Take off that Fitbit. Exercise alone won’t make you lose weight Article

[mintons]

What does the fitbit community think about this article?

[smhermione]

For the years that I have used fitbits I have always told people that the most important feature isn't the tracker, but the dashboard and logging on the website. For me it isn't that I'm exercising out of a bad diet, but that the tracker and website give me real numbers so I am aware of what I am burning compared to what I am eating. If I couldn't track those with my fitbit it would be much harder for me to know how many calories I am burning. That was always the problem for me in previous weight loss attempts. I didn't know how much was the right amount to eat for me.

[loveabull]

I don't even have to read the article based on the obnoxious title. No the FitBit or any tracker, or diet, or pill is going to make someone with bad habits lose weight. But exercise, ideally daily exercise can do so much for us. It can lower your blood pressure, boost your immunity, help prevent any number of illnesses, it's great for your mental well being as well as physical benefits. I love my FitBit. I think of it as a toy and it's a lot of fun!

[Heybales]

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@Emchuw wrote:

I am just starting out with MFP and Fitbit, I've been using them both for about two weeks now. I've lost 3 lbs. I'm learning how to plan healthier meals (having a plan makes it easier to make better choices) and how to balance calorie intake throughout the day. I know I'm lacking as far as exercise goes because I work a desk job and the weather has been poopy lately, and I can't afford a gym membership right now. Do you have any tips about getting started? 

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Got stairs at work?

Anything bad if you let the rush hour traffic die down while you do stairs?

[LewWagner]

It's a simple fact.  Only you can lose weight.  A piece of plastic and electronics will not do that for you.  YOU have to stay out of the kitchen at 9 PM.  YOU have to throw out all the bad food from your pantry and fridge and any other little stash place you've hidden munchies.  Depending on a "posse" or groups like WW, NS, or JC to "force" you to lose weight won't help you at 2 AM when your grumbling belly tries to control you. 

Those things being said....it is very nice to use assistive tools to chart your goal progress.  But, they're just tools, not your boss. 

Keep the use of such devices in perspective. 

[groundzero]

Stupid title for an article. If exercise alone won't lead to significant weight loss, it does NOT logically follow that therefore one shouldn't exercise (or use a motivational tool to help one exercise). Daft, just daft.

I wasn't really thinking about weight loss when I started using a Fitbit--I was thinking about being too sedentary (I'm a writer--all I do is sit!). I think my diet was fine, and I didn't change it. But I sure did change my exercise habits. And somehow lost 12 pounds in 4 months, right down to my goal weight (which I didn't care if I hit or not--it was like an "It would be nice if.").

Hmmmm. I'm keeping my Fitbit on, thank you very much.

[SunsetRunner]

@Heybales, no stairs at work 😕 although i have been asking to do things for the other people (my parents or sister, it's a family business) so I can get on my feet more. We also unload a truck full of raw materials every tuesday so that boosts the heart rate a bit

[Gershon]

This is one of the studies referenced. It showed that in places where people increased the amount of their exercise, obesity increased. If we accept this as a true statement, and also accept that exercise helps keep our weight down, then the only conclusion is Fitbits make people around us gain weight. 

[groundzero]

LOL. "I'm sorry, is my Fitbit making you fat?"

[pidgeon92]

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@groundzero wrote:

LOL. "I'm sorry, is my Fitbit making you fat?"

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It's as good an excuse as any, I suppose.

[slysam]

The problem with articles like this... They seem to emphasize what people spend on fitness. What they don't always acknowledge is that most inactive people do not stick with these things long enough to see results and that people may not always be honest about how active they are or are not (even to themselves). Anyone who regularly goes to the gym knows how crowded it is in January then how much less so in February or March. and many who go may or may not be making the right lifestyle changes the rest of the day.

Weight loss is mostly about diet and nutrition, I agree. And often the weight loss benefits of exercise are oversold. For most people, even consistently working out an hour a day will only make a small difference in their calorie burn, and it may give them an excuse to eat more if not also being careful with their diet (which is human nature and survival instinct). 

