Shall I bankrupt my advantage card for a Fitbit???

[TweeBee]

Afternoon! Or evening!
Well I've been saving my advantage card points for literally (and I really do mean literally) over half a decade and am now considering spending them all on a Fitbit. Naturally this is not a decision to be taken lightly so I would love some advice or opinions.
At the mo I use my fitness pal for weight loss, but I would like to know how many calories I burn at gym classes, do I need a heart rate FB for that?
I work in a hospital so have to be 'bare below the elbows', if I had one would it still work in my pocket?
Also, has anyone had any trouble with the strap. DH said he's heard that you can't replace the strap so he doesn't think it would be a wise investment.
Thank you!

After extensive research and much faffing around I went for a fitbit Alta. It only arrived yesterday but so far so good. Last night saw me jogging up and down the hallway to get my steps in. The only thing is the strap is incredibly difficult to do up. I had to get DS to help me. I'm not sure if the wrist worn ones would work in a pocket. How about a fitbit One? It's a clip on one with a strap for wearing at night for the sleep tracker function.

I use a Fitbit one which clips to clothing. It does steps, flights of stairs, calories, active minutes , sleep (on a seperate wristband)
Battery last about 10 days .
I love it. - and prefer clip on to the bands . I clip it to my trousers or bra if I am wiring a dress, or have it in my pocket. It also works better than a band if you walk pushing a push chair.

I have a Fitbit flex- I think it's one of the more basic ones- but you can buy little clips to put the tracker in. I wear mine on my bra and the tracking seems to be as accurate as when work on my wrist.
I really like mine- it makes me more aware of being active and I found it really helpful in gently changing my lifestyle choices.

Forgit to say, it will calculate calories based steps/ intensity level.
It's also quite a bit cheaper than the newer versions

I have a clip on one & just always keep it clipped to my bra, I wouldn't like wrist one.

Highly recommended, you do get a bit obsessed with your steps tho!

Has anyone got a link to a Fitbit flex clip?

I have a fitbit charge HR and love it! The strap is just like a normal watch strap, so is secure and easy to do up. It will record your calories during a gym session for you, and although it won't record your heart rate during work (needs to be on your wrist for that) it will still register your steps even when it's in your pocket, and it estimates your calorie use from that.

I really love mine and use it every day to monitor my exercise levels, definitely recommend it!

Watching as also debating which one to get and if it is worth it!

wohmum I've found that mine does register my steps even when I'm pushing the pram - possibly depends on your height and the level of the pram handle, but for me there is enough movement to register when I'm walking with the pram.

The wrist HR monitors aren't as accurate as the chest strap ones. So if that's your main purpose have a look at polar hr monitors - I paid about £60 on amazon.

I have a fitbit flex which is pretty basic but it has encouraged me to walk more. But if you're after a clip one there's other models more suitable.

You can get replacement bands from fitbit, or cheaper ebay versions. I struggled with mine initially but I've had it 5 weeks now and it's fine.

I have a fitbit alta which you can change or replace the strap on. I bought it as a watch and step tracker, and find the ability to get texts on it handy for work when I have my phone nearby but not on me.

I don't find the fitness tracker accurate - after 45 minutes kettlebells and 45 minutes pilates it showed 20 minutes of exercise!

The last watch I bought was half my life ago so I could justify buying it for those reasons but the alta isn't for you if you want to use it to seriously track HR plus I think it has to be worn on the wrist.

I've got a charge (not HR) and just stick it in my pocket when I can't have anything on my wrists. I wear it on my wrist most of the time though and haven't had any issues with the strap etc. I started with a Fitbit One (the clip on version). It was fine wearing it in pockets - no problem at all - but if I had no pockets I clipped it to my bra. And the damned thing went in the wash more than once, as I am used to emptying pockets, but it doesn't even occur to me that I might have stuff clipped to my bra...

It's a personal thing though - I have friends who clip theirs to their bra and have way more brains than I do to remember it's there!!

