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Like how having a clock doesn't necessarily make you better at time management, having a fitbit doesn't make you healthy. But it does allow you to measure thin

by cbanek 10y ago

Like how having a clock doesn't necessarily make you better at time management, having a fitbit doesn't make you healthy. But it does allow you to measure things, and if you have the willpower to improve them, you'll improve them. But the device won't do it for you, at best it enables you. At worst, it gives you a false sense of accomplishment that should be checked once you get on the scale. (Disclaimer: I love my fitbit, and it's helped me lose weight, but I find the step counter to be second to the heart rate monitor)

melling 10y ago
Yep, like anything else, it still requires effort. I've lost weight using my Apple Watch. https://h4labs.wordpress.com/2015/08/27/apple-watch-8-weeks-and-9-pounds/ https://h4labs.wordpress.com/2015/08/27/apple-watch-8-weeks-... I'm currently using it to run 5k, a few days a week. Six months ago, I was using it to train for my first 10k.
- KON_Air 10y ago
  It is almost as if tools themselves don't do the work on their own.
  - vinceguidry 10y ago
    I started to make a point, then went to go read the article, and found that the article is not making this point at all. It's adding evidence to the position that exercise doesn't cause people to lose weight. They did the work, they didn't lose the weight. A case of a bad headline, it seems.
    - melling 10y ago
      I lost weight. I included my blog where I illustrated that. The problem with exercise is that you may burn 300-500 calories then eat that much extra food because you are now hungrier. Diet is still more important. You also need to consider that when you lose 5 lbs of fat, for example, and gain 5 lbs of muscle, you weigh the same but you're definitely more fit.
      - jmelloy 10y ago
        You can't outrun your mouth. It's much easier to control for your diet than exercise it away, because unless you're working out for 8-10 hours a day, you won't burn more than a few hundred calories. That's one shake at McDonald's or Starbucks dessert.
mattmanser 10y ago
It’s hard for many to accept, so I’m going to state the results again: Those people who used the wearable tech for 18 months lost significantly less weight than those who didn’t. In the IDEA trial, those who employed the technology were no more physically active than those who didn’t. They also weren’t more fit. Let's say that again. They also weren’t more fit. You're ignoring empirical evidence. If what you say is true, they'd be more fit. I've got one too, but if you accept this article as true it looks like it turns out at best it's no more than a pretty bangle, at worst makes you think you're doing more than you are.
- ambulancechaser 10y ago
  i'm not sure where you are correcting the person you are responding to. It all seems consistent to me.
  - mattmanser 10y ago
    He says it "enables" him, the data shows it does not. It has a negative effect on weight and no effect on fitness. If anything, it is damaging and according to this article, you should get rid of them.
    - basseq 10y ago
      On the average, you're right. People with Fitbits still lost weight, but less than the "control" group. So if the presence of a Fitbit is the only variable, then Fitbits have a negative impact. The study wasn't set up to test that one variable, so I'd be wary drawing such strong conclusions. Your point is that the title is misleading. It's not that fitness devices don't make you more fit. It's that they make you less fit. And that's a big difference. Individual "enablement" could be an outlier. I'd love to see a distribution of weight loss results in this study.
      - mattmanser 10y ago
        The article title is quite gentle compared to what's actually said in the article. But that wasn't my point. The article draws the strong conclusion that fitness trackers are useless based on a study. The author compares them to fad diets, sold to the public before they're even properly tested. Now they've been tested and they don't work. But when I came to this comment thread, the top comment is extolling how wonderfully enabling fitbits are apart from you just gotta have will power. According to one guy. The article flatly contradicts his stance. According to the study results, on average, even the people with willpower got no fitter. I doubt he read the article, I doubt anyone down voting anything I said did either.
pmarreck 10y ago
I've lost weight with FitBit Blaze in conjunction with a decent calorie tracker app which makes it easy, like http://www.loseit.com/ http://www.loseit.com/ . While the former is informative (extra important as I have sleep issues which of course make me hungrier, and the fitbit does a decent sleep-tracking job...), I'm sure the latter is having a bigger impact overall.
moftz 10y ago
I go to the gym in the mornings before work but I don't wear my fitbit or my android wear watch when I go. It's a crossfit style gym so I'm not running miles. Neither of my devices have heart rate monitors so they really can't measure much in terms of my activity levels other than the steps I take. I stopped wearing my fitbit because of how little I used it. I have an older model that only shows who is calling in addition to the typical fitness metrics (steps, floors, miles, etc) so my android watch is much more useful. I'm not the kind of person to always be shooting for a high score so how many steps I take during the day is irrelevant to my life.
- cbanek 10y ago
  I also find the step count to be mostly useless, but the heart rate tracker has been gold. I used to have a Polar HR monitor (that would strap across your chest) and this is just so much better. And being able to track my heart rate has made it so that I will push myself a bit harder because I know where my heart rate is at.

