Best Fitbit Features (You Might Not Know About)

If you’re like me you got your Fitbit for a few simple reasons:

• to help motivate you to get active
• to set your fitness goal
• to count your steps
• to tell the time.

Using the Fitbit in this manner did help keep me accountable for my activity level.  I knew that 10 000 steps was what I needed to be “healthy”, according to fitness experts.  So, as long as I hit 10 000 steps I was pretty darn happy.  After about a year of pretty consistently hitting my steps and gaining a couple of pounds, I realized my Fitbit, while keeping me from being overly sedentary, was not actually helping me improve my fitness and weight goals.  My husband gave me sage advice saying, “It doesn’t matter how many steps you take if you are eating too much.”  Huh – pretty obvious and yet I had overlooked this obvious fact.

And so, after having had my Fitbit for over a year, I finally took the time to register my tracking device with fitbit.com and see what the Fitbit app was actually designed to do,  aside from the obvious step count.  What did these other symbols mean on my Fitbit screen?

First, I discovered how to change my step goals.  I increased them from 10 000 steps to 20 000 steps (later I adjusted this to 15 000 steps).  I found out that one of the reasons my step counts may have been higher than they should have been was that I had not indicated whether I was right- or left-hand dominant.  When you set your Fitbit up to show hand dominance it will use this information to ensure more accurate and reliable step counts.  It is also important to take the time to individualize your stride length to improve step count accuracy.

Next I set a weight goal.  I was able to set a program based on how quickly I wanted to lose my excess weight.  I decided to work hard and get my weight loss over as quickly as possible, so aimed for 2 lbs per week (later I adjusted this to 1 lb).  Changing your fitness goals is easy to do, so you can individualize your weight loss program until you find what works for you – one that allows you to meet your goals without feeling frustrated and resentful!

With these two goals set up,  I began to input my food and liquid intake every day. Fitbit makes this process easy and you can set the food log up to search Canadian or American products based on where you live.  The food database is extensive and I have always been able to find the food product I am seeking.  As you input your food and drink, Fitbit adds the calories up and gives you a clear-cut visual to show you how you are doing.  When your plate is full you have eaten your allotted calories.  Because Fitbit looks at both your calorie input and output, you can easily determine whether or not you are making appropriate eating choices based on your weight goals.

This is something I totally undervalued until I tried it.  I am one of those women who try never to weigh herself and don’t think it healthy to obsessively count calories.  That being said after only one day of inputting food into my food log, I realized how over the years I had begun to allow excess calories to creep into my diet.  No wonder I was carrying around excess baggage!  This is probably the most important change my Fitbit has brought to my life.  A reminder of how easily calories add up, especially for carb lovers like myself!

I could go on, but I won’t.  What is helpful for me, may or may not be helpful to you.  But, what I will say, is that there is a lot more to a Fitbit than the fitness tracker itself and a little time set aside to explore all Fitbit has to offer is well worth the time investment!