I think if you are doing a lot of different activities and want them to record automatically (not just steps) then there are way better monitors out there. I find it frustrating that if I want to record anything other than steps, I have to do it later and record times etc. Depends on what you want high. Not only am I bit forgetful, I'm also pretty busy and don't have time to be sitting down recording stuff. If you are already using MFP and whatnot though, this probably won't bother you. I can't be doing with entering data (I do enough of that all day every day lol)

In my dream world, I'd also want a waterproof version - not just because of my penchant for throwing them in the washing machine...

I've got one I don't use. You can have it if you want. It's just sitting in a drawer

I've got a Polar FT4 heart rate monitor. No it doesn't count steps -- but my experience of counting steps was that the Fitbit gave silly unbelievable numbers for steps. On the other hand, I have great fun with the FT4 which does calculate calories (I think very accurately.

Lots of food for thought here! Perhaps too much for my sleep deprived brain!
I do do most of my walking when pushing a pram so thanks to those who have highlighted that potential issue!
I'm a bit confused though...... Would the Fitbit that doesn't have heart rate monitor give an indication of how many calories I burn at the gym? See, on MFP it gives calories used in classes but I personally find classes differ depending on the teacher Andy mood etc. So I never know how accurate it is. I mostly do kettlebells and Zumba.
Sorry for stupid question. Thanks so much all. It's much appreciated!

Reader - are you serious??? I'd love it but you should put it on eBay, they still cost a lot second hand!

no
waste of points

I walk a lot, I know I walk a lot, I don't have a car. You're a nurse, you walk a lot..ditto.

I did have one - a mad urge which I then sold on ebay for exactly what I got it for. It didn't tell me anything I didn't already know and also if I followed the calorie recommendations, I would guess I would gain weight!

mine didn't have a heart rate monitor on it but it can't track exercise anyway so if you're on the cross trainer or lifting weights, you still have to calculate (if you want to) calories burned etc. I just couldn't see the point.

also the sleep thing depressed me - I have insomnia and some nights I woke up thinking, oh well, I had about 3 hours sleep - according to the Fitbit I had one!

I think you can find something more fun or treat based than a Fitbit. I can see it might be useful for some people - a colleague got one after he reaslied he walked less than 1000 steps a day on weekends - but not for you if you are already running round loads.

I strap my Fitbit hr to my leg with a bit of dressing tape when I have to be bear below the elbow. Picks up my heartbeat and my steps and I can feel it vibrate when I've done my steps.

do you mean one of these?

It's a Fitbit Flex Wireless Activity Tracker and Sleep Wristband

With most of the Fitbit range, you would need to go into the dashboard and record any activity other than steps separately, so it would calculate the calories burned in exactly the same way as you are recording your exercise currently in mfp. No real bonus to getting one.
The top of the range HR models might be a bit better, and have the logarithm worked out on bpm for your weight and height, but not sure.
There are definitely better frackers out there if you are wanting it to track anything other than steps and height differential (stairs climbed).
Steps counted is accurate though - sometimes I literally walk and watch the tracker for an accuracy check. The sleep tracker is interesting - you have to make sure you set it correctly (dominant or non-dominant wrist, and it has either a sensitive or regular setting). If I set mine in my non-Dom wrist and regular setting, it shows that I sleep soundly for the entire time I am in bed. If I set it for my dominant wrist and on the sensitive setting, I get around 4 hours a night. As Write said, this can be a bit depressing... and actually I am aware that even that is a stretch, as some of the time it records me as as,eep, I am actually just lying still and trying to sleep. Sometimes it claims I have been asleep when I have been watching tv on the sofa (admittedly I may as well have been lol).
Do some research into other trackers that might be better for you, particularly in terms of activity recording.

I found pushing my pram put my Fitbit into sleep mode! So I put it in my pocket. In your shoes i would get a Fitbit one and a chest heart rate monitor for proper exercise. (Or if you have your phone in your pocket all the time you can use the Fitbit app to track movement.)

I have an Alta , love it . Have a really sedentary job and have pushed myself from 3k steps a day to about 12k in a few weeks . Love the challenges you can do with your friends as well .

Yes that's the sort of thing Reader.
I'm so confused now but really do appreciate all the help.