First off, there are tons of reviews for the FitBit on the Internet. What makes my review any different? This review is from my personal use. It was not influenced by any outside source or any personal or financial gain.
I ordered my Fitbit Ultra from Amazon and received it on February 13, 2012. It cost me $93 but that was on sale most times it runes $99.95 everywhere. I have worn it everyday for every part of the days with the exception of showers (it is not waterproof). I even wear it during sleep time because it tracks you sleep and how often you wake up.
First let’s start with the main feature. It tracks your calories burned depending on how many steps (walking and running) you take and how active you are. It does track stairs and hills to see how many floors you take. To do this, you need to enter your weight, height and any other measurements you choice to enter in the website. I have found that the burn is not perfect but so close that it gives you a good overview of how you are doing for the day. It is a great motivator to get you moving.
Some activities it does not count correctly but you can add in the website are weight lifting, swimming, elliptical, house cleaning when not moving much, and a few others. When you do enter those activities, it corrects the calories for that time to reflect the activity you are doing. I find that I do not have to add much yet but may have to when I start swimming in the summer (again not waterproof).
The second cool feature is you can add everything you eat in the website software and it will show how much you eat and how much you should eat. One confusion and I say negative in this feature is that when you are more active early in the day, your allowed calories increase to reflect the chance that you are going to be that active all day. If you go by that, it would be easy to overeat. If you do not understand calories in and calories out, this could be a problem.
You can set a goal of maintaining, losing 1.5 or losing 2 pounds. When you do that, the website figures how much you can eat starting at doing nothing much all day. As stated above, it increases as you activity increases. I like this feature but again as stated above, I need to figure my own calories required per day to loose the weight I want to make sure I do not overeat.
The FitBit itself is very small and like a pedometer, it tracks the steps you take. Unlike a pedometer, it counts stairs and hills, and it figures your burn rate. This information is synced wireless to a little USB charger connected to your computer. The FitBit Ultra also has a display that you can check anytime even if you are nowhere near your computer. It also stores all your information for seven days just in case you are away for a few days.
You may or may not have seen the FitBit, it looks like a small clip and it attaches easily to a waistband or for females a bra. The package also comes with a belt clip that the FitBit slides into. There is also a wristband to wear while sleeping. This is very comfortable and does not affect sleep. Since the FitBit is so small and light, you do not even notice you are wearing it. The picture above is the FitBit attached to my sweat pants.
The FitBit Ultra is a great tool in weight loss. It keeps you motivated to do more. My wife and I both have one and we find ourselves up and moving while watching TV to get those extra steps into our day. We compete with ourselves and with friends to get fit. The free website awards you badges at different levels of steps, floors, and activity level. You can set your own goals to achieve better than you have ever done. If you use all the features, this will help keep you on track to your weight loss goal.
Do you need the FitBit Ultra to lose weight? No, there are free websites to track food intake, look up activities calorie burned,and any number of tools to track steps. However, I have found no tool so user friendly, easy to wear, and motivating. So far, I have loss an average of 1.5 pounds a week and I can look at my FitBit to see if I need to up my activity each day. In my opinion, the $100 price tag is a small price to pay to have all this from one simple little clip.
Is it perfect, 100% accurate? No technology can make that claim. However, in comparing it to other tools, it is much better and accurate enough to give you a good overall view of your fitness day.
If you have a FitBit, please share your opinion, or feel free to ask any questions in the comment box below. For all those trying to get healthy, good luck and keep on moving!
