. I have the Fitbit app for the Fire but don't sync it with that as often.
> 
> It wasn't hard to set up My Fitness Pal. I can't remember now--I think I gave Fitbit the password for MFP or vice versa, LOL! Let me go check...
> 
> Here's the answer from the MFP site--you authorize it from the MFP site:
> http://www.myfitnesspal.com/help/faq/295-how-do-i-link-my-fitbit-account-with-my-myfitnesspal-account
> 
> Betsy


Here's information about how to synch My Fitness Pal with your FitBit account. ^

Betsy


----------



## Seamonkey

I got the FitBit One from Amazon back when IT was a pre-order item.  Got my Aria Scale when Brookstone had good deals on FitBit items.

The newer Flex is the same price as the One (except when One is on sale) but it does stairs, which the Flex does not.  However you can shower wearing the Flex, but not the Fitbit, though was it Nogdog whose One went through the washer and racked up big numbers?   

Jane, I think you'll be happy.

You can use it to gently wake you up, too..

And it says cute things to you at times.

I also find myself taking extra stairs or pacing around the house to get in certain numbers.

I'm not a 10K a day person, but fairly often get close.  The other day I was 1000 steps away and went on marathon jogging around the living room and then did 15 flights of stairs up and down to get to 25 for the day, too.  Went over 10 K enough to log my best day and best mileage too.


----------



## Jane917

My Fitbit One is due to arrive in a few hours! I just hope I don't lose it!


----------



## Betsy the Quilter

When I wear my FitBit on my waistband, I still put the One on the inside, so if it comes out of the holder, it'll fall inside.  I did have the whole thingy come off once when I first got it, but fortunately I noticed it right away.  You have to make sure it's fully on the waistband; sometimes the waistband bunches a bit and you might not think it's on.  I use my bra most, and don't check it very often; I use my iPod Touch (or Fire or Ipad or computer, whatever is closest) to check the stats more than I look at them on the One.

Betsy


----------



## Betsy the Quilter

Is it there yet, Jane?

Betsy


----------



## MamaProfCrash

If I am wearing pants with decent pockets, I wear it on the pocket with the Fitbit inside the pocket. If it falls out, it should be safe there. If I do not have pants with good pockets I wear my Fitbit in the bra. I have read that the case you carry it in is problematic. I don't know if that is something that develops over time as it stretches or if they had a different case that was looser then the one that came with mine. 

I will probably stop sleeping with my Fitbit soon and just leave it in the case to put on in the morning. If I am not pulling it in and out of the case, I think it will be fine.


----------



## Jane917

Betsy the Quilter said:


> Is it there yet, Jane?
> 
> Betsy


Not yet, Betsy. My UPS woman is usually here about 2PM.


----------



## Jane917

My Fitbit One is here! I am setting it up and charging. I had a little difficulty getting my fitbit.com to recognize it, but after a few attempts I was successful. After it is done charging I shall put it in its tiny case and get stepping.


----------



## Seamonkey

Good going!

I've worn mine virtually every day and night (left it home accidentally twice) since I got it and, as I said, I pre-ordered it when it first came out last year, and I rarely have a problem.  I wear mine on the outside of pants, being careful, as Betsy says to make sure that it is clipped on all the way, or on a neckline of a night gown (but in the  holder around my wrist overnight).  It still works very well for me.  I'm not rough with it, of course.

I think you will love it, Jane.


----------



## Jane917

Thanks, Seamonkey. It is about 3/4 charged. 

Hey, Seamonkey! You live in Fountain Valley? I grew up on Orange/Villa Park.


----------



## Seamonkey

That's cool!  I've lived in Corona del Mar, Fullerton, Santa Ana and Modjeska Canyon, so Villa Park is of course familiar too.


----------



## Jane917

Seamonkey said:


> That's cool! I've lived in Corona del Mar, Fullerton, Santa Ana and Modjeska Canyon, so Villa Park is of course familiar too.


You are really on OC girl! I also lived in San Diego (born in Escondido), and went to college in Riverside.

My Fitbit is on! Why don't I have to calibrate it to the length of my steps, like I did my pedometer. I don't think my pedometer was very accurate, so I am going to wear them both for a few days just to compare.


----------



## Betsy the Quilter

Jane917 said:


> My Fitbit One is here! I am setting it up and charging. I had a little difficulty getting my fitbit.com to recognize it, but after a few attempts I was successful. After it is done charging I shall put it in its tiny case and get stepping.


Yay, Jane! What color did you get? Mine's plum....

Betsy


----------



## Betsy the Quilter

Jane917 said:


> You are really on OC girl! I also lived in San Diego (born in Escondido), and went to college in Riverside.
> 
> My Fitbit is on! Why don't I have to calibrate it to the length of my steps, like I did my pedometer. I don't think my pedometer was very accurate, so I am going to wear them both for a few days just to compare.


I'm trying to remember...I think there's someplace in your profile on FitBit.com that you can change the calibration.


----------



## Jane917

Betsy the Quilter said:


> Yay, Jane! What color did you get? Mine's plum....
> 
> Betsy


Mine is burgundy, which I suppose is the same as plum.


----------



## Betsy the Quilter

Probably so....maybe mine was burgundy and I just renamed it plum in my mind. 

Here's a help page about stride length:
https://help.fitbit.com/customer/portal/articles/176045-how-do-i-measure-and-adjust-my-stride-length-

Apparently the stride is based on your height and gender...but you can change it.

Betsy


----------



## Jane917

I think I am a fairly average walker, so I will keep my stride at the default for now. Thanks for letting me know how to change it.

Do you keep track of food on the dashboard?


----------



## Betsy the Quilter

No, I use My Fitness Pal--there are apps for iOS devices, Android, and a website.  It's got a huge database of existing foods.

Betsy


----------



## Jane917

Here goes.....I have opened a My Fitness Pal account and connected it to my Fitbit account. Betsy, you are right....MFP is very easy to track foods, much easier than Fitbit.


----------



## ◄ Jess ►

Pairing MFP with fitbit is soo convenient. It's really made a difference in how much I eat and how much walking I do. I'm up to 12,000 steps so far today. I think I might go for a walk so I can hit 15,000.


----------



## Jane917

I am not going to make my 10000 steps today. I would go for a walk, but it is 100 degrees outside.


----------



## Betsy the Quilter

The hubster and I tried to sneak in a walk between thunderstorms because the temp had cooled off, but then we kept talking to people we met out on the walk; they were in their yards because their power was out because of the prior storm....so we had to finally rush home to get inside.

The first storm was awesome.  One of our neighbors had a tree split in his backyard and thought it might have been lightning.

Betsy


----------



## skyblue

So which model is best?  Every pedometer I've ever had has bit the dust or been horribly inaccurate.


----------



## Seamonkey

Yep, OC.. though I lived in Berkeley three times while going to Cal, and earlier lived in Detroit, and Washington, DC and surrounding states too.



Jane917 said:


> You are really on OC girl! I also lived in San Diego (born in Escondido), and went to college in Riverside.
> 
> My Fitbit is on! Why don't I have to calibrate it to the length of my steps, like I did my pedometer. I don't think my pedometer was very accurate, so I am going to wear them both for a few days just to compare.


Mine is black.

As for best model, the One is best for me.. actually when I bought mine, the One was a pre-order and the previous similar device was no longer available, I think.. and the less pricey one was and is available, but has fewer functions.

The new one (is it out yet?) is the Flex, which looks cooler but doesn't count flights of stairs and I guess doesn't have a display (which wouldn't matter to those using an I device or smart phone to check progress. And you can shower with the Flex, but not the One. The Flex is worn around the wrist, night and day (night if you want to sleep track). The One can be clipped anywhere you want on your body/clothing and at night is worn around the wrist if you want to track sleep. The One and the Flex are the same price.


----------



## ◄ Jess ►

I have the zip, which is a bit cheaper, but also doesn't track sleep or stairs, and isn't waterproof like the flex. I'm thinking about upgrading to the one, just for those extra features. Because the flex is worn on your wrist, I read some early reviews that said it wasn't as accurate, but I'm not sure if that's a common problem or not.


----------



## Someone Nameless

I first ordered the Flex but cancelled and got the One for two reasons - 1)  I have so many cute bracelets   and 2) I do a lot of stairs and the One counts them.

I got the burgundy and I wear it in my bra too.  I have occasionally put it in a pocket when I was wearing cargo type shorts.  I enjoy mine.


----------



## Jane917

Seamonkey said:


> Yep, OC.. though I lived in Berkeley three times while going to Cal, and earlier lived in Detroit, and Washington, DC and surrounding states too.
> 
> As for best model, the One is best for me.. actually when I bought mine, the One was a pre-order and the previous similar device was no longer available, I think.. and the less pricey one was and is available, but has fewer functions.
> 
> The new one (is it out yet?) is the Flex, which looks cooler but doesn't count flights of stairs and I guess doesn't have a display (which wouldn't matter to those using an I device or smart phone to check progress. And you can shower with the Flex, but not the One. The Flex is worn around the wrist, night and day (night if you want to sleep track). The One can be clipped anywhere you want on your body/clothing and at night is worn around the wrist if you want to track sleep. The One and the Flex are the same price.


I went to Cal too, just for a couple of semesters of graduate work.


----------



## geoffthomas

Ok.  I must report that while I got a really good deal buying my Fitbit Flex from Brookstone.....
they are not the best in terms of keeping you informed of status.
With the 20% off deal they got a lot of orders and went backordered right away.  The manufacturer then promised to catch up and it has taken a while.  When I called Brookstone they said that they had the boxes already labeled and ready to go the minute that the shipment came in from the Fitbit folks.  And their tracking did not work because they don't enter anything until they actually ship.  
So I forgot about it for a while.  After all they had said early July.  Went back this morning...just because.  It turns out they shipped the 25th.  And UPS turned it over to the post office around here yesterday.  UPS site shows that it was delivered to the "local" post office this morning at 5:43am.  So maybe today or Monday.

I am already familiar with MyFitnessPal, so perhaps I can get it up and running and useful right away.  We shall see.


----------



## Betsy the Quilter

Yay, Geoff!  Keep us posted.

Forced myself to go out and walk today...the scale and the Fitbit are keeping me honest!  And this group.

Betsy


----------



## Jane917

I am wondering how accurate my Fitbit is. This morning I walked about 1.5 miles (before it gets HOT!), and it registered almost 4000 steps and 450 calories. No way I burned 450 calories. I have noticed that it gives me about 10% more steps than my pedometer, but I know my pedometer is calibrated incorrectly. 

It is only 11AM and I am already over 6000 steps, according to Fitbit. I probably won't have any trouble reaching 10000 today, though I am not sure I am putting in all that effort.


----------



## Betsy the Quilter

Depending on your stride length, a mile is usually considered to be somewhere between 2000 and 2500 steps.  1 1/2 miles would then be somewhere between 3000 and 3750 steps.  So almost 4000 might not be that far off.  Does that number count only the walk, or did you put the One on when you first got up?  If so, it could easily read 4000 steps.  As for the calories, I never even look at that, can't comment.

Betsy


----------



## Seamonkey

I don't really look at calories either.  Once in awhile I find I'm looking at calories but thought I was looking at steps and I'm walking and nothing is happening, but then I realize my mistake.

Geoff, my Aria scale came from Brookstone that way.. slowly and with a handoff at the post office and it seemed that they made sure it wasn't going to get here early.  But it got here.

Someone Nameless.. I did look at the Flex as an upgrade but the loss of stairs was a deal breaker.  However I also have lots of bracelets I love to wear, and I wear watches so having a band all the time didn't appeal to me.  I also like the display right there on the little device and love when it "talks" to me 

Jane, I just got my bachelor's at Cal, as did my brother and sister in law and her brother.  My brother got his MBA there, SIL got hers elsewhere just so she'd have another degree since she was by then directing so many MDs and PhDs.  Not sure if her brother went to Boalt for law school, or not.  They have season tickets for football there, have for years.  I moved back to OC because my then husband transferred to Cal St Fullerton for his bachelors and masters and elsewhere for PhD, so I ended up back in OC.

Wish there had been FitBit when my Dad was still alive.  He walked daily 10 miles, later 5 miles and they lived on a  hill above coast highway and he'd walk down to Corona del Beach and back home, making stops  if he needed to go to the bank or something.. so he'd have been cranking up steps, miles and "stairs" from the streets that had a big incline.  And being a CPA he'd have loved all the stats.  Or not.  

Well I need to get my butt and my fitbit up stairs to get ready to go out..  I have tickets to the last concert of the season of our gay men's chorus, MenAlive and the timing (after the Supreme Court rulings this week on both DOMA and Prop 8 in California) means the guys and the audience are likely to be quite celebratory today.

Hope to park where I can walk in and get a few steps.

Betsy, on your walk where you had to keep stopping to talk to people, at the risk of seeming manic, you could jog in place while talking.. that can really add up and of course is good exercise too.

Hot outside here.. my temp thing online says 80 but it feels a bit higher.


----------



## Betsy the Quilter

Seamonkey said:


> Betsy, on your walk where you had to keep stopping to talk to people, at the risk of seeming manic, you could jog in place while talking.. that can really add up and of course is good exercise too.


Well, I can't really jog, in place or not, doctor's order's because my ankle (broken bone) is healing slowly. Jogging is too much impact. Walking is ok. Good point, though, I could fidget.  Yesterday's walk was more social anyway--I was with the hubster and we always walk more slowly. I expected to have to stop and talk.

Betsy


----------



## ◄ Jess ►

My fitbit keeps track of the total amount of calories I burn everyday, including my base metabolic rate. That means even when I'm sitting around, that number increases. Maybe that's why it seems so high, Jane? If you go to your fitbit dashboard, there's a graph of how many calories you're burning. For me, 4000 steps is only an extra 100 calories or so.


----------



## Jane917

Seamonkey said:


> Jane, I just got my bachelor's at Cal, as did my brother and sister in law and her brother. My brother got his MBA there, SIL got hers elsewhere just so she'd have another degree since she was by then directing so many MDs and PhDs. Not sure if her brother went to Boalt for law school, or not. They have season tickets for football there, have for years. I moved back to OC because my then husband transferred to Cal St Fullerton for his bachelors and masters and elsewhere for PhD, so I ended up back in OC.
> 
> Wish there had been FitBit when my Dad was still alive. He walked daily 10 miles, later 5 miles and they lived on a hill above coast highway and he'd walk down to Corona del Beach and back home, making stops if he needed to go to the bank or something.. so he'd have been cranking up steps, miles and "stairs" from the streets that had a big incline. And being a CPA he'd have loved all the stats. Or not.


Seamonkey, I got my BA at UC Riverside. Started grad school at Cal, finished at U of Washington. My brother got his BA at Stanford, MA at USC, PhD at UCLA.

If you dad walked "down the hill" to Corona del Mar beach, he was quite a walker! That is quite the incline! J


----------



## Seamonkey

Oh no, that would NOT have been advisable under those circumstances!!

Yes fidgeting sometimes gains a few steps and even burns a calorie or two, I suppose.



Betsy the Quilter said:


> Well, I can't really jog, in place or not, doctor's order's because my ankle (broken bone) is healing slowly. Jogging is too much impact. Walking is ok. Good point, though, I could fidget.  Yesterday's walk was more social anyway--I was with the hubster and we always walk more slowly. I expected to have to stop and talk.
> 
> Betsy


----------



## Seamonkey

He walked down Harbor View Drive, then down Goldenrod.. not sure of his exact route to the bridge and then down to the beach and yes, I think he took the stairs or the driveway down.. didn't go overland. When my mom was still walking they only went to the benches up above, then would only go on flat places, like he'd drive to Balboa island and they would walk around and then there was a day she had to wait on a bench there and that was it for her walking outside. Up to the night before she went into the hospital for the last time, she walked a mile inside, with her oxygen, each night. (she had COPD/emphysema).

I just got the bachelor's .. they didn't have much in terms of degrees for computer design and programming in those days but I tested into a trainee position and went from there. I had an offer after taking the FSEE? (I think it was Federal Service Entrance exam) to be hired and sent for a master's but it would have required re-location and I was ready to jump into something different anyway.

As for my Dad, I wish I'd been as dedicated to fitness as he was. I'm trying to catch up now after the fact, but I'm a natural sloth.

Off to the concert; the only official "rainbow" thing I had was a very ugly bracelet, that is remaining home and a rainbow Mickey Mouse head pin from Disneyland which I'm wearing, along with my MenAlive 10th Anniversary pin. They chorus is so excited.. they've sent several emails (also wanting to sell more tickets, of course.. this is new and larger venue, I guess)..

(still wincing that I suggested that Betsy JOG on her mending legs!! Ouch.)



Jane917 said:


> Seamonkey, I got my BA at UC Riverside. Started grad school at Cal, finished at U of Washington. My brother got his BA at Stanford, MA at USC, PhD at UCLA.
> 
> If you dad walked "down the hill" to Corona del Mar beach, he was quite a walker! That is quite the incline! J


----------



## Jane917

Seamonkey said:


> Off to the concert; the only official "rainbow" thing I had was a very ugly bracelet, that is remaining home and a rainbow Mickey Mouse head pin from Disneyland which I'm wearing, along with my MenAlive 10th Anniversary pin. They chorus is so excited.. they've sent several emails (also wanting to sell more tickets, of course.. this is new and larger venue, I guess)..
> 
> (still wincing that I suggested that Betsy JOG on her mending legs!! Ouch.)


I have several tye-dye shirts that make wonderful rainbow attire!

I am pretty sure Betsy is quite forgiving.


----------



## Betsy the Quilter

Jane917 said:


> I am pretty sure Betsy is quite forgiving.


*Betsy puts away cattle prod.*


----------



## Jane917

I just got a fitbit award for climbing 10 stairs! Since I live in a one story house with 2 steps into the house, I don't see how I have climbed 10 stairs. I suppose it could mean 10 steps. I have steps 3 steps going into the garage, 2 steps off my front porch, 2 steps off my back deck. I have been to the garage several times today (we have the 2nd refrigerator there) and I have gone out front and back several times, so I suppose I could have "climbed" 10 stairs.


----------



## ◄ Jess ►

I think the way the stairs work is that it just measures changes in elevation. So, if it thinks you're walking and your elevation changes by some set amount, it counts that as one set of stairs.  My zip doesn't have that capability though, so I have no idea how accurate it is.


----------



## geoffthomas

Ok so I was surprised that my Flex came today.
The postman delivered it around 6pm.
So no instructions with it - go to the website.
Ok, I can do that.
Will report the results.


----------



## Jane917

I was just notified that I walked my 10000 steps today. I don't feel that I walked that much, although I had a 1.5-1.75 walk this morning.


----------



## Betsy the Quilter

I'm annoyed with myself!  I went out this evening and forgot my Flex.  And even would have gotten some flights of steps.  

Betsy


----------



## skyblue

When I previously kept track, there were days I got my 10,000 steps in by noon!  As I am a natural born "fidgeter", I can add up steps quickly. We had a competition at work, and our team still lost! Oh well!


----------



## Seamonkey

Seems like the newer Ones might be more forgiving.  Heck, I have real stairs and fairly often it doesn't give me credit for a flight!  And 10,000 steps takes quite a bit of effort..

The concert was so good, I subscribed for next season and decided to stay for the next show.  So I walked in from the parking lot, then returned to my car with a silent auction item I won, then back up (and it was UP) to the venue and on past up the hill to the dining hall.  (This was at Soka University, which is a gorgeous campus..  

So I'm in line to pay for dinner and I see the couple in front of me and each of them is sporting... a FitBit One!  They were answering questions about the device and so of course I brought mine out too.  My first sighting of a FitBit One in the wild and I see two of them.  They really like them, too.  The guy in front of them asked where you get them (he has the earlier model that doesn't do stairs and he has stairs so he likes the idea of the ONE) and I said Amazon, Fitbit, Brookstone.. guy in front says "IBM store".. which seemed odd but it seems his partner works at the IBM store 

Back down to the venue, and then after the concert, back to the parking lot.. not that close.. and I only have 6066 steps, 12 flights of stairs.


----------



## Betsy the Quilter

Mine's fairly new and it doesn't always credit me for my stairs, either.  Maybe the movement style of the user makes a difference...we all have different walking styles.

Betsy


----------



## Pawz4me

Jane917 said:


> I was just notified that I walked my 10000 steps today. I don't feel that I walked that much, although I had a 1.5-1.75 walk this morning.


Several years ago I bought an Omron pedometer to monitor my steps. I was shocked (and disappointed) to find that I was consistently exceeding 10,000 steps a day just doing my normal stuff. My kids were younger so I was doing a lot of chasing and picking up after them. And it was before our yard was fenced, so I walked the dogs several times a day. I had great hopes that hitting 10,000 steps a day would help me achieve fitness. Finding out I was already doing that and wasn't exactly fit was a disappointment.


----------



## geoffthomas

Well I wonder if the flex is over-reporting steps.
Not that I really care....I am just after a "relative record" of what I am doing.
I thought I had put it in sleep mode last night by thumping it twice (apparently that is just to check status) instead of thumping it continuously for 2 seconds.  So now I know better.  But I kinda like it and the dashboard is fine.  I notice that they want to sell me a bunch of reports and some apps are free and some other things are not.  But that is ok.  I am happy with it thus far.


----------



## Someone Nameless

I have been a very busy girl today and my Fitbit tells me exactly why I'm so tired!  I walked 14,165 steps (and that was not walking for exercise), 45 flights of stairs (and I still have to go up several more times before bedtime), walked 6 miles (from one condo to another and back) and I burned 2280 calories.


----------



## skyblue

Someone Nameless said:


> I have been a very busy girl today and my Fitbit tells me exactly why I'm so tired! I walked 14,165 steps (and that was not walking for exercise), 45 flights of stairs (and I still have to go up several more times before bedtime), walked 6 miles (from one condo to another and back) and I burned 2280 calories.


Wow! Impressive stuff! All your hard work will certainly pay off! It's going to look great!


----------



## Betsy the Quilter

I left mine at home today when we went out and so I have 560 steps.  

Betsy


----------



## Jane917

I have 11486 steps, 1 stair, 4.8 miles, burned 1802 calories.


----------



## Someone Nameless

That's good, Jane.  Are you enjoying it?

I got all those steps and stairs and still managed to take about an hour nap this afternoon.


----------



## Jane917

Yes, Sandra, but I am fearful that it is inflating my steps. The other alternative is that my pedometer did not give me enough credit for my steps. More importantly, I am recording my exercise and food intake, and am starting to shed a few pounds.


----------



## Someone Nameless

Jane917 said:


> Yes, Sandra, but I am fearful that it is inflating my steps. The other alternative is that my pedometer did not give me enough credit for my steps. More importantly, I am recording my exercise and food intake, and am starting to shed a few pounds.


I've decided that even if it's not entirely accurate, it is at least consistent and it encourages me to move more, so that's good enough for me.


----------



## Jane917

^^  Ditto


----------



## skyblue

I had an *Omron* pedometer, but it was not reliable. My daughter is running now, and I've thought about getting a Fitbit for her.


----------



## Betsy the Quilter

I loved my Omron pedometer, but I love my Fitbit more...

Betsy


----------



## Someone Nameless

I had an Omron pedometer too and was not disappointed to lose it in the tornado.  I happily replaced it with the Fitbit.

Skyblue, if your daughter is running, she would probably love to have a Garmin Forerunner GPS watch.  All runners wear them.  My hubby and I used to run before he got sick and he loved his.  He lost it to the tornado and replaced it because he loves seeing his time, distance etc while walking.


----------



## MamaProfCrash

I am simply pretending that this weekend did not happen. With Baby boy, or is it now toddler boy's, birthday there was far too much cake, potato chips, and other all around junk consumed. I am actually trying to think of a vegetable that I ate this weekend and I am struggling....

Back on the wagon today. We are travelling starting on the fourth but at least I can make sure to order a salad and veggies with meals.


----------



## geoffthomas

My Flex reported that I did 7500 steps yesterday.
Went to church, the supermarket and got some gardening in - also did the laundry.
Not much walking, actually - can't wait to see what it makes of the treadmill and elliptical that I do M-F.  And I got the sleep monitoring turned on right last night.  Other than that I slept like a log, I am not sure what it is telling me.


----------



## Betsy the Quilter

geoffthomas said:


> My Flex reported that I did 7500 steps yesterday.
> Went to church, the supermarket and got some gardening in - also did the laundry.
> Not much walking, actually - can't wait to see what it makes of the treadmill and elliptical that I do M-F. And I got the sleep monitoring turned on right last night. Other than that I slept like a log, I am not sure what it is telling me.


You can see more about your sleep on the website than in the apps. I think it's more something to check trends--how much sleep are you getting, on average.

Betsy


----------



## mom133d (aka Liz)

MamaProfCrash said:


> I am simply pretending that this weekend did not happen. With Baby boy, or is it now toddler boy's, birthday there was far too much cake, potato chips, and other all around junk consumed. I am actually trying to think of a vegetable that I ate this weekend and I am struggling....
> 
> Back on the wagon today. We are travelling starting on the fourth but at least I can make sure to order a salad and veggies with meals.


I know the feeling. We had our family reunion this weekend. I did pass on the cake, but that is about all I can say.  Salads for the next few days sounds fantastic. Especially since most of the veggies are in season.


----------



## MamaProfCrash

I don't bother turning on sleep mode, I just enter the time I went to sleep and woke up in the morning. It is easy enough to do.


----------



## Jane917

I have not figured out yet what to do with the sleep mode. I guess I will have to look into that, although I think I get enough sleep.


----------



## MamaProfCrash

Sleep mode measures how frequently you ar emoving your non-dominant arm (where you are suppose to wear the fitbit at night) So if your arm is moving around alot, you are listed as restless. I think if you take steps it is listed as awake. Essentially, it is a proxy read on how well you are sleeping. There are nights where BB is crying and I am lying in bed listening. I don't move much so the fitbit shows me as asleep but I know I am awake. I am sure if I were wearing a heart rate monitor it would reflect a change in my heart beat and catagorize it differently.

I am consistently in th 90% or higher sleep efficiency catagory but I can promise you that is not the case most nights. It is getting better, BB is starting to sleep thought, so I am sleeping better but I know that I am up more frequently then the fitbit reveals.

Which is fine, I know it and I am not worried about my sleep patterns. If I wanted to, I could move my arm more when I am lying in bed listening to BB.

At least one person in the thread has said that the fitbit helped them see that they were not sleeping as well as they thought and led to a sleep study that helped diagnose a problem. So it could be helpful for folks who think they are sleeping better then they are.


----------



## Seamonkey

That was me.. I knew I wasn't sleeping all that well but it told me it was worse than I thought and that led to the sleep study which put me in moderate-to-severe range for sleep apnea.

I switched to the non-dominant hand because most of my sleep is on my right (dominant hand) side so that is pinned down a bit..

And everyone is right.. the actual numbers don't matter much but it helps to see your active and inactive days... but mine might be more fun if it would give higher numbers instead of being so darned accurate


----------



## Betsy the Quilter

So I was sitting at B&N today and my FitBit said (via my iPad), "Almost there!  Get 2302 steps more to make your daily goal!"

So I'm trying to get the last few now...pacing back and forth...

Betsy


----------



## Jane917

Today was a total Fitbit bust for me. I had an eye appt at 9am, meaning I did not get up early enough to put in my early walk. It was 104 degrees most of the day, so the walk never happened. I will do better tomorrow!


----------



## MamaProfCrash

I know that there has been a discussion on how accurate the fitbit is on steps. I have been using it on the ellipticals at the gym and I think it is pretty close to the steps I am actually taking. I walk at a pace that is between 96 - 108 steps per minute (I do intervals), an average of 102 steps per minute. I am on the treadmill for 35 minutes so about 3,570 steps. The fitbit registers around 4,000 steps. I would say that more then half of my time I am closer to 106 per minute (when I am on the lower number and early in the session when I am full of vim and vigor) which adds some steps. So there might be some inflation but not much. 

