Tuesday, January 14, 2014

Review of FitBit Flex

A couple people wanted to know what I thought of my new FitBit Flex, so I did a little Review. 

Pros:

I’ve lost 2 lbs because it’s making me think about it more about what I’m doing.
I don’t have to worry about a pedometer falling off my pants
It’s always with me so I don’t forget to grab it like my phone.
It’s comfortable.
Waterproof for swimming up to 32 ft depth
It gives me a ton of data

Cons:

Not very stylish
Have to sync it with my computer or cell phone.
Have to look at my cell phone to get data
No data from device directly
I still have to decide what to do when I see the data

I’ve had it one week but here are my thoughts on it:

It certainly doesn't do the work for you, but it does make you more conscious of the work or lack of it you are doing. It helps if you read directions and put it on your non-dominate hand so you don’t rack up steps from things like dealing cards.

The website shows you the following graphics:

Activity: This is your steps by the time of day you were doing them.


Calories: This shows the number of calories burned so far in the day.


Distance: This shows how many miles you've walked in a day.


Steps: This is the number of step today


Friends: Shows the number of steps this week and gives you the option to connect with friends who are also using the fit bit.


Very Active Mins: This shows the number of very active minutes


FoodPlan: The website allows you enter your weight loss goal and timeframe. Then it will calculate the number of  calories you can have in a day to reach your goal, the cool thing is it also adjusts this number for your activity  level. The graphic shows how many calories you have left for the day when you enter what you've eaten.


Calories In vs Out: This graphic looks like a half circle thermostat with an arrow showing when you’re over your calories at a point in the day, under or right on target.


Water: When you enter your water consumption, this shows number of cups of water you have drank and how many you have left to make the recommended amount.


Sleep: When you tell the fit bit that you are going to sleep by tapping the device and telling it when you get up in the morning, again by tapping it. It tracks the amount of time you slept, how long you were in bed, how long it took you to get to sleep, how many times you were restless and woke up during the night. I haven’t found the restless and waking up in the middle of the night information to be 100% accurate, but it does give good enough information to get an idea of if you’re getting enough sleep. I realized even though it feels like I’m up a half dozen times during the night, in reality, it’s probably only once or twice and then only for 1 or 2 minutes.

So to summarize, I love mine.

I hope this helps.