LOL, I just got out of lab where we were using some activity devices. I had the students wear a pedometer and an Actigraph accelerometer. We have older models they don't make anymore.

No, you do not need a stride length. Even for pedometers, it's really the raw step count data that are most accurate vs. distance or calories.

For the Fitbit, you must adjust if you are wearing it on your waist, bra, or in a pocket.

I will let hhireno give her feedback since she uses it. I have the Weight Watchers ActiveLink, which is similar. The only thing that kept me from the FItbit was the mobile compatibiity. You need iphone 4S or 5 and iPad 3 for Apple products, and I have the 4 and iPad 2.

The fitbit is also compatible with many online nutrition sites like LoseIt, MyFitness Pal, Livestrong, etc.

For about 10 years, I wore a inexpensive pedometer that only counted steps. I didn't have to measure my stride, so it wasn't exact but it did reflect how much I moved, and I found it motivating.

On a whim, I decided to upgrade my fitness monitor to a fitbit one. It shows steps (movement really, you don't measure your stride), stairs climbed, and sleep patterns. You can also track your weight and log your food & water intake. It does not monitor your heart rate. I think there are other brands that have that capability?

For sleep, you wear it in a special wristband and it produces a graph of time awake (active) and asleep (still) . Am I truly awake or asleep in those periods? I don't know, I have always been a tosser & turner so I am not fully awake as much as the graph reflects. I like to see my little graph, with a sleep efficiency rate (who knew the was such a thing?!), but it doesn't change my patterns or habits. Because I do wake in the middle of the night, thank you menopause, I like to see that I have long stretches where I was asleep or at least still. I find that oddly reassuring.

Last night I know I hit the button to start the timer but it wasn't on when I woke up so it didn't track my sleep. This has happened a few times. Maybe it gets bumped off during my tossing and turning but I don't know how because you really have to hold the tiny button down to get it started. You can go in and manually put the time you were in bed in your online record.

Fitbit has multiple models. There is a style that uses a watch battery and doesn't track sleep. I charge mine with the computer. I think they even have a bracelet style, similar to the Nike Fuel band. The downside to that is it is very visible whereas my little gizmo is discreet. Although I go on and on about it here, I don't want everyone IRL to see it.

I didn't do any research, I just impulsively bought it and have been happy. But I also found fhe inexpensive simple pedometer I use to wear just as motivating without the fun graphs. My friend wears the Nike Fuel band is happy with that one.

I got my fitbit one in January. It's a fun tool. I use it simply as a glorified pedometer, but I could do more with it than I do. It's pretty small, easy to use. It charges from a little dangle that you hook up to a USB port on your computer. Once you get logged in to the fitbit and the unit synced, it updates the info when you're near your computer. Sometimes I have to hit the refresh button, but it's pretty simple.

I wear the little unit on a clip on my pants pocket during the day. If I want to do the sleep tracker I can either wear the unit on my wrist or clip it to my pjs. It doesn't really measure sleep, it's more movement. There's a sensitive or a normal mode (sensitive is far too sensitive in my opinion). You simply press the little button on the unit for several seconds to tell it you're going to bed and then press it again in the morning to tell it to end the sleep cycle. If you look at the screen shot below the sleep tracker looks like I was really active at 7AM, that's because I forgot to press the button to tell it I was out of bed, up and moving. You can join groups and have challenges or form your own group. My DIL is the only person I am linked to. She does much better because of the climate where she lives (ok, that's my excuse). Once we get to summer my steps will increase dramatically.

It can be used to log foods and other activities but I haven't done that. When I change clothes I sometimes forget to move it from the one pair of pants to the next outfit, so I need to use it more consistently. Also, I've accidentally put mine in the washing machine twice when I forgot to take it off my jeans. Fortunately I realized it while the washer was still filling with water. The one time it got pretty wet, but it didn't hurt the unit since it was in it's little rubber carrier.

It does make me think about how inactive I am some days.....I thought a daily goal of 10,000 steps would be pretty easy, but I now spend more time at my desk during the day and it takes me about 30 minutes on the treadmill to get 5000 steps.

DH uses the Nike thing--- Fuel? He did some kind of modification on it and likes it very much.

kswl, does your DH find the Nike Fuel band easy to use? I want something simple-not something you have to plug into computer. I want something that is really good, but, just put on and go.

Olliesmom,
The fitbit one is very simple and doesn't require any set up. I think the fuel band, like the fitbit, will show you the info (steps, stairs, calories burned) right on the gizmo but to get the most data you do need to sync it to a smartphone or computer. With either device you can just put it on and go but why pay for the technology if you're not interested in that part? The Fuelband is $149 and the fitbit one is $100. There is a simpler fitbit for about $60, it takes a watch battery and does not record sleep.

You might be content with just a basic pedometer. I used to have a digiwalker basic unit that only ran about $25. After a few years the clip would break and I'd end up replacing the clip and battery. They offer many different devices with various price points. Maybe those are more what you have in mind. I did find my basic, steps only device motivating for many years. Even paying for replacement batteries and clips, it was a lot less money than the fitbit. But I do get a kick out of my graphs and weekly email reports with my fitbit.

hhireno, you are right, maybe I just need a basic pedometer, especially since I've never had one. Maybe I can graduate up to the fitbit, nike fuel, etc later. Thank you!

My son has the Fuel Band. He says that the Fit Bit is probably a better device, but the Fuel Band looks cooler. He is 24. ;)

Right, the FuelBand also requires downloading and syncing with a computer or mobile device.

I agree that the Digiwalker pedometer is the best brand. My colleagues have validated the Digiwalker in their lab. Also, the raw step count data are the best. Estimations of miles walked and calories expended are not that accurate.

~2,000 steps = 1 mile. You can also get a large safety pin and clip it to your waistband to avoid losing it. But the pedometer is an inexpensive option at $25.

Hilltop,
You mentioning the sensitive setting on the fitbit got me thinking that I should double check my settings. Last night I was "awake" 29 times in 8 hours and 7 minutes of in bed time. Rutt-roh, it is on normal! Now I'm curious, what would the sensitive setting show me? How much more movement could it possibly track?

Olliesmom,
If they still offer them, I would highly recommend the safety strap that digiwalker used to sell. It was $5 and it was money well spent. Even if the device got knocked off my waist band, the strap prevented it from falling completely off.

Hi everyone,

Just to be clear, the Fitbit won't synch to an older iphone or ipad, but it will synch to laptops. deskstops, etc., correct?

Mtn,
According to the fitbit one site:

The One⢠automatically syncs your data to PCs, Macs, the iPhone 4S, 5, the 3rd generation iPad, iPod touch (5th generation), and select Android phones (Samsung Galaxy S III and Samsung Galaxy Note II).

hhireno, thanks for telling me about the safety strap, I will be on the lookout for one. I can see how it would be useful.