I used the fitbit in spin class last night (attached it to the bottom of my shorts so that it was on the portion of my leg that was moving) and it registered a little over 4,000 steps for a 45 minute class. I think that might actually be under counting. I am ok with that since it is a pedometer and not really meant to measure what you are doing on a bike. Also, I manually add my time at the gym, in spin class and on the elliptical, so having an exact count doesn't matter all that much to me.

Jane: What about going to a local mall and walking laps there? Air conditioned, people watching, and you can pick up a nice beverage as a treat. Maybe walk an extra couple of laps to help "pay" for the nice beverage.


----------



## MamaProfCrash

One other thing, the exercise adjustment at myfitnesspal is hit and miss. 

Yesterday I burned 3390 calories on fitbit and 567 at spin. Myfitnesspal gave me credit for an additional 1,616 calories. 
On Monday I burned 2597 calories on fitbit and 400 on the elliptical. Myfitnesspal gave me credit for 823 calories burned.

It seems like once a week, the manually entered calories are not taken into account on Myfitnesspal. So if you are going to the gym and using fitbit, make sure you double check your exercise before eating the extra calories. Also, check out your nutrition levels, many of the values go up as you exercise. Not a surprise, but I have a tough time hitting my protein number because it increases 25%. Sadly, I normally have no problem hitting the fat number.....

Sunday I logged nothing (I knew it was going to be a bad day and didn't want to feel guilty about it)

Sunday allowances Calories: 1475, Potassium 3,500, Fat 49, Protein 55, sodium 2,500
Monday allowances Calories: 2,103, Potassium 3,500, Fat 70, Protein 78, sodium 2,500

Just keep an eye on what your page is telling you.


----------



## geoffthomas

I had 18,802 steps on Monday that included my time at the gym.
25 mins on the elliptical with the machine calculating over 200 calories burned.
25 mins on the treadmill - 13 jogging at 4.5 mph and 12 mins walking 5% incline at 3.9 mph for another 200+ calories.  And then I hit the weights, which the fitbit does not measure.

Not sure how any of that calcs up to 18k steps, but I am looking at all this as relative measures.
And fitbit has been reporting my sleeping as 97% effective. I already knew I sleep like a rock.

I need to go back to myfitnesspal and start entering stuff there again.


----------



## MamaProfCrash

I find that most days I get to about 10,000 without going to the gym. I walk around alot and those little steps add up. That and chasing Lucas around. Little dude doesn't want to play with toys right now, he just wants to walk around the house and walk around some more and then do some more walking. I am sure that will become running sometime soon. So I am getting a good number of steps in. I am also going for a 15 minute walk at least once a day at work.


----------



## Betsy the Quilter

Well, my walk this morning, about 2 miles, was ~4500 steps.  Then we went out, so now I'm at ~6000.

I did move my One from garment to garment several times, and when we got back from our errands, I went to check my count on the device, clipped to my tank top, and the little holder was empty!    But, as always, I had it clipped with the One on the inside, and I found it inside my shirt.  Whew!  I think all the clipping and unclipping loosened it in the holder.

So, check your FitBit after you clip it on, make sure it is secure!

Betsy


----------



## MamaProfCrash

Geoff 50 minutes on the machines at that pace is probably between 6,000 - 7,000 steps. I have difficulty believing the calorie burn on the treadmill. It should be well over 200 calories at the rates that you have listed.


----------



## geoffthomas

I admit that I stop looking once I hit 200 calories - I just want 500 out of each session.
My goal is to "run" for the entire 25 minutes.
Gonna take a while.  My 69 year old body isn't getting that trim and certainly not getting that fit.
But I am happy with the current status (for now).


----------



## KindleGirl

Betsy the Quilter said:


> Well, my walk this morning, about 2 miles, was ~4500 steps. Then we went out, so now I'm at ~6000.
> 
> I did move my One from garment to garment several times, and when we got back from our errands, I went to check my count on the device, clipped to my tank top, and the little holder was empty!  But, as always, I had it clipped with the One on the inside, and I found it inside my shirt. Whew! I think all the clipping and unclipping loosened it in the holder.
> 
> So, check your FitBit after you clip it on, make sure it is secure!
> 
> Betsy


Mine has fallen out more times than I care to count...and fallen on the floor! Luckily I have found it right away as we've been out and about once or twice when that happened. Scares me!


----------



## geoffthomas

I have found that the Flex is incredibly secure and I have pretty much forgotten it is there.


----------



## Betsy the Quilter

geoffthomas said:


> I have found that the Flex is incredibly secure and I have pretty much forgotten it is there.


That's one of the reasons I considered a Flex. If I lose my One, it'll be replaced with the Flex. I don't do that many stairs anyway. I'm more interested in the steps.

Betsy


----------



## MamaProfCrash

Mine seems to have disconnected from myfitnesspal.


----------



## Jane917

I think the MFP site must be having some glitches. I have to sign in every time I go to it today, even though it is supposed to save my password.


----------



## MamaProfCrash

It didn't get the data yesterday or today. (Sigh) ah well


----------



## readingril

There are known issues today apparently:



> Hi,
> 
> Sorry for the inconvenience. We are aware that the Fitbit and MyFitnessPal integration is not working as expected right now. It appears Fitbit is not sending data to MyFitnessPal. We have notified Fitbit and they are working on the issue.
> 
> They hope to have it fixed soon.
> 
> Anytime we are experiencing widespread technical issues we will update our Ops twitter account. You can view our Ops twitter account here:
> 
> https://twitter.com/Mfp_ops
> 
> You do not need a twitter account to see our recent tweets, just paste the link your browser.
> 
> As soon as the issue is fixed we will update our users via the Ops account.
> 
> We appreciate your patience and understanding.
> 
> Cheers,
> Scott
> MyFitnessPal Staff


----------



## corkyb

I received my FLex earlier this week.  I set it up today.  Had trouble getting it to say the thing was hooked up.  I wore it today, which has been a couch day.  I put it on late this afternoon.  It bothered my skin and my wrist on my dominant hand so I changed to the larger size, even though I have a tiny wrist and put it on my right hand.  Not really sure I am going to be able to wear this.  I have fibromyalgia and sometimes I can't wear jewelry.  I usually have to take it all off as soon as I get home from work.  But I wanted the Flex because I was afraid I would blow off wearing the One on days I know I am sitting around too much. So I figured I would wear the FLex ALL the time.  Also, I didn't know the ONE talks to you!  Does it really speak out loud?  The Flex just has some lights lit up.  RIght now two are lit and I put my goal at 5,000 steps as I remember from my long ago pedometer days that I didn't even come close to 10,000.  And it hotter than Haites here today, and I don't have central air.  

Oh great, here come the fireworks.  I am always afraid for Cali.  She is at full alert and it was only the fizz not the bang.  ANyway, I paid very little for the Flex through Brookstone and I wonder if I could trade it for a One.  I am surprised my left wrist still aches from the hour or two I had it on that wrist.  It does seem better on the right one.  Plus I also think it's overcounting steps when I last checked.  I have a very small house  and I haven't been out of it today.  I tried to hook up some friends with it, but that didn't work.  Sandra, I tried you, but nothing happened.  It would be good to have some buddies so that I would be embarassed to have only 2000 steps for the day, LOL.  

Looking forward to joining you all.  Is MFP good if I don't want to record food and know calories?  I wouldn't mind it for keeping track of what I eat, but getting into calories is a nono for me.  I just need to be accountable for eating the right foods  in the right amounts and making sure I eat enough.  My recent tests showed me low enough in protein that the endo dr. said it could be an indication of being undernourished.  I am overweight though.  But I'm not getting all the protein in.  I am skipping a meal or two and eathing more yogurt and fruit etc.  Not good for my food needs and I don't want to end up eating bags of potato chips and mountains of chocolate.  And that is where I'm heading if I don't eat what I need to eat.  I'm almost tempted to walk right now.  I wonder if it's cooled off any.  


The computer doesn't seem to log water but the app on my iophone does.  I would like to keep track of water also.


----------



## MamaProfCrash

Corky, go to a local mall and walk. It is air conditioned and safe.


----------



## Jane917

*Corkyb*, I am sorry the Flex isn't working for you. I have the One, and barely notice that I am carrying it. Unless I have pants with a zippered pocket, I carry it in my bra. I don't look at it very much, but there have been only a few days that I have not gotten at least 10000 steps. Those were days that I did not do my daily morning walk. I do track my food in an effort to systematically lose some weight. I love the way it tracks the nutrition. My ONE does not talk to me. Is it supposed to? It sometimes flashes a message, but I don't see them often, mainly because I don't look at it often.

We are in the habit of walking early in the morning before the heat gets much past 80. It is in the high 90s during the day, so we lay low in the house (we have A/C).

I am not sure how to enter friends. Try Jane917 and see if I pop up.

We are managing hamburgers and lots of grilled vegetables tonight and are still managing to stay close to our calorie limit. However, the homemade strawberry ice cream I made earlier today will throw us all off.

Good luck and don't give up! Can you exchange the Flex for the One?


----------



## Betsy the Quilter

corkyb said:


> Looking forward to joining you all. Is MFP good if I don't want to record food and know calories? I wouldn't mind it for keeping track of what I eat, but getting into calories is a nono for me. I just need to be accountable for eating the right foods in the right amounts and making sure I eat enough. My recent tests showed me low enough in protein that the endo dr. said it could be an indication of being undernourished. I am overweight though. But I'm not getting all the protein in. I am skipping a meal or two and eathing more yogurt and fruit etc. Not good for my food needs and I don't want to end up eating bags of potato chips and mountains of chocolate. And that is where I'm heading if I don't eat what I need to eat. I'm almost tempted to walk right now. I wonder if it's cooled off any.


Corky,

yes, MFP is good for recording food. I ignore the calorie stuff, though you can't turn it off. I'm more concerned with tracking how many carbs I'm eating. It tracks protein. You don't want to skip meals! Try eating smaller meals more often and adding small proteins to your diet at each meal!

The mall is good advice, if there's one not too far away! Sadly, our closes mall is under re-construction....but I could walk around the Target there... 

Betsy


----------



## Betsy the Quilter

It looks like you add friends either via Facebook or email address...

Betsy


----------



## MamaProfCrash

The fitbit connection with mfp is working again.

When I started losing weight, I started by cutting back on one junk food at a time. So instead of eating at Five Guys three times a week, I went once a week. After a few months that went to once every other week. About a year in it was once a month. Now it is once a month and I get a single patty and not a double.

It took me a year to lose 25 pounds. I maintained that for three years. After having BB, I worked on losing the baby weight plus 20. I am there so now it is maintenance.

I think a mistake that many folks make is trying to cut everything. Deprivation doesn't work. Portion control and thoughtfully choosing indulgences seems to work, at least for me. Try and find what works for you and stick with that. Think small chunks. Celebrate success and pick yourself up when you fall.


----------



## geoffthomas

My cardiac dietician says that even red meat is ok for me.
But my "meat" portion should be only 4 oz. - the size of a deck of playing cards.
And stay away from cuts that are 30% fat, like most prime rib or rib roasts.  Yum....but a lot of fat.
So like MamaProfCrash says portion control is important.  And half your plate should be fiber.  Not necessarily vegetables, but fiber.
And I agree with Betsy.  Eat each meal.  Don't skip.  Have a very small meal, but have a meal.


----------



## Betsy the Quilter

I went with hubby to the grocery store (he usually goes by himself) and walked extra laps around the store while he shopped.  Not 10000 but more than I would have gotten today otherwise.  

Betsy


----------



## Seamonkey

Fitbit's servers were down last night/early this morning,  seems to be back and running.


----------



## Betsy the Quilter

For those who use their mobile devices to sync with their Fitbits, there is an upgrade today for the iOS version and there was one on July 2nd for the Android version.

Not sure if they are the same.  The new one for iOS has cooler graphics, and Flex users can set what information is shown. Also, active minutes are also shown separately.

Betsy


----------



## MamaProfCrash

I thought active minutes were always shown separately? Or are they talking on the one itself, like steps?


----------



## Betsy the Quilter

On the iOS app, they weren't shown on the first page with the others, broken out, that I know of.  You could see them by drilling down or on the website.  I looked at my app before I updated and it's definitely different now.

Betsy


----------



## Betsy the Quilter

I hadn't updated the version on my iPad, so I compared them this morning.

On the old version, on the App's main page, you could only see stats for:
Steps
Distance
Floors
Calories Burned
Weight
Sleep
Calories Consumed
Water.

On the new app, Very Active Minutes (VAM) has been added after Calories Burned.

And on the "Activity" screen, you can page through charts for Steps, Calories, Distance, VAM and Floors; on the old version, you could only see charts for Steps, Calories and Floors.

I'm happy to see this; as someone who mainly checks my numbers with my iPod Touch, I hadn't realized how many days I was getting VAM.

Betsy


----------



## MamaProfCrash

I don't fully get calories burned. I can hit my 10,000 steps, walked the equivalent of 10 flights of stairs (for me it is a mixture of stairs and hills), walk over 5 miles, have well over 30 active minutes, and not hit the calories burned goal. I have not altered any of the goals so it is weird that I can hit every other goal and not hit the calorie burned goal.

I think VAM are minutes that you are walking in a row at a certain pace. I get them when I go out for my morning walk and am at the gym or when I made the mistake of paying attention to my email and Lucas manages to disappear so I am quickly searching the house for a mischevious, adventerous one year old.

We have learned to shut all the doors. Childproofing drawers and cabinets is happening this weekend. Child gates have been up since he could crawl. I am sure that we will be adding door knob things in the next few months.


----------



## Betsy the Quilter

MamaProfCrash said:


> I think VAM are minutes that you are walking in a row at a certain pace. I get them when I go out for my morning walk and am at the gym or when I made the mistake of paying attention to my email and Lucas manages to disappear so I am quickly searching the house for a mischevious, adventerous one year old.


Exactly. When I walk by myself, I get VAM...and even with hubby, last night, we set a good pace, so I got fifteen minutes of VAM, which I was pleased to see. I hadn't realized how much of my walks were crediting as VAM until the app update. So I'm a happy girl.

Lucas is a year old already? Wowwwww....

Betsy


----------



## MamaProfCrash

Yup, June 28th. A year old and walking. I am thinking of getting him a pedometer just to see how much walking he is doing because he is always in motion. I have no idea who he gets that from nope, I don't. The one exception is when he wants to be read to, then he brings over a book and you read. Then he gets another book and you read. Most of the time we go through 6 or so books with re-reads. Then h wants to read on his own. I do know who he gets that from. (grins)


----------



## KindleGirl

MamaProfCrash said:


> Yup, June 28th. A year old and walking. I am thinking of getting him a pedometer just to see how much walking he is doing because he is always in motion. I have no idea who he gets that from nope, I don't. The one exception is when he wants to be read to, then he brings over a book and you read. Then he gets another book and you read. Most of the time we go through 6 or so books with re-reads. Then h wants to read on his own. I do know who he gets that from. (grins)


If you haven't already, you'll learn every book by heart and be able to "read" it without actually reading it. We had tons of books but they had their favorites for sure. I was so excited when we got to read a new one!! Those are fun times though....I miss them sometimes.


----------



## MamaProfCrash

Oh we are already there. DH is not a reader but he enjoys reading to Lucas and smiles when Lucas brings him a book. By not a reader, I mean he does not read books. He does read a good number of magazines and the like. He totally gets the importance of reading to the little man and how that helps him. He also thought that the nail scrubber in the bathroom was a new toothbrush for Lucas but forgot to brush his teeth last night in tha bathroom. 

Both of them have come a long way in a year. So have I.


----------



## Betsy the Quilter

I love the idea of a pedometer on Lucas! If you do this, please report!

Betsy


----------



## MamaProfCrash

I bought a cheap back up for the One and I am toying with putting on the little man after day care.


----------



## corkyb

Can someone help me with sleep monitoring? I can't figure out what I am doing wrong.  When I first got the FLex, I hit the band five quick times when I got in bed and then either five times or two time in two seconds ( I can't remember which) when I awoke.  I didn't have to worry about syncing.  I have the Flex set up to sync with my MBPro via the dongle and with my iphone 5 via the app.  I also have the app on my ipad but I don't believe I've logged in there yet.  IN the first week or two, the flex was doing my sleep every night and I didn't have to do anything except eh above.  I did miss a night sleep getting ready to travel.  But it was still working and it was showing me time I went to bed, to sleep, restless time, awake time and time I got up.  Now it's showing nothing unless I enter it myself.  ANd it's also no longer showing hardly any restless times during the night.  It's gone from about 45% efficiency to 98% efficiency and that's when I punch in the times I went to bed and woke up.  I am beside myself about this as Iit is a big reason I purchased the flex.  I changed the sensitivity to make it more sensitive and still that didn't help.  In the morning it's telling me I logged no sleep.

Any ideas or suggestions?  I wrote to Fitbit, but they have not answered me.

Thanks Paula


----------



## Someone Nameless

I'm not sure about the 'hitting it five quick times'.    To go to sleep mode you hold the button until it pops up like a stopwatch.


----------



## geoffthomas

The Flex has no buttons.
You "hit" it quickly until the two lights flash (separated by 3 that don't). Then, and only then, is it set in sleep mode.
When you wake up you do the same thing, but it responds by flashing 5 lights together twice. And it is back to daytime mode.
It is a little confusing because most of the other status checks are invoked by tapping it twice quickly.  But changing modes is not the number of taps but rather the amount of tapping time- until the lights respond.  Usually pretty quick.  You might want to try this in the middle of the day - turn sleep mode on and then turn it back off a couple of times until you get the hang of it.
My first night I never got it set into sleep mode and was very frustrated.


----------



## Someone Nameless

duh.  Sorry.  I have the One not the Flex.


----------



## MamaProfCrash

I don't set my One but enter the sleep time on the dashboard


----------



## Seamonkey

I have the one and have used the hold the button method and the dashboard method.  I would think with the Flex you could still use the dashboard?  

My one, for the first time, slipped out of the holder.  I was at Curves and thankfully someone found it.  And I even got most of the credit for all the moving around since it seems like it dropped toward the end of the two circuits.  But I'll be putting it inside the waistband or elsewhere now.


----------



## geoffthomas

I don't know what the dashboard method is
The Flex dashboard does not have switches for features.


----------



## MamaProfCrash

Geoff: When I go to my Dashboard, there is a tool bar across the top that shows "Dashboard Log Community" and a few other things. Click on the log. 

At log, you have the option to log food, activity, weight, sleep and other things. Click on sleep.

At sleep, you can log the time that you slept. Once you do that, it will bring up a graph that shows your sleep movements.


----------



## geoffthomas

Sorry...I do have that.  My "app" on the pc does the sync and then starts the browser login to the dashboard for the displays.  What I don't have is anyplace in the dashboard to turn on or turn off the sleep mode on my Flex.  Which I though was what you can do with the ONE?


----------



## Betsy the Quilter

I would think the Dashboaard would be the same for everyone.  You don't actually use the Dashboard to start and stop sleep mode on the device, you use it to enter when you went to bed and when you got up, and then the Dashboard software looks at the data from your device during that time period and anaylizes it.

Betsy


----------



## MamaProfCrash

What Betsy said. There is a way to turn on and off sleep and activity mode on the One but I don't bother with it. I just enter it all manually on the dashboard. I find it easier and more accurate.


----------



## Betsy the Quilter

Go to www.fitbit.com/sleep to create a sleep record.

Or, go to your dashboard and click on the sleep tile.  If you haven't logged sleep yet, it may say "Forget to log your sleep?"  If so, click on the link on the tile.  If it shows your last logged sleep graph, click on the tile and then, from the popup, click on the little right-pointing arrow in the lower right hand corner.  That will take you to www.fitbit.com/sleep.

Or, again, it may be simpler just to type in the URL.  And then bookmark it.  

It's a simple form, type in the start time and the end time.

I would have posted this earlier but couldn't get to my PC to doublecheck the steps.

Betsy


----------



## MamaProfCrash

Is fitbit having problems with connecting to myfitnesspal again?


----------



## Betsy the Quilter

Seamonkey said:


> My one, for the first time, slipped out of the holder. I was at Curves and thankfully someone found it. And I even got most of the credit for all the moving around since it seems like it dropped toward the end of the two circuits. But I'll be putting it inside the waistband or elsewhere now.


Glad you recovered it!!! (Wish there was still a Curves down the street...loved my Curves. Now the closest one is too far away to entice me.)

Anyway, this is the reason I started putting it in my bra. I figure even if it slips out, it will be caught. Around the house, I wear tank tops a lot this time of year, and I clip it to the tank top. When I go out, it's on the bra--I don't check it that often when I'm out anyway, and I can always use my phone or iPod Touch.

Betsy


----------



## MamaProfCrash

Fitbit and My Fitness Pal do not seem to be playing well again. (sigh)

And fitbit lost my first 7,591 steps yesterday (double sigh)

And I started Jillian Michaels 30 Day shred yesterday. Can we say owwwww? But it is a good workout and only 25 minutes long, start to finish. I am in toning mode and this is suppose to be a good one for toning and some weight loss. I am not trying to eat with a 500 calories deficit anymore so we shall see. Like I said, I am more concerned about toning and it is a good, fast circuit.


----------



## ◄ Jess ►

I just discovered that multiple fitbit services can sync using the same dongle. I left my dongle at work, so I've been baffled as to how my fitbit was updating all weekend. I thought maybe it was my tablet, but it was turned off. I finally figured out it was my husband's dongle, hooked up to his computer. Pretty convenient!


----------



## Betsy the Quilter

MamaProfCrash said:


> Fitbit and My Fitness Pal do not seem to be playing well again. (sigh)
> 
> And fitbit lost my first 7,591 steps yesterday (double sigh)
> 
> And I started Jillian Michaels 30 Day shred yesterday. Can we say owwwww? But it is a good workout and only 25 minutes long, start to finish. I am in toning mode and this is suppose to be a good one for toning and some weight loss. I am not trying to eat with a 500 calories deficit anymore so we shall see. Like I said, I am more concerned about toning and it is a good, fast circuit.


I think I have that...will have to look. I do have some Jillian Micheals stuff...I've been avoiding it because of the aerobics and my fractured ankle, but it seems to be finally healing--I go back to the Dr. on the 19th of August, if he gives me the go ahead, I'll start. At the last appointment, he told me I could walk or bike but couldn't run. (Like that was going to happen.) But aerobics has the same impact, maybe more. Even though I do low impact versions of things like the jumping jacks. (My back doesn't like high impact stuff.)

Betsy


----------



## KindleGirl

MamaProfCrash said:


> Fitbit and My Fitness Pal do not seem to be playing well again. (sigh)
> 
> And fitbit lost my first 7,591 steps yesterday (double sigh)
> 
> And I started Jillian Michaels 30 Day shred yesterday. Can we say owwwww? But it is a good workout and only 25 minutes long, start to finish. I am in toning mode and this is suppose to be a good one for toning and some weight loss. I am not trying to eat with a 500 calories deficit anymore so we shall see. Like I said, I am more concerned about toning and it is a good, fast circuit.


I love the Jillian Michaels dvd's. My first one was the 30 day shred. Loved it...well except for actually doing it!  Love how she works several muscle groups at the same time and uses the time wisely. She is tough but I could tell a difference after a short time. Unfortunately since vacation I haven't had the time to work out much, but once the kids get back to school and my schedule gets back on track I am doing it again. In fact, I bought 2 more of her DVD's so I can have even more variety.


----------



## MamaProfCrash

I am looking forward to todays session. It will hurt but that is fine. She does a lot of the stuff that my trainer did when I worked with him. Hopefully it helps me get a bit more toned and in shape. If I like it, I will get another to follow on with.

And the sync between fitbit and MFP is working fine. Fitbit lost 7,491 steps yesterday so I ended up with a negative count based on the exercise that I had done and entered on MFP canceling out the 6,000 or so steps that Fitbit had at the end of the day. In reality, I had 13,491 or a bit more but there is no way to add that in. So no biggie


----------



## Someone Nameless

Where is the part on my fitbit dashboard that shows me sleep times broken down into hours and when I was restless or awake?  I know I've seen it and now I can't get back to it.


----------



## MamaProfCrash

On the dashboard, go to the sleep section, click on it.


----------



## Someone Nameless

That is what I was trying to do.  Does it only work on the previous day and not the entire history?  Several days back my curser turns to a hand but when I click nothing happens.


----------



## MamaProfCrash

It should have bar charts on the right for the last week and month


----------



## Betsy the Quilter

I've been meaning to post the very sad story that my FitBit got washed AND dried and didn't seem to be working.  I tried charging it and checking it after a couple days.  Nothing.  Sadness!

So, I ordered a new one (found one that was discounted on Amazon--$69).  It arrived today.  I pulled the old dead One out of the charger, put the new One in.  Was getting ready to sync the new one to my account when I realized the last sync on the old device was today!  It came alive after the new one arrived!  Love my One!

I'm thinking of keeping the new one anyway, as a backup since I already have it. 

Betsy


----------



## MamaProfCrash

Glad to hear that the old One came back to life.

Loving my fit bit. I am unhappy on the rare days I don't hit 10,000 steps. I average 13,000 a day. 

Goes off to have another double dark chocolate sea salt cookie.

What? I am walking more then enough and going to the gym.


----------



## KindleGirl

Good to know your One was revived after a couple of days, Betsy! I fear mine may suffer the same fate someday, but I'm usually more worried about losing it than washing it now. Good to know it can survive the washer and dryer.


----------



## Betsy the Quilter

MamaProfCrash said:


> Goes off to have another double dark chocolate sea salt cookie.


----------



## Seamonkey

I have been thinking about the newest fit it band that includes stairs again via altimeter..

Today there is a listing on bradsdeals.com.  You can buy a livingsocial voucher for $25 that is good for $50 at Brookstone..  at checkout on livingsocial, click on promo codes and enter VETERANS10 to get another $2.50 off.

Of course this will work for anything on the Brookstone site, but I thought of firing.


----------



## Seamonkey

Also I'm subbed to BradsDeals Black Friday emails and they just published all 36 pages of the Target ad for BF and if you wanted a Fitbit FLEX they are still $99 but you get a $20 Target gift card..   looks like it starts Nov 28.

ETA: Looks like the Flex may be a bit discounted at Brookstone right now.


----------



## Seamonkey

$88 for the Flex at Brookstone currently.  (but that living social deal would subtract more).


----------



## MamaProfCrash

Love my One. Highly recommend any of the fitbits.


----------



## gadgetgirl003

I am resurrecting this thread. My daughter gave me a Fitbit One for Christmas. I love it! It really reminds me to get my steps in. Right now I don't have many friends on my Fitbit list to compete with. Right now I'm competing with my daughter, one her her guy friends whom I like, my nephew's wife and my son's girlfriend's mother. I think we Kboarders should friend each other on Fitbit and compete with each other. What do you think? Are a bunch of you already friends on Fitbit?


----------



## Betsy the Quilter

I'm up for it.  How do we friend each other?

Betsy


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## MamaProfCrash

You need the other persons email, then you send them an invite through the Fitbit dashboard


----------



## Chad Winters

My wife just bought the One and I got the new Force. I like the wristband with watch function. And in Feb they are supposed to add caller ID functions from your iphone.
http://www.theverge.com/2014/1/9/5292184/fitbit-force-caller-id-launching-february

So far I really like it. I also bought a treadmill desk for work, which should help me reach 10,000 steps pretty easy


----------



## Someone Nameless

I would love to join in but sadly my Fitbit battery has been dead for months.  There's nothing wrong with it.  It is just not being used much.  I need to get it out and dust it off.


----------



## gadgetgirl003

Someone Nameless said:


> I would love to join in but sadly my Fitbit battery has been dead for months. There's nothing wrong with it. It is just not being used much. I need to get it out and dust it off.


I was thinking about sending you an email and asking you to friend me. Charge your fitbit and friend me. I am using the email address that you have already.


