FitBit Flex Review

Notice: FitBit did not send me a free Flex to review and I am not getting paid for this review; however, should FitBit or any company want to send me any products for free in exchange for my opinions, I would gladly accept :)

My dear husband and business partner, Tim, gave me a FitBit Flex for my birthday. I had been eye-balling FitBit for some time, but didn't want to wait for the Force (which is still 1-2 weeks back-ordered at the time of this post), so the Flex seemed perfect!

Here's how FitBit describes the Flex: "This slim, stylish device is with you all the time. During the day, it tracks steps, distance, and calories burned. At night, it tracks your sleep quality and wakes you silently in the morning. Just check out the lights to see how you stack up against your personal goal. It’s the motivation you need to get out and be more active."

The reason I wanted it was to have a better check on my general activity level throughout the day (and I was admittedly curious about seeing the sleep quality thing too). I workout 6-7 days a week, BUT I spend 5 of those days practically chained to a desk between 7:30am and 5pm. Yeah...it sucks.

So I've had the FitBit Flex for a week now....here are my thoughts:

1. Simple as pie to set-up. Took all of 5 seconds on the computer (we're Mac users, so no problems there) and I downloaded the free app onto my phone as well.

2. It's slimmer than a watch and thus very easy to wear. It's suggested to wear it on your non-dominant hand, so you can't really wear a watch when you wear the FitBit (unless you wanted to be a hipster and double-up!) but that didn't bother me....that's what cellphones are for! :)

Source

3. It holds charge like a champ! I let it charge on a Sunday afternoon, and after wearing 24/7 for 5 days, it still has half the battery life left!

4. The website says it's sweat and water resistant (not proof!), so I do take it off when I shower, but that's it....and so far, so good!

5. It certainly does what I got it for, track activity and sleep! I still use my heart-rate monitor during my workouts, since that's the only true way to know exactly how much I burned, but this has been great to see my activity during all other parts of the day! I didn't realize how hard it is to get 10,000 steps, even though I consider myself an active person! DAMN DESK JOB!

And the sleep tracker is interesting too....I love to see the difference in nights when the baby sleeps through the night:

Looks like I barely moved

 ...And when he doesn't sleep through the night:

Yeah, 2am munchies! :)

All in all, in my opinion, the FitBit Flex is certainly worth the money. If you want a device to help ensure you are more intentional about your activity, this is perfect. I check the app on my phone throughout the day, see how many steps I'm at....if I'm low, I know it's time to sneak away and get some walking in! If it's buzzed 4-5 times in a little rhythm...I know I've hit the 10,000 mark and I do a little happy dance :) 

Questions? Comment below or contact us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube...we're everywhere!

In Health,

Lindsay

The Epic Battle that is BodyBugg vs. HRM

BodyBugg versus Heart Rate Monitor

We have owned and utilized both of these nifty contraptions and felt it would be helpful to share a “compare & contrast” of the two.

First up, the BodyBugg. 

Lindsay got one a couple years ago and really enjoyed it. Couple things about it:

•  Made to be worn for up to 23 hours a day, not just during workouts.
•   In reference to #1, this is helpful in determining how many calories you burn all day (and night) long.
• It does not measure heart rate…rather it measures movement!

Some “negatives” about the BodyBugg –

• You have to pay a monthly fee to be able to “download” and see your calorie burn (albeit a pretty small fee).
• We found out the hard way that accuracy is not its strongest suit – for example, during weightlifting (which, if done right, should increase your heart rate, thus burning calories) and during cardio involving a lot of arm movement (e.g., kickboxing like Turbo) it doesn’t give an accurate burn…for weightlifting it isn’t high enough and we think all the punches in kickboxing throw the band (which is around your arm) off and it reads as too high of a burn.
•  The Bodybugg also can’t measure anything you do that doesn’t involve your feet touching the ground….like biking, swimming, or flying (that last one is a joke, people!)

All in all, we think the BodyBugg is a good tool for determining total daily burn, but other than that…it kinda functions like a pedometer. 

Okay….next up is the good ol’ fashioned heart rate monitor. There are a bagillion types, but Lindsay uses the Polar FT7 and Timothy uses a Timex. Couple things about these:

   
 
 
 
 
 

 

• Typically made to wear only during physical activity (either during a workout, or while you’re doing some yard work, cleaning house, etc.). You *could* wear it all day if you wanted, but it isn’t really made for that.
• This piece of equipment determines calories burned based solely on your heart rate.
• There is only a one-time cost (no monthly fees).

A *potential* negative about a heart rate monitor:

• You wear the watch (which gives you your output, including current heart rate, calories burned, time, etc.) on your wrist and then the actual heart-rate monitor is a band that you wrap around your chest…..for the ladies, just under your wobbly bits….for the fellas, about a inch or so below your nipple line. The band can be a bit cumbersome, mostly during activity that involves a lot of twisting and turning (Lindsay finds it can wiggle down some during her TurboFire workouts).

Currently, we are both using a heart rate monitor instead of a BodyBugg….and it will probably stay this way. We both appreciate the accuracy of the heart rate monitor….it goes on the individual’s heart rate, not on the steps taken. We also appreciate the immediacy of knowing how much effort we’re putting in: all we do is look at the watches on our wrists and see current heart rate, calories burned so far, etc. 

If you are going back and forth between the two, we hope this gives you some insight as to which would better suit your needs!

In Health,

Lindsay & Timothy