About Dominique

10,000 daily steps is good. So is 90 minutes of walking. I'm a bit surprised you would get 60 minutes of VAM's with such activity, though. VAM's are normally granted for rather intense activity, like brisk walking (4.2 mph or more).   When walking briskly (about 7 km/h), I get about 9000 steps in 60 minutes, all of them qualifying as VAM's. I'm a 53-year-old male, normal weight and reasonably fit. It seems the algorithm that calculates VAM's varies from one Fitbit model to another: for instance, the Zip appears to be more generous than the One (I have a One). Calories burned and VAM's also depend on the stride length used by Fitbit (whether it was entered by you or estimated by Fitbit, based on your height). ... View more

I agree with some of the other ingredients in the flavored powders, but when compaired to other 100% Whey Protein powders out on the market, there are a lot less ingredients in the Unjury. For gastric bypass patients, the highest quality and best absorbing protein is Whey Protein isolate. We do not absorb the concentrates (which are a combination of different protein sources) or soy proteins like others. I have tried a lot of the other protein powders out on the market, and my body does the best with Unjury. ... View more

Congratulations you are on the way. ... View more

I love beachbody products! I'm doing my second round of Chalene Extreme- and I throw in Turbo Fire for cardio. I also was a huge fan of Les Mills Pump and combat. Which programs do you use, if you don't mind me asking? ... View more

What is your current body fat % and do you also need/want to lose weight? ... View more

@Kmage wrote: Is there a way to link to my polar heart monitor? I use this during my workouts and it would be get if that could link to my fit bit force. You can't link a heart rate monitor directly to your Force (or any other Fitbit tracker, for that matter). However, if you have a smartphone that is compatible with your Polar chest strap, you can use the Digifit app to sync your workout data to your Fitbit account. See:   http://www.fitbit.com/apps/digifit   Note that no actual heart rate data will be sent to Fitbit, but you will get calorie data based on your heart rate. This can be useful for the kind of non-step-based activities Fitbit trackers are not very good at (when it comes to tracking calories). ... View more

yup, what mom said!  ... View more

  @pixelheap wrote: Yeah, I don't think the equation itself is unreasonable, but for me, it should never assume I am walking three miles a day, which is what it was doing by giving me no adjustment when I did so. That just doesn't make sense or motivate me in any way. I think you're missing my point.  It shouldn't take you that much walking to reach the goal that Lose It has for you because the Fitbit is not taking into affect the million other things other than walking/jogging/running/stairs that you/your body do to burn calories.  I'm sure lose it only estimates around 5,000 steps for an average person and the few other things they add into the above listing.  They even say there estimates are nearly for sedentary people.   Which then therefore comes to my point that it would be nice for the Fitbit to add an average calorie burn in that takes into account these optional calorie burning activities. ... View more

Does it identify you, displaying the three-letter name you have set up in your account? Do you step on the scale barefoot (won't work if you wear socks)? Do you make sure your thighs do not touch each other? ... View more

I personally like TRX (suspension training) for my upper body. I can do it at home, it hardly takes any space and it offers more flexibility than standard pushups etc. ... View more

@Odyssey13 wrote: Wow, you do sleep well. Poor cat! Sensitivity to movements is set to Normal (default), whereas you're using Sensitive. This probably makes a big difference. I'm using a One, whereas you're using a Flex. This can also have an impact. Although Fitbit would certainly like all their trackers to behave in a consistent manner, it seems it is not always the case in practice: for instance, several people have reported they get more VAMs with the ZIP than with the One, for the same activity/intensity level. It also seems you get more steps with the Flex/Force than with the One. ... View more

@DGort wrote: Just wondering what the norm is for people? What should I be targeting? This can vary widely from one night to another. See this thread where I've included two snapshots of my own nights: one when I was awakened 21 times (sleep efficiency 92%) and one when I was awakened 2 times (sleep efficiency 100%). ... View more