----------



## gadgetgirl003

Betsy the Quilter said:


> I'm up for it. How do we friend each other?
> 
> Betsy


Betsy, I will send you the email address that I am using for fitbit in an IM. If you figure out how to make a group for Kboards that would be great. We all know how techie you are. 
I'm excited to get some Kboard friends on Fitbit.


----------



## Someone Nameless

I will do that but I keep my grand baby and right now it is confining.  The steps I take are mostly inside the house and probably don't amount to many but I'm exhausted.    When summer comes, look out!


----------



## gadgetgirl003

Someone Nameless said:


> I will do that but I keep my grand baby and right now it is confining. The steps I take are mostly inside the house and probably don't amount to many but I'm exhausted.  When summer comes, look out!


 Most of my steps are inside the house when I get home from work too and I leave my house at 7:20 each day and don't get home until 6:30 and sit at a desk all day, so no excuses. 

I went to the Fitbit site and saw that we CAN create own Kboard group. We can make it public or by invitation only. I can set it up or if Betsy wants to set it up she can give us info. I think we should have Kboarders in the title if that is okay with Harvey.


----------



## Someone Nameless

Please invite me when that is done.  I looked back to last year and there were days I walked almost 15,000 steps.  No wonder I was at my all time low weight wise....that and the stress diet.  I'm fat and happy now.


----------



## KindleGirl

Let us know when a group gets set up. Any extra motivation in the winter is good!


----------



## gadgetgirl003

KindleGirl said:


> Let us know when a group gets set up. Any extra motivation in the winter is good!


I'm waiting to hear from Betsy.


----------



## skyblue

So, what's happening with the Fitbit folks?  My daughter has become interested in purchasing one.  I wondered if you all still like and use it.


----------



## Someone Nameless

Sadly, no.  I never use mine.


----------



## Chad Winters

I was doing awesome with mine, but I had the Fitbit Force which was recalled. Now waiting for the new version


----------



## Betsy the Quilter

gadgetgirl003 said:


> I'm waiting to hear from Betsy.


Sadly, I got distracted as we were getting ready to leave for San Diego.  Sorry.

I'm back using mine again--let's get the group started if we still want to do this. Gadgetgirl, could you resend me your email?

Someone Nameless--charge yours up, let's go!

I keep hoping they'll have an iPad version of the app. 

Betsy


----------



## MamaProfCrash

I use mine every day. I don't bother with the sleep thing and have never played with the timer function. Love it. I use the One because I don't want to wear something on my wrist. Now that we are going to the pool regularly, I am thinking about getting one that goes on the wrist so I can take it into the pool and not worry about it. 

Betsy, there is an IPad version of the App. I have the fitbit app on my IPad and it interacts with my MyFitnessPal account.


----------



## Betsy the Quilter

MamaProfCrash said:


> I use mine every day. I don't bother with the sleep thing and have never played with the timer function. Love it. I use the One because I don't want to wear something on my wrist. Now that we are going to the pool regularly, I am thinking about getting one that goes on the wrist so I can take it into the pool and not worry about it.
> 
> Betsy, there is an IPad version of the App. I have the fitbit app on my IPad and it interacts with my MyFitnessPal account.


Hmmmm.... I'll go look again. The only app I found was the iPhone version of the app, which works on the iPad, but is identical. Works well, I use it, but it only works in portrait mode and doesn't really take advantage of the iPad's better resolution.

Betsy


----------



## MamaProfCrash

Gotcha, that is probably what I am using. Given the information on the app, I have never been worried about the resolution. I only have it on my IPad so that it can send info to MyFitnessPal which is my prefered app for excercise and food records.


----------



## Betsy the Quilter

MamaProfCrash said:


> Gotcha, that is probably what I am using. Given the information on the app, I have never been worried about the resolution. I only have it on my IPad so that it can send info to MyFitnessPal which is my prefered app for excercise and food records.


The app looks good enough on the iPad--but they could have so much more information on the app, make it more like the web version if they had an app designed for the the iPad.

I like the MyFitnessPal app, too...I forget why I don't use it for everything. I'll take another look at it now that I'm getting back into my program.

Betsy


----------



## MamaProfCrash

It is more conservative with the calories burned for exercise which I like. Unless you have a really good heart rate monitor you ar enot going to get the calories right for most exercises and even those are not perfect. MFP also has a larger data base for foods and it is pretty easy to add your own recipes so it is easier to build up your own data base.


----------



## Betsy the Quilter

I think I stopped using MFP because I was using an app (Diabetes Buddy, now Diabetes App) to track my glucose levels, meds and weight and it had a diet tracking app that was pretty good.  

Fitbit lets me have a glucose tracker but I haven't found a way to add glucose tracking to MFP.

Still playing around with stuff trying to get back with my program.

Betsy


----------



## Betsy the Quilter

Ooh, just found that I can add custom trackers to MFP on the website (My Home > Check In > go to the bottom where it says add additional measurements or something.  Once set up, I can add new measurements within the app and look at progress in the app.  Pretty cool...

Anyone tried the TactioHealth app?  It connects with Fitbit, too.  It's kind of a mess as far as adding data.  So I don't add data in it.  But I do like that you can set goals in it and it will make recommendations and send you little cheering notifications.  It's a very attractive app!

Betsy


----------



## geoffthomas

Fitbit has recently added an app for Android phones.
I use this now in conjunction with the PC app.
I should also be honest and say that my Fitbit Flex has just this week started to act funky.
I think the battery is done.  Unfortunately their Customer Service is not as immediate as Amazon.
You must email them and then they respond, by email.
I will keep you posted how the "fix" progresses.


----------



## Betsy the Quilter

They have an app for your Fire, too, Geoff.  I've got it on all of my devices.

Betsy


----------



## geoffthomas

Thanks Betsy.


----------



## Betsy the Quilter

Let us know what happens with your Flex, Geoff!

Betsy


----------



## Betsy the Quilter

OK, based on the interest earlier in the thread before I got lazy and dropped my program, I've created a Fitbit group for KBoards users. I've made it invitation only as I've seen too many groups on various sites get spammed. It's public so you can view it now, but I'm thinking perhaps we'll want to change it so that we can only see it once we get a few members. If we get a few members. 

https://www.fitbit.com/group/22N2D6

You need to be logged into your fitbit account to see it.

I'm very lonely there.  PM me with your email address if you want to be a member.

I think there's an advantage as we can see each other's numbers like steps, etc. (if you set up your account to allow that). I went through my privacy settings very carefully to determine what I might want the members of the group to see.

Betsy


----------



## Someone Nameless

OK, I'm going to get mine out and try again but no promises.  I'm a slug.  If I go silent for days, do not worry.  I'm probably not dead.


----------



## Betsy the Quilter

Someone Nameless said:


> OK, I'm going to get mine out and try again but no promises. I'm a slug. If I go silent for days, do not worry. I'm probably not dead.


----------



## Someone Nameless

I sent you a PM for an invite to the group.


----------



## Betsy the Quilter

And you've been invited!  We're up to three members now!

Betsy


----------



## Chad Winters

I'll plan on joining when I get a new Fitbit. I had to return my Force and am waiting for the new version. I have a 6 dollar step counter  I picked up on amazon that works well, but is apparently just a weight on a string. Every step I make this loud Click-Clack noise now  I guess there is a reason the Fitbit is more expensive


----------



## HeyDrew

I've been using my Fitbit for about two months and I'm pretty happy with it. The only problem I've had is with the bands. They are flimsy and cheap - one has already broken for no apparent reason. I want Fitbit to give consumers access to better quality bands and more color options. I'm so tired of black and blue! 

Apart from the bands though, it's a lot of fun to check my steps and active minutes during the day!


----------



## Betsy the Quilter

HeyDrew said:


> I've been using my Fitbit for about two months and I'm pretty happy with it. The only problem I've had is with the bands. They are flimsy and cheap - one has already broken for no apparent reason. I want Fitbit to give consumers access to better quality bands and more color options. I'm so tired of black and blue!
> 
> Apart from the bands though, it's a lot of fun to check my steps and active minutes during the day!


HeyDrew--

welcome to the thread! You're talking about the Flex? I keep looking at the Flex, trying to decide whether to get one or not. They have a lot of color options now, according to the Fitbit store:
https://www.fitbit.com/store

Sorry to hear about them breaking. That's a bummer.

Betsy


----------



## geoffthomas

I am still having daily re-charging problems with my Fitbit Flex.
I have not yet had any response from Customer Service (cannot find a phone number) other than an email to ask if it is still a problem. I responded that it was.
I can find no info on the web site as to how long they expect their products to last or how long the battery should last (as it is sealed, they are the same issue).
Here is the lead sentence from the online warranty:
Fitbit, Inc. ("Fitbit") warrants the Fitbit electronic device (the "Product"), and only the Product, against defects in materials and workmanship under normal use for a period of ONE YEAR (365) days from the date of retail purchase by the original purchaser.
So it would appear that they do not expect the devices to last much longer than a year.
I should add that I do wear the Flex 24 by 7.  And workout at the gym at least 3 times each week.
And I check progress from it daily.  And I do switch it to "sleep mode" and back every night/morning.
So I am now a little curious as to whether they expect their product to last only a year (for $99) and then for the customer to repurchase (at full retail)?
I will let you know what I find out.


----------



## readingril

Try this number
877-623-4997 
A friend of mine called with problems with her Flex and got a replacement in three business days.

My Zip is going strong at 16 months!


----------



## Betsy the Quilter

One year is a pretty standard electronics warranty, isn't it?  Doesn't mean that they only expect it to last that long.  I don't know of any warranties that are for the life of the device.  The Kindle is warranted for a year, and surely Amazon expects them to last longer than that (at least all of mine have).

I hope the number readingril posted helps!

Betsy


----------



## talleylynn

If this group gets rolling, I am definitely interested. I need the motivation. 

At the moment I am without a Fitbit. I got a flex for Mother's Day and really enjoyed it, but three days later when I charged it, the battery didn't take a charge. I returned it. I have been in a dither ever since over whether to get another flex or a one. I really want a force because of the clock function, but that isn't possible right now since they've been recalled. I can't get into my account without a device nearby to check out Betsy's thread. 

Perhaps you can help me make the decision. Does anyone know if the flex registers your steps if your arm is holding on to a shoulder purse strap? I know it doesn't register steps if you hold onto the handles on a treadmill. Also, does the one count steps correctly if you clip it to a necklace or lanyard instead of clothing or in a pocket?

My daughter and her husband have had flexes for longer than a year - maybe close to two - and the devices are still going strong. My daughter has replaced the band once and is in need of a new one again. Neither of them have had any battery problems.


----------



## readingril

I have no clue what happened to my  notifications for this thread. I should be getting them but I'm not. Ah well... sent a PM with my email!


----------



## geoffthomas

Well I am most pleased.
While the Fitbit customer support remains by way of email.....
They responded to me earlier and asked for purchase documentation.  I sent them the paypal electronic invoice from June 5, 2013.  They have responded that they are sending out a new unit and for me to recycle the old one through an electronics recycling program.  
As Betsy said, one year warranty is pretty standard.  And Amazon is pretty generous about how they apply that - now I know that Fitbit is also generous.  True my original contact about my problem was in the first week of June.  But that is truly giving the customer the benefit of the doubt.  I need to take my hat off to them.  
I think that they could do a "better" job of customer support but I cannot complain about the results.


----------



## Betsy the Quilter

readingril said:


> I have no clue what happened to my notifications for this thread. I should be getting them but I'm not. Ah well... sent a PM with my email!


I think when we upgraded the forum software, notifications had to be reset....

I'll check my PMs, readingril!

Betsy


----------



## Betsy the Quilter

geoffthomas said:


> Well I am most pleased.
> While the Fitbit customer support remains by way of email.....
> They responded to me earlier and asked for purchase documentation. I sent them the paypal electronic invoice from June 5, 2013. They have responded that they are sending out a new unit and for me to recycle the old one through an electronics recycling program.
> As Betsy said, one year warranty is pretty standard. And Amazon is pretty generous about how they apply that - now I know that Fitbit is also generous. True my original contact about my problem was in the first week of June. But that is truly giving the customer the benefit of the doubt. I need to take my hat off to them.
> I think that they could do a "better" job of customer support but I cannot complain about the results.


Yay, Geoff!!!!!

Betsy


----------



## readingril

I've contacted them once for my daughter and was amazed they sent her a new Fitbit for one that was a month out of the one year warranty. Can't say anything but good things around the company!


----------



## Seamonkey

I think Fitbit is a very good company.. this recall has probably hit them hard but full refunds are being made.  I'm not giving up my Flex because I love it more than I did the ONE.. uh and the ONE sat around forlorn until I offered it to one of the employees at  Curves and she wanted to pay for it so I  said just give me $20 and she had to ask for a couple of weeks for that.  She loved the ONE but unfortunately one of her daughters put it through the washer and dryer   And this all happened JUST before the recall.

Luckily I have had none of the problems.

Geoff, recently my Flex wasn't charging as fast as it had, so I started using the high speed charger I use for my Kindle Fire.  Works like a charm and very fast.  I cannot get a replacement Force from Fitbit due to the recall.

I'll get the next device as long as it still has a display and is a band.

Betsy reminded me of this thread this morning and I'm catching up and asked to join the group.

I don't get to 10,000 steps a day very often but recently at relay for life I went over 30,000!!  And I left before dark because the next day I was working at our shelter's biggest adoption event of the year, SuperPet and I had to be there at 6am.. and able to stand..

I wouldn't even wear my Flex in the shower.. because of the recall I just tend to wear it dry.

Anyone else have the Aria Scale?  I think you do, Betsy.  I love the scale.


----------



## Betsy the Quilter

Seamonkey said:


> I think Fitbit is a very good company.. this recall has probably hit them hard but full refunds are being made. I'm not giving up my Flex because I love it more than I did the ONE.. uh and the ONE sat around forlorn until I offered it to one of the employees at Curves and she wanted to pay for it so I said just give me $20 and she had to ask for a couple of weeks for that. She loved the ONE but unfortunately one of her daughters put it through the washer and dryer  And this all happened JUST before the recall.


My One went through the washer and dryer. I thought it was toast, but left it alone for a few days charging and it came back! Zombie One! 

I had even bought a new One but then the old one came back.



> Luckily I have had none of the problems.
> 
> Geoff, recently my Flex wasn't charging as fast as it had, so I started using the high speed charger I use for my Kindle Fire. Works like a charm and very fast. I cannot get a replacement Force from Fitbit due to the recall.
> 
> I'll get the next device as long as it still has a display and is a band.
> 
> Betsy reminded me of this thread this morning and I'm catching up and asked to join the group.
> 
> I don't get to 10,000 steps a day very often but recently at relay for life I went over 30,000!! And I left before dark because the next day I was working at our shelter's biggest adoption event of the year, SuperPet and I had to be there at 6am.. and able to stand..


 Wow! 30K in one day. You go!



> I wouldn't even wear my Flex in the shower.. because of the recall I just tend to wear it dry.
> 
> Anyone else have the Aria Scale? I think you do, Betsy. I love the scale.


I think a number of us got the Aria Scale when Brookstone had the sale. That's when I got mine, and I do love it.

Good story about the scale--hubby uses it too--I created a Fitbit account just for him when I got the scale just so we could track his weight (not that he needs it--skinny as a rail--I hate him. ). He recently mentioned to our daughter-in-law who's a nurse that he had lost four pounds in just a few days and she freaked and started interrogating him about his health.

I checked his numbers on the scale and he's been plus or minus two pounds of the same weight for the last year, but weighed in once in the evening and then a few days later in the morning, and that was the "four pound" difference that he told her about. He runs every other day and some days he's more dehydrated than others, which I think accounts for the +/- two pounds. It probably depends on whether he ran recently or not. So the tracking comes in handy!

Betsy


----------



## MamaProfCrash

I am looking forward to a family vacation in Clolorado with lots of hiking. I am planning on racking up the steps. I average 11,000 a day but can easily get to 15,000 when the weather is right. Good weather = 60-80 and little humidity. Then we are outside in the yard running on command for the little man "Mamma Run", "LM Run" which means I chase him so that when I catch him he gets picked up, thrown in the air, kissed and tickled. Rinse and repeat. Toss in a family walk and a stroll to the park and it is easy to rack up the steps.


----------



## Jane917

Now that I have joined the group, how do I turn off all the e-mail that I get. I get an e-mail everytime someone posts a message. Love to hear from you, but......


----------



## Someone Nameless

At the bottom of those emails, you will see 'change your notification settings'....


----------



## Seamonkey

30K was one day at Relay for Life..  that isn't typical AT ALL.  I'm happy with 5000, or more.. made 7500 today, but there are some day I am almost comatose.


----------



## Betsy the Quilter

Jane917 said:


> Now that I have joined the group, how do I turn off all the e-mail that I get. I get an e-mail everytime someone posts a message. Love to hear from you, but......





Someone Nameless said:


> At the bottom of those emails, you will see 'change your notification settings'....


Or you can go to www.fitbit.com, log in, go to the gear (settings) and go to Notifications on the left side menu. Your groups settings are at the bottom of the Notifications page. One option is No email.

Betsy


----------



## Seamonkey

Betsy,  you are not only a Kindle/Amazon guru, a Kboards guru, but now a FitBit site guru!!  Or, you just like helping people


----------



## KindleGirl

I'm pretty sure I lost my One yesterday. Sure I clipped it on my jeans before going out to some stores yesterday and it's nowhere to be found. There's been a few other times I thought I lost it, but then I found it around the house where it either fell off or I just forgot where I put it last. It even survived a washer and dryer trip and still worked when it came out! Loved that thing. Not sure how it would have fallen off but can't imagine what else happened to it. Sad day.


----------



## Seamonkey

I l o st mine a couple of times, but it was found. I did start clipping it inside as opposed to outside.  Last I checked the best price was at Amazon, for the purple one, but I have seen other deals since then, so if y o u replace search online first.  Also stores like Kohl"'s have advertised them.

Unfortunately, the Force was recalled, so, until the next model is released, there is not a band for m at with a display and watch.  Luckily, I have had no reaction, rash or burning, so I still lo v e and use my Force.

I know Flex works for those who are happy checking an app, but they don't track stairs.

I hope your magically turns up.


----------



## geoffthomas

Seamonkey said:


> I l o st mine a couple of times, but it was found. I did start clipping it inside as opposed to outside. Last I checked the best price was at Amazon, for the purple one, but I have seen other deals since then, so if y o u replace search online first. Also stores like Kohl"'s have advertised them.
> 
> Unfortunately, the Force was recalled, so, until the next model is released, there is not a band for m at with a display and watch. Luckily, I have had no reaction, rash or burning, so I still lo v e and use my Force.
> 
> I know Flex works for those who are happy checking an app, but they don't track stairs.
> 
> I hope your magically turns up.


I like my Flex well enough - all the pros and cons you mentioned.
Neat that I don't have to worry about losing it - 'cause I am constantly misplacing something.
And because it does not count steps, it misses most of the effort on an elliptical.
I was about to consider the Force when they recalled it. Again for all the reasons you mention.


----------



## Betsy the Quilter

KindleGirl said:


> I'm pretty sure I lost my One yesterday. Sure I clipped it on my jeans before going out to some stores yesterday and it's nowhere to be found. There's been a few other times I thought I lost it, but then I found it around the house where it either fell off or I just forgot where I put it last. It even survived a washer and dryer trip and still worked when it came out! Loved that thing. Not sure how it would have fallen off but can't imagine what else happened to it. Sad day.


Sadness! Have you checked with any of the stores? Or in the car?  Are you going to get another one if you can't find it?

I clip my One to my bra (this won't work for the guys. I don't think ), right in the middle. I can check the numbers using my iPod Touch or my iPad if I want to, so I don't need to be able to see it. And I feel like if it falls out of the little holder, it will stay in the bra, though there's not as much agitation so I think it's unlikely to fall out. I had more problems with it at my waist.



Seamonkey said:


> Betsy, you are not only a Kindle/Amazon guru, a Kboards guru, but now a FitBit site guru!! Or, you just like helping people


LOL, it's all self interest. I "work" from home on my quilting most of the time, so it's nice to have the forum. I'm a geek, it's like a hobby to get intimate with my devices . And I really want to lose weight, and thought having a support group would help me get there!

Betsy


----------



## MamaProfCrash

I put mine in my pocket and have not had a problem with it. I do clip it on my shorts at the gym but that is the only time I use the clip. I have heard about it dropping out of the casing too frequently to trust it as a clip on. I know people who wear theirs in their bra and that seems to work well.


----------



## Betsy the Quilter

MamaProfCrash said:


> I put mine in my pocket and have not had a problem with it. I do clip it on my shorts at the gym but that is the only time I use the clip. I have heard about it dropping out of the casing too frequently to trust it as a clip on. I know people who wear theirs in their bra and that seems to work well.


I've done that, too, but I just don't have that many articles of clothing with pockets, for some reason.

Betsy


----------



## KindleGirl

Yep, I clipped mine on the inside of my front jean pocket all of the time. It seems it was the best spot for me, and occasionally it would turn, but not usually fall off because of the rubber grip. Bra is not an option as mine closes in the front so there is no gap there. I don't really like it in my pocket. It would probably be washed more if I did that.   I'm not sure what the answer is. I've checked the car, house and mailbox area. I went to about 5 stores so I haven't taken the time to call all of them yet. I feel lost without it today. I will probably get a new one but since they are expensive I'm not looking forward to that. I would consider the flex, but I don't want something on my wrist at all times. Hmmm...what to do....what to do...


----------



## readingril

Oh no! That would be like losing my best friend.  

I'm not sure what I'd get if I needed a new Fitbit. I love my little zip!


----------



## Betsy the Quilter

KindleGirl said:


> Yep, I clipped mine on the inside of my front jean pocket all of the time. It seems it was the best spot for me, and occasionally it would turn, but not usually fall off because of the rubber grip. Bra is not an option as mine closes in the front so there is no gap there. I don't really like it in my pocket. It would probably be washed more if I did that.  I'm not sure what the answer is. I've checked the car, house and mailbox area. I went to about 5 stores so I haven't taken the time to call all of them yet. I feel lost without it today. I will probably get a new one but since they are expensive I'm not looking forward to that. I would consider the flex, but I don't want something on my wrist at all times. Hmmm...what to do....what to do...


When I had washed mine, and thought it wasn't working, I found one on Amazon from a third party that was new but about 20 dollars less than the rest. Not sure how they could do it; maybe it fell of the back of a truck or something.

Betsy


----------



## gadgetgirl003

Betsy,
I sent you a PM for an invite to the group. I haven't used my fitbit in awhile so I will be at the bottom of the leader board for now but hopefully that will motivate me to get walking.


----------



## Seamonkey

Betsy is moving UP the charts!!

Gadgetgirl, your fitbit will feel so needed!!


----------



## gadgetgirl003

Seamonkey said:


> Betsy is moving UP the charts!!
> 
> Woohoo Betsy!!
> 
> Gadgetgirl, your fitbit will feel so needed!!


LOL. Yes it will. It has been neglected since February and I can definitely feel its neglect in my snug fitting clothes.


----------



## talleylynn

Betsy

I sent you a request to join the Fitbit group. I FINALLY made up my mind and bought another flex. It is charging as I write. 

I've been lurking in the Fitbit group for a couple of days and am really excited. It looks like a great group with great ideas and lots of encouragement. I've been 'stepping' alone and uncounted. I'm looking forward to having a Fitbit that works and some friends!


----------



## Seamonkey

Exciting to have more fitbitting kindleboarders. (My HDX just learned two new made up words there).


----------



## Betsy the Quilter

talleylynn said:


> Betsy
> 
> I sent you a request to join the Fitbit group. I FINALLY made up my mind and bought another flex. It is charging as I write.
> 
> I've been lurking in the Fitbit group for a couple of days and am really excited. It looks like a great group with great ideas and lots of encouragement. I've been 'stepping' alone and uncounted. I'm looking forward to having a Fitbit that works and some friends!


Yay! I've sent you a PM, Lynn....


----------



## Betsy the Quilter

gadgetgirl003 said:


> Betsy,
> I sent you a PM for an invite to the group. I haven't used my fitbit in awhile so I will be at the bottom of the leader board for now but hopefully that will motivate me to get walking.


Yay!

Next month is a new month for the leaderboard. Glad to have more folks!

Betsy


----------



## talleylynn

I'm all set up with Fitbit on the PC, but my ithings' Bluetooth (ipad mini and iphone 5) can't find my flex. My first flex paired with Bluetooth with no problem. Does anybody have any ideas?


----------



## Seamonkey

I am no help.. Everything is WiFi here with my scale and Force.. same with the ONE.  WIFi to my Fire and my computer.


----------



## Seamonkey

https://help.fitbit.com/#product_flex

Here is the Flex help area.. I searched for Bluetooth and got hits. Hope that helps.


----------



## Betsy the Quilter

talleylynn said:


> I'm all set up with Fitbit on the PC, but my ithings' Bluetooth (ipad mini and iphone 5) can't find my flex. My first flex paired with Bluetooth with no problem. Does anybody have any ideas?


I had to delete my Fitbit app from my iPod Touch 5G and reinstall it to get it to recognize my One w/Bluetooth only. My Air works fine with the One.

Hope this helps!

Betsy


----------



## talleylynn

Thanks for the suggestion, Betsy. I tried deleting and reinstalling this morning and it didn't work. They are all syncing through Wi-Fi, but it's clunky compared to the immediate feedback with Bluetooth that I had with the first flex. I'll see if I can force a connection next time I'm away from the house and away from Wi-Fi. Otherwise, there's always CS.

This group has already made me hop on the treadmill this morning. I had planned to walk outside but when I went out the door it was like breathing water instead of air. Normally I would have procrastinated thinking it would get better as the day gets hotter.


----------



## Seamonkey

I am still in be, but it is early here on the west coast.


----------



## Betsy the Quilter

talleylynn said:


> Thanks for the suggestion, Betsy. I tried deleting and reinstalling this morning and it didn't work. They are all syncing through Wi-Fi, but it's clunky compared to the immediate feedback with Bluetooth that I had with the first flex. I'll see if I can force a connection next time I'm away from the house and away from Wi-Fi. Otherwise, there's always CS.
> 
> This group has already made me hop on the treadmill this morning. I had planned to walk outside but when I went out the door it was like breathing water instead of air. Normally I would have procrastinated thinking it would get better as the day gets hotter.


My experience has been lately that if the WiFi is available, it goes there first. The bluetooth only seems to work when there's no WiFi.

I'm heading out now!

Betsy


----------



## Seamonkey

Hmm..  I wonder if that was the problem with a little speaker I bought?  I set up my Fire for Bluetooth and the speaker but they were not connecting.  Oddly I've never used Bluetooth to my knowledge, though I've had devices that have the capability.

Good going, Betsy!  I just finished my yogurt, but I've washed my hair, dressed (I know, big deal, but on weekends that can be my stumbling block/excuse for not venturing out past the mailbox.. and the plan is to head out soon.


----------



## Betsy the Quilter

Seamonkey said:


> Hmm.. I wonder if that was the problem with a little speaker I bought? I set up my Fire for Bluetooth and the speaker but they were not connecting. Oddly I've never used Bluetooth to my knowledge, though I've had devices that have the capability.
> 
> Good going, Betsy! I just finished my yogurt, but I've washed my hair, dressed (I know, big deal, but on weekends that can be my stumbling block/excuse for not venturing out past the mailbox.. and the plan is to head out soon.


I don't think that would be the case with the speaker...the One is a bit different as it connects both ways. I also think if there's something else connected via bluetooth to your device, it'll prevent the Fitbit from connecting.

Got my walk in!

Betsy


----------



## Seamonkey

Good going, Betsy!  So did I.

Good point of course..  the speaker doesn't speak wifi..


----------



## Betsy the Quilter

Seamonkey said:


> Good going, Betsy! So did I.


Yay, Seamonkey!

