Fitness watches

[BlackAlys]

Do they help motivate you?

Not really- it's sat on a shelf with no battery!

Kind of. It makes me realise how few steps I do working from home so it does encourage me to go out for a walk, although not often enough!

motivate how?
Probably not, but I don't understand the question.
I like mine especially for tracking sleep, I don't need to be motivated to sleep more.

I have a garmin watch - as well as tracking my runs etc it "reminds" me to move every so often and tracks various things (steps etc)

It also shows WhatsApp messages as they come through, a small thing but so useful in meetings when I can't check my phone

Thanks everyone.

I should have been more specific.
I was bought a bulky basic fitness watch that had a big standard screen and didnt really motivate me because I hated wearing something so bulky.

I've looked at colleagues who have more expensive but sleeker monitors that monitor steps, calories, sleep etc and wonder if that would keep me moving.

Desperate to lose weight and tone up.

Mine did. Back in Jan 2015 I treated myself to a fitbit with a work bonus. I loved aiming for my 10k steps a day. Loved that it had an app on my phone and regularly checked my stats. Through mn I added 'friends' to my list and got involved in weekly challenges - seeing who could be top of the leaderboard for steps, this brought out an unknown competitive side to me and I loved being at the top However, once I started walking 4 miles or so in one go I was getting a lot of upper back pain - I was quite round shouldered and though not a couch potato was not a regular exerciser. A bit of googling suggested trying pilates which did the trick. I did the classes at the local leisure centre and it was cheaper to be a member than pay for 2 individual classes per week. As a member I could do any class so thought I'd try the Zumba, great fun! Then progressed to body pump, aerobics and eventually spin. The habit stuck and 6 years later (I'm 52) I'm a bit of an exercise addict and have lost 3 stone and am fitter than I've ever been. I now own a nice sleek Garmin watch.

Over the years previous I'd owned an exercise bike, step machine and sit up bar that had gathered dust. Never would have guessed that a little band around my wrist would have been what motivated me the most.

Very much so. I’m quite active at the moment with a 7 month old but if I have the odd day where I don’t move much I might look at mine and realise I’ve done 6500 steps and go on a walk to get to 10000.

Yes, I find it incredibly motivating. I have an Apple Watch and need to be nagged.

This is quite heartening to read. I'm at quite a low point in my life and I'm realising that part of this is due to me putting my own health on the bottom of the list.

What flat, not bulky watch can I buy to include the things I listed above?

My fitbit charge 4 monitor steps, calories, sleep -

I got it Brand new for £63 on ebay but needed a charger (£8) and a long strap (£8). Not in warranty I suppose, but you see barely used new ones still in warranty for £100 or so on ebay; compared to RRP £200 I think.

I probably lied before about motivation. If I see my calorie count (so far today) is low then I often think "hmmm, I haven't done much today, have I? I won't be hungry if I don't get moving" so will add some activity in before bedtime.

They're a bit of a con I think in that they do not accurately say how many calories you burn - they estimate based on how many calories someone with your height and weight burn but could be off by hundreds of calories as we all have different metabolisms. Also when it comes to losing weight exercise is only a tiny component.

But they can measure activity - so 10,000 steps or you've swum a mile or whatever. If you'd find that motivating then go for it.

I have a pretty fancy tracker that measures how hard my heart works and how well I 'recover' from exercise and sleep etc. All based on heart rate. I don't find it motivating so much as interesting to know how hard in theory I should push my exercise or alternatively rest.

Come to think of it, the fitbit charge2 monitors those 3 things. In good nick ones are selling for < £40 sometimes on ebay right now.

I love my Fitbit sense, it really does motivate me to move, a few of us on MN have joined up on the Fitbit app to challenge each other every day to steps etc, really helps me get my 10k a day which is really important for weight loss 👍🏻

But in terms of your desperation to lose weight, they are unlikely to help. That'll all be diet. And once you've done that to tone up you'll need to do weight bearing exercise which often looks pretty disappointing when logged on a smart watch!

There's a thread on here about it but I really recommend you read Why We Eat Too Much and cut processed food.

Someone will come and contradict me to say exercise will make a huge difference to your weight - I'm going my my experience of yo yo dieting for 20 years and trying every diet going, doing all of the exercise, finally losing over 10 stone after surgery and researching metabolism and weight loss. Good luck op

I think running watches are good. You can see if you're going further/ getting faster. I like to keep an eye on how much I've run each month and it keeps me motivated to keep going.

Fitbit type watches don't work for me motivation wise. I don't trust that they are accurate and I think they wildly over estimate number of steps and calories. If the aim is to lose weight then it's going to be mainly about diet. Walking 10,000 steps a day is better than not doing it but unlikely to make a big difference in terms of weight loss on its own.

I started off with a Fitbit, and like a PP loved the stats on the app, and the fun competition with friends. After a couple of years I upgraded to an Apple Watch, and it motivates me even more - rather than just steps, I 'need' to complete a certain number of exercise minutes and burn a certain number of active calories each day. The biggest motivator is my health insurance - they provide the Apple Watch with a small deposit, and then over a two year period, if you do a certain amount of exercise (as recorded by the watch), they will make the payments each month to pay off the balance. I also get various other perks through keeping active and eating healthily via the insurance - I joke that I get so many perks, they're basically paying me to have the insurance. The insurance is also through my work, so I'm only paying the tax benefit, not the actual premium cost.

I've got a Fossil and it's a pita.it's pretty (IMHO) but it spends most of its time being charged up. I don't use it as a fitness watch as it's too hassly.

I much prefer a Fitbit for motivation.

It's pretty meant to say.

Yes my Fitbit has motivated me to walk more…makes me smile when it buzzes me at 10000 steps .

Comebloodyon -
what you wrote is wrong, height doesn't come into the formula.
The fitbit and maybe most others, use
age
mass (weight)
sex
and heart rate
to figure out calorie burn. Plus assumption about Vo2max, and established formulae. We people might tell device the wrong mass-sex-age, but that's not fault of the device.

I have checked my calorie burn from fitbit against the heart rate from a separate monitor (polar) with formula -- total calories were within 4% agreement over 24 hours. Accurate enough for me. Some apps give activity calories as additional to keeping-alive calories, but most seem to just give a total over that period. Is other thing to be aware of.

It's the step count I don't find reliable. You can test your own device. Walk 100 steps and see how many device counts. Won't be very similar ime.

Mine did a bit and then I developed an allergy to the nickel or whatever smears on the back of it. I don't miss it.

I agree that the step counts aren't always reliable, but who needs to know exactly how many steps they've walked. I think the key thing is they make you do more activity than you would do otherwise to see those stats rise or beat someone in a friendly steps competition. As for the calories, it's good to see that you're burning extra calories even if they are over inflated. If I've burnt 500 calories in an exercise session I wouldn't then presume I can eat that many extra over my daily allowance but if I was feeling particularly hungry I might allow an extra 200 for a snack or larger portion of something with my meal.

Is an Apple Watch better than other fitness watches?

I thought you didn't want something bulky OP -- Apple products looks bulky to me.

@lljkk I thought they were flatter than fitbits?