Fitbit Review!!

Hey there!

Today I’m going to give you my review of my favorite healthy living accessory: the Fitbit!

Mike and I each got a Fitbit One last July.  His office offered him a discounted Fitbit if he joined their wellness program.  So, he joined and got his for $20.  We ordered mine through his office also, but mine was $80.  It normally retails for $99.95, so we saved a ton of money.  The program that he joined in his office just requires him to walk 10,000 steps a week, and he gets cool perks like free movie tickets and stuff when he reaches milestones.  When he gets home later I’ll ask him what the program is called in case you’re wondering.

Ok, here is what my Fitbit tracks on the little screen…

- number of steps I take throughout the day

- miles I walk in a day

- flights of stairs I’ve climbed a day

- calories I burn in a day

Other stuff you can use the screen for…

-Uses the leaves on a little flower graphic to represent how active I’ve been

-Displays the time

-Randomly says encouraging things to me, calling me by name

-can track your sleep by wearing it to bed on a wrist band

-Set a silent alarm to wake you in the morning

Here’s what the Fitbit app on my iphone or logging into the computer program can do when synced…

-shows me steps, mileage, flights of stairs and calories burned

-tracks how much time I spent being active in each day

-shows my weight goal, my progress and how far I am from achieving it

-shows how I slept last night

                -how many times I woke up, how restless I was

-tracks number of calories eaten (I sync the Lose It! app with the Fitbit app to track this more easily)

-tells you how many more calories you can eat today based on your weight loss/gain program

-tracks how much water you drink each day

I think that if you stay on top of it and track your food, this device provides a great way to track weight loss progress.  I think it’s especially helpful for people who can’t make the time to do a regimented workout each day.  If you keep to your step goal, you will see that you walk about 5 miles each day, and you can make yourself more active easily.  Mike works in an office, so when he goes to the restroom, he uses the one on the first floor instead of the third, so he gets steps as well as flights of stairs, which all contribute to your calorie burn.  There is a web site that you can log into to track everything if you don’t have a smartphone.  When you enter in all your information during your set up, it calculates your basil metabolic rate, or how many calories your body burns naturally without moving.  Therefore, your calorie burn number is accurate and personalized to your body.  This is something that a regular pedometer can’t do, and I think it’s an awesome feature. 

One thing that it has helped me with actually has nothing to do with my health…my dog gets a lot more exercise!  A tired dog is a happy dog, and he misbehaves a LOT less when he gets the exercise that he needs.  If at the end of the day I haven’t met my step goal, I’ll take Albi out for another walk until I meet it.  I’ve noticed that he is so much mellower throughout the day (a really good thing when you have a big dog in a small apartment).

Another thing that the Fitbit has helped me with is snacking at night while watching TV.  Most of the time I do pretty well with my calories in and calories out during the day.  It’s at dinner time and after when I tend to blow it.  Watching my portion sizes and refraining from eating after dinner really makes a difference.  And the fitbit is so accurate with this piece, because at night you naturally burn less calories than during the day.

I clip it to my pants when I'm walking around, and to my shoelaces when I'm biking.

If you use this product every day, it will make being active and losing weight so much easier.  Each day it shows you in black and white your calories in vs. calories out, all you have to do is pay attention.  Overall, I love my Fitbit.  The only thing that I wish was different was the clip.  Most of the time I can clip it to my pants or shorts, but if I’m wearing a dress or have no pockets, I don’t really have anywhere to put it.  I would prefer the wrist band version to the clip, but the one they offer doesn’t have a screen on it.  They actually made a wristband with a screen, called the Force, but they stopped selling it and recalled it.  I hope they come out with another one some day, but for now I’m very happy with my Fitbit One!

Thanks so much for reading!

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Later! =)