Experience with using Fitbit to monitor exercise and sleep

Hi Don -
I like using my FitBit Charge 3 for the same reasons. You can find a lot of YouTube videos about each specific model. There are ways to set the sensitivity to sleep, stride length and some other things - my old one allowed me to set a movement reminder, but I can't figure out how to make this one do it...more research needed I guess.
Not today though - today I am learning to use my PhotoStick to backup my cell phone pictures. Had a phone stolen last year and lost the most recent few that weren't in the cloud. One tech lesson a day is all my brain can handle.
Have fun with your new toy!
Sue

Today we walked 4.3 miles and I got my first Fitbit award email for passing 5,000 steps. I tried walking upstairs and it recorded 1 floor. I took a nap and it added 1 more hour of sleep now totalling 7. I can see how this may encourage me to keep up and possibly add some stretch goals. I having tried logging fooed yet.

Oh Don @dsh33782, you've caught me in the middle of a FitBit craze. I'm tracking everything and loving it. Here's my Fitbit story. I got my first watch tracker 3 years ago and enjoyed several of the features like counting steps and tracking sleep. I also got a lot of use out of the timer for timing my sprints and steeping my tea for a perfect 3:30 minutes (LOL).

A year ago I "loaned" my mom my Fitbit because we were discussing her assessment of her sleep patterns. She got great satisfaction from the objective assessment of her sleep over how she thought she slept. It helped her discern between tiredness from lack of sleep or poor sleep quality vs. the fatigue she frequently experiences due to other conditions. It helped her gauge when to push through and when a nap was more warranted. It also helped her discuss fatigue vs sleep with her doctor. The side benefit was the step motivator. Can you say competitive spirit? She is really motivated to reach the goals we set for her. Her daily 5000 step goal quickly changed to 6000. She often gets 7000 or more a day, especially in the nice weather. We kept the goal at 6000 however to ensure she gets the daily reward of the watch's congratulation fireworks.

Recently I showed her the Relax function so she can practice pursed lipped breathing and strengthen her lung capacity.

And me? Well it was obvious that I was never going to get my watch back, so she bought me a newer model for my birthday and this has sent me on a fitness craze. Like mother like daughter I guess. I'm tracking everything from active minutes to water intake (kidney stone prevention), from steps to food, from sleep to mindfulness exercises.

I was very reluctant to track food and thought it would be too much work, but it's really not that hard. So enlightening to see calories in vs calories out. It's helping me slim the COVID middle I seem to have acquired. I love seeing how many of my walking, running or workout minutes are actually in the cardio or peak range. But my biggest goal is to improve my sleep. Right now I'm following a free guided program for improved sleep called "Habits for Restful Sleep." Look for it in the Discover section on your Fitbit app. It's a 2 week program. Each week you take away one thing and add one thing to improve sleep. For example in the first week I chose to stop eating by 8 pm and to do a mindfulness exercise daily. The second week no screens after 9:30 and an aerobic workout daily. My sleep is improving.

@sueinmn, what is your current goal that you use your tracker for? @ess77 @mayofeb2020 @Erinmfs @tcokeefe @nannette @dvdhoover @nene22 will you join the discussion?

Don, you said you got the new Fitbit select. I'm not familiar with that model. Did you mean the Fitbit Sense? What is the first health goal that you would like to improve by tracking it with your new tracker?

@colleenyoung. I original got the Fitbit to track my HR more than my steps. I'm having alot of issues with my fitbit:

One night I had a restless night, woke up at midnight and could not go back to sleep until at least after 1am. The next morning, I found I got a 90 in my sleep score! Another night I thought I slept well, but only get a 67 because it did not record my sleep for a few hours during the night.

I always use the same route for walking so I know how many steps it would be, but lately it was about 300 steps less. So I decided to use Google fit too when I walk, sure enough, the difference is about that much. My fitbit is on my wrist 24/7, except when I charge it or bath time. I do not carry my phone with me during the day, so I don't understand why at the end of the day, my Google fit showed I walked more steps.

I still use it to track my HR when I walk as this is primarily why I got it but my cardiologist dies not think that fitness tracers are always correct.

