Fitbit FORCE. (AKA my reluctant LOVE).

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I received the Fitbit Force for free.  The (shocking) fact I utterly adore it and have proceeded to rave about it both online and off is all my own.


Once upon a time there lived a judgmental misfit.

who has 2 thumbs & do NOT get your pedomeyer live?

yep.  this woman.

I did not understand why you raved about pedometers.

You tweeted (I did it! I hit 10k steps!).

You instagram’ed (photos of steps counted).

I metaphorically rolled my eyes.

I judged what I did not understand.

After close to two decades of working out consistently I finally gave a pedometer a try.

  • I learned–if left to my own devices–I walked about as much as a bedridden individual (!).
  • I learned my pedometer made me a better person. PERIOD.

And I was happy with my little old school pedometer.

It tracked my steps.  It told me what time it was.  I was happy.  It was all I needed.

Or so I thought until a week or so ago when I received an email offering me a FitBit Force for review.

I could lie to you and say:

I was quite curious about the sleep tracking and the ability to utilize the Force as an alarm etc.

but we’d all know that wasnt true.

Id looked around.

Id noted all the cool kids tweeted, facebooked & instagram’ed about their Fitbits and I was curious.

Could I figure out the technology? Would I r-e-a-l-l-y wanna convert from my most basic of pedometer-models? Do I *care* about sleep-tracking?

I paused for the merest of moments & a YES PLEASE. FITBIT FORCE ME RIGHT UP. email response was born.

Here’s what I learned:

I already knew I feared technology (Im a misfit. A Luddite who works in social media).  The technology behind the Force is simple (to set up) & fast (to go from set up to use):

I was apprehensive...

I was apprehensive…

I knew I wouldnt use the food tracking option on the Fitbit personal dashboard.  Being an intuitive eater, I never even bothered to set this up.  Many of the cool Fitbit-using kids I follow *love* this tracking option.  Im a misfit.  Food logging would knock me from happily intuitive to cray cray obsessive.

I had no idea how Id adore receiving badges.  Im internally motivated.  Im an intuitive exerciser.  I freakin loved the emails alerting me to steps reached etc. as I tend to forget to check throughout my day.

**tosses confetti**

**tosses confetti**

I found the sleep info interesting not shocking.  Upon waking I already know whether my night was restful or not.  As a result seeing I woke, for example, nine times in a night was interesting not surprising.  I did, however, use the “hardcore data” on the Husband who tends to deny his snoring situation.  The Fitbit did seem to have more persuasive powers than my incoherent rambles.  So there’s that…

9 snoring-awakened times.

9 snoring-awakened times.

I enjoyed the dashboard/mobile app more than I’d anticipated.  Quite frankly I’d thought Id use the Force as I did my low tech pedometer.  I didnt think Id look at either online option.  I was wrong.  To my surprise I liked seeing all my data in one place (I know.  Who am I?).

place of honor on my iphone

a place of honor on my iphone

I loved I could easily & quickly see step count etc *and* the numbers glowed in the dark.  The Force is the first Fitbit device to display all data on the face.  You need to press a small button to access.  I pressed the button a lot.

one small button reveals all

one small button reveals all

Bottom line?

I. Freaking. Loved.

And I think no one is as shocked as I am that I do.

The Fitbit Force is easy to set up, accurate, motivating and–as we tested and discovered–counts stilts walking as part of your daily step count.

Win. Win. Win. Win.

Was a new pedometer part of your holiday haul or gifting this year?

 

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Comments

  2. i heard great things! i use the jawbone for the same reason. Steps and sleep. the sleep is the coolest part. And is it wrong that i think it’s fashionable? haha, it is to me! cool!

    • I think so too.
      I thought for a while my friend’s Jawbone was a new bracelet.
      I love the idea of the sleep tracking piece.
      Do you use it each night, Carla?

      • I dont. I do when I remember to turn it on as I fall asleep but I DID to show husband how I wake when he snores and how I dont when he’s banished to guest room 🙂

  3. I just got an UP last month to help motivate me to move more at work. It looks like the Force has more bells and whistles. I still think the technology is a bit creepy (my husband thins either the NSA or China is collecting all the data!), but since I tend to keep working working working if it doesn’t buzz at me, I guess I will give up that very personal data in the hopes of improving my health!

  5. Walking around at my workplace/house/kitchen/yard/store is not exercise and does not indicate fitness.(for me)
    My workouts before or after work do.
    You sleep with that thing on? I can’t even keep my watch on in bed…
    but yeah, whatever works. I use an odometer on my bike(s) and that’s about as techy as I will get until I train for my next IM and then I am getting a power meter for my bike.

  8. I have a flex, but want the Force because of the flashing information on the bracelet.
    Maybe next Christmas?
    If I start hinting today LOL

  9. I got the flex for Christmas yesterday and I’m already obsessed somehow knowing I get zero amount of useful sleep makes me want to change it. And workout harder to see those very active minutes! Love mine already.

  10. That’s phenomenal! I keep seeing these gadgets at particular store and I also rolled my eyes. Sounds like there are a lot of great features about this little device. I’ll have to check it out.

  11. OMG.
    I love your post about being a better mother because of your pedometer.

    I am trying not to scream at the twins and I really wonder if this could help me, too.