@scote wrote: Something that I would like is for it to integrate with Fitbit and/or wellnessFX. I'm not familiar with wellnessFX, but automatic integration of heart rate data with Fitbit would be a tall order. This is because Fitbit hasn't really be designed to accommodate extensive HR data. ... View more

Thank you-----------I have the Flex.   So I don't read anything until I put on the computer.   I get it now--------only step-based activities are monitored.   That makes sense.  ... View more

Thank you. ... View more

A couple other suggestions.   In cold weather, even if you are running indoors and the gym is colder than usual, it helps to wear warmer garments over your entire body. If you feel a bit chilled, the muscles just won't fire up. The hydration point is excellent. We forget to get fully hydrated in cold weather. For this reason I often drink a quart of hot tap water before I work out. The heated water goes down a lot easier than cold water.    I want to encourage you to revisit the comment regarding "high heel" shoes. I may be mistaken, but I believe the writer was not referring to high heels such as a woman might wear to the office or a party, but to the elevated heels which are the most common athletic shoe design in running and walking shoes. These shoes raise the heel about an inch above the toes. When you look at the side of the shoe, you can see it is somewhat wedge shaped along the sole. We've been trained by marketers to believe this raised back end of the shoe will "cushion the heel" but it creates an unnatural running gait of heel-toe, heel-toe.   This heel-toe running gait has been implicated in quite a number of foot ailments such as plantar fascitis, bunion development, loss of strength in the toe box (where speed matters), and weak arches and ankles.   Thus emerged a line of footwear with "zero elevation" where the toe and heel are both flat to the ground, although the shoe may have treads across the entire sole to elevate the foot above the road bed, which is good for outdoor traction and to avoid stone bruises. Indoor or track runners may have no tread at all. This type of shoe encourages the foot to strike somewhat evenly (heel and toe at same time) when you are walking and on the toe box when you are running.   The transition from "high heels" to "zero elevation" takes months - up to a year - as our leg, knee, ankle, and foot system is accustomed to a life time of cushioned and supported athletic footwear. It takes time to stretch the ligaments and muscles back to their natural length. If you transition too quickly you will end up with sore ankles, lower legs, and feet.   I tried the zero elevation shoes for plantar fascitis. I began in February wearing them for a couple hours a day, and by mid summer was backpacking 10 plus miles a day in zero elevation shoes. I haven't had any trouble with plantar fascitis since. ... View more

I have a Timex one.  I wasn't sure if I was going to like it so I didn't want to shell out a huge amount of money for a Polar.  Plus, I thought the Polar ones were ugly and I used to love my (many) Ironman watches.  I like the Timex but I need to reset it.  It always tells me that I have 0 minutes in the zone because I have it set wrong.  It does a good job of tracking my HR during my runs, and then I hit the split and track my weight lifting as a second time so I can see the difference.  Wore it today for the first time with the Fitbit and the run came in pretty close when I did the calorie calculation.  I was happy about that.   ... View more

I can see why Fitbit chose not to include heart rate monitoring in their trackers. You may want to consider competing products like the Basis B1 Band or the Polar Loop (see this thread about these), or use a separate heart rate monitor in addition to your Fitbit. Some apps (eg. Digifit iCardio) let you import calorie data derived from your heart rate into your Fitbit account. ... View more

It would also depend on other things such as previous activity levels, how much weight needs to be lost, whether changes were also made to the quality (nutritional density) and quantity of food eaten, what drinks do you have and have you made any changes there e.g. sugar? milk? fruit juice?   All things being equal men do find it easier to lose weight than women.. not fair but nothing we can do about that. Just keep going. You may need to add some stairs or hills to your walks. Also pick up the pace, 'window shopping' pace is not enough sadly;-(.   Good luck ... View more

You can manually enter heart rate information on the Heart Rate tab, but none of the Fitbits have the ability to detect or record your heart beat information.  Those of us who track heart rate information do so by wearing a Heart Rate Monitor strap and watch. ... View more

