I've had a pedometer before and the fitbit does way more than that. It helps if you like to see numbers and are motivated by more exact numbers.

The issue I had with the ActiveLink is that everything is geared to percentage of your goal for that day (you see the baseline on screen but you don't see percentage to baseline). You don't see number of calories burned or how many were burned by a particular activity.

Now - for some people that doesn't matter. They get super motivated by the ActiveLink and knowing percentage to goal and if they have earned activity points and how many is all they want.

For me, I didn't find that motivating. I find the information in the Fitbit motivating. For me the absolute key is recording calories eaten (I do it at MyFitnessPal) and sending that info to the Fitbit website so I can always see what kind of deficit I have for the day. If I am aiming for 750 deficit, then I will watch what I eat toward the end of the day if I'm running behind on that. Or, I'll go do some more activity. It changes my behavior.

I do activities other than walking such as rowing which I do name on the Fitbit.

The real proof is in the weight loss or lack thereof. Back in the old days (before ActiveLink) I lost 1/4 to 1/2 pound a week on average. I never knew why since I followed the eating program very closely and I exercised 5 days a week.

When I got my ActiveLink - all was revealed. Despite my exercise with my sedentary life I wasn't meeting my baseline. No wonder I lost slowly. While ActiveLink was illuminating to me, it didn't help me lose. In 6 months, wearing my ActiveLink every day, I gained 10 pounds.

I've had the Fitbit just over a month and have lost 4 pounds (which for me is a huge, huge amount). I love the display on the Fitbit One and when I am out walking for example, I will check it to see how far I've walked and how many calories I've burned and it helps motivate me.

Do you already have some sort of HRM type sport watch? Because if not... That would probably be a better type "gadget" to have if you're training for races... Are you talking about running? Because than you could get something with GPS so you could have accurate speed/distance/pace... I use to use a Garmin... But now I train with a Suunto... and that watch does everything... altitude... barometric pressure... I mean it lets you know when the weather is about to change... Plus all the HR stuff... It's like wearing a mini exercise physiology lab on your wrist...

Oh, and as far as know none of the "activity" monitors are waterproof... I don't train in the pool with a HRM... But I do wear one under my wetsuit when I race for the swim leg in the triathlons that I do...

Yeah...I like that the Fitbit works with MFP and SP. I like to bring up MFP before Ive even eaten or logged anything I can already see the adjustment for calories burned. I don't eat them back. I just like seeing the way they are applied to my day there. At SP I am an occasional drop by member and when I log in I always get several trophies pop up for my fitness minutes. I just like that they automatically synch up there whenever I get around to visiting.

I have a Garmin watch...yes running! I don't like a HRM at all, makes me slow down because I work too hard...bah ha ha ha!

If you have Walgreens in your area, you can sign up for their Walk With Walgreens program and your FitBit will sync to the Walgreens site. You get balance rewards points for weighing in and walking. It's nice to get a reward for doing something that is good for you.

That's a great benefit, thanks for sharing QuilterInVA!

Between syncing with myfitnesspal and now the Walgreens benefit I think I really want one.

Now to convince the husband I need another gadget!!

Really? I do Walk with Walgreens and have always logged my own walks there. I guess I need to synch up! Thanks!

I posted in another thread about my Fitbit One (I think it's in the Does it Work? section). But I love mine too. It says nice things to me when I wake up!

I've had pedometers before and I thought my Omron was really good, but it's still nothing compared to this. I usually forgot to wear the pedometer and it was bulky. I wear my Fitbit One constantly.

The pedometer rarely motivated me to actually move more. The Fitbit does! I check it throughout the day, I set mini-goals for myself throughout the day now (to walk a certain number of steps by a certain time). I always want to earn the next badge! I love getting an email saying I've walked 250 miles, or I've climbed the Statue of Liberty in steps. I share my badges on Twitter. You can't do that with a pedometer!

The sleep tracker works by just holding the button down, which starts a stopwatch. You wear it around your wrist with a velcro band, and it tracks how long you take to fall asleep, how many times you wake up in the night, and how long you stayed in bed for the night (you stop the stopwatch the same way you start it). It only measures movement, so it doesn't track whether you are having deep sleep or anything. You just sync it and then you can see a graph showing the whole night. I use it most nights but I'm not obsessive about it. If I don't use the sleeptracker feature, I just keep the thing clipped to my shirt so I don't forget to put it on in the morning.

And the clip that came with mine is extremely secure. I haven't worried once about losing my Fitbit.

Count me in as waiting for the Flex. I've heard varying dates (April 28, May 25) so who knows when it is coming out, but when it does, I'm getting one.

Omigosh, just googled it.....want!!!!

Btw, dumb question coming, but what is "DH"? Is it "dear husband" maybe? :-s

Hoping to get my hubs moving with me after May. He has been working so hard in school over the past 4 years and is finally done in a few weeks, and I know he wants to get back in shape. Hopefully I'm setting a good example. Maybe this Fitbit would be a nice grad gift. So proud of him

Lorna - yes, DH is "dear husband." I think the Fitbit would be a great gift.

I have the FitBit Ultra and LOVE it. It's not much more than a fancy pedometer, but for some reason I'm much more motivated by it than any pedometer I've used. It totally motivates me to move more...anytime I get a phone call, I stand up and start pacing. Sometimes I just walk while watching tv. I park far away from stores, etc. It's really fun to see how many steps I can rack up.

I've worn it twice for sleep, but it doesn't do much for me in that department. I sleep fine, for the most part, and I wasn't that interested in the sleep readings. But the extra steps? Oh yeah. Love it for that.

I am still torn, I have the Fitbit sitting in the package still. I am actually leaning towards the Activelink since it is waterproof! But then I go back to the fitbit because no matter if I am on WW or not, I will have it. Grrrrrr

I'm liking the FitBit now, not loving it... But it's OK... and I'm going to try to see if the numbers it's giving me for total calories burned for the day can start to help me create more of a calorie deficit to get the scale moving in the right direction again... And I went ahead and got the FitBit Aria wifi scale even though I already had the Withings wifi one, so I could just have it all integrated at the FitBit site...

Now I just need to figure out if I'm going to go to the trouble to double track everything on both WW and FitBit...

This is my issue! I went with the FB too, I am not too big on paying monthly for something and also paying for WW, so I figure FB was the way to go! It is charging now! Walk in 15 minutes, stay tuned!