I had a HA 15 weeks ago, just had a review with my GP and had to change some of my meds because of side effects and also been told I am now borderline diabetic - that hit me where it hurt! A bit deflated today now.
Anyway I have been toying with the idea of a fitbit for a few weeks but are they really worth it, I can't decide? What benefit are they really? Can anyone help me understand so I can make a decision once and for all.
Thanks
Hi Caddy, I for one found mine useful, from couch potato to active has been a remarkable turn round, plus there are models which can monitor much more than just fitness, food intake, heart beats, sleep patterns etc. etc.. Plus one of our lovely members here has just started a fitbit group so we can urge each other on
You're in luck - there are loads of people on here with one (including me!)
There's a great post here: healthunlocked.com/bhf/post... so you can read a little more. Personally, I find mine useful to remind me to keep moving and try and achieve my 10,000 steps or thereabouts each day. I also cycle and that gives me a pretty good idea of how I'm doing.
If this doesn't sound like it's for you, you can always use time as a measure. We're all supposed to be physically active for at least 150 minutes a week, and that can be broken down into 10 minute chunks. You can read a little more about that here: bhf.org.uk/heart-health/pre...
Hope this helps,
Chris
Thanks Chris, I will read the links, but if so many people have them then that speaks for itself and I guess it is worth the expense.
I've had my fitbit for a few months now and it definitely helps to keep me more active. It reminds me to move if I haven't done 250 steps in an hour and I HATE not hitting my daily steps target, so I often arrange my day to make sure I get my minimum steps, e.g. decide not to take car to work, plan a walk that will fit into my schedule if I know it's going to be an inactive day, or just march around the house for ten minutes before bed if I'm not quite at my target. If you are a competitive type, you can challenge friends/contacts, which is a great motivator for some people. I like doing that once in a while (not that I usually win!) but generally am motivated enough competing with myself. You can customise your own targets, so you could increase your steps target as your fitness improved.
I have one of the fancier ones that monitors my heart rate and my sleep. I find this fascinating (I'm a sad individual!) and check that daily. It's made me realise how much better I feel when I get a decent sleep, so I'm improving that too. Through the app, you can log what you eat and it will tell you how many calories you've consumed that day vs how many you've burned. It's a bit of a faff logging food, but a good tool if you are trying to lose weight and I think you can save meals etc that you have regularly, so you don't have to enter everything individually.
It probably depends on the type of person you are as to whether it would help. I know I'm someone who's motivated by concrete achievements/goals I can see, so it works really well for me. If you don't think it would bother you not to meet the targets you've set, maybe it wouldn't make so much of a difference to you.
If you do get one, a few of us on here with various heart conditions are in the process of setting up a wee Fitbit group so we can cheer each other on, maybe do a few challenges at some point, and you'd be very welcome to join us.
Good luck with everything and well done for picking yourself up and tackling things head on.
Thanks Laura, I would defo want one to monitor heart rate as that is my main concern when I get the go ahead to return to the gym and my main reason for wanting one, but the idea of sleep monitoring is also interesting because I feel I do not sleep properly,
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