Kapalua wrote:Thanks for posting all that information. Is the BLE Heart Rate Monitor app used with any BLE HR monitor such as the Polar H7? I would never have anticipated such HR variability while we sleep. Either that or you have great dreams!  Yes, the BLE Heart Rate Monitor app does work with the Polar H7, and I assume it would work with any other BLE compatible HR sensor.   The app actually calculates heart rate variability (HRV), which I didn't know. I thought the SweetBeat app for iOS was the only one with support for HRV. The HRV value appears as one column in the CSV output by the BLE Heart Rate Monitor app. I haven't figured out how to interpret HRV yet.   Do tell us what kind of results you get if you manage to log your HR during an entire night's sleep! ... View more

Hard to imagine, but, I think you would get all the nutients from veggies IF, you imulsified them with fruit in a good unit. I have a Health Master and am able to make great smoothies and soups.   Go luck in your quest..... veggies are too good for you to avoid.   Jay~~ A dedicated Woker of g-r-r-r-ate, veggies! ... View more

@Heidikins10 wrote: So it sounds like my One is just going to track the steps as steps I walk ( which is still a good thing). Don't worry, "losing" a few floors won't affect your steps, calories or VAM's. Floors are just a bonus, an extra motivator. The funny thing is I've "climbed" almost 20,000 floors in the nine months I have been using my Fitbit One and I'm hardly using any stairs (I live in a house in the country side and very seldom even see high buildings). This is because the area where I live is quite hilly, so my walks includes lots of ups and downs. ... View more

Interesting thread! In addition to a Fitbit I use a now discontinued Polar F11, a polar H7 and Digifit I cardio app. I tried quite a few tracking apps--most that can sync with Fitbit and found I prefer Icardio. I sometimes will use Runkeeper since it syncs with other apps and Digifit will log my workouts to Runkeeper. I keep looking at other trackers, but the One so far seems the best fit and now I have so much history on Fitbit. I am really interested in the Missfit Shine since it looks nice and can be worn swimming. I am looking for something for water exercise. I was eyeing the poolmate but for the price doesn't seem versitile enough. I was looking at Polar Loop but from the reviews it didn't really seem to add anything and I don't want to have to wear something on my wrist. My big disapointment is in their specs the heart rate feature doesn't work in water since it only uses the bluetooth signal. Swimming and water exercise is the main thing I wanted it for as my fitbit and hrm work fine for everything else. I just always feel I miss steps when I take a shallow water class that I otherwise enjoy. My Polar F11 works fine in the water. And I have used it with my H7 strap so I know that strap is capable of working in water (using the ant+ signal not the bluetooth). ... View more

Does Amazon UK ship to Russia? I live in Finland and I bough mine from them. Free delivery with DHL and it was very fast too. ... View more

There is nothing to "calculate" and there is no "correct" body fat goal: it's up to you to decide what you want it to be. Have you had a look at the body fat percent reference from the American Council on Exercise:     Mine is currently at 16-17% (according to my Aria scale). I'd like to bring it down to 15%. That doesn't sound like a lot, but it's surprisingly hard. ... View more

Can you see the Friends daily totals on the App through the Fitbitters Profile ?. I'm not linked to an iPhone. If so, that would give real time daily comparison. Probably means pen and paper though. ... View more

I have no idea what they are offering as paid content these days. The binder I have is an entire program that you set for yourself based on your goals and the recipe books support it . The recipes are natural foods and low carb with healthy lower carb options for workout days.    I was never able to get my husband motivated by being a good example so I quit lifting weights & cardio and went back to ballet exercises.  ... View more

That explains it.  I have the Flex.  Confusing as my tracker shows Floors as an option for the Dashboard but doesn't explain that it doesn't apply to the Flex.   Thanks,   MikeC ... View more

The flex is not water proof, only splash proof. don't wear it in the pool.  I would log it as an activity instead ... View more

No idea, but see what Dr. John Berardi has to say about supplements in general:   http://www.precisionnutrition.com/fat-loss-course-for-women-day-4 ... View more

The calories burned continue to midnight.  If you are looking at a complete day vs a 7PM dashboard, you have 5 hours of calorie burning that have not been registered on the Fitbit ... View more

