Fitbit!

I think I posted somewhere about my new Fitbit One.  Did I?  I got it about 2 weeks ago.  I wear it inside my bra, every day.  It tracks steps, flights of stairs, calories expended, and sleep time and times awakened.  It updates via bluetooth (although not on my iPhone 4, only the 4S, 5, and iPad 3 or newer...but I update either by iPad or my PC) and tracks it all nicely on their dashboard.  I think it is pretty motivating for increasing activity, and I like the sleep tracker as well.  It also can sync with My Fitness Pal (my name: gkeyt), which is handy.  The little gadget is about the size of a Bit o Honey candy (remember those?) and slips into a silicone clip for day wear.  You put it in a neoprene wrist band for sleep.  They will have a new one, the Flex, coming out in April.  It is more similar to the Nike Fuel band, you wear it on your wrist like jewelry and you can shower with it, so you don't have to take it off.  I am kind of exited to see if it works even better than the One.

I decide I liked this setup enough that I splurged for a Fitbit Aria scale.  It wirelessly transfers weight and body comp to Fitbit, and can automatically detect up to 8 individual users in a household (on the same wireless network).  Only trouble is, I weighed myself this evening and my weight read 4 lbs higher than this morning on my old scale.  Doh!  I knew my old scale was probably a bit falsely low, since it is always somewhat lower than any other scale I use.  (And thus, the only scale I would use, of course.)  The weight on the Aria was almost exactly the same as at my doctor's office about 2 hours before, so I think it is pretty accurate.  I'm not going to adjust my ticker widget to match, I'm just going to wait until they match before I start changing it.  I need that mental boost of seeing that lower weight, even if I know my new scale is tracking differently.  Weird, I know.  They will match soon!

It does seem like a nifty scale.  I don't know how accurate the body comp is, but I get the sense that it isn't that far off.  It is more important to track the trend than to have it exactly accurate.  It was very easy to set up, and it's really beautiful.  I got the white one, but there is also black.  It is pricey, for sure.  Is it worth it? To me, I think it is.  I don't have to do anything to update the info in my profile. It gives a lot of good information, and everyone in the family can use it. And it motivates me a little more.  You get little badges on your account with each 5 lb lost, and you can set goals etc. Simple stuff, but motivating.  I find the One does help me be more active, because I'll do more stairs at night just to get in my 10 minimum for the day.  Our house is 3 floors so it isn't hard to do.  (I just went and did 3 more floors.  :)

One really great thing about these products is that at least for me, they worked right out of the gate.  No complex or painful setup. Their analytics are still pretty rudimentary, but I think as they get more users and more feedback it will get more complex.  I'm pretty impressed with the products now, though. And I love that they have teamed up with My Fitness Pal, which was just rated the #1 fitness app for weight loss.  (I have received zero compensation for this, I bought my own gadgets, I just happen to like them.)

Anyone out there using Fitbit? What do you think? Or are you using some other tracker out there?