What is a Fitbit Flex? It's an activity and sleep monitor.
Pros:
Comfortable
Easy to wear all the time and not forget it
App is easy to use
The silent alarm function is great
Cons:
Charging cord can be very persnickety
I had a Fitbit Zip, but I seemed to forget it a lot. Or I would leave it on my pants and wash them, things like that. But with the Flex, I just wear it all the time. At night, when I shower, when I workout, I just leave it on, so I don't forget it. The only time I take it off is when I need to charge it. Actually, just a few days ago, I took it off to charge it and then I went down to the gym at lunch and did my run and afterwards realized I had forgotten it! I was so irritated. All those untracked steps! I keep my goal at 10,000 steps a day which I only seem to reach on running days, but I am optimistic so I keep it there. I think my highest is something like 15,000 steps.
I've also started using the app on my ipad to track my weight. It has great charts for tracking weight loss and BMI.
Now in general, I'm a big fan of gadgets. When I do my long runs on weekends, I wear my Fitbit Flex, my Garmin 305 and I carry my iphone with the Map My Run app. I used to run with music on my iphone but when I read that Katie on www.runsforcookies.com runs without music, I decided to give it a try. I actually much prefer to run without music. I don't know if it's just that I don't have to deal with headphones falling out of my ears or thinking about switching to a different song, but I enjoy the time when I can just hear myself think. I often plan blog entries or think about what I'm going to do the rest of the day while I run or just enjoy the fact that I can run without pain. Now, one might ask, why do you need so many devices? Well, my Fitbit keeps track of my steps through the whole day, my Garmin helps with with my intervals (I just set it and it beeps when it's time to run or walk), and my iPhone has my course and overall distance on it.
But back to my Fitbit. I just love tapping it to see how many lights I have (I did a 30 minute run at the gym at work so right now I'm at 4 of 5) and I love that it vibrates and does a little light dance when I hit my goal. I love that it tracks stairs, which I don't think my Fitbit Zip did as well. And the Omron I had before that was rubbish at stairs and when I rode attractions at Disneyland it often counted those steps because of the bumpiness. The real test will come on our next trip to Disneyland. I will do an updated review then. The other thing that I love about it is the silent alarm feature. Basically you set the alarm and it vibrates at the time you set to wake you up. I have it set to wake me up at 5:30 each weekday morning and it's wonderful because it only wakes me up. If my son have climbed into bed with us or if I have to sleep in his bed, it's great because it's with me all the time and it only wakes me.
The one downside for me is the charging cord that comes with it. It is very difficult to get it just right so that it actually charges.
I know there are plenty of tools with it that I don't use (I don't track my water consumption or my food but I read that it has some great functionality for that) but I am really happy with what I do use it for.
Overall, I LOVE my Fitbit Flex and I highly recommend it for anyone that is trying to get more active. The price isn't too bad, I've seen them at Costco for less than $100 and it comes with extra bands.
Disclosure of Material Connection: I have not received any compensation for writing this post (of course, since I'm essentially writing to myself at this point). I have no material connection to the brands, products, or services that I have mentioned (I just really like them).
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