I'm not sure which Fitbit you have, but I have the One and I need to press a button to tell it my sleep is starting, and press it again in the morning to tell it it has ended. My Fitbit therefore has a clue about the activity it's monitoring. When you do ballet, your Fitbit has no clue about the actual activity you're performing. From its point of view, you could be just as well playing volley-ball. It's far easier to detect movements that exceed a certain threshold (which is basically what your Fitbit is doing during your sleep) than to evaluate an activity that involves random moving around. Don't forget Fitbit is essentially a pedometer, ie. a device designed to count steps when moving more or less in the same direction.   Maybe a heart rate monitor would be more adequate for estimating calories burned during ballet? ... View more

There's a device called the Basis B1 Band that claims to do what you want. You can read about it here:   http://walking.about.com/od/Computer-Linked-Pedometers/fl/Basis-B1-Band.htm?nl=1 http://www.dcrainmaker.com/2013/07/basis-b1-review.html   Selected excerpts from these reviews:   "It is not a substitute for a chest strap heart rate monitor to track exertion during a workout, or a workout coaching program."   "... the Basis B1 was designed “for the other 23 hours of the day”, and as such the optical heart rate measurement has significant issues when it comes to accurately tracking heart rate at elevated levels associated with sports activities.  Much of this originates from the fact that the optical heart rate sensor within the unit simply hasn’t been tuned to the constant and sharp movements associated with sports activity."   At one point, I considered getting one. However, for the reasons mentioned above, I didn't and I ended up getting a Mio Alpha instead. I don't regret my choice, as the Alpha has proved to be a great HRM during my workouts. ... View more

That's a good bmi. The closest I had been to my goal weight was 58kg before I had my son. I lost 30 kilos right before I became pregnant! So now trying to push a little further 🙂 ... View more

Here is an article about running backwards: http://www.runaddicts.net/tips-tricks/the-benefits-of-running-backward   I have not tired running backwards.I have tried walking backwards. I usually walk backwards on a flat street or going up hill. ... View more

Hi, you already have a really good bodyfat percentage, that is more than likely due to the amount of endurance you do and good DNA!  The more lean tissue you have the more bodyfat you will burn at rest.  As you don't have a gym near you and by the looks only eat meat once a week, building  lots of muscle is probably not the best way to go.  I do think, if you want a challenge is increase your muscle mass slightly, you can easily do that with the TRX and by incorporating sprint and hill drills into your running.   There are loads of workout videos on you tube for the TRX.  It is a great work out tool, and you can take it with you into a park and do your sprints and then on the TRX for a body weight workout. An idea of a days work out could be, run to your local park for a warm up.  Set up the TRX, do a Tabata of sprints (20 seconds sprint, 10 second rest for 8 rounds).  Rest a minute, then onto the TRX for rows 3 sets of 15, press ups (with feet in the TRX) 3 sets of max reps. Rest for 3 minutes and then do this again.  You can mix up the exercises as you please.  Use tabata on the TRX with jump squats, mountain climbers.  The options are limitless.  Do keep your endurance going as you seem to enjoy it. I would suggest you increase you protein intake if you are going to this kind of training, you don't have to eat red meat, fish is a perfect source of protein and then there are eggs!  Quinoa is a good vegetable protein source too. I hope this helps.  Having new goals and ones that challenge you are amazing.  Good luck and let me know how you go. ... View more

You got an excellent start by clocking in three consecutive days with 12 to 15,000 steps, just keep it that way! rather than setting yourself an absolute weight loss, set a weekly step count goal, stick to it and see where that takes you. Take your current fitness level into account, so as not to overdo it. As you exercize more, your body will get used to it and you'll be able to increase your activity level and its intensity. Weight loss will follow in due time. You may also want to record body measurements (eg. waist, thigh) and follow them up over time. I found I lost centimenters before losing kilograms. It also took me two months before I saw any noticeable changes in weight, but then it dropped fast. This is why having a linear weight loss target isn't necessarily a good idea. Getting healthier and fitter is a worthier goal than losing weight. ... View more