I got my Fitbit almost a whole year ago now and I have to say that it has changed the way I look at my lifestyle.
I looked into the Fitbit originally as I had high blood pressure and It was something that my doctors had recommended that I keep an eye on. I heard about Fitbits through a Youtuber and it sounded pretty interesting so I did a bit of research.
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Why I chose The ONE
I chose to purchase the Fitbit One as it could be worn in different ways, either in your pocket, attached to your waist band or clipped onto your bra. I choose to wear mine on my waist band or in my work trouser pockets, as I feel more comfortable and happy knowing that it is secure whilst I am working.
The clip is pretty good and tight, so it isn't likely that it will fall off, but saying that, if I've been doing some intense workouts it can work its way off the waist band and fall off, and trust me, theres nothing more annoying than your Fitbit falling off and you not noticing until you've finished your work out only to realise that half of it hasn't been tracked because it had fallen off!
Talking about my Fitbit falling off, it has in the past fallen from quite a distance. The rubber casing did its job well and protected the devise from damage, it fell facing upwards so the glass/plastic screen didn't take any damage, perhaps this is part of the design as the clip is heavier and landed on the ground face up.
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The Features
Steps: Target pre set - 10,000 steps.
Obviously the main point of the devise, the sensitivity isn't to bad, it generally catches all the steps I take. The only issue I have is when travelling in the car, the jolts of the car on the road does add some additional steps or stairs but nothing to substantial (depending on the distance you are driving and the type of roads). But to see how many steps you have done in your day, at any point of the day is really motivational and helps you to keep going till you reach your goal!
Floors Climbed: Target pre set - 10
I'm not sure how this is calculated or whether I should really trust it, it does seem to track the times I do take the stairs or even when I am walking up a hill, but I can't figure out how it works. It seems to add up to a lot of flights of stairs some days, where I know I've done quiet a few but never actually counted them myself but, on days where I don't have a incline it is 100% accurate so I'm still trying to work this one out!
I was driving down to Nottingham, an 8 hour drive, and my Fitbit counted every lump and bump on the road, equating in my most flights of stairs ever taken, unfortunately I haven't found out how to get rid of badges or milestones, so I have a huge target to try and beat my 100 flights of stairs in one day badge and actually earn it properly, so you might want to take this feature with a pinch on salt, but it's still a nice feature.
Distance: Target pre set - 8.05km
This is the one target I struggle to meet on a continuous basis, so when I do earn that little star, I'm pretty chuffed with myself! It's good to know how far you travel, whether you just check in at the end of the day or if you look to see the distance you've just walked, it helps you to get a good idea and it really does motivate me to carry on!
Calories burned: Target pre set - 2,545 calories
I don't effectively use the calories part of the Fitbit. I am not very good at calories counting and to be honest I don't want to focus to much on how many calories I need or take in as I feel that it could become a bit obsessive and I don't want to have to think - 'can I afford these calories'. I have the general consensus that you can eat what ever you want, just be honest with yourself and know when to stop. Theres so many other things in life I'd like to put my time into rather that worrying about calorie counting. However if you enjoy recording your eating, drink and exercise then you can really use this to its full potential! You can even link your Fitbit up with a few apps to help keep things going and really monitor everything and anything you want!
Flower: (shows you how active you've been)
The flower image shows you how active you have just been, the larger the stem the better the level of activity. I don't tend to take much notice of the flower but I think it is another form of motivation to help you to be inspired to keep going!
Time:
I never used to wear a watch so I chose to purchase the one for the added feature of the time. Although I now wear a watch on a day to day basis when working out I don't tend to wear one or even have my phone on me so to have the time on my Fitbit is just an added bonus and helpful to keep an eye on the time!
Message: This is an optional part where you can have a message, personalize to you to remind you and motivate you throughout your day!
(Not communicated on the devise screen)
Active Minutes: Target pre set - 30 minutes
It is recommend that we do 20 - 30 minutes a day of moderate to intense activity to stay healthy.