Betsy


----------



## Annalog

I joined the group today. Now to order a Fitbit.


----------



## Jane917

I did not like getting all the e-mails from the Fitbit group, so I changed my preferences to no e-mails. Now I can't find the group! How do I get there? If I turned down a request to friend someone on the group, please accept my apologies. I was just trying not to get a zillion e-mails each time I check my mail. Saying all that, I have achieved over 10,000 steps 2 days in a row!


----------



## Seamonkey

Jane, when I go to my FitBit Dashboard page.. I see a list of friends opn the right under Top Badges and under that I see Groups.  Click on the name of our group and it will bring up our page and the forum with  the threads.


----------



## Seamonkey

Anna, check around for price..  I don't know where the best Flex price is to be found, but awhile back when I panicked thinking I would have to return my Force with the recall, I ordered a ONE from Amazon and their price on the purple/maroon one was less than the black one..  I think $84 and of course I have Prime shipping.

I ended up sending it back because I still have my Force and have had no problems with that.

Sometimes there are discounts available at Brookstone and/or free shipping..  

Of course they are available from Fitbit.com.  I've seen the Flex offered at Kohl's or Kohl's.com which might still be happening and if you hit a time with Kohl's cash, and you even shop there, that's a plus.

So so some searching for the best current pricing.

Glad you are joining the group here and when you get your device of course  we can be friends on that forum.


----------



## Seamonkey

And great news on the steps, Jane!


----------



## Seamonkey

Found it online on my dashboard on my desktop.  That is definitely a feature that wasn't there back when I bought my ONE when they first came out.. I pre-ordered..  At that time you could chose 10,000 or go higher, not lower.  I imagine they realized that not everyone using their devices was an athlete.


----------



## Jane917

Seamonkey said:


> Jane, when I go to my FitBit Dashboard page.. I see a list of friends opn the right under Top Badges and under that I see Groups. Click on the name of our group and it will bring up our page and the forum with the threads.


When I go to My Fitbit, I don't see any sign of Top Badges. When I click on Groups I see Fitbit Users with 40,000 members. I am quite sure this is not the Kindle Group.


----------



## Seamonkey

Is this on the app or on your computer??

I'm on the computer and clicking on Dashboard.


----------



## Betsy the Quilter

Direct link is http://www.fitbit.com/group/22N2D6

If you're on another computer someday, the way I find it is to go to login to your dashboard at www.fitbit.com, click on Commmunity in the top menu, then choose Activity Groups.

You should come to the Groups page and Your Groups should be the first thing and KBoards FitBit Users should be there.

I've been watching you get closer and closer to me, Jane! You go, girl!

Betsy


----------



## Betsy the Quilter

To change your goals, if you go to your dashboard on the website, you can hover over the steps tile (or tap on it if you're on a mobile device), you should see a little gear in the lower left hand corner of the tile.  Tap or click on that. (If you're using your Fire, you'll need to tap on the lower left hand corner of the tile without seeing the gear.)  That brings up an editable field for your Daily Goal.  Change it and save.



I didn't remember how to do this--I had to figure it out!

Betsy


----------



## Annalog

Seamonkey said:


> Anna, check around for price.. I don't know where the best Flex price is to be found, but awhile back when I panicked thinking I would have to return my Force with the recall, I ordered a ONE from Amazon and their price on the purple/maroon one was less than the black one.. I think $84 and of course I have Prime shipping.
> 
> I ended up sending it back because I still have my Force and have had no problems with that.
> 
> Sometimes there are discounts available at Brookstone and/or free shipping..
> 
> Of course they are available from Fitbit.com. I've seen the Flex offered at Kohl's or Kohl's.com which might still be happening and if you hit a time with Kohl's cash, and you even shop there, that's a plus.
> 
> So so some searching for the best current pricing.
> 
> Glad you are joining the group here and when you get your device of course we can be friends on that forum.


I ordered a black ONE from Amazon that currently had the best price with Prime. I was also ordering something else so decided not to shop around further.


----------



## Jane917

Betsy the Quilter said:


> Direct link is http://www.fitbit.com/group/22N2D6
> 
> If you're on another computer someday, the way I find it is to go to login to your dashboard at www.fitbit.com, click on Commmunity in the top menu, then choose Activity Groups.
> 
> You should come to the Groups page and Your Groups should be the first thing and KBoards FitBit Users should be there.
> 
> I've been watching you get closer and closer to me, Jane! You go, girl!
> 
> Betsy


I have a favorites tab for My Fitness Pal. I installed this over a year ago when I first got my Fitbit One. This does not link me to the KBoards User group at all. I cannot even find the User group when I do a search. However, when I go to fitbit.com, my dashboard opens and I can find the group. Is My Fitness Pal an old site? I am using my laptop. I guess I should just install the Fitbit app on my iPad.


----------



## Jane917

So......I discovered I already have the Fitbit app on my iPhone. Silly me! It is much easier for me to keep track of than on the computer. In fact, if I only use my iPhone for Fitbit tracking, I can take out the USB dongle and free up an USB port on my laptop. I am not finding a Fitbit app (at least a free one) for my iPad.


----------



## Seamonkey

Annalog said:


> I ordered a black ONE from Amazon that currently had the best price with Prime. I was also ordering something else so decided not to shop around further.


I was pricing FitBit Zips for a possible gift last night and Amazon had the best price on the graphite one, followed closely by the blue, with other colors adding $10. Amazon also beat fitfop, suppose, and a whole bunch of sites on the exact black Gogh mocs in size 6, even before the issue of free shipping, and fast shipping.

So I am sure you got a good price.


----------



## Betsy the Quilter

Jane917 said:


> So......I discovered I already have the Fitbit app on my iPhone. Silly me! It is much easier for me to keep track of than on the computer. In fact, if I only use my iPhone for Fitbit tracking, I can take out the USB dongle and free up an USB port on my laptop. I am not finding a Fitbit app (at least a free one) for my iPad.


That's right, there is only the iPhone app, though it runs on the iPad.

Betsy


----------



## Betsy the Quilter

Jane917 said:


> I have a favorites tab for My Fitness Pal. I installed this over a year ago when I first got my Fitbit One. This does not link me to the KBoards User group at all. I cannot even find the User group when I do a search. However, when I go to fitbit.com, my dashboard opens and I can find the group. Is My Fitness Pal an old site? I am using my laptop. I guess I should just install the Fitbit app on my iPad.


I don't use the My Fitness Pal website...not familiar with how it works. I use their app on my iPad, which is quite nice.

Betsy


----------



## KindleGirl

I replaced my lost One yesterday with the burgundy one since it was a tad bit cheaper than black. I had Best Buy price match it then used my reward credits from them so ended up paying $70. I'm hoping this one doesn't decide to run away from home. 

With that said, how do I get into this group? Do I need to be approved and let into the group or do I just search for it and join?  I was going to hold off a bit before I opened the new one to make sure the lost one didn't show up, but I'm finding that I miss it too much to wait much longer.


----------



## Seamonkey

I don't see how to invite  you; I imagine Betsy does that as the starter of the group?

Actually I can invite but need your email address .. PM me with that if Betsy doesn't pop in for the same info


----------



## Jane917

Betsy, according to my Fitbit, you have opted out of the rankings. How can I catch up to you if you are not reporting steps?


----------



## Betsy the Quilter

Jane917 said:


> Betsy, according to my Fitbit, you have opted out of the rankings. How can I catch up to you if you are not reporting steps?


 My fear of you catching up to me has caused me to abandon the rankings. 

No, as far as I know, I'm in the rankings. Can any one see where I'm listed in the group? Hmmm.... Maybe I'll have to invite hubby to join and then use his account to check what other members can see. 



KindleGirl said:


> With that said, how do I get into this group? Do I need to be approved and let into the group or do I just search for it and join? I was going to hold off a bit before I opened the new one to make sure the lost one didn't show up, but I'm finding that I miss it too much to wait much longer.


Yay for the new One! Yes, you have to be invited. Once you are, you'll get an email with the link, or bookmark this link http://www.fitbit.com/group/22N2D6

If you PM me I'll invite you. Or, perhaps Seamonkey did yesterday while I was out! Off to check the group!

Betsy


----------



## Betsy the Quilter

Jane917 said:


> Betsy, according to my Fitbit, you have opted out of the rankings. How can I catch up to you if you are not reporting steps?


Jane, if I look at the group totals at our group's home page using hubby's account, I can see the rankings, and *gasp* you've passed me! Curses! *laces up walking shoes.* It's on! 

Oh, well, there's always next month. 

Betsy


----------



## MamaProfCrash

I can't wait to get to Colorado and do some hiking. My plan is to leave the Little Man with the Grandparents in the morning so the BM and I can get in a five mile hike and then do plenty of running after the LM on better paved, marked trails without a ton of climb. I am hoping to get in 7 miles a day while on vacation with lots of incline so my stair numbers go up.


----------



## Annalog

Betsy the Quilter said:


> My fear of you catching up to me has caused me to abandon the rankings.
> 
> No, as far as I know, I'm in the rankings. Can any one see where I'm listed in the group? Hmmm.... Maybe I'll have to invite hubby to join and then use his account to check what other members can see.
> 
> ...
> 
> Betsy


I can see you in the rankings, Betsy.


----------



## Seamonkey

No PM here..

Betsy, I see several p drop l e on track to p pass me up, too, but am walking more, at least I did this weekend.  G o t to 11000 by midnight yesterday.  Back to driving patients today.


----------



## Betsy the Quilter

Seamonkey said:


> No PM here..
> 
> Betsy, I see several p drop l e on track to p pass me up, too, but am walking more, at least I did this weekend. G o t to 11000 by midnight yesterday. Back to driving patients today.


I did an invite, Seamonkey!

I'm back ahead of Jane--but I don't think she's walked yet.  I got my 5000 in on my morning walk for the first time in awhile, and I'm beat!

I'm glad I'm showing up in the rankings.

MPC, your trip to CO sounds great--I got lots of walking in last year when we went there. This year, we're going up to Minnesota, where the state sport is chatting and drinking coffee and pastries from the Wiggly Piggly. At least amongst my family and friends. 

Betsy


----------



## Seamonkey

LOL.. I like Wiggly Piggly better than Piggly Wiggly..  

Never lived near one of those anyway..

Good for getting those steps in early; it also gives  you a chance to add more later should you see someone challenging you.    I really see it as knowing that so and so did it so why shouldn't I?  Any way to get myself walking.

I must say your idea of walking around the house has launched me out walking more in my own complex, which is blessed with grass and trees and plantings and lots of walks..  (unfortunately a few skateboarding kids too).


----------



## Jane917

Betsy the Quilter said:


> My fear of you catching up to me has caused me to abandon the rankings.
> 
> No, as far as I know, I'm in the rankings. Can any one see where I'm listed in the group? Hmmm.... Maybe I'll have to invite hubby to join and then use his account to check what other members can see.
> 
> Betsy


You seem to be back in the rankings today! Can you just sit down and read or quilt for the next few days so I can catch up with you?


----------



## Jane917

Betsy the Quilter said:


> I did an invite, Seamonkey!
> 
> I'm back ahead of Jane--but I don't think she's walked yet.   I got my 5000 in on my morning walk for the first time in awhile, and I'm beat!
> 
> I'm glad I'm showing up in the rankings.
> 
> Betsy


I need some slack. I doubt I will get out for a walk today. I have been on the phone with an old friend for almost 2 hours. We recently lost a mutual friend the other day to complications following open heart surgery. We are all shocked and stunned, besides being terribly sad. I am the godmother of the friend who died, so our relationship goes back many years (my goddaughter is 33). DH and I will be traveling to MT next weekend for the memorial service.


----------



## Betsy the Quilter

Jane917 said:


> I need some slack. I doubt I will get out for a walk today. I have been on the phone with an old friend for almost 2 hours. We recently lost a mutual friend the other day to complications following open heart surgery. We are all shocked and stunned, besides being terribly sad. I am the godmother of the friend who died, so our relationship goes back many years (my goddaughter is 33). DH and I will be traveling to MT next weekend for the memorial service.


Jane!

*hugs* I'm so sad to hear about the loss of your friend. Thinking of you!

Betsy


----------



## mlewis78

I've been following this thread for the past week, just to try to get some inspiration to get extra exercise. I don't have a fitbit. I just saw this David Sedaris piece in the The New Yorker online. PERSONAL HISTORY - STEPPING OUT Living the Fitbit life.
BY DAVID SEDARIS
JUNE 30, 2014
Hope this works for you. I read it while not being logged in.

http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2014/06/30/140630fa_fact_sedaris?currentPage=1


----------



## readingril

Jane, so sorry to hear about your friend. My thoughts and prayers are with you.

That article is hysterical. Something to errr aspire to!


----------



## Jane917

mlewis78 said:


> I've been following this thread for the past week, just to try to get some inspiration to get extra exercise. I don't have a fitbit. I just saw this David Sedaris piece in the The New Yorker online. PERSONAL HISTORY - STEPPING OUT Living the Fitbit life.
> BY DAVID SEDARIS
> JUNE 30, 2014
> Hope this works for you. I read it while not being logged in.
> 
> http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2014/06/30/140630fa_fact_sedaris?currentPage=1


This article is a hoot. I love anything David Sedaris writes. So, mlewis, have you decided to get your Fitbit yet? We are here to enable/encourage you!


----------



## Jane917

Betsy the Quilter said:


> Jane!
> 
> *hugs* I'm so sad to hear about the loss of your friend. Thinking of you!
> 
> Betsy


Thanks, Betsy. I did eventually get my walk in before it got too hot, and I passed you up.....for a few minutes at least. Take it easy today!


----------



## Seamonkey

Jane, so sorry about your friend.

In the Sedaris FitBit article "my FitBit thought I could do better"... love.it.


----------



## mlewis78

Jane917 said:


> This article is a hoot. I love anything David Sedaris writes. So, mlewis, have you decided to get your Fitbit yet? We are here to enable/encourage you!


Does the fitbit work for anything other than steps? Would it measure anything while I'm using exercise bike or swimming laps in a pool? That's my main exercise. My problem these days is that I have only been getting to the pool on my weekends and then I feel I HAVE to go. I use the exercise bike 30 min. before I shower and get ready to go to work (leaving my apartment 3pm). Seems that I should be able to get up earlier and go to the pool just before work, but it's not happening. When I swim, usually get an hour in (1.25 miles).

I walk to get around -- 13 blocks to the health club and I take a longer route back. My walks to the subway: .3 mile to get to Columbus Circle and .3 mile from Fulton St. station to my job downtown. When I leave work at night, I take a different train that is .2 mile from work (have to change trains, so it can take a while to wait for 2 trains). Two years ago I got into measuring my walks with Google maps. My feet are unhappy when I do super-long walks. My job is 5 miles away.


----------



## mlewis78

Just saw this about David Sedaris loving his fitbit (short):

http://www.scpr.org/blogs/health/2014/06/24/16894/writer-david-sedaris-loves-his-fitbit-do-you/


----------



## Betsy the Quilter

Thanks, Marti!  

I sooo identified with that.



Betsy


----------



## Betsy the Quilter

Marti,

as for your question about measuring other activities, I think you can press it at the beginning and at the end of the exercise to measure the time duration, and then edit it on the website to be the type of exercise.  I've never done that, though, so don't know much more about it.

Betsy


----------



## mlewis78

Thanks Betsy.  I was looking at it on Amazon's website today and couldn't tell if it measures more than steps.  

Is there anyone else here who uses their fitbit for exercises other than walking or running?  I will ask around.  I may become a fitbit convert yet!  

Probably won't use for sleep, because it might distract me from actually sleeping (at first anyway).  Recently WNYC radio had something on the website where we could log in our sleep hours and I did that, but due to stressful circumstances, I had some bad nights in the beginning and I was surprised that I was sleeping so little even after a while.  The past couple of weeks I've had some deep sleep.  For some reason, Thursday night/Friday morning has been difficult for me sleeping lately -- getting to sleep initially, that is.

I think the description of the fitbit said that it gently wakes you up in the morning?  How does that work?  Is there an alarm to set online?


----------



## Betsy the Quilter

I can't remember where you set the alarm, but I know it vibrates.  I don't always feel it though...

Betsy


----------



## Seamonkey

Yes, you can set up an alarm online and it buzzes you awake.  I tried it with my ONE and it worked just fine.

I assume my FORCE works the same way.  I wear that 24/7 pretty much.. take it off to weigh myself and shower.  I don't notice it one bit.

I wear it when I work out at Curves and I don't get steps from the machines but in between AND I get "active minutes" if warranted.


----------



## Betsy the Quilter

Marti,

here's the info on the website about tracking activities
https://help.fitbit.com/customer/portal/articles/413311

Betsy


----------



## geoffthomas

Ok, so I got my replacement Flex two days ago.
Not bad service for a free replacement at the end of the warranty period.
I think this company is wonderful and they provide a good service (which is what I think their business model is).  The hardware is pretty neat.  And they provide a good result with their customer service.  After all, what can you do or say about a sealed system that has few buttons?  
But......
They really could use more personal touch in that CS.  There is no phone number - only email.  Which can be hard to work with.  And most of their communication is almost, If not, computer generated.  Most of the issues are truly either black or white.  You either charged it or you didn't.  It either malfunctioned or it didn't.
But there seem to be a bunch of truly unhappy customers wandering about in the blogs, without much supervision.  I think that FitBit just recently started using Mods.  And that should help a lot.  
Does anyone here subscribe to their Premier service?  I am afraid to use the sample period for fear that, if I don't like it, I will forget to cancel and pay for something I don't want.  So any experiences out here?  

And Marti I use the sleep recorder mostly to tell me what I already know - whether I slept soundly or not.
There are two settings (done from the web site).  The sensitive one will tell most people that they are sleeping terribly.  The normal setting is correct for most of us.  If you use that one and find that it shows that you are waking up a lot at night.......then you might have sleep apnea.  It is a pretty good bet that if you don't see that pattern, then you probably don't.  
The Premier account has more sleep analysis stuff and so I don't know how good it is because I have not used it.  
As I say I think that in the long run their income plan is to make money on the premier accounts.
They do have a nice tie-in with almost all of the popular calorie counting systems such as MyFitnessPal.


----------



## Betsy the Quilter

I looked at the Premium service, but there wasn't enough there to make me want to pay extra.

I think they probably make money from the devices, which I think are a bit pricey though I love mine.  I mean, they've been out a while now--it's not that new a technology for them, but the price hasn't come down.

Betsy


----------



## Andra

I don't have a Fitbit at the moment, but DH and I just got Jawbone UP24 bands.  Same type of thing, just different manufacturer.  It is definitely motivating me to get up and move around more during the day.  And I have managed to get in a short (20-30) minutes walk every day this week when I got to the office.  There is an idle alert that you can set that will vibrate when you have been still for a certain amount of time.  I have mine set at 45 minutes during the work day.  I also like the wake-up feature.  They call it a Smart Alarm and it will wake you up within a certain range of time when you are not in deep sleep.  It is much nicer to wake up to the band vibrating on my wrist than an alarm.


----------



## Betsy the Quilter

Andra said:


> I don't have a Fitbit at the moment, but DH and I just got Jawbone UP24 bands. Same type of thing, just different manufacturer. It is definitely motivating me to get up and move around more during the day. And I have managed to get in a short (20-30) minutes walk every day this week when I got to the office. There is an idle alert that you can set that will vibrate when you have been still for a certain amount of time. I have mine set at 45 minutes during the work day. I also like the wake-up feature. They call it a Smart Alarm and it will wake you up within a certain range of time when you are not in deep sleep. It is much nicer to wake up to the band vibrating on my wrist than an alarm.


Andra,

Thanks for sharing about the Jawbone!

I'm pretty sure you can create a Fitbit account without having a device, and if you have an account, you can join our group. I think you can manually add data, too....just sayin'.

Betsy


----------



## talleylynn

I FINALLY got my flex to sync with my ithings. I found instructions on the website that involved restarting the fitbit - with a paperclip in a slot - and then restarting my ithings. The flex still doesn't show up in the list of Bluetooth devices, but it does sync continuously. I've been having fun watching it record my steps as I walk around (I'm easily entertained). But more importantly, I answered the question I posed last week - the flex does record steps when your hand is holding onto a shoulder strap on your purse. I was concerned because when I am out of the house walking around, my purse is with me and that's a lot of steps to not record!

I'm taking the day off. My tendon is telling me it needs a rest.


----------



## Seamonkey

Geoff, I have had response via email that was detailed and tailored to give me step by step suggestions when I had a problem with my Force.

The very negative people on their boards stem from the Force recall, which I felt was pretty well handled.  First there were reports of the problems, which they mentioned on their website, right on the dashboard, too.  This warning remains there.  Then they did a voluntary recall, full price refund, regardless of actual price paid, then it was a mandatory recall.

Most of us with the Force love it, even some with the bad reaction.  

When I was reading and posting there, I felt that some people were just revving up the anger, and expected quite a lot from a small company and assumed that they wouldn't get the refunds.  Having mods to reply is helping, and I have seen them reply with information.

I am not on Facebook, but I know they will often respond to a Tweet.  When I got my ONE, they were new. I pre-ordered mine (also pre-ordered the Force.. kind of like I did with each Kindle Fire.  I Tweeted them after I got the ONE, about the not so robust App in the Amazon store, and they asked what I wanted in the app.

For price and features, at the time I ordered my ONE, it was the best, with features I wanted, and the Force has been even better.  Many of the watch or band devices would be too large for my wrist, so having a small size option was crucial.

I do hope they will add an idle alert, but I am not working a desk job now, a n d when I wait for a patient, I first get in whatever exercise I can get in the form of stair climbing or walking,  I kind of nudge myself, and some people comment on my energy, which only came from pushing myself to keep moving (and my new favorite quote from Dave Sedaris, "The FitBit thought I could do better").

I hope they get beyond this recall and look forward to the next device, hoping they will keep the features I love: wristband with screen, small format, small band option, and stair and sleep monitoring.

Geoff, I had my ONE actually show many wake-ups, had a sleep study and did had moderate to severe apnea, even with few of the classic symptoms.

I cannot change most of the factors involved.. I won't get taller.. was 5'2", but at 5' for years.  I only get older.  Tonsils and adenoids gone for 60 years,  cannot change my internal airway, have TMJ, so a mouth device that holds the lower jaw forward would not work.

But I can lose weight and needed to for other reasons anyway, but my wish is for the weight factor to tip the scales and to do a sleep study showing a normal AHI, so the Cpap machine and associated supplies can be put on a shelf.  Even if I am disappointed in that respect, the benefits even now, with more,weight to lose, are enough.


----------



## Seamonkey

Lynn, smart to listen to that tendon!  Hope it benefits from an off day.


----------



## Andra

Betsy the Quilter said:


> Andra,
> 
> Thanks for sharing about the Jawbone!
> 
> I'm pretty sure you can create a Fitbit account without having a device, and if you have an account, you can join our group. I think you can manually add data, too....just sayin'.
> 
> Betsy


I didn't think about that. I have a Fitbit account from several years ago before I killed my first Fitbit. I can at least put in my steps without too much extra effort. Will you invite me to your group please?


----------



## Betsy the Quilter

Andra said:


> I didn't think about that. I have a Fitbit account from several years ago before I killed my first Fitbit. I can at least put in my steps without too much extra effort. Will you invite me to your group please?


Use your KB email?

Betsy


----------



## Andra

Betsy the Quilter said:


> Use your KB email?
> 
> Betsy


Yes please.


----------



## Annalog

My Fitbit One arrived yesterday. I set it up fairly late and walked out to the coop a couple times. Apparently the 5 steps down from the house and then back up again were not enough to trigger counting stairs. I walked on the treadmill a bit. I set it to track my sleep but somehow it came off my wrist during the night and turned off. I woke during the night, found the Fitbit, and turned on sleep tracking again. Maybe I will have better luck tracking my sleep tonight.

During my drive to work this morning it counted 26 steps and three flights of stairs. I am going to see how it counts the drive home.


----------



## Betsy the Quilter

Annalog said:


> My Fitbit One arrived yesterday. I set it up fairly late and walked out to the coop a couple times. Apparently the 5 steps down from the house and then back up again were not enough to trigger counting stairs. I walked on the treadmill a bit. I set it to track my sleep but somehow it came off my wrist during the night and turned off. I woke during the night, found the Fitbit, and turned on sleep tracking again. Maybe I will have better luck tracking my sleep tonight.
> 
> During my drive to work this morning it counted 26 steps and three flights of stairs. I am going to see how it counts the drive home.


Yes, bumpy roads will set it off. I get lots of extra steps these days because the winter wreaked havoc with the roads.  I figure it's balanced by the fact that I often take it off when I change clothes and forget to put it back on.

Betsy


----------



## Betsy the Quilter

Andra said:


> Yes please.


Done!


----------



## Annalog

Betsy the Quilter said:


> Yes, bumpy roads will set it off. I get lots of extra steps these days because the winter wreaked havoc with the roads.  I figure it's balanced by the fact that I often take it off when I change clothes and forget to put it back on.
> 
> Betsy


I figured just 26 steps was pretty good for a 50 mile drive. I think the stairs were from the hills. A few more steps on the drive home but no stairs.  A lot fewer steps than my old pedometer used to record for essentially the same drive.


----------



## readingril

Not sure where my comment went, but if love a tracker that would buzz me after a period inactivity.

I wonder what's in store for the next Fitbit version and when it might be released?


----------



## Annalog

I like the two way data exchange between Fitbit and LoseIt; Fitbit will send exercise/calorie info to LoseIt while LoseIt will send food consumed/meal/calorie/nutrition info to Fitbit. 

I am going to try the sensitive setting for sleep tracking tonight to see what is recorded.


----------



## Annalog

Annalog said:


> I can see you in the rankings, Betsy.


When I look at the graphical rankings now that I have steps logged, I no longer see Betsy or a few others. Instead, I see myself, the top three and the four closest to me. I, of course, see all of us in the full leaderboard view.

Before I got my Fitbit I was not able to enter steps or activities. I could enter other info but steps and activities gave me an error about missing time entries. I had only tried from my Fire and not my laptop or desktop.


----------



## Betsy the Quilter

Annalog said:


> When I look at the graphical rankings now that I have steps logged, I no longer see Betsy or a few others. Instead, I see myself, the top three and the four closest to me. I, of course, see all of us in the full leaderboard view.
> 
> Before I got my Fitbit I was not able to enter steps or activities. I could enter other info but steps and activities gave me an error about missing time entries. I had only tried from my Fire and not my laptop or desktop.


Hmmmm....check again. I actually logged out of Fitbit.com to log my hubby's account in. I wonder if you have to leave your account logged in even if you are a member of the group. I think this was the case when I disappeared from the rankings before, too. I don't leave the web page up or anything, but I don't log out when I'm through, normally.

I think I'm still logged out. I'll log back in.

Betsy


----------



## Jane917

Betsy the Quilter said:


> Hmmmm....check again. I actually logged out of Fitbit.com to log my hubby's account in. I wonder if you have to leave your account logged in even if you are a member of the group. I think this was the case when I disappeared from the rankings before, too. I don't leave the web page up or anything, but I don't log out when I'm through, normally.
> 
> I think I'm still logged out. I'll log back in.
> 
> Betsy


I never see Betsy on My Dashboard, where I stand at #3. I only see 7 people on My Dashboard. When I go to KB Fitbit Users group, I can see Betsy, plus a lot of others, presumably all that are in the group. Maybe the ones I see on the dashboard are only friends, but I am sure I friended (when did that become a word?) Betsy. In the group talley, I see 12 people. On the group talley I stand at


----------



## Annalog

Jane917 said:


> I never see Betsy on My Dashboard, where I stand at #3. I only see 7 people on My Dashboard. When I go to KB Fitbit Users group, I can see Betsy, plus a lot of others, presumably all that are in the group. Maybe the ones I see on the dashboard are only friends, but I am sure I friended (when did that become a word?) Betsy. In the group talley, I see 12 people. On the group talley I stand at


I think it has to do with showing only 8 people, 7 plus self. Unless someone is in the top 3 or in the 4 closest to self, then they don't show on the group heading display. Friend or not, logged in or not, I don't think that matters.


