Tips - Fitbit with Nutrisystem (and others)

[Ceolona]

I have been using Fitbit with Nutrisystem products for the past few months.  Their new NuMi app still isn't up to where it should be and Fitbit -almost- is a perfect replacement.  This should help to get up and running (losing?) with the Fitbit app and online food log.

Thie most important thing is to set Fitbit's calorie tracker to a FIXED figure, and not a deficit (e.g. 500 less than calories burned). Open up your NuMi app and you should see a "Cals Left" number.  This is your calorie target.  Enter this in the Plan Summary (Web) or Account/Nutrition/Food (iOS app). You may switch to a deficit of your choice after meeting your weight loss goal.

With your food shipment, there is a small booklet used for tracking your food, which is easily discarded. It tells you when and how many Smart Carbs and Power Fuels you have, as well as notes about fresh foods. Big tip: enter your entire day's worth of food in the morning. Fitbit has six time slots, which perfectly match the booklet. That way, you don't forget to document anything.  (Yes, the Fitbit calorie gauge will go right to red, but should return to yellow or green by the end of the day. It's just the way it gets tracked, nothing to be concerned about)

Regarding the barcodes on the food packages: don't bother. My experience has shown that most Nutrisystem barcodes are not on file, anyway. I have also discovered many other products in the Fitbit database have bad names and data as well. It is best to manually add every food item, or at least "customize" ones that are in the database.

With restaurants, you should not rely on the food database at all. Major chain restaurants change their menus/nutrition every few months, and the database is not always updated.  Big tip: Visit the restaurant's website, find the Nutrition Information page, and manually enter the food you plan to order BEFORE you leave. You will find all kinds of "hidden" information, like the number of portions per order and whether the items calories includes sides/sauces.

These tips work.  (To be fair, the fixed vs deficit issue was the big part). I'm already down almost 15 pounds since Feb.  Follow your program, and be aware of what is going on, and you will succeed!

--Harry

Moderator edit: format

[SilviaFitbit]

@Ceolona A warm welcome to the Community! Thank you for the tips that you've posted, I'm pretty sure that will help others. 

[TeenSupreme]

A few questions. First, which FitBit device are you using with the NuMi app? Second, when you say the NuMi app isnt up to where it should be, what do you mean by that? Are you able to sync your device successfully? The calorie target number taken from the NuMi app, is this number then entered into the FitBit app or what? I am confused on where we enter this information. Thank You!

[SilviaFitbit]

Welcome to the Community @TeenSupreme! Currently, Numi app isn't a supported app. You may want to check the list of supported apps. In this case, I would highly recommend to contact them in case they have a workaround in how to link both apps. 

Hope this helps. 

[Ceolona]

---

@TeenSupreme wrote:

A few questions. First, which FitBit device are you using with the NuMi app? Second, when you say the NuMi app isnt up to where it should be, what do you mean by that? Are you able to sync your device successfully? The calorie target number taken from the NuMi app, is this number then entered into the FitBit app or what? I am confused on where we enter this information. Thank You!

---

Which device?  It's irrelevant. 🙂

NuMi app?  There's a new version... it sucks less. Still difficult to track non-nutrisystem food.  Fitbit's is better (which really isn't saying much)

Sucessful sync to NuMi? It's flaky, at best. Don't bother using it to track fitbit steps. Stick with the Fitbit app.

Calorie target? The only use of the NuMi app is to get the calorie target, after you enter your height/weight. Put that number into Fitbit.  Everything else is handled through the FitBit app.  Set it through Nutrition & Body -> Food -> Set Own Goal

Pay attention to the nutrition information on any food logged, as well.  Fitbit's food database is still really REALLY awful. (duplicate entries, bad information, no responses to adding items through the app, etc) ...and they really cannot be bothered to update it.

As far as help with the NuMi app is concerned, you'd need to visit their website.