Trackers with heart-rate sensing will do a better job of calculating your active minutes for activities that are non step based. Before I brought my Fitbit one I didn't really know how active I was being or whether I was being active enough on a daily basis. I had to walk five minutes to uni on a daily basis so it wasn't to far to walk, however we lived on a incline and it often took my breathe way trying to walk up the hill to get home so I felt like maybe I was doing a good thing but it defiantly wasn't a long enough walk to justify for active minutes. Over the last few weeks I have been more interested about how many active minutes I've been doing on a daily basis, so I can't say too much about this feature, except it is possibly my favourite part of the devise as it motivates me to get those extract few minutes in to a workout. (plus it helps you keep an eye on how you are doing against your last work out, its a nice feeling to beat your last workout activity count)
Sleep:
Slip the Fitbit into the fabric wristband and you can monitor your sleep, how long you've slept for, how many times you woke up and how restless you were whilst sleeping. You can also set a goal for the length of time you want to sleep, for example my goal is 8 hours. Although you can not tell how you've slept through the devise, you can look at the Fitbit dashboard to see a graph of the results, which is really easy to understand visually.
Vibrating Alarm:
You can also set a silent alarm which will wake you up with a gentle vibration so not to disturb your partner.
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How I use it / charging
You will get the most out of your Fitbit if you wear it everyday. I like to wear mine on my waist or pocket as I feel that it is safe and comfortable. Mine usually last a little under 14 days before needing to be charged. I usually leave it to charge over night and start using it again the next morning.
One issue I have is that battery life warning comes a bit too late in the day and so you have to pretty much find your charger as soon as. It can usually last till the end of the day so I put it on charge when I get home but I will always try to get the 10,000 steps before the battery dies completely! Another thing I wish would change would be to have a plug for charging the devise, I only have the USB cable to charge the Fitbit so it is a bit inconvient but it does charge fairly quickly. If you get the Fitbit app on your phone you can keep an eye on the battery life a lot easier so you don't have to be surprised when the battery warning comes on.
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Apps bluetooth
You can sync up your Fitbit with your phone or computer to keep track of your movements. I personally find the phone app incredibly useful and it means that I can see everything on one screen and get a live feed of my steps and distance without having to stop and look at the Fitbit itself. You can also add your intake of calories by searching for the food and drink products or you can scan the bar code to instantly get all the information you need. You can also add the amount of water you have drunk and can see an visual representation of how you are doing. The Fitbit app is probably the most used app on my phone right now.
Another app I have used is MyFitnessPal, I don't tend to keep up to date with this app as often as I should to get the best from it, but when I do, all the information from my Fitbit connects over to the MyFitnessPal app and I have all the information I need to see how my day has gone and where I have done well or what I need to work on. There are a lot of other apps that connect with the Fitbit and if you are somebody who enjoys documenting everything you do, you can get a real representation of all your efforts!
Pros:
- Opens up your mind to how you are living and your lifestyle
- It does all the hard work for you
- Beautiful sleek designs
- Plenty of design choices, designed for everyone (and colours depending on the product)
- User friendly devise and website! (I love the dashboard)
- Fun way to exercise and get healthier
- Little badges and achievements
- Puts things into persecutive - i.e. actual distance from one end of the shopping mall to the other
- Easy to link up to your phone and laptop and you only have to do this once, after linking it will update automatically (as long as your bluetooth is on it will sync automatically)
- You can customise almost everything!
- it will push you that little bit further to get those final few steps!
Cons:
- Battery could give you a bit more of a warning (although it pushes you to want to get those goals before the battery dies)
- Depending on which Fitbit you choose, you will either have the time on your devise or you won't (this was another reason I chose to purchase the One as it told the time)
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Verdict: Would I buy another Fitbit?
Yes! I love my Fitbit and I'm so glad that I chose to purchase one, especially The One.
It is subtle, light weight and has almost everything I want in one place. If I were to loose mine tomorrow and wasn't able to locate it I would buy another. Early in this post I said I wanted to monitor my heart rate, I still am interested in tracking this and I would consider purchasing one of the high tech pieces to help me track my heart rate, both during activity as well as my all day resting heart rate. Fitness is important and our health needs to be something we are thinking about on a daily basis. For me my Fitbit has changed the way I look at my lifestyle and how I've been treating my body, from the foods I eat to the amount of active minutes I do, I now can say that it is something I am more considerate about and I'm thankful that these little devices are available and so user friendly. I love my Fitbit and it's defiantly been a great investment.