----------



## Jane917

Annalog said:


> I think it has to do with showing only 8 people, 7 plus self. Unless someone is in the top 3 or in the 4 closest to self, then they dont shoe on the group heading display. Friend or not, logged in or not, I don't think that matters.


Now Betsy is on my Leaderboard again!


----------



## Betsy the Quilter

Jane917 said:


> Now Betsy is on my Leaderboard again!


I just added 3K steps at the grocery store! Decided to do my walk there while hubby shopped. Air conditioning! I walked up and down all the aisles twice till he was done.



Betsy


----------



## KindleGirl

I love getting the freebie steps while shopping or running errands!


----------



## readingril

I usually make no attempt to get 15,000 steps when I work, but I was working in a different area yesterday and had to run over to the hospital twice, and when I checked my Fitbit last night it was at 14,800 something or other. I felt like a nutcase making sure I managed to get that extra (just about) 200 steps in before I went to bed... and I was so tired at the time.  Good thing no one was home but me!


----------



## Chad Winters

Amazon had the maroon fitbit one for $78 dollars this week so I grabbed it to replace my Force I had to return. How do I join the group again?


----------



## readingril

That's almost tempting! 

http://www.amazon.com/Fitbit-Wireless-Activity-Sleep-Tracker/dp/B0095PZHPE/


----------



## Betsy the Quilter

Chad Winters said:


> Amazon had the maroon fitbit one for $78 dollars this week so I grabbed it to replace my Force I had to return. How do I join the group again?


I can invite you, Chad. Use your KB email?

Betsy


----------



## Seamonkey

The burgundy one is a much better price, right on Amazon.


----------



## Chad Winters

Betsy the Quilter said:


> I can invite you, Chad. Use your KB email?
> 
> Betsy


yes please


----------



## Chad Winters

Seamonkey said:


> The burgundy one is a much better price, right on Amazon.


oh yeah, burgundy....I said maroon....but those colors always look the same to me 
I like black better, but not for $20 bucks more


----------



## Betsy the Quilter

For those with iOS devices, there was an update to the Fitbit app as of June 25:



> Thanks to the new update, Fitbit for iOS now offers a new feature called MobileRun. With MobileRun, you can use GPS to track your pace and routes during runs, hikes, and walks. What's more, you can see your pace, splits, time, distance, and route maps in real time.
> 
> The latest Fitbit update also makes tracking your training easier as it lets you record your workouts quickly and use a monthly exercise calendar to track your goals and progress in your training program. In addition, Fitbit now makes logging your food consumption faster with the new barcode scanner and calorie estimator for customized entries. The app's food database has also been expanded to more than 350,000 foods for easier logging. The new version of the app also lets you add a photo to your Fitbit profile.


http://appadvice.com/appnn/2014/06/fitbit-app-update-brings-real-time-run-stat-tracking-faster-food-logging-and-more

I don't know yet if the Android version has been updated.

Betsy


----------



## JRTomlin

Am I allowed to say that the reffing in the last match was horrendous?


----------



## Betsy the Quilter

JRTomlin said:


> Am I allowed to say that the reffing in the last match was horrendous?


You are indeed, but I think you might have meant this for a different thread, JRT.... 

Betsy


----------



## JRTomlin

Probably. Sorry about that. 

I read the thread at Fitball not fitbit (whatever that is lol) Label me duh.


----------



## Betsy the Quilter

Fitbit is an electronic pedometer. Sort of.

I think there is a World Cup thread here in NQK somewhere....

EDIT: Here it is:
http://www.kboards.com/index.php/topic,187550.0.html

And back on topic, got 10K steps today!!!

Betsy


----------



## Annalog

Betsy the Quilter said:


> ...
> 
> And back on topic, got 10K steps today!!!
> 
> Betsy


Hooray!


----------



## Chad Winters

I just bit the bullet and bought the Aria scale.... a little expensive but I think the feedback and motivation will be worth it


----------



## KindleGirl

Chad Winters said:


> I just bit the bullet and bought the Aria scale.... a little expensive but I think the feedback and motivation will be worth it


Let us know how you like it. A little motivation would be good, if it works.


----------



## Betsy the Quilter

Chad Winters said:


> I just bit the bullet and bought the Aria scale.... a little expensive but I think the feedback and motivation will be worth it


I love mine! Plus, when my nurse daughter-in-law got worried because my husband told her he had lost four pounds, I was able to check his history to determine that no, he really hadn't and his weight (darn it) was remarkably consistently skinny. 

Betsy


----------



## Annalog

Betsy the Quilter said:


> I love mine! Plus, when my nurse daughter-in-law got worried because my husband told her he had lost four pounds, I was able to check his history to determine that no, he really hadn't and his weight (darn it) was remarkably consistently skinny.
> 
> Betsy


DH and I are using Wii Fit to track our weight.While it is not very accurate, +/- .2 pounds, it is great to be able to see the weight history over a year or more. DH's is also remarkably consistent but he could lose a few pounds. I, on the other hand, could lose a lot more than a few.  Fortunately my weight has been essentially stable the past year and a half after losing 40 pounds the year before that. Now it is time to lose another 40.


----------



## KindleGirl

Has anyone else used the new GPS feature in the fitbit app? I used it last night when I went out for my walk and it was nice to see the distance that I was walking, but it only gave me 5 active minutes for a 35 minute fast walk!  I'm not sure why it did that. On my dashboard it shows that I did the 2.5 mi walk with the gps tracker, so I'm wondering if it doesn't count what you do while using that portion so it doesn't put it in the active minutes. Anyone else encounter this problem?


----------



## Seamonkey

I love my Aria scale.

That app isn't available for any device I have..

The Big Brother US 2014 cast of Houseguests have been given and are wearing FitBit Flex bands.  Great product placement and will be fun to follow their group.  I will post the link in here later when I am on my computer.


----------



## Seamonkey

http://www.cbs.com/shows/big_brother/fitness/


----------



## Chad Winters

huh, last updated July 9th and the leader had 4690 steps?
Not sure if that is accurate, if so those people need to get moving


----------



## Seamonkey

Chad, I think CBS is controlling the updates to their own site, and these people are locked into the Big Brother House and yard, with some long p periods locked in the house, but they certainly can exercise.  Usually people in that house gain weight during their time there.


----------



## MamaProfCrash

Yup. The house is built on a sound stage and they are limited to where they can go and what they can do. There are weights but I am not sure if they still have the ellipticals and the like. The yard is pretty small so you have to be willing to be bored walking/running lots and lots of laps. There is not a lot of room to move and do much. That is the reason the hamsters go nuts every season. They are bored stiff, no music, books, TV or entertainment, they have limited exercise opportunities and they are living with the same 16 people all summer long. Toss in the stress of playing the game (ie lying, backstabbing and all strategizing) and you have the recipe for drama and insanity.

I would be surprised to see too many get about 10,000 steps a day. I would guess that they added the FitBits so that they can find a way to encourage the hamsters to get moving. The live feed watchers complain that they sleep 12 hours a day. They all put on weight during the show even with the slop because they are not exercising a bunch and they eat a ton out of boredom. I won't bother go into how disgusting the house and some of the hamsters get...

I am sure that they are hoping that the FitBits and some alluded to prize associated with them will get more people moving, increase energy, and increase over all activity.


----------



## Seamonkey

I think Donny mentioned a bike; sometimes t h eyelid have an elliptical outside.  Last year some walked a bunch, while other barely left a bed.


----------



## Betsy the Quilter

I've been getting a lot of walking in (by my standards) on this trip!  But haven't been on the web as much, so I'm a bit behind with y'all.

Betsy


----------



## geoffthomas

Last Dec I was "running" at 4.5mph for 40 minutes (5k or 3.1miles) - had an achilles problem - physical therapy to stretch the calf muscles.  Now I am back to 15 minutes of running with walking and elliptical and weights at least 3 times per week.  Sometimes more.  The fitbit flex does not record most of the elliptical as that is mostly vertical.  Flex excels at horizontal motion. 
I don't submit supplemental info (which you can do).  My records are only what the Flex reports.


----------



## The Hooded Claw

I've been thinking about getting some sort of activity tracker for a while, but couldn't decide which one. None of the ones out now now seemed to quite put everything together in one package It looks like several new ones with better capabilities will come out this fall. On the other hand, with technology there's always something better coming down the pike, and I wanted to get started now. The upshot is that after lunch today I went to Best Buy and bought a Fitbit Zip! Alas I had done my workout in the morning so missed those steps!

Anyway this will let me get started at this without a gigantic investment. And help me be sure that I want to do it before buying some pricier model around Christmas.


----------



## Chad Winters

plus you get to join the group!  It definitely adds some motivation


----------



## MamaProfCrash

You don't have to have missed those steps, enter it on the dashboard


----------



## The Hooded Claw

MamaProfCrash said:


> You don't have to have missed those steps, enter it on the dashboard


Thanks, I eventually figured that out. For purposes of calorie balance, I entered a substitute for the light weight training I idid yesterday morning. I think my fitness pal will be better for that.

One thing that irrationally pleases me is that fitbit seems to judge my normal long distance walking pace as a Very Active Minute. So I am racking up VAMs fairly well just from my short walk to work and routine walking to see others in my building.


----------



## The Hooded Claw

http://t.today.com/health/my-fitbit-making-me-fat-users-complain-weight-gain-fitness-1D79911176

An interesting article. It seems some people depend too much on Fitbit advice about being able to eat more calories during an exercise day. I've just started, and I'm trying to keep my eating what it was, while getting more walking in thanks to the encouragement from Fitbit.


----------



## Annalog

The Hooded Claw said:


> http://t.today.com/health/my-fitbit-making-me-fat-users-complain-weight-gain-fitness-1D79911176
> 
> An interesting article. It seems some people depend too much on Fitbit advice about being able to eat more calories during an exercise day. I've just started, and I'm trying to keep my eating what it was, while getting more walking in thanks to the encouragement from Fitbit.


I recently saw a post from a runner site that I follow on Facebook that said something like: "l don't run to lose weight, I run to eat." That matches my experience. 

My goal is still to eat healthy but I have not lost weight due to running.


----------



## The Hooded Claw

Annalog said:


> I recently saw a post from a runner site that I follow on Facebook that said something like: "l don't run to lose weight, I run to eat." That matches my experience.
> 
> My goal is still to eat healthy but I have not lost weight due to running.


The book The First 20 Minutes, that I recently reviewed in my book review thread,reports that research leads scientists to the idea that most exercising is a very little use for weight reduction, because most exercise that is vigorous enough to matter increases appetite and thus increases food intake. So controlling calories is the key, unless you really want to do severe exercise. On the more positive side, regular exercise seems to help retain weight losses, and prevent weight from returning. Link to my comments on the book here...

http://www.kboards.com/index.php/topic,173312.msg2662069.html#msg2662069

Though being able to enjoy some good high calorie stuff from time to time may still be a good enough reason to exercise. As long as you do good portion control!


----------



## Annalog

The Hooded Claw, I agree that controlling calories is the key for weight loss. I think the people in the article about the Fitbit leading to weight gain are making the mistake of thinking they can eat more for the calories burned. I also agree that regular exercise, such as walking or running, is great for maintaining weight. Over a year and a half ago I lost almost 40 pounds. While I have not lost more since starting walking and running (and starting meds for hypothyroidism), I have not gained that weight back. I am also convinced that I have more muscle, less fat, and am certainly much fitter than before. (My third half marathon will be at the end of August. )

After the half marathon I am planning on focusing on weight loss again. I do best when focussing on one goal at a time.


----------



## Betsy the Quilter

The Hooded Claw said:


> http://t.today.com/health/my-fitbit-making-me-fat-users-complain-weight-gain-fitness-1D79911176
> 
> An interesting article. It seems some people depend too much on Fitbit advice about being able to eat more calories during an exercise day. I've just started, and I'm trying to keep my eating what it was, while getting more walking in thanks to the encouragement from Fitbit.


Yeah, I don't add food because of workout calories. I figure counting calories or measuring calorie burn isn't really that exact a science, so I just let the calorie burn be my fudge factor.

Welcome to the group, Claw!

Betsy


----------



## Rasputina

KindleGirl said:


> Has anyone else used the new GPS feature in the fitbit app? I used it last night when I went out for my walk and it was nice to see the distance that I was walking, but it only gave me 5 active minutes for a 35 minute fast walk! I'm not sure why it did that. On my dashboard it shows that I did the 2.5 mi walk with the gps tracker, so I'm wondering if it doesn't count what you do while using that portion so it doesn't put it in the active minutes. Anyone else encounter this problem?


I really like the GSP in the app. I feel like I get confirmation for how far I walked in distance instead of just steps. Plus I'm planning on using it to create different routes. My only complaint is that on the website it says the app is compatible with iPhone 4s and the various 5 models. In reality it works with any device that runs IOS 6 or later. So it runs on my iPhone 4, I don't have the 4s. I'm glad I double checked in the app store instead of just relying on the fitbit website.

I just need motivation to get moving more and I need to do something to help me sleep better. Kicking the cats out of the bedroom isn't an option LOL.


----------



## Someone Nameless

I'd love to hear reviews from everyone that has had the Aria scale for a while.  They are mixed good and bad online and I'm considering one.


----------



## Betsy the Quilter

Love my Aria scale--I've had it for almost a year, I think.  Hubby and I both use it....do you have any specific questions?

Betsy


----------



## Someone Nameless

Not specifically.  I just read so many bad reviews and wanted to make sure that everyone still liked theirs.  I think it would be really nice to go along with the Fitbit and maybe a little more motivating (not to mention I joined Weight Watchers this week to lose 20 pounds!!)


----------



## The Hooded Claw

I have no direct experience, but was considering buying one. I eventually read enough negative stuff about the accuracy of the body fat measurements that I decided not to get one. The other stuff should work fine to my limited knowledge.


----------



## Toby

I've been wearing a device that measures steps for around the last few months, I think. It's a very simple one. It's not digital. A bit clumsey though. Sometimes it pops off my pants & falls on the floor.  I try to get at least 10,000 steps a day. That's 5 miles. Most days I go over that. Some days I do 4 1/2 miles.


----------



## Betsy the Quilter

The Hooded Claw said:


> I have no direct experience, but was considering buying one. I eventually read enough negative stuff about the accuracy of the body fat measurements that I decided not to get one. The other stuff should work fine to my limited knowledge.


I admit I don't much care about the body fat measurements...but I love that it tracks my weight and I can see long term how things are working for me.

Betsy


----------



## Betsy the Quilter

Toby said:


> I've been wearing a device that measures steps for around the last few months, I think. It's a very simple one. It's not digital. A bit clumsey though. Sometimes it pops off my pants & falls on the floor.  I try to get at least 10,000 steps a day. That's 5 miles. Most days I go over that. Some days I do 4 1/2 miles.


Yay, Toby! Well done! You could start a Fitbit account and manually enter steps and join our group!

Betsy


----------



## Chad Winters

Betsy the Quilter said:


> I admit I don't much care about the body fat measurements...but I love that it tracks my weight and I can see long term how things are working for me.
> 
> Betsy


Agreed, i like it for the weight tracking but is probably overkill. Galvanic response body fat measurements are notoriously innacurate but the best you can get easily. The more accurate options like immersion scales where they dip you in tank or DEXA scans are difficult and expensive.


----------



## Toby

Thanks for the yay!   I did not know that I could manually compute my steps in. That's cool. I usually write it down in my journal nightly. I just took another look at this at amazon just now after finding this thread. I think that I will purchase one soon. If I sync it to my iPad, do I have to leave Bluetooth on my ipad on all the time?


----------



## The Hooded Claw

Toby, it is more convenient to leave Bluetooth on all the time, and it doesn't appear to use much battery, but if you prefer, you can just turn on Bluetooth when you want to sync. 

I bought the cheapest Fitbit, the Zip, which costs about fifty dollars. I considered this a stopgap when I bought it, but I like the long battery life compared to other models. You give up stairway counting and sleep monitoring, but you gain low price, small size, and few recharge stops!


----------



## MamaProfCrash

My husband bought me one for Christmas but we returned it because I find a regular scale works just fine. That is me. I am not certain what the real benefit is to a fancier scale.

One other thing, my gym has something like the Aria scale that I can use. It does not sync with my Fitbit but I have all my stats in a computer program, select my profile, and hop on. It gives me a muscle distribution percentage and all of those weird stats (%muscle vs fat, body fat, weight and the like) So there might be places that have something similar that you could use and not pay the larger amount for.


----------



## MamaProfCrash

I don't use the sleep monitoring and the stairs really are not that important. I simply preferred the size of the one to the Zip. (shrugs) The stairs do add a motivation for me though because I don't like to see yellow or orange on my dash board.


----------



## Toby

Thanks for the advice everyone. I sure am learning alot here. I am only interested in my fitness level, as in I need to move more.  Just the steps/miles. When I was younger, I would have been interested in everything. I try to eat healthy, so I don't need to obsess about calories. I don't know yet what the sleep thing is, so I can't comment on that. I had read about the device in a kindle book on 10,000 steps, but thought that it sounded too complicated & did not know anyone that had one to ask. I wonder why it the Zip wouldn't count stair climbing?


----------



## MamaProfCrash

The only one that counts stairs is the One


----------



## Annalog

I bought the One to help me get back on track with my training for my next half marathon. It has been working well for that. 

I like the size, display, and the ways it can be worn. So far, I haven't found anything I don't like about it.

While I don't climb stairs, that feature is nice for tracking the hills I walk up; it seems to count ~10 feet in elevation increase as a floor but sometimes gets confused. 

I use the sleep tracking to encourage me to go to sleep earlier as I am a night owl working an early morning lark shift; I need to wake at 3 am so I should go to sleep at 7 pm. (I am lucky if I get to bed by 8.) I keep the wrist band on my pillow when I am not wearing it. It does not make my wrist sweat and can be worn lose.

I don't pay much attention to the calorie tracking directly but I do have it synching with LoseIt where I track what I eat. (I use the free version of LoseIt and the integration is a paid feature so I don't know why it is working for me but I am glad. I suspect that it may be related to when I set it up, maybe it was just before it went from free to paid.)

It is a day off for me so it is time for a morning run. 

Edit: My One said that I have gone 6.68 miles so far today while MapMyRun recorded 5.3 miles. I can't possibly have walked 1.38 miles getting ready this morning. I will need to check the One immediately before and after my next run.


----------



## MamaProfCrash

The one measures distance based on the length of your step. You should adjust your step length, which can be done, to make it more accurate. I don't worry about the distance, I do worry about the step count.


----------



## Annalog

MamaProfCrash said:


> The one measures distance based on the length of your step. You should adjust your step length, which can be done, to make it more accurate. I don't worry about the distance, I do worry about the step count.


I had entered my height and weight but not my stride length. I see that the settings has the ability to record lengths for both walking and running strides. Now I need to take some more steps to measure them. 

Edit to add random question (no answer needed): I wonder if shortening my stride length will cause the 250 mile FitBit lifetime medal to disappear?


----------



## Toby

Thanks for the great info.!   Sounds like it is a great motivator. In the meantime, as soon as I get a chance, I'll check out the Fitbit site & sign up. I don't have time now. Already spent too much time checking it out at amazon. Now, how would I find this group, kboards, on the Fitbit Site?


----------



## Annalog

Betsy the Quilter said:


> OK, based on the interest earlier in the thread before I got lazy and dropped my program, I've created a Fitbit group for KBoards users. I've made it invitation only as I've seen too many groups on various sites get spammed. It's public so you can view it now, but I'm thinking perhaps we'll want to change it so that we can only see it once we get a few members. If we get a few members.
> 
> https://www.fitbit.com/group/22N2D6
> 
> You need to be logged into your fitbit account to see it.
> 
> I'm very lonely there.  PM me with your email address if you want to be a member.
> 
> I think there's an advantage as we can see each other's numbers like steps, etc. (if you set up your account to allow that). I went through my privacy settings very carefully to determine what I might want the members of the group to see.
> 
> Betsy


The post above was how I found the group.


----------



## Toby

Thanks for the link. I just took a look at the app. I think that I will wait for when I get the Fitbit Zip pretty soon.


----------



## Chad Winters

so a little bummed that I spent the day at the waterpark on Saturday and probably got around 15,000 steps or more...but couldn't wear my fitbit, so it keeps mocking me for me being lazy and I dropped down in the rankings!


----------



## The Hooded Claw

for those who access their fitbit by the Android app, be aware that there is an app update. Supposedly it improves low-energy Bluetooth performance and has minor bug fixes so it isn't life or death.


----------



## Annalog

Irritated my IT band and have been resting it. Hope it is better in time for the Dumbo Double Dare at the end of August.


----------



## Betsy the Quilter

Annalog said:


> Irritated my IT band and have been resting it. Hope it is better in time for the Dumbo Double Dare at the end of August.


Aargh. I've done that. Painful!

Betsy


----------



## Annalog

Betsy the Quilter said:


> Aargh. I've done that. Painful!
> 
> Betsy


The few days of rest helped some. While resting, online research helped me identify what may have been the triggers: long steps when walking, too many consecutive days of higher than usual effort, additional hills, and thinking ibuprofen had resolved the problem.

I went to my chiropractor yesterday; he is near the local university and works with a lot of athletes. After that visit, my knee, and the rest of me, is feeling much better. I added new stretches and strengthening exercises to my routine. I will be focusing on stride length and walking form; I was already focusing on running form. I am also trying KT tape.

The Dumbo Double Dare (10K followed by a half marathon) is only a month away. We saw our corral assignment a couple days ago; we are in the last corral so I have no extra time cushion for these races. We were in the next to last corral for the Tinkerbell which gave me about a 15 minute cushion; I needed every minute of that.

Getting over pneumonia during the Tinkerbell and IT band issues for the Dumbo Double Dare -- I don't need the additional challenges, I am slow enough already!


----------



## Toby

I ordered the Fitbit Flex tonight. It's coming Tues. After someone in the office said that she wears it in the shower & swimming, I decided to get it just so that I didn't have to take it off, unless I want to. I can't wait!


----------



## readingril

My Zip has been having battery issues. I emailed CS wondering if they could give me any suggestions as the battery has only been lasting a month. It's supposed to last 4-6 months. I figured this was a long shot since it's 1.5 years old and there's only a year warranty. Long story short they are sending me a new Zip! :-D


----------



## Someone Nameless

I have seen where some people have managed to put their Fitbit One in a bracelet type thing called Pocketbands. Others have put theirs in a watch like this by taking out the watch part. I want to try it.

http://www.amazon.com/Liroyal-Silicone-Rubber-Sports-Bracelet/dp/B00L9Z6J1Y/ref=pd_sbs_sg_4?ie=UTF8&refRID=19W5V353R9Y64YS5JM7H


----------



## The Hooded Claw

readingril said:


> My Zip has been having battery issues. I emailed CS wondering if they could give me any suggestions as the battery has only been lasting a month. It's supposed to last 4-6 months. I figured this was a long shot since it's 1.5 years old and there's only a year warranty. Long story short they are sending me a new Zip! :-D


What a deal! Good customer support. I have been wearing my Zip for almost a month and it still reports being fully charged. So I think you just got a bum one.


----------



## Toby

It's good to know that Fitbit is sending you a replacement! That's so cool!
About that rubber bracelet. If you get it, make sure you wear that at home with your Fitbit in it to test it, just in case the Fitbit comes out. About those pocket wrist things. I have been seeing these pop up on my amazon. I had one years ago when I was at college. I loved it. It was great to carry my school card in it. So, it got me browsing. That's a bad thing. LOL! I just ordered the terry cloth ones, Gogo, I think the name is, in all colors, for over $2 & over $1 shipping. This would be perfect to carry my credit card & cash in. Also If I can't get the Flex strap on my wrist, I could put the Fitbit in it. I do hope it fits. I have small wrists.


----------



## Toby

Will the Fitbit Flex count my steps if I hold onto a shopping cart with both hands while shopping?


----------



## Chad Winters

i used a Force before the recall on my treadmill desk at work and it would not pick up steps while I had my arms resting on the desk, had to take it off and put it in my pocket


----------



## Toby

Thanks, that was what I was thinking as well. My Fitbit Flex came today. All I had time tonight was to see if I could get the clasp connected on the band, which I could not do. I even used jewelry/watch plyers & could not get it connected. Therefore, I am not going to use the Fitbit Flex Bands that came with the tracker. I had ordered a bunch of Gogo, I think that's the name, wrist pocket things, so that I could put the Fitbit in it in case the band didn't work out. I haven't got them yet. I'll try the Fitbit in that. If it doesn't work, I'll return it. Next, I have to register. So, tonight, feeling very frustrated about this, I ordered the FitBit Zip. I'm more leaning towards returning the Flex. Just don't know.


----------



## Toby

I had ordered the Fitbit Zip. It came today.   It was easy to set up. I can't determine yet, if the steps will be the same as my non-digital pedometer. I plan to test it out. If I find that the steps are way off on the Fitbit, how can I adjust the steps? I could not find where to do this.
    I'm not sure if I will keep the Fitbit Flex. I'm waiting for the wrist pocket bands to show up to test it with. Does anyone know if when I register the Flex, will my Dashboard page show the combination of both Fitbit devices or just 1 or the other pedometer? In other words, if I walk 1 mile with the Zip, then 1 mile with the Flex, will my Dashboard show 2 miles?


----------



## readingril

You can adjust your stride using the following directions:

https://help.fitbit.com/customer/portal/articles/176045

I adjusted mine via a treadmill.

I have no clue how that works if you walk with two devices!


----------



## Toby

Thanks, I'll check that out. 
I was wondering if you know if I am supposed to get a voice from the Zip device, telling when I walked each mile? I set it for 1 mile with the sound on in my account, but I am not getting any sound or voice telling me.


----------



## readingril

No there's no sound from the Zip. It's a very simple little device.


----------



## geoffthomas

The Flex lights up and vibrates when you hit the number of steps daily goal.


----------



## The Hooded Claw

I have a zip and have been very happy with it. Be warned that it does not count stairs and doesn't track sleep. 

My memory is that only one Fitbit is allowed per account at a time.


----------



## Toby

Thanks for that information on registering more an 1 device at one time. I really like my Zip, so I decided not to use the Flex. Thanks also for letting me know about the sound. I would love it if it gave a beep or something after so many steps or miles. Tonight, I was walking at top speed around the house, at the last minute, to get those 10,000 steps done before 12:00 AM. Did it & went way over that, but I would have stopped sooner, but didn't want to check my Fitbit App on my iPhone too often. as I was so determined to get those steps in. It would have annoyed me if I came close to 10,000 steps & not finish the day with 10,000 steps. I'm very competitive with myself, so the Fitbit provided a lot of motivation. Thanks for letting me know about the Fitbit not counting stair climbing.


----------



## Andra

My UP24 band went a little haywire.  It only has one button and you use it to change modes and dismiss reminders and stuff like that.  Well, you could press the button and it wouldn't do anything.  I couldn't get any indicator lights at all.  The funny thing was that it was still tracking correctly.
I had to call Jawbone support and they were very helpful.  Once the rep determined that it wasn't working, she set up a replacement for me.  It arrived on Tuesday and it was easy to set up and start using.
I'm a little disappointed that my first one only lasted 2 1/2 months or so, but I'm willing to give it the benefit of the doubt if the replacement holds up better.


----------



## Annalog

Transfer from accounting department to garden department is effective as of today. This should add at least 10,000 steps for me each work day.


----------



## geoffthomas

Anna, that change should be more healthy for you.  
I hope it is not too physically demanding though.


----------



## Annalog

Definitely more healthy. Not too physically demanding as it should be about the same as when I was in sporting goods. The requirement is to be able to lift 25 pounds but I carry 50 pound bags of chicken feed at home.  I am looking forward to getting back out on the floor, helping customers, and being more active at work. (The nearly 8 months I was in accounting was not great for my health, not bad but not great.)


