Fitbit One Wireless Activity Plus Sleep Tracker, Black

Reason for Purchase: intensify self motivation. And I have found the Fitbit One is doing just that. Considering that I was an active person prior to using the Fitbit, post purchase, I have definitely been making an effort to get as many steps and floors logged as possible.Set Up Process: since the Fitbit is incredibly simple to set up I give it 5 stars for user friendliness.Wearing: The Fitbit One is my preferred style of activity tracker. The current bracelet style activity trackers just aren't for me. So that ruled out the Nike Fuelband and the Jawbone UP. The Misfit Shine looks interesting but I prefer to have a screen to view the numbers as the day progresses. I just drop the Fitbit One in my pocket and get moving. The One comes with a belt/pocket clip that can be used. Just don't try to clip it to anything thick and expect it to stay there. Many reviewers have expressed concern about losing their Fitbit. So far I haven't found it to be a concern. I guess if your pockets are shallow it could fall out. In that case, I would get a small drawstring bag, put the Fitbit inside, drop the bag in my pocket and loop the drawstring around my belt or belt loop. The only con with a non bracelet tracker is that you have to remember to transfer the Fitbit One when you change your pants.Display Screen: the Fitbit One, unlike the Jawbone and Shine, has a display that allows the wearer to view steps walked, floors climbed and recent activity level as well as some others. Recent activity level is expressed by a flower. The more flower petals, up to 10, the more active you have been. Flower growth does not represent the total days progress. Throughout the day I have noticed that the flower may get smaller if your activity level has dropped off. I am not sure what time frame the Fitbit One references to calculate flower growth progress. Fitbit will also send motivational messages to your cellphone.Accuracy: comparing the Fitbit One to my pedometer, GPS tracking unit and celllphone app Accupedo, I have found the One to be right on. For other activities, such as working out on the heavy bag, Concept 2 rowing machine, Nordic Track or weightlifting, I don't wear the Fitbit. Instead I use average caloric burning measurements for those activity and add them to MyFitnessPal. The Fitbit One doesn't accurately estimate the caloric expenditures of those activities very well. And, not wanting to double count calories expended I just set the Fitbit to the side.MyFitnessPal: I have linked my Fitbit account with MyFitnessPal and refer to MyFitnessPal for my daily caloric net.Sleep Mode: I have been using the Fitbit during sleep and find the info interesting in a fun way. Not very helpful to me. I have averaged 6 hours sleep for years and the monitor just proves the point. Probably will stop wearing at night when the novelty wears off.Overall: the Fitbit One is working out great for me and recommend it highly. For anyone interested in getting healthier, using the combination of a Fitbit One with MyFitnessPal is the way to go. Stop wasting money on vitamins and pick up a Fitbit One, eat a healthy diet, stay within your daily caloric requirements and get active.

My son works at a very great company. His boss had read the studies about how sitting all day was bad for your health, so he went out and bought all of his employees Fitbits to help them becoming conscious of exercising more throughout the day. Great guy, I thought. Well, my son loved his so much that I thought I'd get one. One thing that I know about myself is that I'm very competitive, especially with myself, so I thought that being able to track my steps for the day would encourage me to do more than normal.This little device is a revelation. It tracks your steps for the day, yes, but also the number of flights of stairs that you climb, the calories that you burn in a given day, the level of intensity of your exercise and yes, even how well you sleep. I don't know how it does it, but it tracks how long it takes me to fall asleep, how often I wake up during the night, how restless I am, and my overall sleep efficiency! (And by matching my experience of waking and sleeping with what the Fitbit says, I can tell it's accurate.) I can synch it up with my computer (VERY easily) and I can log in my blood glucose and blood pressure readings for the day. It then gives me a graph of my readings so I can tell how it's going. I can journal what I eat during the day (it has an extensive database but it also allows you to add in foods and even whole meals) and it breaks it down into amounts consumed of calories, sodium, fats, carbohydrates, and proteins, giving me a daily percentage. It helps me establish a daily calories in/calories out number in order to meet my own weight loss goals and lets me know where I stand on that. There are weekly results reports and "badges" for hitting certain goals. You can link up with friends if you want to support each other or compete. (You only need to share as much information as you want. My son and I share number of steps per day; the rest is private.) It also has a log which allows you to journal.My problem with pedometers has always been how to clip them on, because I often wear dresses with no belts. The Fitbit can go just about anywhere. I where it slipped on to my bra, where it remains secure and unnoticed throughout the day. I often forget I even have it on. It needs to be charged about once a week.So yes, it's fun, but as a tool, it's been invaluable. It works as I predicted: If I see that I've walked 6700 steps that day, for instance, I say to myself that it wouldn't be THAT hard to walk another 300 or even, sometimes, another 3300 to hit the 10,000 step goal. It takes the fogginess out of life when you see just how little exercise you've been getting, and it adds some sunshine when you see how easy it is to push that number ever upward. It's harder to fool yourself into thinking you're eating right when the numbers clearly show you just how many calories you are consuming. The bright side of that is that it also shows you when you succeed. When you see the caloric value of a couple of clementines juxtaposed against a package of crackers, it's hard not to pick the fruit. And as a person with diabetes, it is incredibly useful to be able to very easily track what I eat and how much I exercise against blood glucose readings. Yes, it's a truism often stated by doctors, but when you actually SEE that walking a half hour a day has resulted in a 40-point drop in your morning bg reading, it's a whole other, inspiring thing.I never thought I would turn into such a data geek, but the Fitbit makes it all fun and challenging. And for an extra $50 a year, you can get a personal "trainer" to set fitness goals for the month, along with the ability to download all of your data into excel or other spreadsheet formats. Now when I go to the doctor, I don't give her my analysis of what I've been doing, leaving her suspicious if my results don't seem to match up with her expectations. I can put the spreadsheet in front of her, and she can see exactly what I've been doing and how it's been going. We can pinpoint problem areas and come up with solutions. It takes all the fogginess out of my appointments, which is so crucial, especially when you have chronic medical problems which rely heavily on lifestyle behaviors for treatment.I know that it's not an insignificant financial investment. A hundred dollars for what might have been a glorified pedometer would not have been something I would have done, had my son not used it and encouraged me. Not only was I not disappointed, I think it's one of the smartest investments in my health that I've ever made.