January 6, 2014

May The (FitBit) Force Be With You

(This is not paid or sponsored by any of the brands represented. All opinions are my own.)

Just like everyone else and their mother, I've been wanting an activity monitor for quite some time now. I've worked out 3-4 times/week for quite some time now (not counting the past 2 months) and I've always wondered what exactly am I doing for myself. How far am I running? How fast do I get there? How many calories do I burn? Etc...

Plus, I wanted to feel like the rest of the cool kids and be able to post pics of my workouts on Instagram.

Since I never felt like forking up the money on myself, I decided Christmas was the perfect time to ask for it and lets just say Beau came through in the clutch.

At first, I wanted the Nike Fuelband A) because I love anything Nike and B) for the simple fact that it synced to my iPhone. There are also quite a few color options, which is always nice. It tracks steps, the intensity of your workout and time. Fair enough.What more could you want? Right?

Then I noticed a few of my girlfriends had the Polar Monitor, as does everyone else on Instagram these days, so then, I thought that was the one I wanted. I liked that it tracked heart rate, distance and calories burned. Ahhh...calories! Yes! But...you have to wear this weird strap thing around your torso for it to track everything and I wanted something that was comfortable enough for me to wear all day long, not just when I was working out.

I just felt like I needed something more.

Thennnn I really started to do some research...why do I need distance? I'm not a runner. Sure...I run. But I would never in a million years consider myself to be a runner. I don't care how far I run. Or how fast I get there. I simply run because I know I need to get my heart rate up before I do strength training. It's not that I hate running, I just don't enjoy it. Give me a set of free weights, a yoga mat and a bench and I'm happier than a bird with a french fry.

To give you an example of my routine workouts...I do 10-15 minutes of high intensity cardio (usually running from my house to my gym) followed by circuit strength training and an ab workout. I usually do arms/abs one day followed by legs/butt/abs the next and then repeat, working in some dual exercises that workout my core, back and shoulders, too. I try to fit in anywhere from 6-8 different workouts for arms/legs, and do anywhere from 300-600 different ab exercises.

An example legs/butt day looks like: leg press, calf raises, leg extension, leg curls, lunges (forward and backward), squats, bench step ups. Repeat 3 times, doing 100-150 different crunches in between each round. Sometimes I throw in parts of the Brazilian Booty Lift for good measure and because it hurts. so. good.

Once I realized I didn't really care about how far I was running before each workout, though it was kind of nice "to know", I knew the main thing I was looking for in an activity monitor was calories burned.

It was then that I found the FitBit Force: a small black band that tracks all your activity all day long...without being an awkward band you wear under your bra...or wherever that thing goes.



Let's make this simple. The FitBit Force tracks:

  • Calories burned 
  • Steps 
  • Distance
  • Active minutes
  • Flights of stairs climbed
  • Time

And with the corresponding iPhone app, it tracks:
  • Calories consumption (food log)
  • Sleep (time awake, time restless)
  • Pounds to go to meet your goal weight (that you set)
  • Water consumption
Yep. There's all my business. Right up there.

Oh! And since it has a display screen, unlike the FitBit Flex (though the Flex is awesome, too), it's also a watch. I've needed a workout watch for quite some time now so there's that, too.

But wait! There's more.

There's an entire FitBit website, the tracks everything for you also, emails you a weekly update of your progress and lets you connect with friends who have FitBits, too!



Ok and if you're not sold yet...it even has a silent alarm. Yes. You set the alarm on your phone, and when it's time for it to go off, rather than annoying the crap out of your significant other at 5am every morning (#guilty), it vibrates on your arm without making a noise.

Ok fine. One more thing. There's this scale. And it recognizes your feet from the first time you step foot on it (pun intended) and automatically logs your current weight and body fat percentage to your FitBit profile. So it's a weight loss (or gain?) tracker. Perhaps I'm easily amazed but I've never been so in love with a stinkin' scale.

Or activity tracker.

Don't get me wrong...I have absolutely nothing against the Fuelband or the Polar monitors, they just don't track what I need them to track and I honestly feel like the FitBit Force is a combination of all the activity monitors combined. It tracks everything. And then some...


Do you wear an activity monitor? Which one do you have?!


36 comments:

  1. Nice sissy! I love my polar.....but I have always been interested in the FitBit for the sleep tracking feature. I love reading about your workouts cause let's be honest, you be rocking that hot bod of yours! happy monday!

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  2. I've been looking at FitBits for a while and trying to decide which one I want! Leaning this way now!

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  3. Yup officially need this in my life - thanks!
    Renee @ www.thechiway.weebly.com

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  4. How cool is that? I love the silent alarm...I always feel so bad waking up Mark when I get up early to teach in the morning! Thanks for the review!

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  5. I've been looking into getting one. It seems awesome! Just have to save up some dough ;)

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  6. awesome review! I've been curious about these for awhile! Keep up the hard work

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  7. I love my fitbit one. I think it does all the same things as the force but clips onto your clothing. I would love the scale but can't justify spending that much yet on a scale. Maybe one day :)

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  8. I just got a Polar. It was a lot cheaper, and it's my first one.

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  9. I've been looking for something like this. I will def. check it out! Thanks!