----------



## The Hooded Claw

Anna, glad you'll be able to move around more!


----------



## Annalog

The Hooded Claw said:


> Anna, glad you'll be able to move around more!


Thanks!


----------



## Annalog

I suspect that there won't be much heavy lifting at work until spring. Garden and seasonal is mostly Halloween and Christmas at this time of year.  Still walking 5 to 7 miles at work each day.


----------



## geoffthomas

So what do you think of the Charge that is available now for a little more than the Flex?
And the Charge HR (heart rate) that will be available soon?
And the Surge which will be in a few months?  Does a lot of things.  But is it too expensive?


----------



## The Hooded Claw

geoffthomas said:


> So what do you think of the Charge that is available now for a little more than the Flex?
> And the Charge HR (heart rate) that will be available soon?
> And the Surge which will be in a few months? Does a lot of things. But is it too expensive?


Geoff is talking about this....
http://www.pcworld.com/article/2838937/fitbit-gets-fancier-with-charge-fitness-trackers-surge-super-watch.html

And here is official word from Fitbit:
http://blog.fitbit.com/fitbit-charge-charge-hr-surge-welcome-to-a-whole-new-world-of-fitness/


----------



## The Hooded Claw

geoffthomas said:


> So what do you think of the Charge that is available now for a little more than the Flex?
> And the Charge HR (heart rate) that will be available soon?
> And the Surge which will be in a few months? Does a lot of things. But is it too expensive?


For me the big decision will be, do I want to switch from my One that I clip onto a pocket, to a watchband?

The main difference I see in the charge from the existing flax is that it measures stairs climbed. Depends on how important that is to you. I personally like having it. If I decide to go to a watchband however, I will wait for the Charge HR with a heart rate meter. I've decided I need to monitor my heart rate while I exercise. I'd be happier with a possible switch if I hadn't recently spent 50 bucks on a separate heart rate meter that uses a chest strip! I haven't historically worn a watch, and I think that will actually be the deciding factor for me. I believe the HR also lets you read callerr ID from your phone calls without taking your phone out of your pocket which is a cool but minor advantage.

The most advanced one does a lot of cool stuff, but I certainly would not buy it at this price until after it had been out for a while and I could see detailed reviews and see the reactions of other actual users.


----------



## Annalog

Love the statistics from my One for the half marathon yesterday. I climbed the equivalent of 19 flights of stairs and took over 30,140 steps during the 13.1 miles and had 107 active minutes out of the 223 minutes of the race. I used the button on the One to start an activity at the beginning of the race and then forgot to stop it. I edited the end time to match my finish time.  I knew the course was a little hilly but I hadn't expected 19 floors.


----------



## readingril

Anyone in search of a new Fitbit? Check these deals out

http://deals.kinja.com/gnc-is-offering-insane-prices-on-fitbits-right-now-1664820918

I just bought three Flexes (one for me, my daughter, her fiance) ... and I'm a strong proponent of the Zip! Hopefully they'll get here before Christmas. 

ETA: WHOOOPS! The link is dead. Hopefully my purchases will go through!


----------



## Annalog

I started my training run/walks for the Disneyland Pixie Dust Challenge (10K followed by a half marathon) Mother's Day weekend. It is nearly a week late due to my crazy holiday work schedule and my left leg and knee bothering me. I had a talk with my unconscious mind the day after Christmas and let it know that it had gotten my attention, that I would do all my strengthening exercises and stretches, and that I would pay attention in the future so that it could stop making my knee hurt so much any time that I thought about running. After a nap (after working from 10 pm Christmas night until 7 am the next morning), I completed just over 3 miles at an average pace of 16 ½ minutes a mile with a pace 14:46 for mile two. That might be my fasted training pace esince I started running. My muscles are a bit sore and stiff but my knees are happy.  I thought about talking to my unconscious mind after a reminder on the PAW Thread.


----------



## Annalog

Two training run/walks in a row my FitBit One and the GPS/MapMyRun app on my phone agree on the distance. I finally have my stride lengths entered correctly.


----------



## The Hooded Claw

Good show! I'm having a good day today. Walked almost 6.5 miles (not all at once!), had 65 very active minutes and climbed 47 flights of stairs. The Fitbit gods are smiling on KB members right now!


----------



## Annalog

47 flights of stairs! I bet those were during the 65 very active minutes. Great day!


----------



## Annalog

My daughter and I have decided to go for Dopey early January 2016, four consecutive days of races beginning with a 5K, then a 10K, a half marathon, and ending with a full marathon. My youngest granddaughter will also be running the half marathon. We are still going for the Pixie Dust Challenge (10K followed by a half marathon) at Disneyland this Mother's Day weekend and I will be running another local half marathon in November. I have an appointment with my doctor next week to verify that my knee problems are not due to something serious. (I am convinced that it is due to weak glutes and abs as working on those is helping a lot.) Yesterday we used our timeshare points to book a place just outside Disney World for the week around Disney World Marathon Weekend.

The Jeff Galloway training plan for Dopey should begin at the end June. Checking against the previous plan, I will need to find a second race for the day before my November half marathon and follow the half marathon with another seven miles.  Maybe two half marathons Veteran's Day weekend will work. 

Hoping for my first, and probably only, marathon three months before my 62nd birthday.


----------



## Scout

Oh, I love my FitBit Flex. The sleep tracker really helped me understand that I needed to make "getting sleep" a priority. I love how it tells you how many times you actually wake up during the night. Interesting.


----------



## Someone Nameless

I got a Fitbit Charge so I'm going to be selling my Fitbit One if anyone is interested.  It's burgundy and I still have the original box and all the accessories.  PM me if interested.  If this is not allowed here, please delete but I wanted to mention it here in case anyone was interested or needed one.


----------



## Annalog

Visited my doctor earlier this week concerning various joint issues. X-Rays of hand and knee show mild osteoarthritis in my hand but my knee looks great except for some fluid above the kneecap.  My knee pain had moved from the IT band location to above my knee. Now it appears to be just normal muscle swelling from exercising different muscles and some increased kneeling and squatting at work. Taking it easy on the runs for a while and working on exercises and remembering to use the foam roller.


----------



## readingril

What sort of exercises are you doing with the foam roller? One was recommended to me when I was having upper back / shoulder issues and I haven't used it in ages.


----------



## Annalog

readingril said:


> What sort of exercises are you doing with the foam roller? One was recommended to me when I was having upper back / shoulder issues and I haven't used it in ages.


I don't do exercises with the foam roller, instead I use it to massage the tight and painful spots in my legs, hips, and glutes. See WHAT IS A FOAM ROLLER, HOW DO I USE IT, AND WHY DOES IT HURT for one explanation.

The exercises I am doing are ones to improve my core strength, posture, and running/walking speed but those don't use the foam roller.


----------



## The Hooded Claw

I haven't done this myself, but it appears the AT&T Wireless store is giving 15% off the Fitbit Surge and other Fitbit trackers.

http://www.att.com/wearables/health-and-fitness/fitbit-surge-smartwatch-with-heart-rate-monitor-iphone-and-android.html?partner=LinkShare&siteId=Es5Ekr9eEBk-L04ZaFrf6zXwahtCQQm1Aw#sku=sku7510242

Discounts on the Surge are unusual! I'm satisfied with my Fitbit One, so won't be buying.


----------



## Annalog

I discovered this morning that the Fire HDX 8.9 that I received yesterday will sync with my FitBit One.  Both my android phone and my older Fire were unable to do this, probably due to having older versions of Bluetooth hardware. Now I won't have to turn on my netbook just to sync my FitBit. 🚶🏃


----------



## The Hooded Claw

Betsy, did you lose your Fitbit? You haven't shown up on the leader board for awhile. Do we need to ensure you for a new one?


----------



## Annalog

Ran the 5K Coaster run at Knott's Berry Farm this morning with a PR pace of 13:51. Then spent most of the rest of the day at Knott's Berry Farm.


----------



## Betsy the Quilter

OK, I'm back!!!

I've got a Fitbit Charge HR now.  Figure I won't wash it by accident like I did my One.  Though I do love how my One says hi to me.

The washed One works intermittently, but the battery doesn't seem to last very long, and then I can't get it working, so I just gave up.  Though, of course, as soon as the Charge HR got here, it started working again!  Nothing like a little competition.

I do like the Charge HR...the heart rate info so far seems pretty accurate!

So, let's get the spring challenge going!

Good for you, Anna!  Running is still out for me, but I'm hoping to get the walking going well.

Betsy


----------



## readingril

My Fitbit is taking a lonnnnnnnnnnnng rest. Having a knee replacement on Monday, but knee didn't make it 'til the replacement and crapped out beginning of last week.


----------



## Betsy the Quilter

Readinril!

Hope the replacement goes smoothly and you can get back in shape soon!

Betsy


----------



## Seamonkey

Betsy, when you charge your Charge HR and then remove it from the charging cable, it will "talk" to you.  Last time, mine said "HOLD ME".  Gave me a smile.  Welcome back!!!

Readingril, hope the surgery goes very well!!  I know it is quite a rehab, but people who have had replacements are very pleased, at least those I know.

Anna, if you come to Orange County again, maybe we could meet up.  Not that I'm running, but still walking.  

This weekend I'm doing a shortened Relay for Life event.. it is from 9am - 9pm but I have to leave in the middle for a 4 hour gig at the shelter where I volunteer with cats.  Kitten and Puppy Shower where we hope to get lots of donated goodies (with those working the event probably bringing much of it) for the fosters who take in kittens and puppies with or without moms to raise until they are big enough to return to be neutered and adopted out at the shelter.  

I still hope to walk 12 miles this year at Relay.

I'm enjoying my CHARGE HR.  

Actually I have two.  I ordered the device in Plum, not realizing that the color would put off delivery by 3 months.  Then I wasn't sure they had my order and I saw one small Charge HR in black at Kohl's and went ahead and bought it, even got $30 in Kohl's cash.  My Force was still working but looking a bit worn.. and I wanted the heart rate. 

Betsy, since you have a Charge HR and a ONE, you can switch back and forth and have all the steps count.  If there was a formal occasion where you didn't want the wristband. you could use the ONE.


----------



## Betsy the Quilter

Seamonkey said:


> Betsy, when you charge your Charge HR and then remove it from the charging cable, it will "talk" to you. Last time, mine said "HOLD ME". Gave me a smile. Welcome back!!!


Good to know! I need to charge it.



> I'm enjoying my CHARGE HR.
> 
> Actually I have two. I ordered the device in Plum, not realizing that the color would put off delivery by 3 months. Then I wasn't sure they had my order and I saw one small Charge HR in black at Kohl's and went ahead and bought it, even got $30 in Kohl's cash. My Force was still working but looking a bit worn.. and I wanted the heart rate.
> 
> Betsy, since you have a Charge HR and a ONE, you can switch back and forth and have all the steps count. If there was a formal occasion where you didn't want the wristband. you could use the ONE.


Thanks for the good info! I didn't want to wait for a plum one...and decided the black one would look good with everything. I'm very pleased so far.

Glad to be back!

Betsy


----------



## readingril

Thank you. The reality is here as the hospital did the pre-medical interview on the phone today and my FMLA was *finally* approved.


----------



## Seamonkey

Glad you got approved!

Betsy, I am perfectly happy with the black CHARG HR as well.

Kind of odd..  I had posted from home upthread, then was at UC I Medical Center and got on their wifi there with my Fire HDX.    At first their wifi labeled Kboards as an "adult" site and wouldn't let me access.  Later I was in another building and it let me read your reply but when I tried to post I got the "adult content" again.

Strange.


----------



## Betsy the Quilter

Yeah, some places filter us because of some of the stuff in the Writers' Café and the Book Bazaar.  We've gotten stricter, but I think some of the lists still have us as adult. 

Readingril, glad you got approved!

Betsy


----------



## Annalog

Glad you are back, Betsy!

Readingril, glad you got approved. Sending wishes that all goes well.

Seamonkey, my daughter, granddaughters, and I will be in Anaheim for Mother's Day weekend. My daughter and I will be running the inaugural Pixie Dust Challenge (10K Saturday and half marathon Sunday). My youngest granddaughter will also be running the half marathon, and my oldest granddaughter will be providing some race support. My daughter and I will be running the 10K as Mike and Sully from Monsters Inc., I will be Sully. For the half marathon, I will be Mad Madame Mim, my daughter will be Captain Hook, and my granddaughter will be the Evil Queen.

I will be slow, as usual. I am going to physical therapy for my knee. It is much better an I was getting faster. However, I now have a cold and I have not been running as I am trying to avoid bronchitis. I will know by Monday about the bronchitis.


----------



## Betsy the Quilter

Sigh...

twisted my ankle today at the car show we were at when I stepped in a deep straw covered hole.

Betsy


----------



## The Hooded Claw

My Fitbit One decided it liked South America so much it would stay there! As described in the thread in NQK, i got a new one at Best Buy this morning less than 24 hours after arriving back in the USA!   I just miss all those steps I accumulated uncounted in sightseeing on Easter Island.

My Fitbit seemed to get confused more at high altitude. Several times I had unexplained large numbers of stairs climbed. The highlight being at Machu Picchu where I climbed 146 flights of stairs in 15 minutes!   at least because of the time recorded for this amazing feat, I can tell it was counting the bus ride from the hotel to Machu Picchu!

One thing that aggravated me was that I got NO very active minutes during almost a week at high altitude (9000 feet or more). Even though just walking up stairs at a good pace could be pretty stressing at that height!


----------



## Seamonkey

Betsy, I hope it isn't too bad, and will resolve quickly.

Claw.. well I see that you are putting your new fitbit to work.  Which one did you get?


----------



## Betsy the Quilter

Thanks, Seamonkey!  It actually seems much better this morning (I elevated it and iced it on and off much the evening last night).  Considering how much it hurt when I moved it in certain ways last night, I'm very hopeful!  I think I'll try my walk today.

Sorry to hear about your One, Claw!!!  What kind of phone do you have?  Were you able to use a pedometer on your phone?

Betsy


----------



## Jane917

I have not been around this board for quite awhile! I will admit that my Fitbit One has been hibernating for a bit while I made a move and am attempting to get settled in a new home. I charged her up the other day and was glad to find out that I can still walk 10,000 steps! However, she took a tumble in the washing machine. She was only in there a few minutes on delicate cycle (I keep her tucked inside my bra) before I rescued her. She still seemed to work, so I did not worry. However, I wore her all day yesterday, and when I checked my steps last night I only recorded 147! I will try again today to see if that was a fluke, then may have to consider a new one. I am confused by all the "upgraded models" that have appeared since I bought my One. Also, it seems they are available just about anywhere now. I will have to do some price shopping. I have even seen them in Target. Any suggestions for models and best available price? I think I will go with the wrist model this time. I did not use any of the features of the One except for the steps.


----------



## Seamonkey

Jane, I would skip over the FLEX since it has no display and doesn't do stairs, but it is less expensive.  The FORCE was recalled so shouldn't be available.  

Then there is the CHARGE, which is basically a FORCE with better band.. it does everything the ONE does.  It may have some new features too.

The CHARGE HR is a charge with a wristband that is more secure, like a watchband closure, does all the stuff the CHARGE does plus heartrate.  It also does caller id for some phones (not mine).. so it does steps, calories, miles, stairs, heartrate and time.

And the SURGE is a watch with more features like routes.. much more but for me would be overkill physically, price wise and feature wise.. but for a runner with a bigger wrist than mine.. could be good.

I have the CHARGE HR and am really pleased with it.  I'm finding I have to push harder to get my heartrate up even close to desired ranges.. which my doctor says ironically means I have succeeded in exercising enough so my heart doesn't freak out just going up some stairs..

I also like that it is more secure around my wrist than the FORCE was.

I know others have experience to add to this too..


----------



## Jane917

Thank you, *Seamonkey*. My One seems to be working again, but now I have my mind set that I really need the Charge. I will keep checking out prices.

Jane


----------



## Betsy the Quilter

Hey, Jane!

Welcome back!  Hope the move went smoothly.

I just switched to the Charge HR after washing my second One.  At least this one won't be attached to my clothes.  I'm finding I really like it.  I decided on the HR as I really like having a HR monitor when I'm doing more vigorous exercise.

Betsy


----------



## pdworkman

I've been using Fitbits for about three years now! And yeah, on the sleep thing I average 6 hours recorded sleep, and usually I'm still awake for at least .5 an hour of that... sometimes 2-2.5 on a bad night...


----------



## Betsy the Quilter

Welcome to the Fitbit thread, PD!  What Fitbit do you have?

We also have a Fitbit group if you want to join.  PM me your email address if you want an invite.

Betsy


----------



## The Hooded Claw

I got a Fitbit One to replace my Fitbit One. I like the feature set of the charge HR. But I just don't like wearing a watch! So I'll stick with the Fitbit One. At least I haven't washed it yet--of course now I probably jinxed myself! But if I didn't mind a wristband, I would've gotten a Charge HR. If I remember correctly it's only $20 more than the basic charge, but has significantly more features.

That's a good idea about the phone as a pedometer. I believe my Note 3 has that capability, but I did not think of it while I was on the road. At least I gave my new fit that a good workout today. Over 6 miles, 68 active minutes, and 29 flights of stairs! And I even lifted weights after work. At least Claw is not a sluggard about getting back into things after his trip!


----------



## Seamonkey

Not a sluggard, indeed!

I had only 25 active minutes today but Saturday I had 263!  That is definitely NOT a typical day for me.. I walked 12 miles at Relay for Life so I WAS active!

I have my Charge HR set so I see heartrate when I tap it three times (and if I'm clapping enthusiastically..) but the time is the first thing when I push the button.  

pd, good to have another KB fitbitter!!

I like having the HR while I sleep.  So far no spikes in heartrate that would tell me my sats had dropped due to apnea.  Of course I must do a home study with  a pulse Ox to be sure but fingers crossed, all my activity and efforts and weight loss may mean I can stay off cpap and not be risking my heart and brain..

My ONE also suffered the washing machine fate.. not at my house but when I got the FORCE I sold the ONE to an employee at Curves for $20 (quite a bargain and within days the FORCE was recalled but luckily I never had any problems and wore that device for over a year until I got my CHARGE HR)..  anyway she wasn't using the sleep wristband for the ONE but clipping it to her PJs, forgot it at home and her daughter decided to do laundry and in went the PJs AND the ONE.  RIP.


----------



## Betsy the Quilter

I don't normally wear a watch either, but I didn't want to keep killing off my Ones. 

I have my HR set to tell the time if I tap it twice.  Steps is if I push the button.  I didn't know I could set a "three tap."  Definitely will put that as my HR.

Betsy


----------



## Seamonkey

Betsy, there is nothing official from a three tap, but I'm not the only one to find that three often works better than two...


----------



## Betsy the Quilter

Seamonkey said:


> Betsy, there is nothing official from a three tap, but I'm not the only one to find that three often works better than two...


Oh, so it's not a separate sequence? I use two tap and find it works pretty well. I find a tiny gap between the two taps works best.

Betsy


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## pdworkman

I have Fitbit One. Previously I went through two original Fitbits. I have another One hidden in a drawer in just in case...


----------



## Jane917

My Fitbit One apparently survived its short stint in the washing machine. It seems to be working fine now. For those wearing the wrist models, does the band make your wrist sweat when it gets hot outside?


----------



## Seamonkey

This band is quite comfortable for me.  I don't even notice it..  it was pretty hot out today and I wore the FORCE for over a year, so through  our summer.

I did like my ONE but I had a few scares when it would come out of its little case.. luckily I always found it.

I really thought I'd never want a band but took to it right away.

Fitbit also supports the use of two different models so someone could go between a ONE and one of the band models.. say if they felt the wristband or watch model was too casual for a formal affair (lol.. this isn't something I worry about at all) then they could wear the ONE for that and the band for other times.

Of course I had always wanted heart rate without a chest strap and now I have it in the HR.


----------



## Betsy the Quilter

Seamonkey,

how often do you charge your HR?  I notice it needs charging more often than my One, which is to be expected.  I think the guide said every five days?  I like to have a consistent "charging" day.  I used to charge my One on Sundays.  I think I'm going to charge the HR overnight on Fridays and Mondays.

Betsy


----------



## Chad Winters

Jane917 said:


> My Fitbit One apparently survived its short stint in the washing machine. It seems to be working fine now. For those wearing the wrist models, does the band make your wrist sweat when it gets hot outside?


Mine has been washed 3 times and still ticking


----------



## Betsy the Quilter

Chad Winters said:


> Mine has been washed 3 times and still ticking


Mine is iffy....


----------



## Jane917

Betsy the Quilter said:


> Mine is iffy....


I am learning my Fitbit that went through the wash is a bit iffy too! I was a bit dismayed last night when I checked my steps and it said 1357. I had been on my feet all day! I guess I need to re-think purchasing a new model. For a few days I was convinced that all was fine.


----------



## Seamonkey

Betsy, I'm not sure, but I think it is lasting longer if I don't check it too often.. of course at first I just had to check the heart rate constantly.

Since my charging station for my  fitbit is here by my recliner in front of my computer, which is where I am at home unless I'm upstairs in bed.. some nights or days I'll click on that gear on my dashboard and if it is halfway down I'll just put it on the charger (which is attached to an Amazon rapid charger) and top it off.  And of course sometimes it will email me telling me I'm low.. one time it actually said it needed charging right on the device and was very very  low.. Not a helpful answer in terms of actual  battery life.

My Plum small CHARGE HR is going to its new owner today.  I'm selling it for what I paid which was $142.99.. discount but then tax and maybe some shipping.  But she'd pay the full price plus tax around here and have to look for a small.

Sorry about all the flakey washed ONEs.. seems to be an epidemic.  I have a friend with one in rice right now.


----------



## MamaProfCrash

Does anyone know if you can have two fitbits attached to one account? I want the Charge but I cannot use it at work. Not allowed (don't ask, I don't get it but it is treated like a cell phone and we are not allowed to bring those into the workplace). I use my One but I really like the idea of the Charge and I want the heart rate monitor. So I would need to be able to register two fitbits on one account.


----------



## The Hooded Claw

My memory is that when you add a Fitbit to your account, it tells you that you can only have one device on an account at a time. Switching is super-easy, but still may be more than you want to do twice a day.


----------



## Betsy the Quilter

The Hooded Claw said:


> My memory is that when you add a Fitbit to your account, it tells you that you can only have one device on an account at a time. Switching is super-easy, but still may be more than you want to do twice a day.


They've changed that, or at least you can have two different kinds of Fitbits ....there's a link earlier in the thread, and I just read it, too. I have both my iffy One and my HR on my account.

EDIT: thought there was a link in the thread, but couldn't find one, here's one:
http://help.fitbit.com/articles/en_US/Help_article/Can-I-use-more-than-one-Fitbit-tracker-with-the-same-account

Betsy


----------



## MamaProfCrash

WOOHOOO I'll have to look into it


----------



## Betsy the Quilter

http://help.fitbit.com/articles/en_US/Help_article/Can-I-use-more-than-one-Fitbit-tracker-with-the-same-account


----------



## Betsy the Quilter

Claw (and everyone else),

I was reading the link about multiple trackers and came across this, which I didn't know!


> Use MobileTrack for iOS (tracking steps using only your phone) if you forget your Fitbit tracker at home.


http://help.fitbit.com/articles/en_US/Help_article/MobileTrack-for-iOS-FAQs



> Designed for iPhones beginning with the 5s model, MobileTrack is a feature of the Fitbit app for iOS that uses the M7 chip in the phone to track your basic activity data without the use of a Fitbit tracker.


WHAT DOES MOBILETRACK MONITOR?

Mobile track monitors:
Steps
Distance
Calories burned
You also have the benefit of using the Fitbit app for iOS. For example you can compete with friends using the leaderboard, send those friends messages, cheers, and taunts, and set fitness goals. For more information, see Using the Fitbit app for iOS.
MobileTrack does not monitor floors, sleep, or active minutes.

Betsy


----------



## The Hooded Claw

Interesting. I've been thinking of switching from Android to iOS, this may be another reason. Almost a year before I can get a new phone, though....

The past week or two has been tough on Fitbit Ones. I bought a replacement for my lost One from Best Buy about a week ago. Thursday night, the display no longer worked. It still was recording activity, still reported in when I synced. I found instructions for resetting the One, and they didn't help. Friday morning, it wasn't working at all. Saturday I returned it to Best Buy, no problem even though I hadn't kept the receipt. I was careful to get a different color in case there was a bad batch!

Then I forgot to take it to work today, *sigh*


----------



## Seamonkey

Yes you can deflnitely have two trackers on one account now, as long as they are different models.  

Sounds like MamaProfCrash cannot have any cell phone at work.


----------



## MamaProfCrash

Yup, no cell phones at work. Annoying but thems the rules.


----------



## Seamonkey

Actually, I can't even imagine trying to work with internet or cell phones .  We still had phones and some people still abused them but mostly, most of us were working.  Of course internet and phones are essential tools for some jobs and self employed people have flexibility but I wasn't self employed and kind of happy I had less temptation.  (But of course I wouldn't go back to not having a cell phone available and would hate to lose internet!!!)

But.. it is too bad about something like a fitbit.  Many companies are encouraging their staff to exercise, take stairs, etc.  I think it might even help with what they pay to insure said employees.  This is especially true in hospitals where some have encouraging signs about taking stairs and some have contests for number of steps and issue or provide some sort of pedometer or fitness device.

The Apple Watch and other devices that access internet of course complicate things!

All three of my volunteer jobs have rules about cell phones.  Two kind of require that we have them but one of those specifies that the phone be off when we are driving and never used while driving, even hands free (SilverStreak, which is a service where volunteers drive older seniors to various places they need to go).  The other  (American Cancer Society, where Road to Recovery drivers take cancer patients to and from treatment) doesn't mention much about cells, but it helps us communicate with our patients).  I do always have mine off when I drive.

For volunteering at the shelter, the rule is no cell phones, we should be concentrating on the cats (or dogs or bunnies, etc).  But that isn't as strictly followed.  Still we are definitely expected to not be texting and to leave the building if we have to take or make a call.. and thankfully that works.  Of course the public coming to SEE the animals are typical phone calling, texting, photo-taking humans.


----------



## Betsy the Quilter

Seamonkey said:


> Sounds like MamaProfCrash cannot have any cell phone at work.


Yeah, I was directing my post about the cell phones at Claw and others who may be traveling without their Fitbits for whatever reason. I was pleased to read that--wish I'd known during the time I was Fitbit-less.

Betsy


----------



## MamaProfCrash

I get the no devices rule at work. I don't have a problem with it except that it limits some of what we can do. So I want to listen to certain music or the like but I can't. And then I go to my gym where the 19-25 year olds who work there spend most of their time talking to each other or playing on their phones and not checking on the clients working out. It is a more upscale gym, Koko Fit Club, where you work out on your own but the trainers are there to help with form questions and to make sure people are safe. Most of the time I have to notify them when I see someone using awful form. This has been brought to the attention of the management but they don't do anything about it. The site manager is normally talking and playing on her phone and when the higher level managers are there they change their behavior. 

It is amazing to see how much the world has change since the technology has come out. It is kind of crazy. People think I am nuts for not having a smart phone, I can't use it at work and I don't need it at home, and I think I can get by just fine the few hours of the day I am not at work or home. How do you live like that? I don't text, hate it. I don't need to check Facebook 24/7. I like to and when I am bored at work and my work is done I do look on it but I can live without it. I don't get the need to be connected all the time. Nor do I get the need to pay for that type of data. 

We used to live just fine without checking on the score or our friends status or the news every five minutes. 

Take a break to yell "GET OFF MY LAWN YOU SILLY KIDS"


----------



## Betsy the Quilter

I didn't use to text; but I hate phone calls so I like texting very much now.  I feel like I'm less of a beck and call girl.   I can answer the text at my convenience.  But I just got my first smartphone in October (inherited the phone itself).  Before that I texted on my iPad.