by cbanek 10y ago

melling 10y ago

Yep, like anything else, it still requires effort. I've lost weight using my Apple Watch. https://h4labs.wordpress.com/2015/08/27/apple-watch-8-weeks-and-9-pounds/ https://h4labs.wordpress.com/2015/08/27/apple-watch-8-weeks-... I'm currently using it to run 5k, a few days a week. Six months ago, I was using it to train for my first 10k.

KON_Air 10y ago
It is almost as if tools themselves don't do the work on their own.
- vinceguidry 10y ago
  I started to make a point, then went to go read the article, and found that the article is not making this point at all. It's adding evidence to the position that exercise doesn't cause people to lose weight. They did the work, they didn't lose the weight. A case of a bad headline, it seems.
  - melling 10y ago
    I lost weight. I included my blog where I illustrated that. The problem with exercise is that you may burn 300-500 calories then eat that much extra food because you are now hungrier. Diet is still more important. You also need to consider that when you lose 5 lbs of fat, for example, and gain 5 lbs of muscle, you weigh the same but you're definitely more fit.
    - jmelloy 10y ago
      You can't outrun your mouth. It's much easier to control for your diet than exercise it away, because unless you're working out for 8-10 hours a day, you won't burn more than a few hundred calories. That's one shake at McDonald's or Starbucks dessert.

mattmanser 10y ago

It’s hard for many to accept, so I’m going to state the results again: Those people who used the wearable tech for 18 months lost significantly less weight than those who didn’t. In the IDEA trial, those who employed the technology were no more physically active than those who didn’t. They also weren’t more fit. Let's say that again. They also weren’t more fit. You're ignoring empirical evidence. If what you say is true, they'd be more fit. I've got one too, but if you accept this article as true it looks like it turns out at best it's no more than a pretty bangle, at worst makes you think you're doing more than you are.

ambulancechaser 10y ago
i'm not sure where you are correcting the person you are responding to. It all seems consistent to me.
- mattmanser 10y ago
  He says it "enables" him, the data shows it does not. It has a negative effect on weight and no effect on fitness. If anything, it is damaging and according to this article, you should get rid of them.
  - basseq 10y ago
    On the average, you're right. People with Fitbits still lost weight, but less than the "control" group. So if the presence of a Fitbit is the only variable, then Fitbits have a negative impact. The study wasn't set up to test that one variable, so I'd be wary drawing such strong conclusions. Your point is that the title is misleading. It's not that fitness devices don't make you more fit. It's that they make you less fit. And that's a big difference. Individual "enablement" could be an outlier. I'd love to see a distribution of weight loss results in this study.
    - mattmanser 10y ago
      The article title is quite gentle compared to what's actually said in the article. But that wasn't my point. The article draws the strong conclusion that fitness trackers are useless based on a study. The author compares them to fad diets, sold to the public before they're even properly tested. Now they've been tested and they don't work. But when I came to this comment thread, the top comment is extolling how wonderfully enabling fitbits are apart from you just gotta have will power. According to one guy. The article flatly contradicts his stance. According to the study results, on average, even the people with willpower got no fitter. I doubt he read the article, I doubt anyone down voting anything I said did either.

pmarreck 10y ago

I've lost weight with FitBit Blaze in conjunction with a decent calorie tracker app which makes it easy, like http://www.loseit.com/ http://www.loseit.com/ . While the former is informative (extra important as I have sleep issues which of course make me hungrier, and the fitbit does a decent sleep-tracking job...), I'm sure the latter is having a bigger impact overall.

moftz 10y ago

I go to the gym in the mornings before work but I don't wear my fitbit or my android wear watch when I go. It's a crossfit style gym so I'm not running miles. Neither of my devices have heart rate monitors so they really can't measure much in terms of my activity levels other than the steps I take. I stopped wearing my fitbit because of how little I used it. I have an older model that only shows who is calling in addition to the typical fitness metrics (steps, floors, miles, etc) so my android watch is much more useful. I'm not the kind of person to always be shooting for a high score so how many steps I take during the day is irrelevant to my life.

cbanek 10y ago
I also find the step count to be mostly useless, but the heart rate tracker has been gold. I used to have a Polar HR monitor (that would strap across your chest) and this is just so much better. And being able to track my heart rate has made it so that I will push myself a bit harder because I know where my heart rate is at.