Which Fitness Trackers/watches/programs Do You Use?

[ms spock]

Hello,

I would like to call upon the collective wisdom and lived experience of the members of this forum and ask the question "Which Fitness Trackers/Watches/Programs Do You Use?" I have been looking around and doing some research but I am most curious what everyone is using or has used. I would like to know pros and cons. Did the programs work well for you? Was it useful? Do you still use them?

I find having a goal to work towards and see how I am progressing very motivating for me.
I would like to be able to see my steps as I go about my day.
I am interested in knowing what knowing your heartrate would be useful.
How do you track and measure your calories taken in and expended?
Do you use your fitness tracker for swimming?
How does it go on general wear and tear as you go about your day?
What is the battery life like?
Which programs does your fitness tracker use? How do you find them when you use them?

Mostly I do walking, (belong to a walking group that meets three times a week at 5.30am to get it in before the heat cranks up) swimming, pilates (mat work, ball work,) a bit of yoga. I am really keen to get going on 10,000 steps per day. That would be very interesting for me.

 

[Toriplays]

I like my fitbit Alta. It's a pretty torquise color too. I do a lot of hiking on the weekends.
It looks like you have a great self-care plan in place.

 

[jaccat]

I've got the basic Fitbit Flex. It doesn't track heart rate, but does monitor steps, and you can input food and exercise into it. It also suggests goals and challenges, and presents you with 'badges' after you've met certain goals.

Pro's- The steps monitor is great, and you can adjust your daily goal. As well, it judges how many miles/kilometres you've walked, and roughly how many calories you've burned. I also like inputting my food and water intake. You have to work out how many calories things are- lots of basics and branded food is already in the system, but if you're cooking something from scratch it can be harder to figure out. Even so, it provides a good estimation. You do have the ability to set a weight goal, and it will adjust your suggested calorie intake accordingly. And it has a good battery life- once charged it works for about a week.

Con's- for me, the sleep monitor is poor. Even set on 'sensitive', it can't tell the difference between sleep and lying awake, trying to sleep. Not sure how much that's just me, though. I do regret not spending the extra and getting the one with the heartrate monitor. Because the Flex only monitors movement, it's not much use with exercises like yoga (although it does have a standard estimation for it).

The silicone straps are pretty hardwearing, and you can get replacements online easy enough. Mine's not waterproof, so I wouldn't swim with it, but it copes well enough in the rain. I find the Fitbit app easy to use, although it's a little too fond of updates for my liking.

 

[NoWhereKnowWhere]

I've got a Fitbit charge. It's one of the cheaper models and doesn't have the heart rate monitor. I wasn't sure if I'd use but it's only ever off my wrist to charge (and the battery is pretty decent). It's awesome and definitely has encouraged me to up my steps and exercise as I want to reach my goals. The app is easy to use and I love that it tracks your sleep. You can see trends like if you're not doing enough exercise maybe you don't sleep as well or surprisingly if I do too much I don't sleep very well.

I would definitely recommend I think I'll get an upgrade at some point.

 

[Teasel]

There's a pedometer on my android phone I can set a daily goal on it. It's called S health I think. It's not as accurate as some pedometers (when on the bus or in a car, jolts will record as steps) but I am not so intensely into recording fitness that it bothers me much.

When I'm in the mode of tracking such things I use the my fitness pal app on my phone for tracking food and exercise.
I find it excellent, easy to use and look up food items or exercise types and intensities.
I can let it set how many calories I can eat depending on how much weight I want to lose per week or I can set how many calories I can have myself.
When I enter exercise I do it works out calories burned and adds them to what I can eat that day.

 

[Teasel]

Just checked, Tis called S Health - only works for Samsung phones

"S Health provides core features to keep up your body fit and healthy. It will record and analyze your daily activities and habits to help maintain successful diet and lead healthy lifestyle.

Whether you walk or run, hike or bike, play indoor or outdoor sports, you can add and track the various physical exercises and activities in a single step using the various built-in trackers. You can also record your step count activity using Pedometer.

S Health helps to create a balanced lifestyle pattern by recording a variety of information like your food, caffeine and water intake details.

Provide your daily snacks, food, water and caffeine intake and track your diet and weight on the go while staying comfortable using the sleep & stress tracker.

Manage health and environmental records such as heart rate, blood pressure, blood glucose levels, stress, weight & SpO₂ using built-in sensors and third party devices.

Trackers enable user to easily and quickly check meaningful data based on user preferences. The intuitive charts, helpful tips and physical exercise programs guide you to achieve your fitness and diet goals. You can also personalize your Dashboard by adding or removing Goals.

Manage your fitness activities, track your weight and monitor your diet using Samsung Galaxy and Gear devices.

The App supports all Samsung smartphones starting from Galaxy S3 onwards and includes Non-Samsung Android smartphones as well."

 

[Teasel]

Sorry - works on android phones not just Samsung. Lol, I'm going now

 

[Friday]

This is an old(er than I thought!) thread... And tech is always advancing... But there's some good stuff in it. Health Monitoring - Jawbone Or Equivalent... Do You?

 

[Lola Nocheprieta]

I have a Fitbit Charge 2, and before that I had the Fitbit Force which I used for 3 years until literally it disintegrated on me. I like the Charge 2 a lot, it's the one with the heart monitor. I confess I don't use that feature a lot but I do like to use the fitbit app on my iphone, and that shows what "zone" I'm in when I'm exercising (e.g., fat burning versus aerobic.) I think the Charge 2 does a better job with sleep tracking. I have it set on sensitive, and maybe it's just me, but I can lay down for 6 hours and it will tell me I got 3 hours sleep, which sounds about right.

The Charge 2 will also buzz you if you haven't gotten at least 250 steps in an hour (only if you want it to do that.) I like that feature. You can log food and water, but I don't do that in this app, I'm getting ready to go back to Weight Watchers.

Anyway, I've always been happy with Fitbit, both the watch and the phone app. Looking forward to hearing what you decide, @Disco Dancing Queen!

 

[8888]

I'm trying to lose weight and use www.myfitnesspal.com to track food and Dead Link Removed for support.

 

[City Slicker]

I have the Fitbit Flex which I use with friends as it's fun and social with people who are ok with a bit of competition. It's limited in that it doesn't give workout specific biometrics.

For everything else I use the Garmin Forerunner 15.
It's a bit more involved and I wear mine with a chest strap which is a bit old school but it works for me for getting heart rate. I can program all kinds of things as well like when to get up and move if I am sitting too long.

It's gps and I haven't ever had trouble getting a satellite signal or interference on bad weather days.
Here are the basics of what it does:

• Tracks distance, pace, heart rate¹ and calories
• Activity tracking² counts steps and calories and reminds you when it’s time to move
• Compatible with foot pod³ for recording distance indoors

I have used so many of them that I have lost count but I do stay with the forerunner and have used it for the past 3 years now.

Good luck in your choice!