Enjoying the smartphone.  I keep in touch with family using Facebook.  Looking up stuff when I wonder "what's that?" Dad always said, "look it up!" 

Poor employees are poor employees.  I daresay if those people didn't have their smartphones, they'd be doing something else to ignore their customers.  That's been going on long before smartphones.

Betsy


----------



## Seamonkey

I think with Smartphones it has gotten worse and even the formerly polite are on them.

I love technology but I can look things up on my computer.. or my Kindle Fire (but only when I'm on wifi and currently that is down at home..), I check one facebook page daily, to see what the shelter is promoting event wise and which animals were adopted that day, but I don't even have a facebook account.

I do like to play games on my Fire.  

I have a dumb flip phone which is almost always off but is essential if I need to be on call for a patient or need to call someone when I'm out and of course if I need to call auto club (AAA in other states). 

It is interesting.  The annoying behavior is creeping up in age.  Our senior advocate at one hospital says she had always reminded people at an event or lecture to mute their devices but NOW there is a mass reaching into purses and pockets that didn't use to happen even just several years ago as everyone has a device.  I know I have to make sure my Fire is muted, but I know my phone is off.

And now when a phone does start playing a ring tone it is likely to be someone of any age.


----------



## KindleGirl

The Charge HR sounds interesting so I did some checking and I'm having a hard time locating anything but black! Why is it so difficult locating a size small in anything other than black? Were they just released recently? I know they revealed the new ones, but I thought that had been a little while ago. I currently have the One and love it, but hate having to remember to switch it out when I change clothes. I clip mine on my pants pockets.  I'm not sure I'd like wearing a band all of the time, but I could probably get used to it.


----------



## Seamonkey

I thought the same thing when I had my ONE but I loved the FORCE, no reaction despite the recall, and I just LOVE the CHARGE HR!!

No problem wearing a band all the time.  and if you have a ONE you can switch back and forth now that that is supported by FitBit.  I sold my ONE for $20 and the woman's daughter washed it, so no option here but that is okay.  I'm CHARGE HR all the way.

The Plum ones are being delivered from pre-orders so I'd think they would soon be available.  I sold mine for what I paid for it to a friend at Curves and she is loving it!  

I have the Small black.  Got it at Kohl's and got $30 Kohl's cash since I had other purchases and it was a Kohl's cash day.


----------



## Betsy the Quilter

I would have gotten a plum one if they'd been available but now I'm kinda glad I didn't.  I think the black one is very elegant and high techy looking. 

Betsy


----------



## Betsy the Quilter

Target is offering free earbuds or something with purchase of a Fitbit over $100.

http://www.target.com/sb/fitbit-sports-outdoors-featured-brands/-/N-557v0Z55dw7?ref=tgt_email_DB505061&emseq=24494945&link=fitbit

Betsy


----------



## KindleGirl

Betsy the Quilter said:


> I would have gotten a plum one if they'd been available but now I'm kinda glad I didn't. I think the black one is very elegant and high techy looking.
> 
> Betsy


I do like the plum one better but was hesitating on the black. I suppose black would actually go with more clothes and not look odd. Nice to know it looks elegant...hard to tell that in pictures. I do like the blue color they show but I don't know when that one is releasing.


----------



## Seamonkey

I like the blue as well, but who knows when that will be available.  

I'm happy with the black one and the plum is very nice as well.

I figure the function is most important.  

I had the blue (sort of) Force and it didn't match as much as my CHARGE HR but it worked well for me for a year.


----------



## KindleGirl

Next question....one site says a small fits up to 6.2" wrist and others say 6.5".  Can anyone say for sure what it fits? My wrist measures 6.5" so it's borderline. I don't want it tight, but on the otherhand, I don't want it to be bulkier than it needs to be either.


----------



## Seamonkey

I saw a post on the forum saying that they had changed the sizing chart somewhere and this person said they got one that was too small.

I have a small but my wrist is 5 1/16"  I use the third hole with 5 remaining.  I'm thinking  you might want the next size up.


----------



## KindleGirl

Thanks, seamonkey. I will probably try the large, judging by reviews I've read.  It looks like Best Buy has restocked them. Now I'm just deciding if I should do it or not.


----------



## Betsy the Quilter

Of interest...

http://www.siliconrepublic.com/business/item/41944-fitbit-files-for-us-100m-ip


----------



## Seamonkey

That was interesting and the link from there about fitbit in Ireland, the female exec there..

http://www.siliconrepublic.com/innovation/item/40666-wit2015


----------



## KindleGirl

Woohoo! My Charge HR is arriving today. Looking forward to trying it out and seeing if I like the wristband. I opted for the black one afterall. I did like the plum one, but figured the black would match more and be less noticeable.


----------



## Betsy the Quilter

KindleGirl said:


> Woohoo! My Charge HR is arriving today. Looking forward to trying it out and seeing if I like the wristband. I opted for the black one afterall. I did like the plum one, but figured the black would match more and be less noticeable.


Woohoo, KG!!!!

Wearing mine now...454 steps so far this morning (I'm doing a lot of computer work, like KB, this morning).

Betsy


----------



## Seamonkey

Wearing mine too (but then I always am wearing it).

Glad to have another HR user around.


----------



## KindleGirl

I got my HR later in the afternoon and it wouldn't even turn on so I had to charge it before playing. I got it up and running early in the evening so I haven't had much time to notice stuff, but I have noticed a couple of things:

1) It doesn't seem very good at counting stairs. Maybe it's a fluke so far, but I've done at least 12 sets of stairs this morning and it says 2. 

2) It did a better job at logging my sleep than my One did. I was wondering if it was going to automatically know when I went to sleep because I was laying down reading before bed. Surprisingly this morning when I looked at the stats it had my sleep times exactly right!!

3) I'm loving all of the new info I can get from this thing! I know I only gained the HR info, but it seems the app has so much more info now. 

I'm used to wearing a watch, but I never wear a watch when I am home. I'm hoping I get used to it, because right now I can't wait til my shower and I can take it off! It just seems to get in the way when I am doing things. Because of the hard part of the device that sits on top of my wrist, it doesn't want to bend around my wrist very well. It bows out before it actually goes down around my wrist....hard to explain but I'm wondering how people with really small wrists can wear this thing. Seems it would stick out way too far. Anyway, I'm looking forward to seeing all the stats it collects today!


----------



## Jane917

KindleGirl said:


> It bows out before it actually goes down around my wrist....hard to explain but I'm wondering how people with really small wrists can wear this thing. Seems it would stick out way too far. Anyway, I'm looking forward to seeing all the stats it collects today!


You have expressed my concern about getting the HR. I currently have the One. My wrists are very small, about 5.75". I am afraid the small HR will still be too big.


----------



## Seamonkey

I have a very small wrist.. just a hair over 5" at the smallest place and I wear the HR higher than that, as recommended and even beyond where the band rests I measure 5.5" at most.  Yes it bows out a bit but it is stable and hasn't been a problem for me (and I also worried about it).  I use the third possible hole toward the center.

The friend who has the plum HR I sold her has a small wrist as well and is totally fine with hers.


----------



## Betsy the Quilter

They recommend wearing it as high as three fingerwidths away from the wrist, and probably farther is fine, too.

Betsy


----------



## Seamonkey

I'm at least two fingerwidths and sometimes move it a bit higher up.


----------



## cagnes

I have a Charge HR since Feb & I love it! I didn't realize how few steps I was doing in a day just working on the computer & piddling around the house. The fitbit definitely keeps me in check & makes me get up and move more!

Betsy, sent you a request to the fitbit group.


----------



## KindleGirl

Yeah, the directions recommend 2-3 fingers above the wrist when exercising to better get the heart rate, but otherwise it says to move it down the wrist.  Mine sits slightlly above where I would wear my watch.

It definitely isn't counting steps accurately today. I'm a little disappointed in that aspect. Since I have 3 levels here I am doing steps all the time so it's nice to know how many I've done each day. Anyone else notice this problem?


----------



## Seamonkey

I assume you mean stairs..  there are times I definitely don't get all the flights of stairs I should, especially at home.  The little altimeter is supposed to give you a flight if you go up 10 feet all at once, but it just doesn't always do it.  Sometimes it seems to help if I keep walking after I get upstairs and raise my arm as I go.  This may be superstition, though.  

Sometimes  you can get free stairs if there is a really windy condition.. something about pressure.  They say altimiters are only so accurate, even in aircraft..

My friend with the plum HR I sold her has gotten a few stairs and hasn't done any, but only a very few.

I try not to mourn the lost stairs and keep doing stairs.  I'm only at 12 so far today.  I did 8 floors/16 flights at the hospital while waiting for my patient to have radiation today.


----------



## Seamonkey

That is such a cute corgi, Kindlegirl!!


----------



## cagnes

Seamonkey said:


> Sometimes you can get free stairs if there is a really windy condition.. something about pressure. They say altimiters are only so accurate, even in aircraft..


I didn't realize that! My mom is got credit for 25 floors the other day and she didn't do any! She did walk about 6 miles outdoors though & it was a windy day.

Speaking of floors, I earned 3 new badges yesterday.... Lighthouse, Ferris Wheel & Helicopter!  I was tempted to go for the 100 floor badge but was just too tired... maybe one day when I have more spunk. lol 

I don't always get credit for floors either, I know that I was shorted 2 floors today for sure.


----------



## Seamonkey

I almost never get the floors when I wake up in the middle of the night and head downstairs to the bathroom and back up to bed.  I guess it thinks I am sleeping.  Well actually it knows I am not sleeping.  Not a big deal.

I've done the 100 floors in a day once but that is pretty rare.  A bunch of those were also two at a time.  I do that when I have two reachable railings.  Does more for arms, legs and cardio.  My doctor says that is great but try not to lean forward too much.. so I try.  And of course when I'm done, I go wash my hands after all that railing gripping.


----------



## cagnes

Wow, that's awesome Seamonkey! My goal is to accomplish 100 floors at least once.    One stair at a time is hard enough for me, no need to do two at a time, lol.


----------



## Seamonkey

I only do that on certain stairs..  not at  home where I have NO railings.  
But for going from the basement to 7th, for example, at a hospital, two at a time is actually better for me than one at a time.  But of course I worked up to that!

You will get to 100.. seems like you are pretty close already.

I'm amazed by some people who do that regularly!!


----------



## The Hooded Claw

I got 100 flights of stairs in one day one time. I doubt I'll ever do that again! I've gotten over 50 flights several times, but it's still not regular. I do frequently get in the 20s or 30s . My Fitbit is pretty accurate on stairs I seldom if ever don't get credit. Occasionally it gives me credit that I don't deserve I will have 20 or more flights of stairs added when I have Not climbed any. Occasionally I think it is from elevators every once from a bus ride. The bus ride, which was up to Machu Picchu, gave me credit for over 200 flights of stairs in 30 minutes!


----------



## KindleGirl

Seamonkey said:


> That is such a cute corgi, Kindlegirl!!


Thank you, Seamonkey. She was our sweet little Leah. We lost her in December and miss her every day.

Well I'm glad I'm not the only one having problems with stairs. I find it funny that people are getting credit for stairs they aren't even doing, yet I can't get credit for the many that I do!  I did google it yesterday and they appear to know they have a problem with it counting too many for people and are working on an update. That doesn't help me, but at least it will help all of the others. I'm not sure what to change to help make mine count. It is what it is I guess.

Can you wear both the One and Charge at the same time or will it confuse the app? I just want to compare the readings. I know there will be some difference, but not sure I'm getting all the steps either because when I'm walking around the house I'm usually carrying things and my arms aren't swinging. It seems if my arms are bent and not moving, it's not counting steps. I'm really liking the Charge HR, so I'm hoping I can get it to be relatively accurate. Being off a little doesn't bother me, but big differences would.


----------



## Betsy the Quilter

Yes, you can wear them both at the same time. I wondered about this, and also wore both of mine on the same day, but apparently the software is smart enough to know that and compensates, 'cause it didn't double my steps. I also found somewhere where they say that, I'll see if I can find it.

EDIT: I don't think this is the thing I read before, but it does talk about the compensation, though they also say they don't recommend wearing more than one:
http://help.fitbit.com/articles/en_US/Help_article/Can-I-use-more-than-one-Fitbit-tracker-with-the-same-account

Betsy


----------



## The Hooded Claw

Awhile back, Betsy mentioned that some smart phones could track steps and provide that information to the Fitbit app. I looked, and it ends up that it is mostly only users of new iPhones who can do this. There is only one Android phone that can do this, and it is an obscure one. More info here:

http://help.fitbit.com/articles/en_US/Help_article/MobileTrack-compatibility/?l=en_US&fs=RelatedArticle


----------



## Betsy the Quilter

Thanks, Claw!

It works quite well on my iPhone 5S, by the way.  I had to leave my HR home yesterday as it needed charging--but I still got credit for the steps at lunch out!  So yay!

Betsy


----------



## Seamonkey

That is nice for IPhone people..  I don't want to say iPhonies because some of the nicest and unphoney people have them...

I know you can alternate wearing two different trackers but interesting that you can wear both and it doesn't double..

I think stairs have been somewhat flakey as long as I've had a FitBit.. which I guess is only coming up on 2.5 years.  I think I got my ONE in December 2012  

I just know that it really encourages me to move more and was one factor in my weight loss.


----------



## KindleGirl

Betsy the Quilter said:


> Yes, you can wear them both at the same time.  I wondered about this, and also wore both of mine on the same day, but apparently the software is smart enough to know that and compensates, 'cause it didn't double my steps. I also found somewhere where they say that, I'll see if I can find it.
> 
> EDIT: I don't think this is the thing I read before, but it does talk about the compensation, though they also say they don't recommend wearing more than one:
> http://help.fitbit.com/articles/en_US/Help_article/Can-I-use-more-than-one-Fitbit-tracker-with-the-same-account
> 
> Betsy


Thanks for the info, Betsy. I'll be curious to see how they compare.

My One has always been pretty accurate with the stairs. Maybe I can train my Charge HR to start counting them better.


----------



## Betsy the Quilter

The Hooded Claw said:


> Awhile back, Betsy mentioned that some smart phones could track steps and provide that information to the Fitbit app. I looked, and it ends up that it is mostly only users of new iPhones who can do this. There is only one Android phone that can do this, and it is an obscure one. More info here:
> 
> http://help.fitbit.com/articles/en_US/Help_article/MobileTrack-compatibility/?l=en_US&fs=RelatedArticle





Seamonkey said:


> That is nice for IPhone people..


I'd suggest that the Android folks contact Fitbit and ask for it to be available on more devices:
http://help.fitbit.com/?cu=1


----------



## Seamonkey

Betsy, I don't have any smart phone and so my encouragement was always for KINDLE FIRE apps.. which have improved some since I started.. at first they didn't work so well at all.  But to be honest I mostly just use the dashboard on my deskop anyway.

And I do like the information it provides. 

I keep reminding myself that what is important is that I do the work, walking, working out, stairs, good nutrition,  and not what I get credit for doing.  But those numbers and stats and graphs are so alluring


----------



## Annalog

Seamonkey said:


> ...
> I keep reminding myself that what is important is that I do the work, walking, working out, stairs, good nutrition, and not what I get credit for doing. But those numbers and stats and graphs are so alluring


I think that this may be the main reason that I prefer the One and wearing it where I do not have easy access to it (center of chest inside clothing). I think that results in me focusing on my activity and not the FitBit. I think that I would be too distracted by the visible technology.


----------



## The Hooded Claw

Of course everyone is correct that it is the activity that counts, not the numbers ratcheting up on your little Fitbit. But those numbers are such a great motivator , and I know that watching them encourages me to do more of the activity that I really need! Ain't the human mind wonderful sometimes?


----------



## Seamonkey

Well when I had my ONE, I was checking it all the time anyway...

And they are great motivators!


----------



## Seamonkey

Kindlegirl, it is such  a loss, isn't it.??

That picture I use is not my current cat, Katniss, though she is a similar, but larger fluffy black cat, but that is my old Critter, who lived almost 23 years and was the sweetest cat, ever.


----------



## The Hooded Claw

As of a couple of hours ago, there was a deal for Prime members for a  $25 credit buying a Charge HR. If you are a Prime  member and want a Charge HR, this may be your moment. 

I bought a Charge HR from Amazon a week ago.  I called, and they gave me a $25 credit anyway! Bravo Amazon!


----------



## Seamonkey

I love that you got that deal, Claw!!!  I really like the HR and that is a nice deal on it.


----------



## Betsy the Quilter

The Hooded Claw said:


> As of a couple of hours ago, there was a deal for Prime members for a $25 credit buying a Charge HR. If you are a Prime member and want a Charge HR, this may be your moment.
> 
> I bought a Charge HR from Amazon a week ago. I called, and they gave me a $25 credit anyway! Bravo Amazon!


Yay, Claw! I bought mine a couple months or more ago...oh, well.

Here's a link to the deal--it looks like it's still good?


----------



## geoffthomas

I am glad you got the deal, Claw.
You are doing great this month in the community - congrats.

I love the reporting and measurement thing on the fitbit (mine is the Flex, so I have to look at my HTC android phone app to see the statlus).  Having the device keep track (sleep as well as exercise) is nice.  I used to use the myfitnespal site and app to record my eating habits.  I was counting calories then.  But that is a lot of work.  This is a lot easier.


----------



## The Hooded Claw

Thanks Geoff!

My memory is that you are having some work done about this time. Good luck with it!


----------



## geoffthomas

Well I am finally scheduled to have surgery to repair a small tear of my left rotator cuff on Wednesday the 29th.
We will see what that will do to my accumulating of steps.


----------



## Seamonkey

I hope your surgery and rehab go very well..  listen to your body..  I know several people, me included who had to slow down in rehab on a rotator cuff injury (no surgery).

Will be thinking of you on the 29th.


----------



## Annalog

Geoff, hope your surgery and rehab go very well.

Either my Fitbit One or the charger is acting up again. The last charge only lasted two days. I left it on the charger all night last night and will see if that makes a difference.


----------



## foxprorawks

Fitbit are a great company.

I emailed them last week - my wife lost her Fitbit Flex some time ago after the strap snapped.  While we were on holiday a couple of weeks ago, my strap snapped as well (although I didn't lose it).

I left a message on their forum about it, and someone there said that I should email customer support.

I did that, and they are sending me a new strap, and a new Fitbit Flex for my wife.  Great customer service.

Shame about the build quality of these straps, though.  It seems to be a problem for a lot of people.


----------



## geoffthomas

foxprorawks said:


> Fitbit are a great company.
> 
> I emailed them last week - my wife lost her Fitbit Flex some time ago after the strap snapped. While we were on holiday a couple of weeks ago, my strap snapped as well (although I didn't lose it).
> 
> I left a message on their forum about it, and someone there said that I should email customer support.
> 
> I did that, and they are sending me a new strap, and a new Fitbit Flex for my wife. Great customer service.
> 
> Shame about the build quality of these straps, though. It seems to be a problem for a lot of people.


Yeah the Flex straps just do not last real long - you need to watch for when they start to split and then order/buy a replacement. And don't wait for the strap to completely break before throwing it away or you might lose the Flex itselt.


----------



## Betsy the Quilter

Not sure when it came out, I think fairly recently, but when I went into my Fitbit app, there was a notice that my Charge HR had an update available.

It was pretty easy to install through the app--I just had to keep the HR near the iPhone and tap "Next."

Update is discussed here:
http://help.fitbit.com/articles/en_US/Help_article/What-has-changed-in-the-latest-tracker-update

Two neat things--I can now check the time by just turning my wrist towards me and I can move between modes by tapping on it.

Betsy


----------



## Annalog

A little over a week ago I charged my One only to have the charge last less than a day. I reset it and charged it againk that charge lasted nearly a week. However, the last three days I have needed to charge my One four times. I tried all of the suggestions on the FitBit site for this problem. I have had it on the charger all night and will use it on my training run this morning but I will be phoning FitBit customer support after I get back. By checking this thread, I see that my FitBit One arrived June 25, 2014.


----------



## Seamonkey

I have that update, but didn't realize it.  I would go to press for time and it would flip to the next number.  This is a nice feature for checking time, though I suspect it will run the battery down faster as it displays more as you move.


----------



## Annalog

I am very happy with FitBit support. They are going to replace my FitBit One and I am to take the defective One to a local electronics recycler when the new One arrives. The support person could see from the tracked information on my account that my One was faulty. I did not even have to explain all the recommended steps that I followed to try to correct the problem.  In the meantime, I will be charging my One at least once a day.


----------



## Seamonkey

That is great news!


----------



## Betsy the Quilter

Yay, Anna!



Seamonkey said:


> I have that update, but didn't realize it. I would go to press for time and it would flip to the next number. This is a nice feature for checking time, though I suspect it will run the battery down faster as it displays more as you move.


Good point, but it may not impact it as much as one might think. I can flail my arm up and down and unless I specifically twist my arm with it raised, nothing happens. My arm has to be at least horizontal when twisting to get the time. Though just having to be alert for that movement may take more juice.

I charge my HR on Mondays and Fridays...I'll see if it makes much difference.

Betsy


----------



## The Hooded Claw

Hurrah for Anna and for Fitbit support! I've read on the Internet of a number of cases like this where they were very quick in agreeing to send replacement devices. Reminds me of Amazon!


----------



## Annalog

Hurrah for FitBit support! Based on what the support person wrote, I believe that, in addition to sending our activity, the tracker also sends information about its own status when it syncs. FitBit must store both as the support person had access to information that my One went from fully charged to completely discharged three times in four days and five times in a week. I don't know if it was out of warranty as I received it a year and a month ago but they replaced it.


----------



## geoffthomas

And my second fitbit flex has stopped working.
The first one would not take a charge.  The manufacturer replaced it.
This one seemed to take a full charge and stopped doing anything else.  No communication with the dongle or the phone app.  No response to "taps".  So customer support is replacing it again.
It is nice of them to be so willing to replace.  It would be nicer if they would just keep working.  It seems that the flex does not work for much past a year or so.


----------



## Scout

I love the sleep tracker but I keep forgetting to use it.


----------



## The Hooded Claw

Awhile back, there was some discussion of using iPhones in place of a FitBit. I've got an iPhone 6S Plus on preorder, and am looking at using it to replace my FitBit for most purposes. GooglePlus did good, and brought this article comparing the results from a FitBit One and an iPhone to my attention:

http://www.practicallyefficient.com/home/fitbit-vs-iphone6

It won't rock your world, but is worth reading if you might substitute your phone for a step counter.


----------



## Seamonkey

I wouldn't want to have my phone that attached to me and I track more than steps with my fitbit, but it certainly could work.

Well, I v also don't have an iPhone.

Let us know how it works, Claw.


----------



## geoffthomas

Fitbit replaced my Flex without any real discussion and it came already.
They readily agreed on the phone to send me a replacement.
And it came within 4 calendar days. 

In my discussion with customer support they suggested that I only use the USB port on the computer to trickle-charge the Flex.  I had been using a plug into the wall charger to get a faster and more convenient charge.  They think that the battery/circuitry may not hold up to that use.  So I will treat this one better.


----------



## Betsy the Quilter

The Hooded Claw said:


> Awhile back, there was some discussion of using iPhones in place of a FitBit. I've got an iPhone 6S Plus on preorder, and am looking at using it to replace my FitBit for most purposes. GooglePlus did good, and brought this article comparing the results from a FitBit One and an iPhone to my attention:
> 
> http://www.practicallyefficient.com/home/fitbit-vs-iphone6
> 
> It won't rock your world, but is worth reading if you might substitute your phone for a step counter.


I think I Brought it up because sometimes I go out without my FitBit on...but I almost always have the phone, and if you have the app, it will still count steps.



Seamonkey said:


> I wouldn't want to have my phone that attached to me and I track more than steps with my fitbit, but it certainly could work.


There's an app for that! Also there are a couple apps that let you import data from other apps into the Fitbit app or export it from Fitbit into Apple's health thingy.


----------



## Seamonkey

I am sure there is an app..  but I am so not going i Anything in this lifetime.. and I don't get have a happy relationship with my smartphone.

Even the watch format is too large.  

I can walk, work out, sleep and veg out with my CHARGE HR.. and get the time or check my stats. 

Now if our weather would back off on the humidity and heat, I could walk more..


----------



## Annalog

Betsy the Quilter said:


> I think I Brought it up because sometimes I go out without my FitBit on...but I almost always have the phone, and if you have the app, it will still count steps.
> 
> There's an app for that! Also there are a couple apps that let you import data from other apps into the Fitbit app or export it from Fitbit into Apple's health thingy.


Thanks for the reminder. I forgot to charge my One last night so I plugged it into the car for the hour long drive to work. Of course, I forgot and it is still in the car. My phone counts steps so I should be able to transfer either the steps or distance. I might have to do it manually.


----------



## mlewis78

Anyone still using their fit bit watch?  I do not have one but was looking at them online today.  The heart app my new iphone 6s sparked my interest.  The phone tracks steps, distances walked and stair flights climbed, but I do not carry the phone around except when I'm out and it is in my pocket.  It doesn't track any of my stationary biking or swimming.

I also looked at the Apple Watch but $349 is the lowest price Are they kidding?

Have to admit I don't need to track any of this and would walk the same regardless.  I have 4 flights to walk up to my apartment as well as stairs from the subway, so I don't have much choice (unless I start taking car service).


----------



## Annalog

I am still using my FitBit One but it is not a watch. I wear it on the center inside front of my bra during the day and in a wrist band at night. I participate in challenges via the phone app and like the sleep tracker.


----------



## mlewis78

Oops.  I did not realize fitbit had other devices than watches.  I don't have anything fitbit but thinking about getting a watch.


----------



## Annalog

I think that most Fitbit devices are worn on the wrist. However I wanted one that I could wear where I could forget about it most of the time.


----------



## Andra

I have a Fitbit Charge HR that I wear daily.  I don't use the HR function, but I got that particular one because I could get it in purple (go ahead and groan, it's OK).  The software was rocky on my Android phone for a while because it wouldn't sync reliably unless the phone was restarted daily.  But after a few Android updates, it's much smoother.  I also have to mention that their customer service is pretty awesome.  I started having trouble with my band because a charge was lasting maybe a day instead of 5 days and they sent a replacement to me.  Now I am still in my original warranty, but it was nice of them to be so responsive.  Since I purchased it from Amazon I also went ahead and got the extended warranty for a little more $$.  The band is pretty stiff when you first start wearing it, but it softens up pretty quickly.  This one also has a small display and you can customize what you see on it when you press the button.  My first screen shows the time and the date so I don't need a separate watch - that is an advantage over my UP24 that I had before.


----------



## KindleGirl

I wasn't as lucky with the customer service.  My Fitbit One was just out of warranty when I started having problems with it. I contacted them and she wasn't really interested in helping me troubleshoot. She mainly wanted to send me a coupon for a small discount on a new one. That turned me off, so I ended up with an Apple watch. I felt like the One was a good tracker, but forking out another $75 for another year of use didn't sound good to me. I also have the Charge HR but I don't feel it tracks anything very well so I don't use it. 

mlewis...I got my Apple watch for $249 and I've seen it on sale for that everywhere lately. It is more expensive than the Fitbit, but it does more...if you are looking for that kind of thing.


----------



## mlewis78

I was near an Apple store today, so I went in and looked at their Watch. I think the lowest price through Apple was $349 *[now I see that the 38mm sport one is $299 -- is this a price drop with the newer watch? -- they didn't have the prices on the display at the Apple store Monday]* and I didn't think it was worth that much, although if I used many of the features I might like it.

I saw the lower-priced bands on Amazon.com.

I don't need this. Don't need this. Don't need this. [keep saying to self.]


