Fitness tracker recommendations please - I need to motivate myself!

[cakefiend19]

Before I do my usual and lose days of my life to reading hundreds of reviews please can you tell me which fitness tracker you would rate which has the following features: step counter, calories burned, waterproof and can be worn on wrist or clipped to body? Doesnt have to have heart rate monitor or sleep tracker. Will be walking, swimming and doing yoga. Would rather not spend over £100 but open to suggestions. TIA.

Also has yours helped you to lose weight? I would like to lose half a stone, ideally a stone but for health reasons I can't exercise like mad any more to get rid of excess weight.

Anyone? I'm getting sucked in to reviews

I like My Fitness Pal. I don't use it too much for exercise (mainly because I don't do nearly enough) but it's really good for logging food.
You can scan the barcode on anything you're going to eat, or type in the food and it adds all of your calories up for the day and tells you how many you've got left. I lost around 3 stone doing this - plus more exercise than I do now- a couple of years ago.

Thanks, I thought I would use it along side a tracker, good to know it works

I've got a Fitbit Alta, but it's not waterproof (which is my major annoyance with it). Other than that, I really like it. It counts steps, calories (but I think these are fairly arbitrary TBH), km, I'm not sure if it has to be worn round wrist though, rather than clipped somewhere (I think the Fitbit one can be clipped).

It automatically tracks when I've been for a walk, run or cycle, and then it has a load of extra activities that I can log manually (so I log my yoga, if I've been swimming, playing tennis, gone to circuits class, whatever).

I like it to track my activity levels, it's a bad day when I've not managed 30 mins of activity. Its also does my sleep, but that's really inaccurate. It can also track what you're eating and drinking, but I'm not trying to lose weight, just keep active really.

I also really like the challenge aspect with friends, which makes it slightly more sociable. Haven't regretted it at all (had it just over a year).

My DH has an Apple Watch, and in terms of fitness, it's pretty similar, but of course has all the other functionality too (and latest models are waterproof I think). I'm not prepared to upgrade at the moment though.

Thanks for such a detailed reply, that's really helpful. If you can add other activities manually maybe I don't need to bother with a waterproof one.

If you are into Fitbit's the Fitbit Flex 2 would give you most of what you need and is waterproof. Another alternative, is the Moov Now which I quite like. However, rather than tracking steps it deals in active minutes.

I liked my Fitbit charge hr at first but after a few weeks the novelty wore off and it's in some corner somewhere...

I've had all manner of trackers - wristbands, ones you attach to your waistband or bra strap etc, the novelty soon wears off. I've got the Apple Watch now and it's the best for me but IS very expensive.

For gps capability you're looking at the running watches like the tomtom runner (cardio adds hr monitoring). Mine tracks steps and calories as well as running, swimming (not tested by me) other outdoor stuff (pony trekking) and treadmill workouts.

I have a Fitbit charge hr. I use it to track my activity and keep me motivated. I lost about 10lbs by increasing my steps and monitoring my food with MFP. I go through phases when it's hard work or winter and I do less. But find it's a good way to generally keep active and see the trends.

Thanks for all the replies, really helpful. Will look in to a fitbit moov now. Due to health problems there are days when I really have to rest my body and do very little. This may be a stupid question but do you have to use your tracker religiously each day to get the most accurate information or does it not matter if it stays in a drawer some days?!

Have a search on here , there's been a few good threads about fitness watches in recent years. Maybe under the search "fitbit"

I loved my fitbit last year. It doesn't seem worth the exercise if you can't view how many steps you've done lol.
I had the charge HR but the new one is meant to be very good.
Altho other brands were recommended on the threads.

I have the charge HR and used to have the charge - the HR tracker helps it clocks exercise that doesn't involve steps more reliably and so gives you a more rounded picture even if you are not interested in the HR stats per se.

I would just wear it all the time even if you aren't active - you can track trends over time then - how many steps that month and so on.

I like mine - I don't think fitbits are as accurate as the more technical fitness devices but I find mine motivating in a minor and cheerful way - not to be taken too seriously but interesting and fun.

A PP asked about a tracker and GPS. I've got a Polar M400 which is mainly a GPS sports watch with chest strap, but also tracks "steps", sleep and activity level like the fit bit types.

I have just ordered [https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B01JOWF6L2/ref=mp_s_a_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1493221199&sr=8-4&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_FMwebp_QL65&keywords=fitness%2Btracker&dpPl=1&dpID=51%2BU8ygy4cL&ref=plSrch&th=1&psc=1this] It looks good for the price, and gets a lot of good reviews. I will let you know how I get on with it.

It is waterproof, which was a must for me, as I do a lot of swimming.

I have a Samsung charm. Linked to Samsung health on my phone. It's a little bracelet not water proof. You can add other activities on the app ie Swimming or weight machines.