However, that isn't really what all day trackers like Fitbit are promoting. Fitbit (and similar devices) are promoting increased all - day activity. The average sedentary person burns something like 80% of their total calories just existing. For someone like me (smallish, female) a good workout may burn 200-300 caloreis (including about 60  I would have burned existing). That doesn't really allow me to each much more in a day especially if I am sedentary outside my workout. However, it helps and more importantly it helps keep my body healthy and gives me stamina.

The results are better, if I also replace more of my sedentary time with light activity, well that will boost my calorie burn better than my workout and usually does not trigger increased hunger as much. That can allow me to add 500 calories (more or less) a day. I think one benefit of all day trackers is they can help the user think about the whole 24 hour day and how to live a more active lifestyle all day. This makes more of a difference. This made it so I could eat the amount that would have maintained my weight (if sendetary) and lose weight without feeling that deprived. It is a tool for people to work out the right balance of food, sleep and activity for them.  And it often works very well for those who get that concept and approach it as tool to assist their lifestyle change.

Sadly, writers of these articles often do not get it. Though they often raise some very valuable points to consider. However what really gets me, the value of exercise and activity is not just weight loss. It is so much more, weight loss is just one thing that helps motivate people to start.

[LedMatrix]

What are you talking about?

[kpx]

Provocative title... but several logic problems with the article.

*Flawed methodology in exercise attribution in the studies cited... IOW how they measured 'people are exercising more' ... amount of exercise in terms of weight should be measured via HR and burn... period  - and maybe sleep should be account for here too since it plays a role

*Exercise making one gain weight because of increase in appetite -  is also a fallacy.It does not account for how our bodies work. Your body needs nourishment and what you eat and the ratio of nutrition to calories... depends on the quality of our food more than anything else

Everyone is unique... but for 99.999%

If calories out (including exercise) exceeds in... they will lose, if the same maintain, if in exceeds out they will gain. Very simple... and to know this ratio one would have to somehow log exercise and activity vs food / drink consumed.On this note I wonder how many people really track the calories in.

I didn't buy Fitbit to lose weight ... but was already half way into a lifestyle change due to health scare. I replaced my wahoo strap and garmin vivofit with the fitbit surge. I lost 30 pounds in 2 months and at one point had dropped almost 40 ... when I went to see nutritionist. At this point I actually tracked all food for one week using myfitnesspal (which integrates with fitbit).  I really got a lot out of doing that... you can see how well you are balancing in/out and whether or not you are getting the right amounts of key nutrients.

[Raviv]

For me, my Fibit is more about awareness.  

I'm more aware of my need to keep moving and do something.

I'm more aware of what I'm eating.

And I'm also more aware of the balance between those two things.

But all of that would be completely useless data if I didn't actually do anything to change how much I move or what I eat.  My Fitbit is a tool, just like the equipment at the gym or a food scale or nutrition information.

[WillowTheWhisp]

That is indeed a very poorly written article and sadly it could lead to overweight people totally abandoning the idea of excercise under the misapprehension that it is not going to be beneficial to them. A very erroneous and dangerous assumption.

I have been attempting to lose weight for a while now but got discouraged when I developed a physical problem which severely limited my ability to walk far. During that time of sitting, riding buses, using elevators and escalators my weight increased. I also found myself veeering towards sugary drinks with the excuse that they were better for me than all the chemical additives in diet drinks.  I GAINED weight.

Recently I aquired a fitbit which initially got me motivated to move - but the dashboard has given me more a great deal of insight into what I eat and drink. I have known I should drink more water but until I got the fitbit and logged my water intake I wasn't motivated to drink more.

It's obvious that to lose weight calories used must be greater than calories consumed. Vague calorie counting with little or no idea of calories burned rapidly loses appeal. It just seems like too much of a faff writing down and adding up everything eaten, aiming for some vague total that is supposed to be the "recommended daily amount for age, height and gender" in order to lose weight. In contrast the fitbit dashboard gives me all the information I need. I've set my weight loss goal and I know how much to eat to stay in the zone to be on target for that. It's personalised and I can see my results. It works.