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  10. Ok, I'm sold. I NEED this! I've looked at several activity trackers - lots of girls in my workout classes had the Polar monitors, but I didn't like the idea of wearing that strap around my torso. I looked at the Nike Fuelband also. I wasn't sold. But this thing sounds perfect for what I need! Thanks for writing this post.

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  11. Thanks for sharing! I've been thinking about some type of fitness monitor for a while, so this is super helpful! How is the sizing? I have really small wrists, and have problems with watches and bracelets fitting, so I just wonder if this would adjust small enough to be comfortable? I wouldn't want it sliding up and down my arm all the time...

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    1. Hey this is steph's husband. They only have to sizes Small and Large there are holes on the back side that you can use to make it larger or smaller but steph's seems to fit just fine and she got the small. Not sure how tight she wears it and how much smaller it will go, but I will get her to let you know.

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  12. Oh my gosh! I love. I am so asking for this for my bday! Perfect gift!

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  13. eeeee this just made me SOOO excited!! My Fitbit flex is coming in the mail TODAY ( of course I stalk the tracking number!) super excited to join the Fitbit world!

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  14. Thanks for such a thorough review! My mom actually mentioned these devices to me last night, and I didn't know much about them. Now that I do, and health is a main focus for me right now, I am looking into getting one!

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  15. I got the Polar monitor for Christmas and I love it. I run a lot and wanted something that I could check my heart rate on so the Polar was the best fit for me. But I like how the FitBit tracks so much more stuff. I want both :)

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  16. K I'm definitely buying this.

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  17. I got the Fitbit Flex for Christmas. I really like the clock / calorie count on the Force screen. I was just worried about the bulkiness. I really like my Fitbit though!

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  18. I need it. This would so get me off my ass and walking around. I have absolutely zero clue how many calories I burn at the gym.

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  19. A girlfriend of mine has a fitbit & she loves it!! I didn't really understand why she got it at first but nooow reading all of this I see why she would have gotten such a thing! This is so awesome!! I may have to look into getting one of these!!

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  20. This is a great review! I've had a Jawbone Up for about six months now and I love it. It's also a wristband and syncs to my iPhone, it seems pretty similar to your Fitbit. The band has seriously helped me make more of an effort to move when I'm at work all day, that's for sure!

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  21. I want to loose weight this year too! I have lost about a pound so far. My goal weight is 125! Good luck to you. I use this app called Loseit and you document all your food in take! It's great!

    -Tallia
    trendinginfashion.blogspot.com

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  22. I am totally eying the Fitbit and now after this post I think I am SOLD!

    also, when you said beau got it for you for Christmas I had to smile because I thought about that time you guys filmed your Christmas morning sitting on the big comfy couch put together like a bed and i just thought that was the CUTEST!! :-)

    love it! investigating it asap

    xoxoxo

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  23. I have the Fit Bit Flex, which I recently won through my work and have started to use these last couple of days. I love that it synchs with my iPhone, the silent alarm and the sleep tracker. I kind of wish it had the little display monitor/clock like yours does though. But I do have one question about your Fit Bit. Do you do a lot of running/walking? I am doing more strength training/circuit training/cycling, and my Fit Bit is not registering these as "active minutes". Actually I'm not sure if they are logging this at all, but I'm not sure if I am doing something wrong, or what not. So I'm just curious when you do strength training, do you feel like it is tracking that very well. I've only used it for a few days, so I'm still trying to figure it all out. Thank you in advance for your advice on this :)

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  24. I got the FitBit One from work for completing a workout challenge. Wish it was the band one but I cant complain since it was free. Love the tracking abilities and really interesting to see the sleep patterns it tracks too. Loving it so far!

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  25. I just got ordered a fitbit zip and can't wait to get it and try it out!

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  26. how does it track everything?
    like how does it track your heart rate or whatever..im very intrigued, because i don't like wearing that lame-o strap with my polar

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  27. I wonder if something like this would encourage me to get out there. Perhaps if I saw how little I actually do staring me back in the face, I'd want to do more. I've always been fascinated by these trackers but it scares me to invest in something that I may wind up not using. Thanks for sharing this one! You've peaked my curiosity.

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  28. I got one of these for Christmas too. I LOVE it, but it's just so dang hard to get on. I have the size S, have it adjusted to the largest setting and just slip in on and off. Otherwise, I would spend 10 minutes of precious sleep…errrr, workout time. :)

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  29. I have the Jawbone Up! i am loving all the fitbit stuff too. I have to say the scale option may be the coolest thing ever!!

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  30. I got the Fitbit Flex for my birthday and I love it! I would recommend this to anyone who cares about all the details of their day.

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  31. Very thorough! Nike should just put this link in their description of the FitBit. It probably answers a lot more of the questions people have! :) I have the Polar and admit I was really concerned about the strap before I got it. Once I have it on though, I forget it's there. I would say it is likely more comfortable for smaller-chested women. The main reason I wanted it was to see calories burned, so it does the job.

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  32. You're gorgeous lady!
    Have you ever heard about mobilenanny.org? I use this app for monitoring my child phone activities. Cause I'm really worried about him.

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