Now instead of counting steps, I use the mileage feature. Shopping for a new fitness tracker. Now that Google has completed the purchase of Fitbit, maybe they can iron some kinks out as I think it is a useful tool to get me motivated.

I wear my Fitbit 24/7 and use it only for sleep and for exercise. I don't track food or anything else I personally try to exercise 6 days a week, taking one day off to rest. And try to get at least 30 minutes of cardio each day. I do this with either a brisk power walk or slow jog for 30-40 minutes. My best friend, who is a doctor told me after I got diagnosed with lung disease that I had to do cardio everyday and keep my lungs in shape so I've been exercising regularly for the past three years with my fitbit. I've never gotten about an 85 on sleep and my low has been around 63. Love my Fitbit! Nan

My hubs and I got Fitbit Versas on Canada Day 2017. My mom and dad actually got us on to this. So we decided to try for 10,000 steps daily. Hard when we both had sedentary desk jobs! So we walked our dog about an hour each night after supper to get those steps. Then we decided to start using the app to track food. I resisted the weighing and measuring at first, but as I watched my hubbie start to lose weight doing it, I gave in and we never looked back! I absolutely love being able to see what I've eaten and also "earned" by activity in calories. I always say "I walk for snacks!". I find it super motivating. I used to look for parking spots near the door of a store; now I park far away to get more steps. At work I used to file patient charts in the filing cabinets at day end; now I get up and file each one as I'm done with it, for more movement! My husband lost about 60 pounds this way, over about 8 or 9 months. I lost 16 pounds over about maybe 5 months. We have easily kept it off and in fact we have both become leaner than ever in our lives. I am 54 and my hubs is 45 so age isn't a factor, anyone can do this! We found out how much and how poorly we were eating too. We eat lighter versions of what we used to eat. We "fall off the wagon" a few times a year- Christmas, Easter, Thanksgiving, and take a few days of eating whatever the heck we want with no measuring. We put on like 5 pounds! Then go back to our normal eating and it's gone in a couple of weeks. You can do this and won't want to go back to how you were before!
Theresa

My hubs and I got Fitbit Versas on Canada Day 2017. My mom and dad actually got us on to this. So we decided to try for 10,000 steps daily. Hard when we both had sedentary desk jobs! So we walked our dog about an hour each night after supper to get those steps. Then we decided to start using the app to track food. I resisted the weighing and measuring at first, but as I watched my hubbie start to lose weight doing it, I gave in and we never looked back! I absolutely love being able to see what I've eaten and also "earned" by activity in calories. I always say "I walk for snacks!". I find it super motivating. I used to look for parking spots near the door of a store; now I park far away to get more steps. At work I used to file patient charts in the filing cabinets at day end; now I get up and file each one as I'm done with it, for more movement! My husband lost about 60 pounds this way, over about 8 or 9 months. I lost 16 pounds over about maybe 5 months. We have easily kept it off and in fact we have both become leaner than ever in our lives. I am 54 and my hubs is 45 so age isn't a factor, anyone can do this! We found out how much and how poorly we were eating too. We eat lighter versions of what we used to eat. We "fall off the wagon" a few times a year- Christmas, Easter, Thanksgiving, and take a few days of eating whatever the heck we want with no measuring. We put on like 5 pounds! Then go back to our normal eating and it's gone in a couple of weeks. You can do this and won't want to go back to how you were before! Note we switched to Fitbit Ionic about 2 yrs ago as we wanted GPS to track walks.
Theresa

Thanks for your encouraging message. My husband had many Fitbits and loved them. I just got an Apple watch because they are on sale (for heart health month) and I’m trying to learn all it can do for me. Baby steps for me

Since Jan my wife Charlotte and I have been doing 10,000 steps per day with 2 walks. I've also increased my sleep up from about 6 to 7 hours. But I haven't started recording food yet, but I really like to lose 10# and that seems to be the way forward.

@dsh33782 - Good morning. I’m wondering how you are getting along with your first Fitbit. I’m on the verge of shopping for one for myself and would appreciate any shopping tips for me - a first timer who is uncomfortable with my technology skill. I want to go shopping soon.

Appreciate any tips from anyone.