Review: Fabulous Fun Fitbit

So you think you are getting lots of exercise and doing really well?

Nothing shifting on your weight?

Well time to get a few home truths. Clip on a fitbit and find out if you really move as much as you think you do.

Yes at first glance you may think it is just a pedometer .It however is backed up by a website which is where the real information starts.

You get an activity summary for the day the week and the month. Knowing you barely moved for 97% of the day is rather a wake-up call.

The fitbit itself give you a step count, mileage, calories, number of flight of stairs you climbed and a flower that grows or shrinks depending on how active you are. It also can analyse your sleep.

The device is very simply there is just one button that scrolls through the options. It you press and hold the button it will turn into your sleep tracker and turns into a stopwatch. In the morning simply press and hold and it turns back to the daytime mode.

The first thing that is great about it is the small size. I have tried many pedometers but they are all too bulky and ruin the line of your suit. This one you clip on and no-one even notices you are wearing it. It has a good clip system and has withstood roller coasters and trampolining and long runs as I train for the half marathon. Many others fail the clip test but this one has never fallen off despite my thorough challenges to it.

The device itself gives you a quick feedback. You however get far more information from the analysis on the website. This can tell you the most active day and gives you badges as you achieve challenges. You get an e-mail to tell you that you have achieved another badge. These are for climbing uphill or distance. It is inspiring to realise you have actually walked 250 miles. It also lets you see how you could change your day to be more active by using the analysis tools.

It analyses your sleep and identifies if you wake many times in the night by means of a simple graph.

There is the option to log your food and additional activities. This is where I will say “hmmmm”. At this point you hit a very americanised option list.

Apparently in the USA you cannot get an egg out of the shell…you must be in a restaurant and pick the chain and the options….many items that are staple foods here do not show up on the system so you end up picking the nearest option. Quantities again were a little strange.

In addition if you have for example cycled then this will not be counted so you can manually enter this on the website or using the app on your phone.

The app has improved from the initial version I started from and now enables you to enter food and activities quickly and easily.

If only you could find some UK foods and not play guess for the nearest option this would be a useful enhancement.

I’ve had this on test for a while and I have to say the battery is great and lasts for ages unlike many other items I spend my life charging. It will synch wirelessly if within so many meters of your computer with the software on and the base station connected, as long as the computer is turned on.

If you want a quick and simply way to review your activities and to get more active this is a great motivational tool. It’s quick easy and your results get emailed to you but you do have to remember to synch this.

Many things I get bored of but this one I have found quite addictive and just so convenient to use.

Even with the slight issue with the calorie entry I have to give the Fitbit a…