----------



## mlewis78

Andra said:


> I have a Fitbit Charge HR that I wear daily. I don't use the HR function, but I got that particular one because I could get it in purple (go ahead and groan, it's OK). The software was rocky on my Android phone for a while because it wouldn't sync reliably unless the phone was restarted daily. But after a few Android updates, it's much smoother. I also have to mention that their customer service is pretty awesome. I started having trouble with my band because a charge was lasting maybe a day instead of 5 days and they sent a replacement to me. Now I am still in my original warranty, but it was nice of them to be so responsive. Since I purchased it from Amazon I also went ahead and got the extended warranty for a little more $$. The band is pretty stiff when you first start wearing it, but it softens up pretty quickly. This one also has a small display and you can customize what you see on it when you press the button. My first screen shows the time and the date so I don't need a separate watch - that is an advantage over my UP24 that I had before.


I like the plum one.


----------



## Betsy the Quilter

Annalog said:


> I think that most Fitbit devices are worn on the wrist. However I wanted one that I could wear where I could forget about it most of the time.


I had a One. I did the same thing--clipped it to my bra. However, after washing it a few times, it quit working.  That's when I switched to a wristband. Love my Charge HR.

I also have an Apple Watch. Love that too for other reasons, though the health data is good, too. Torn between my HR and the watch. I put the HR on when I go for long walks. THere was an app that supposedly updated my Fitbit account with Apple Health data, but that hasn't been working lately.

As far as Fitbit customer service--I have the Aria scale. It was out of warranty, but stopped working one day. I called customer support to see what I should do and they sent me a new one!

Betsy


----------



## Andra

And apparently the Echo now has a Fitbit skill. I haven't tried it yet, but I am definitely turning that on soon to see how well it works.

Alexa gets fit
Stay motivated on your fitness journey with the new Fitbit skill for Alexa. This skill works with Fitbit trackers and smart scales to give you updates on your daily activity, weight, and more.
http://www.amazon.com/b?ie=UTF8&node=3028450011&ref=ods_Email_Home_DR_crm_NewThisWeek_Fitbit

To get started, enable the Fitbit skill in your Alexa App. When you've linked your Fitbit account, just ask:
- "Alexa, ask Fitbit how I'm doing today."
- "Alexa, ask Fitbit how many steps I've taken."
- "Alexa, ask Fitbit how I slept last night."
- "Alexa, ask Fitbit about my exercise."


----------



## Betsy the Quilter

Ooh, ooh, ooh!  Off to check!

Betsy


----------



## Betsy the Quilter

OK, hadn't played with Skills before on my Echo. So this was interesting.

Here's what FitBit says about the skill:
https://help.fitbit.com/articles/en_US/Help_article/How-do-I-set-up-or-remove-the-Fitbit-Skill-for-Alexa

The easiest way to find the skill is to tap in the search box at the top of the skill page and enter "Fitbit."
Then enable it.


----------



## readingril

She doesn't seem to want to tell me my steps when I've gone over my goal though.


----------



## Betsy the Quilter

readingril said:


> She doesn't seem to want to tell me my steps when I've gone over my goal though.


You mean like a spontaneous announcement? That would be cool. Still limited, but I would think it will grow.

It's interesting because Fitbit has been very reluctant to share data with Apple's apps. I guess they don't see Amazon as a competitor.

Betsy


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## readingril

No, as in when I've met my goal and ask her  how many steps I've taken she replies "You've met your goal for the day. Go You" (at least that's what she said Sunday evening).

Shoot, Amazon sells Fitbits! Apples sells.... iThings.


----------



## Betsy the Quilter

readingril said:


> No, as in when I've met my goal and ask her how many steps I've taken she replies "You've met your goal for the day. Go You" (at least that's what she said Sunday evening).


Hah! I haven't met my goal yet since I only discovered this today.



> Shoot, Amazon sells Fitbits! Apples sells.... iThings.


Yeah, but Fitbit made an app to have on my iThing. And my Charge HR will let me know if I get a phone call on my iPhone. Would love to see better integration between the Fitbit App and the Health App. One of the reasons I got an iWatch was because it played well with my iPhone; I wasn't sure the Blaze would. People ARE going to have iPhone and want Fitbits. This way, they're kind of forcing people who like real integration away from the Fitbit world right into Apple's world. *shrug*

Betsy


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## readingril

Now this evening she's telling me

You've met your step goal. You've taken 12600 steps. Steppin' up in life.



Maybe I asked her in a different fashion or something last night? *scratches head*


----------



## Betsy the Quilter

Maybe she's learning!  Maybe she's reading this thread!!!!


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## KindleGirl

mlewis78 said:


> I was near an Apple store today, so I went in and looked at their Watch. I think the lowest price through Apple was $349 *[now I see that the 38mm sport one is $299 -- is this a price drop with the newer watch? -- they didn't have the prices on the display at the Apple store Monday]* and I didn't think it was worth that much, although if I used many of the features I might like it.
> 
> I saw the lower-priced bands on Amazon.com.
> 
> I don't need this. Don't need this. Don't need this. [keep saying to self.]


Best Buy online is still selling the Apple 38mm sport watches for $249 if you are looking. They have lowered the normal price from 349 to 299 but they still have them marked down to 249 as of right now.


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## MamaProfCrash

I asked for, and received, a Fitbit Charge for Mother's Day. It is thinner then I expected, which is great, and seems to work pretty well. I am going to compare my numbers this week to the numbers off of my One and get a feel for how close the two are. 

Setup was a breeze, I didn't have to do anything special for it to recognize and add a second tracker. The One is still listed but not in use. 

I like the sleep option on the Charge. I didn't bother with sleep logging on the One because it was a pain. ok so a minor pain, to remember to start the sleep tracker or hand jam the sleep info on the dash board. Not to mention it would have been depressing to see how little sleep I was getting during the Little Mans toddler years. (shudders at quantifying those sleepless nights)

I see this as a test week for the Charge. I want to get a feel for how the steps work. I like the heart rate monitor. I really like the number of hours that you take 250 steps in. I don't see why they couldn't add that for the One. 

Now to go and register the stupid thing at work.


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## The Hooded Claw

If there are any Jawbone fans lurking here, be advised that Jawbone is reportedly exiting the fitness tracker business in a hurry. If you really want a Jawbone, I would buy one now. But be prepared to perhaps not have good support.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-05-27/jawbone-ends-tracker-production-may-sell-speakers-reports-say


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## The Hooded Claw

http://www.wsj.com/articles/want-to-cheat-your-fitbit-try-using-a-puppy-or-a-power-drill-1465487106

How to cheat on Fitbit...including hamster wheels and tapping your Fitbit burdened toe during meetings!


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## MamaProfCrash

heheheh

I have thought about seeing what would happen if I put my fitbit on the dogs and one on my three year old. I am still contemplating the three year old. My old One has the clip. I could put it clipped into his shorts pocket and see what happens. More because I am curious then anything.


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## Betsy the Quilter

The Hooded Claw said:


> http://www.wsj.com/articles/want-to-cheat-your-fitbit-try-using-a-puppy-or-a-power-drill-1465487106
> 
> How to cheat on Fitbit...including hamster wheels and tapping your Fitbit burdened toe during meetings!


Love this!

Betsy


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## geoffthomas

Ok, my current fitbit Flex is wonky.  It does not take a charge always, gets the 2lights on, 1 off, 2 on display which is supposed to mean trouble.  Called customer support who are always nice and helpful.  They indicate that it is over 4 years since my first Flex purchase.  The end of the warranty period (I guess the warrantywas 4 years).  So no more free replacement.  They also said that the average life span of the trackers was 2-3 years with 2-5 being the range that one could expect.  This is the first time that I have heard of this estimate.
The Flex is one of the low end units and as such is not expected to stand up to extreme circumstances such as hammerinng nails with the arm that it is on.  Other models will do  better.
So they are giving me a 25% credit towards the purchase of a new unit - any model (fitbit brand of course).
And free shipping.
So I think I will replace it either with the new Alta or the Charge.
Any suggestions?


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## The Hooded Claw

I know nothing of the Alta, but if you are considering the Charge, I'd get a Charrge HR instead. The price difference isn't great, and the heart rate monitor is a feature you easily  may want later, even if you don't think so now. 

What features of the Alta appeal to you?

I have tried several Fitbit devices, but the one I keep wearing is the boring old Zip. I love the battery life, and I don't find stair counting accurate or reliable on fancier devices. I still keep my Charge HR around in case I want pulse or sleep monitoring, but only use it occasionally.


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## The Hooded Claw

Looks like the Charge HR is eleven dollars more than the Charge on Amazon. Not sure if you buy directly from Fitbit what the difference would be. Both are cheaper than the Alta.


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## Andra

DH has the Alta and I have a Charge HR.  I don't use mine for the HR stuff though.  It was the only one I could get in purple at the time 
The Alta is slimmer and doesn't scream "fitness band."  You can also purchase replacement bands in different styles.  And from what Fitbit told me, the Alta is the only one where you can set move reminders.  But DH says that the vibration is pretty faint and he doesn't think that the alarm would wake him up.
I use mine as an alarm and I like the intensity of the vibration.  I also like having the button to press when I want to start a workout.  On the Alta you have to tap the display and I am abysmal at finding the right spot to tap (disabled that on my Charge HR).  I am on my  3rd Charge HR because the first one stopped holding a charge 8 months after purchase and the first replacement (refurbished) wouldn't hold a charge either.  But the second replacement (new) has been chugging along.


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## MamaProfCrash

I am torn. I love the HR monitor on the Charge HR but it is not as accurate on the step count. If I am not swinging my arm, it struggles to pick up steps. Since I use my non-dominant hand to carry stuff and hold my 4 year olds hand, I miss a good number of steps. The One is far more accurate as a pedometer but does not have the HR feature and the sleep feature is not automatic.


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## geoffthomas

I know what you mean about missing the step count.  With both Flexs that I had, when on an elliptical they would undercount by a lot.
And when on a treadmill if you hold on with the non dominant hand, you lose count also.

Does anyone have the Surge or the Blaze?  I am wondering how good they are.  I think they are too expensive for me.
And I am not sure what the Alta brings to the table?


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## Annalog

I am glad that I am still using my One. Anyone know why the phone sync app is now complaining when the phone GPS is off?


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## readingril

Supposedly it's something to do with Marshmallow (Android 6.0) update, something about Google changing the permissions required for bluetooth syncing.


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## MamaProfCrash

I love the Charge HR because the sleep stuff is awesome and I like the heart rate monitor. I am contemplating moving it to my dominant hand and keeping it listed as my non-dominant hand and see what that does. When I have the asthma back under control (random attack, first time in three years that I have even had an issue) I will swap it to my dominant hand when I go to the gym. I think you can also self program in using the treadmill or elliptical and have that over ride the step count.


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## geoffthomas

I decided to replace the Flex with a Charge HR.  Fitbit is giving me 25% off and free shipping. 
Hopefully it will be a little bit better than the Flex were.


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## Annalog

readingril said:


> Supposedly it's something to do with Marshmallow (Android 6.0) update, something about Google changing the permissions required for bluetooth syncing.


Thanks! That explains why it syncs anyway.


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## balaspa

Got 10,000+ steps 3 days this week. A new record for me.


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## geoffthomas

Congratulations.....that is great.


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## The Hooded Claw

Go, Balaspa! Geoff, how is the Charge HR working for you?


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## geoffthomas

The Hooded Claw said:


> Go, Balaspa! Geoff, how is the Charge HR working for you?


I like it thus far. It does record stairs which the Flex does not. And it is more accurate than the Flex on steps. I have not yet investigated the HR part, but I think it will help me to better my exercise efforts.


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## Cindy416

I have a Fitbit HR, and I like it a lot. The only drawback I see is that it doesn't record my steps when I walk for an hour or so through Sam's Club or the large grocery store where I like to shop. I always use a cart, partly because I've had both knees replaced and I have a bad back. The cart relieves some stress (plus I don't want to carry the things that I buy in a small basket).


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## The Hooded Claw

Cindy416 said:


> I have a Fitbit HR, and I like it a lot. The only drawback I see is that it doesn't record my steps when I walk for an hour or so through Sam's Club or the large grocery store where I like to shop. I always use a cart, partly because I've had both knees replaced and I have a bad back. The cart relieves some stress (plus I don't want to carry the things that I buy in a small basket).


They can fall short on stairs step count as well. I have a Charge HR, but sent it into semi-retirement in favor of my Zip. I liked the sleep tracking on my HR, though.


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## Andra

Cindy416 said:


> I have a Fitbit HR, and I like it a lot. The only drawback I see is that it doesn't record my steps when I walk for an hour or so through Sam's Club or the large grocery store where I like to shop. I always use a cart, partly because I've had both knees replaced and I have a bad back. The cart relieves some stress (plus I don't want to carry the things that I buy in a small basket).


I've also discovered that if I loop the dog leash around my wrist, the Charge HR doesn't count steps correctly. It is WAY under. I guess because my hand/wrist isn't moving?
I found that if I fidget when I push a grocery cart, I'm more likely to get an accurate count, but I can't seem to figure out how to fidget when walking the pup without losing control of the leash.


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## MamaProfCrash

The Hooded Claw said:


> They can fall short on stairs step count as well. I have a Charge HR, but sent it into semi-retirement in favor of my Zip. I liked the sleep tracking on my HR, though.


I noticed that it does not record when I am pushing the stroller or a grocery cart. I figured out that I need to push the cart with one hand while swinging the arm with the Fitbit for about five or six steps and then it picks up the steps. Strangely enough, it records most of my stroller walks as cycling on the exercise page. It is easy enough to fix but I figure that it is because the arm is not moving as I get the steps in.


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## readingril

I bought an Alta and did a comparison with my Zip and found activities like walking the dog and pushing a grocery cart showed less steps with the Alta than the Zip.  If I loop the Alta around a belt loop or put it in my pocket when doing those activities the counts are very similar.


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## balaspa

Still wearing mine! Dropped a lot of pounds and have been routinely getting 10,000 plus at least 3 days a week.


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## CegAbq

I had a Zip & at Mother's Day upgraded to an Alta. Didn't want the Charge because my wrists are just too small (I'm only 5' tall) & I look like a kid wearing her dad's humongous sports watch.
I don't find the Alta very responsive when trying to scroll through the different readouts ... but at least the vibration when I get a text or phone call let's me know something is up.
I have used the alarm function & it does generally wake me up ... but since I am a serial 'snooze' button-pusher, that function doesn't work too well for me either.
My zip didn't work too well & I would forget to put it in my pocket, so at least with the Alta, I wear it more reliably.


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## MamaProfCrash

I have three alarms set for the morning so I tend to get up although there are days that I sleep through all three. The good news, my job is pretty flexible so they could care less when I arrive. I try and get in to work with enough time so that I can go to the gym and take a shower before going to pick my son up from Day Care.

I aim for 12,000 steps a day. This is more realistic during the work week when I can get up and take 10 strolls as my smoke breaks. I tend to get far fewer on the weekends.


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## Andra

We spent a week at the beach in August and I spent a good bit of time trying to figure out how to take my charge with me when we were playing in the water.  In the end I settled for wearing it walking down there and on any beach walks and putting it in a plastic bag in my beach bag when getting in the water.  I didn't want to take a chance with it.  Now a month later Fitbit introduces the Flex 2 which is waterproof... Guess what I'm getting when my Charge HR dies??  I've never used the HR feature since it drains the battery so quickly so I don't think I'll miss it.  But I've gotten used to a display so maybe the little lights will just annoy me - we'll see.

Thanks to the puppy (and putting the tracker in my pocket on walks) I've been getting 10,000 steps most days and have dropped 15 pounds since July.  It's nice to see some progress


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## geoffthomas

So I can now say that I like the Charge HR quite a bit.
I don't seem to be developing the battery problems that I had with all 3 of the Flex models that I had.
I do use the HR to guage if I have worked hard enough, not just long enough.
I also have enjoyed checking my sleep patterns using both the Flex and the Charge HR.  I have found it interesting to determine how well I have been sleeping.  I feel that I now sleep like a rock and the fitbit seems to agree with that.


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## CegAbq

I got an Alta last March & liked it pretty much - being a small woman, the Charge just seems too big for my wrist.
But this past Tuesday I permanently lost it  
Have decided to try a different brand altogether that is about half the cost and see whether I like that one or not - but I'll keep watching this thread.


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## Andra

Well, my Charge HR bit the dust a few months ago - the band actually came apart around the face.  I replaced it with the waterproof Flex 2, but as I suspected, not having a display drove me crazy.  I gave it about two weeks and then caved and bought an Alta when Amazon had them on sale.  I really like the form factor of the Alta - it doesn't feel as bulky as the Charge.
I am keeping the Flex 2 for beach trips 

Do we still have a FitBit group around here somewhere?


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## Betsy the Quilter

The group on the Fitbit page is still active, I'll post a link...

I don't use my Fitbit as often--prefer my Apple Watch, but the group would be good.

Betsy


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## Betsy the Quilter

OK, I've actually started wearing my Fitbit again to take part in challenges, etc. I like the community.

I wear my Apple Watch, too. So I've got fitness bands on two wrists, LOL.

*If you've got an Amazon Echo, you can use it to check your Fitbit stats:*

https://help.fitbit.com/articles/en_US/Help_article/2009

You can use the Fitbit Skill for Alexa to get updates on your Fitbit® stats and progress toward your daily and weekly goals.

To set up or remove the Fitbit Skill for Alexa, see How do I set up or remove the Fitbit Skill for Alexa?
CAN I TELL ALEXA TO SYNC MY TRACKER?

Alexa can access the data you've already synced, but it can't sync the latest data from your tracker.
WHAT INFORMATION CAN ALEXA TELL ME?

Alexa can tell your Fitbit stats for today, yesterday, or a specific day of the week that you name. Alexa can only access information you synced from your tracker. For more information on syncing your tracker, see How do Fitbit trackers sync their data?

Alexa can tell you information about the following Fitbit stats: 
Steps taken
Distance covered
Active minutes
Flights climbed
Hours slept
Weight
If you exercised
Calories burned
Calories remaining
Water logged
Resting heart rate
Battery life on tracker
If your tracker does not provide a certain type of information, such as heart rate data, Alexa will not be able to provide that stat.
HOW DO I ASK ALEXA FOR INFORMATION?

To have Alexa tell you your Fitbit stats, you can ask the following types of questions. You must tell Alexa to ask Fitbit for the information.

To trigger the Fitbit Skill for Alexa, first you must say: "Alexa, ask Fitbit."

Then ask Alexa any question about your stats for today, yesterday, or a specific day of the week. Some phrases you can use are:
How I'm doing today
How I slept last night
How far I walked 
How many steps I've taken
How many active minutes I have
How many stairs I climbed
If I've exercised today
How many calories I have left
How much water I've had
What my resting heart rate is
How much I weigh
About my battery
You can also ask Alexa to open Fitbit.

All put together, a few phrases you can use to get your Fitbit stats from Alexa are:
Alexa, ask Fitbit how far I walked yesterday.
Alexa, ask Fitbit how many stairs I climbed on Monday.
Alexa, ask Fitbit how many steps I've taken today.
HOW DO I SWITCH PROFILES?

If you have more than one user in your Amazon Household Profile, you can ask Alexa to switch profiles so you can access your Fitbit stats. Amazon allows two adults to share a Household profile. For more information and detailed instructions, please visit the Amazon Help & Customer Service site.

Note the following requirements:
Both people in the Amazon Household must have an Amazon account.
Both people in the Amazon Household must have the Alexa app on their mobile device.
Both people must be logged in to their respective Fitbit accounts in the Alexa app.
To switch accounts you can say, "Alexa, switch accounts." Once your account is switched you can access your Fitbit stats as you normally would.


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## MamaProfCrash

We have an echo at home but I don't use Alexa for my fitbit. I check my stats on my iPad and find that is enough for me. I can see where it might be helpful to check in with Alexa while developing new exercise habits.


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## Betsy the Quilter

Or, if one is too lazy to get up to grab a phone or iPad (where I usually check mine).  I can holler across the room at Alexa.  Of course, being too lazy to get up and walk across the room is kind of contrary to the spirit of the Fitbit, but still....


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## MamaProfCrash

My Charge HR broke, the battery casing snapped off and it was hard to charge it. This of course happened a month after the warranty ended. Fitbit provided me 25% off of a new Fitbit so I choose a Alta HR. 

Things that I like: 

1) It is much smaller
2) The sleep feature is far more detailed (It shows you when you were awake, in REM sleep, deep sleep and light sleep. 
3) There is a reading on your cardio vascular health (based on your resting heart rate and a few other factors)
4) It displays active minutes (the charge might have done this and I was not aware of it
5) Exchangeable bands. I like that I can get different bands if I want to
6) The charger is not going to cause my watch to break. 

Things I don't like:

1) The display is either vertical or horizontal for all the screens. I like the time on the vertical but would prefer my step count to be horizontal so I can see the exact count.
2) No altimeter so no stair count. Not a huge deal but I liked that feature. 
3) It is not waterproof, but I suspect that is going to be an issue for any heart rate monitor watch
4) The vibrate mode is too soft, I barely feel the vibration when I am up and moving.

On the old Charge HR the charging cord was short and I found that it had to dangle on the charger. At least, none of the plus in our house were set in a place where I could charge it without it dangling. The connecting bit ended up being pulled off. At least the Alta charger is more secure and the cord is long enough for me to lay the fitbit down so there is no strain.


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## geoffthomas

Well the band "bubbled" and came off the unit just like so many on the fitbit website have complained about.  So my Charge HR is now a pocket device.  That makes the sleep mode useless and the HR mode useless.  But at least I am getting most of the steps recorded.  After the bad experiences with the flex I don't know if I want to try anymore.  The new Charge HR 2 seems to get around the problem with a replaceable band that can't "come apart".  But I am not sure I want to screw around with it.


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## MamaProfCrash

I am really enjoying my Alta HR, the band can be swapped out and the profile is far slimmer. I miss the steps and the pulse is a bit weak but I love it otherwise.


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## Andra

My Charge HR also had the defective band issue.  I switched to a Flex2 because of the waterproof feature, but quickly found that I needed a display, not just flashing lights.  So I have had an Alta for over a year.  It is smaller than the Charge and I can play around with different bands if I want.  I also have a strap that will go around my ankle so I can count riding a bicycle.


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## MamaProfCrash

ohhh I like the strap idea for spin class


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## geoffthomas

So how is everyone doing with their fitbits?  
I notice that many have stopped reporting their steps to the fitbit KBoards group.
I hope everyone is ok.....?


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## readingril

I'm still there (Julie, with the 'stache  )... and you're beating me!


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## CegAbq

I don't do anywhere near as much as I want - but how does one join this group? I tried & got a message "This page does not exist, has moved, or you do not have permission to view it." I can see y'all as members but it won't let me join.


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## readingril

If you PM me your email I can invite you.


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## readingril

Could someone else add CegAbq to the Fitbit group? I've cleared cookies, re-logged in, and am still having problems with the page!


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## CegAbq

I was able to accept Julie as a friend.


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## geoffthomas

So is anyone still loggin their time on the fitbit site?
I had to stop using the fitbit charge HR as it would no longer let me charge the battery.
I finally got a Charge 3 this week.


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## readingril

Me! Still aiming to get 10,000 steps daily!


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## geoffthomas

readingril said:


> Me! Still aiming to get 10,000 steps daily!


Is the Kboards group still there? I have been away and don't seem able to find it.
Can anyone supply a link?


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## readingril

I'll look. I've forgotten how to access the groups! My steps get automagically logged and I haven't been to the website in ages!


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## Annalog

I lost my Fitbit One at work toward the end of 2016 while my life was crazy. Since I usually have my phone in a pocket of my cargo pants, it was also counting my steps. I used that for a while on the FitBit app while deciding what to order. I eventually decided to not replace my FitBit and stick with the pgobe app (Samsung Health). I also started using Google Fit so that my steps would count to hatch eggs in Pokemon Go. Since that one also tracks Move Minutes and Heart Points, I am working to close the circles on both of those goals. I miss the easy sleep tracking but it is not in my budget.


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## geoffthomas

I am enjoying the use of my Charge 3.  And I use the Fitbit software to keep track of my progress.
But I am still unable to connect with any groups.  But then maybe there aren't any out there anymore?


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## readingril

It's been so long since I've looked into the Fitbit groups I don't know if I can even find them!


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## mlewis78

Is anyone still using their Fitbit watches? I just bought a Fitbit Versa 2 (there is a 3, but the 2 was $50 off on Prime Day last week). I have never owned a smart watch. My iphone is going bad and stopped keeping my steps/miles as of a few weeks ago.  I couldn't even download the fitbit app on the phone just now. I put it in my Kindle Fire 8 Plus.

I registered with Fitbit on the app but have not set the watch up yet. I think it has to charge first and I plugged it in first thing. The instructions with the watch only said to download the app.


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## Andra

I still wear my pretty much all the time.  I am up to a Charge 3 now - the one I have is the original from release day.  Knock wood - this is the longest that I have kept a single Fitbit with a screen.  It was a little flaky when new, but a few firmware updates got it straightened out.
I can't use the Versa watches; they are too large for my wrist.  DH has one and he says that it syncs with the app just like the other devices.  It just needs to be charged more frequently.
The app has fairly straightforward instructions for setting the devices up.  The fewer optional things that you turn on, the longer the battery will last.
Have fun with it.


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## mlewis78

Thank you, Andra.

I still haven't set it up, but I was preoccupied with getting a walk in and getting an Apple appointment for my battery dead 6s. My landline has also been dead and I just ordered a battery for the V-tech phone. No calls or texts until i get the iphone working. I might get the watch going now while the TV is on.


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## mlewis78

Now I am very unhappy with this Fitbit Versa 2. When I tried to set it up through the app on my kindle fire, it went into a loop of two different screens asking if I want to continue set up and it never progresses beyond that. I looked on their website for help and had to log in and it didn't accept the password I set up yesterday. (I made a record of it and tried a few times in case there was a typo.

If I can't set it up after I get my iphone fixed, I will return the Fitbit to Amazon.

I also tried downloading the app to my ipad2, but the app store doesn't have the set up app, only find fit bit and coach. The coach one said I have to have the latest IOS software in my ipad. I don't think the coach app has the set up anyway.


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## Andra

You might check your instructions and restart the fitbit. When mine gets stupid and won't sync with my phone that fixes it almost every time.
On mine you put it on the charger and hold the button down for a while and it restarts. There is a restart in the menu on the fitbit but one of their support folks told me that using the charger was best.


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## mlewis78

Thank you, Andra. I am going to try again tomorrow. I got a new iphone tonight and spent 2 hours at the Apple store. I was leaning towards just buying a new battery for it, but there were other problems, such as the phone being too full, so I would have had to delete a lot of things. New phone has double the GBs (12.

Fitbit help did send me a message and asked which model of iphone I had with a troubleshooting link.


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## Andra

My Fitbit Charge 3 went haywire on Saturday.  First it would not charge, then the screen was too dark to read anything.  Then after I went to sleep it started vibrating on my wrist.  When I got up Sunday, the light on the back was red instead of green.  It still would not show me the screen correctly.  After troubleshooting with Fitbit, they determined that it was not going to revive.  It's over two years old though - so it's way out of warranty.  They sent me a coupon for 35% off a new one from their site - but I can't use it on top of any other discounts.  So DH just got me a new one from Target and I picked it up on the way home.  I got a Charge 4 which is pretty similar to my Charge 3.  Of course the charger is just slightly different.  I swear, I have had at least 7 different models of Fitbits over the years and every one of them has had a unique charger...
At least the bands from the 3 work on the 4.


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## mlewis78

I returned my Fitbit Versa 2 to Amazon after wearing it for two weeks. The sleep reading didn't work after 3 nights. I wanted to keep track of steps/mileage at home as well as outside, and I wasn't getting that. Amazon gave me a store credit for the amount.


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## Andra

My Charge 3 lasted over 2 years and it does the heart rate and sleep tracking. The 4 seems to be about the same if you are willing to forego some of the "watch" features from the versa.


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