Having the calorie count at my finger tips is an added bonus. You quickly realise how much of the daily allowance can be gobbled up in sugar - and naturally by avoiding those sugary things it leaves far more calries available for healthier options. Having increased my water intake and adjusted my food consumption to more healthy options I am now finding that the sugary drinks I once drank by the bottle ful are far less appealing to me and not at all thirst quenching.

I'm not claiming that my fitbit is a magical wristband which removes my excess weight by its mere existence but what it has done is change me, change my eating habits, change my lifestyle, change my excercise habits and set me on the road to weight loss and health gain. That can't be bad. I don't think I would have the same motivation without it.

The article almost gives the impression that excercise is a negative thing because it leads to eating more. It has't for me. It doesn't give me an appetite. The fitter I feel the less inclined I am to want to sit in front of the TV stuffing my face with rubbish and empty calories.

Although the article does mention there are other health benefits from excercise it does very little to encourage people to acheive them. 

[dancefoxtrot]

Willow

Excellent points and keep up the motivation and healthy choices. Exercise is natural healthy movement. Motion is lotion they say.

Barb

[dancefoxtrot]

kpk

Excellent points. I agree.

Barb

[CTW]

In my 20's I believed I could eat almost anything and exercise hard to maintain proper weight. In my 40's, I have seen that weight loss and maintenance is 98% what I put in my mouth and 2% how I exercise. Exercise has other great benefits for our health, but we can control our weight by what and how we eat. Most people  think they are eating healthy and lean when in fact if they were more educated about nutrition and kept a journal they would see exactly where their weight problem is. I was that person for years. I have never been obese but the last 15 years I have carried 25 more pounds than I should have. I ran literally 50 miles a week, I cycled, I swam and lifted weights. I have done cross-fit and insanity. Never really lost much weight. Got super strict on my eating and stopped working out to not get hungry and have lost 20lbs in 8 weeks. I think exercise is great and I have always been athletic, but weight loss and control is about understanding and eating right 98% more than the exercise in my experience. 

[Elendili]

I agree.  What we are seeking is really a balance between healthy eating and healthy exercise.  The key word is healthy.  To be healthy you need to be balanced.  Each of us will eventually find our own balance of both. 

Elendili

[velmck]

So true.  However do not make the mistake I made.  I bought those cute silicon bracelets for my new fitbit one hoping that this time I would not lose it.  This resulted in inaccurate data.  By the end of the day, the data indicated that I had made over 11,000 steps and climbed 56 fights of stairs, when I had actually been moderately inactive and climbed less than ten.  For example, after driving for one hour, I logged over 1000 steps.  I thought something was wrong with my fitbit one, but it turns out I was wearing it all wrong. Fitbit One must not be worn on the wrist. There is no way to erase the inaccurate stats recorded in my records. Lesson learned.

[Colinm39]

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@velmck wrote:

So true.  However do not make the mistake I made.  I bought those cute silicon bracelets for my new fitbit one hoping that this time I would not lose it.  This resulted in inaccurate data.  By the end of the day, the data indicated that I had made over 11,000 steps and climbed 56 fights of stairs, when I had actually been moderately inactive and climbed less than ten.  For example, after driving for one hour, I logged over 1000 steps.  I thought something was wrong with my fitbit one, but it turns out I was wearing it all wrong. Fitbit One must not be worn on the wrist. There is no way to erase the inaccurate stats recorded in my records. Lesson learned.

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@velmckIf you want to get your Fitbit record off to a great start you can nullify the data you feel is not "earned" by clicking on your Log, Activity and then the large stopwatch at the bottom.

Type driving in to the search box, and fill in the details where you need to override the data.

Be very careful of dates and AM/PM because this routine always defaults to Today's date.