  12. Was it hard to set up?
    I would love to buy one for my mom, but I wonder if it would just set in the box?

  13. I cannot emphasize how EASY it was to set up. I honestly feared either having to send it back or having to send them a check because I could never really get it figured out.
    (seriously. thats how bad I am with technology.)
    it was SIMPLE.

    • this does so much more than a regular pedometer (which Id imagine you could get for 9.99? one which only counts steps) and retails for 130.00

  17. I have has a fitbit of some form since last Christmas. I received the fitbit zip as a stocking stuffer and then was gifted the One and the Flex from companies for my enjoyment. Now everyone in the house wears one! We love them. The Force is a combo between all of the things I enjoy about the flex and the one together and now makes me want to toss my UP aside!! Clearly I have a techy-pedometer obsession!!

  18. I have the Fitbit One, and had the Ultra for a couple years before that. My oldest son has the Flex, and my 14-year old has the one (can’t wear a bracelet during basketball). I just got the Zip for hubby, and am trying to get him on board.

    I LOVE my Fitbit and the feedback it provides! Seeing little spikes in my day as I’m more active is very motivating to me. I got sick a couple weeks ago and haven’t fully gotten back to my activity. I’ve dropped down with all my Fitbit friends, I need to get going again and regain my top spot!

  22. it is awesome. and, as I disclosed 🙂 they arent paying me to say that. I love the little emails too which still baffles me since Im so internally motivated!

  26. The only technology I have embraced in order to help my weight loss journey is the blog and the MyPlate section of the Livestrong website. Other than that, I’m still analog 🙂

  29. Excuse me miss, but you have 15 missed calls 😉

    And I used to wear a pedometer EVERY SINGLE DAY but it started to CONTROL MY LIFE to the point where it was completely unhealthy – so I had to ditch it and just go by exercise time instead. Worked like a charm! 🙂

  30. *covet* This is on my lottery list, along with half a dozen other things that I don’t truly NEED but really, really WANT. 🙂 Thanks for the review confirming my good sense in choosing items for the dreaming list.

  32. Knowing that the tech part was not hard for you, maybe in the future for me when things are better.. for now, I just move as much as a I can when not in the gym.. 🙂

  33. Got my replacement one from Christmas haul this afternoon. Set it up and put it on about 3:45 p.m. and have walked approximately 5,000 steps since then! I’m gonna LOVE this thing!! 😉
    If you wanna be my friend you can find me at ann@shrinkingjeans.net

  34. I had a fitbit flex up until last month, then I lost it. SO sad!!! Fortunately hubby got my hints and surprised me with a fitbit force for Christmas-yay! Such a huge motivator to walk more. Enjoy!!!

  35. This is a great tool! Wowzers! Anything that helps to make exercising easier and your goals a reality is awesome! Thx for sharing lovey 🙂
    #CherylKarina

  36. It’s funny. I never thought that I wanted a pedometer but I received one (Fitbit zip I think) and it’s been interesting to track my steps. I realize that I walk a lot less now that I work from home but there’s still the walking to and from school. On days I run, I hit my steps easily. But what I’m REALLY curious about is my sleep because I know that it stinks right now. Love hearing more about the Fitbit Force.

  37. I participated in a five hour yoga workshop yesterday. The fitbit/fuelband/whatever would not have recorded ANYTHING that I did in that workshop but I worked my a$$ off. Totally useless. (And no one else had a device on like that either…we didn’t even wear watches-you should SEE what most of the people can DO in this class/workshop.)

  38. You know that I love my Fitbit Zip and am one of those annoying people who post their steps, etc. quite often… 😉 But I just love it, and it truly changed how much I move! I’ve been thinking of getting the Force, but for now the Zip works for me.

  40. I love my fitbit. I also did not expect to love it. I lovelovelove the calorie tracker vs activity. It’s crazy how different my calorie burn was on day-off workouts where I went and did errands and when I stayed home. Amazing how many steps you get when you walk the aisles of costco, target, etc.

  42. I was “reunited” with my old Omron pedometer (I thought it had finally broken out after 3 years) yesterday and was I happy!! 🙂

    I’m curious about activity trackers too and I wonder if I’d like to have one that gives me more info than the daily step count. I don’t care about calorie counts etc, but I’d like to see if I sit too long periods during the day. Does Fitbit Force give that info?

    On the other hand I’m a bit worried I would use that information for evil, i.e. self-flagellation..

  48. Hmm. I’ve been anti-exercise lately. Maybe this would encourage me to move more. I know I NEED to. I’m still holding a grudge against a boot camp I did. It was REALLY hard work, and I hadn’t yet realized that food was my main problem. The exercise had no affect on my weight. I probably need to let that go and recognize that I’d be healthier if I moved more 🙂

  49. Thanks for providing some insight into this product! I’d heard about the Force before, but it’s good to hear about a real person’s experience with it.

  50. Thanks for sharing Carla!! I’m really excited to get mine. I ordered the Flex after not seeing a lot about the Force being worth the extra $30. I’m hoping that other than the step number on the screen they’ll be similar. I know I’ll love badges. I hope the flex has badges.

    Thank you for sharing this with me!

  51. No fitbits for me, I would love to try one though. I see that you also have Argus installed on your phone – that’s what I currently use for step counting and have admittedly started walking (and running) more as a result of that app. I had no idea I was that inactive on my non-running days, so now I try to also go for a walk on my strength training days. I find that a good accurate pedometer is actually motivating!

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