Post Punk Kitchen Forum

Talk about your gadgets, gadgets you want, gadgets you want advice/info on here!

So I thought I might like a fitbit for tracking exercise and calorie burn and my sleep (i sleep a lot and yet i'm still frequently tired). My husband got me a bodymedia fit because he thought it was nicer and thought I'd like that there's an iphone app for it (I do). It tracks calories burned, steps taken, time of moderate exercise, time of vigorous exercise, stuff like that. Downsides - expensive! + $7/month fee for the website (which is mostly for easier calorie tracking, but the calorie tracking software blows - it's not as good even as my fitness pal or spark people or the weight watcher's site). The sleep tracking is kind of vague - here's a screen capture


BodyMediaScreenCap0207 by Sarah_0330, on Flickr

okay so the dark part under sleep says "sleeping" and the gray part says "lying down"

Anyone have experience/advice to share on this or similar gadgets?

I cannot offer much help. I too was looking at the fitbit. A friend of mine has it and loves it, but haven't mentioned any issues. I too wan wondering what other people use.

I've heard good things about the nike fuel band. And this kickstarter project sounds like it would be great (though not only for fitness stuff) - http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/597 ... nd-android

I'm low-tech(ish), so I just want the chased-by-zombies runnning and walking app.

I have a fitbit, I hit it against something while wearing it on my hip and the front face plate fell off. I contacted the company, they sent me a replacement which I haven't opened yet. Basically, when you are sleeping, you will move around so generally the grey parts you see are you adjusting/moving around.

I had a fitbit for awhile and I loved it. I just got tired of wearing it because I knew that on a regular day, if I didn't consciously do something active, there was no way I was hitting 10,000 steps. That being said, I did love it because it made me really competitive with myself, plus I could wear it on my bra, so it was a secret! The bodymedia armband will be more accurate because it uses more technology (fitbit can track your movement, while armband tracks movement, skin temperature and skin conductivity). That being said, it's awkward to wear and, like you said, the calorie tracker thing blows for $7 a month. The fitbit tracker is free and gives you little rewards. I don't know, is that helpful?

I was thinking of getting a fitbit. The gym I go to uses the Body Bugg. I think it's similar (maybe the same?) as the bodymedia one. It's expensive too. I like the positive reviews though!

I am interested in the Nike Fuel Band. Or maybe Fitbit. I don't know. It's almost like I want to borrow one. I just want to see how many calories I burn. I got a separate sleep app, but I haven't been using it because you have to have the phone awake and on in plugged under you sheet or something. I don't know. I'm similar that I get enough sleep, but always feel tired. I usually chalk it up to depression though.

I just got my fitbit today and I am really excited. well i was really excited because I thought I could link it with my My Net Diary account, which I have been using for months and have spent a lot of time putting in recipes/adding vegan foods but it looks like I would have to upgrade from the pro version to the maximum version which has subscription fees. So disapointing.

Are there any other food tracking phone apps that are user friendly/vegan friendly and that link to the fitbit?

I use MyFitnessPal and they have FitBit listed under apps. It seems like they seamlessly work together.

Now I'm thinking about getting a FitBit!

I love my fitbit! You can change your goals, set your stride, etc. I also really like the website design for the tracking - it's so pretty and encouraging. I also have the Aria scale that wirelessly syncs to the fitbit tracker. I wouldn't normally pay such an insane amount of money for a scale, but it's totally worth it to have a record of my weight over a year.

Also, the fitbit customer service team is amazing. My first fitbit wouldn't sync, so I emailed them and they mailed me a whole new product. Only the base station was bad, so my SO and I each took a tracker and shared the base station. He moved out and I emailed them asking if I could buy a replacement base station and they sent me a new one for free.

I am really liking my fitbit too! I tried using MFP to track my foods this week and I liked how much vegan food the database has and that it syncs so well with the fitbit buuut I found the MFP app kind of clunky to add food to.

Anyway I think I'm going to stick with my net diary and manually add my fitbit adjustment. I really like the charts I get so I can see how much I move around and it's very motivating to get me off my butt more often.