Activity Trackers May Undermine Weight Loss Efforts

[SunSeeker]

Wearable activity monitors can count your steps and track your movements, but they don’t, apparently, help you lose weight. In fact, you might lose more weight without them.

The fascinating finding comes from a study published today in JAMA that found dieting adults who wore activity monitors for 18 months lost significantly fewer pounds over that time than those who did not.

Those who had not worn activity monitors were, on average, about 13 pounds lighter now than two years ago.
Those who had worn the monitors, however, weighed only about 8 pounds less than at the start.

The people using the monitors may also have assumed that, in some roundabout way, the technology removed responsibility from them for monitoring their energy intake, Dr. Jakicic says. “People may have focused on the technology and forgotten to focus on their behaviors” and ate too much, he says.

http://mobile.nytimes.com/2016/09/27/well/activity-trackers-may-undermine-weight-loss-efforts.html

Who would have guessed your fitbit is keeping you fat?

[hlthe2b]

1. If they didn't adjust diet then this is to be expected.

Diet, after all accounts for the major part of weight loss. Exercise helps, but only on the order of about 25% or so.

But, it is a valuable tool for those who actually commit to do both. I know my fitbit has for me.

[Proud Public Servant]

2. Here's a first-person account

Over 16 months, starting in July 2014, I lost about 60 lbs. A Fitbit was crucial to that process, since it showed me my calorie output. But, without monitoring calorie intake, the Fitbit would have been useless. Thankfully, there are good calorie-counting apps that sync with Fitbit (I used My Fitness Pal) and, in combination, they proved to be a powerful set of tools.

So there's nothing wrong, or counterproductive, about wearing a Fitbit. What is wrong or counterproductive is not understanding that calorie intake needs to be monitored as well; there's nothing magical about "10,000 steps" and it certainly won't much mitigate a crappy diet.

[woodsprite]

3. Congrats on your success!

That's awesome! I've been doing the same thing for the past year and have dropped 48 lbs. Still
Have about 60 to go, but I'm heading in the
right direction.

When I'm tired and just don't feel like moving, my Fitbit is my motivation.

[GreenPartyVoter]

7. You are doing a great job!

[Orrex]

20. Congratulations--that's an excellent accomplishment!

I think the thing to consider isn't whether you lose more weight doing the same activity with or without a Fitbit but rather "would the people who feel motivated by Fitbit be as motivated to exercise without it?"

Your story is similar to what I've heard from a number of friends: having the Fitbit inspires them to get moving, whereas they otherwise might not exercise at all.

Keep up the great work!

[GreenPartyVoter]

5. Absolutely! My digital kitchen scale and my MFP food journal helped me lose 130lbs with my

Fitbit: http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10428970/2-years-130lbs-and-a-very-long-post-with-a-pile-of-pics-at-the-end

Calories in, calories out. For most people, it's that simple.

Congrats on your weight loss!

[Proud Public Servant]

9. Great job! (NT)

[GreenPartyVoter]

14. Thanks!

[reflection]

10. I swear by MyFitnessPal

In three months, I've gone from 201 to 173, with a few minor tweaks in my diet. The app works if you don't lie to it. And I've learned all kinds of things I never knew about caloric deficits, plateaus, metabolism, and so on. My wife is using it now, and she's already down 15 pounds in about 2 months. Strongly recommend. The only downside I have now is I look like I borrowed someone else's clothes - haven't gotten around to buying smaller stuff yet.

[GreenPartyVoter]

15. Consignment and thrift shops are the way to go. Donate your old stuff and get some new duds!

[woodsprite]

17. I finally got to the point where I couldn't "shop" from my closet anymore.

Since this is a continuing journey, I only bought about 3 pr jeans and half a dozen tops in the new size. I donated a lot to the clothing bank.

Now to get hubby to do the same. He's still trying to eek by in his 38's with a belt, when he should be in a size 34.

[reflection]

19. Ha!

That's the exact differential in my closet, 38s hanging everywhere, 33/34 waist now. I feel his pain. I look goofy as hell walking around with my current wardrobe, but I'm an engineer so I'm used to looking goofy anyway.

[Hugin]

12. Wonderful! Congratulations.

Yeah, people are still seeking an easy way to lose weight... Sadly, there is none. One still has to EAT LESS and EXERCISE.

Keep going! I bet you feel every ounce better for that 60lbs you've shed!

[Johonny]

25. Yeah, my activity tracker helped me track my activity

It doesn't help with any other aspect but it does do a good job of telling me when I've been lazy and inactive.

[Skittles]

4. gimmicks never work in the end

[GreenPartyVoter]

6. It's only a gimmick if you pretend that exercise is more important than portion control.

I think the problem is that so many of us want that fit body without having to give up the way we eat.

[linuxman]

8. Got one for my sister in law.

I'm firmly convinced that she made up the "calories burned" data by eating it later in the day as a reward for her "exercise" (which were calories she burned every day prior just by walking around). She's at her all time heaviest.

[GreenPartyVoter]

16. Yes, that can happen if you don't know how to use it right.

[Hugin]

11. I don't have a fitbit, but, I do have a fitness tracker.

I think the 'step counting' function is fairly poor at helping weight loss. In fact, I consider the counter on mine to be very inaccurate even with calibration.

However, it has been a great tool for my weight loss journey and I've lost 50+ pounds. Where I've found my fitness tracker useful is in the fact it monitors my pulse rate throughout the day. I use it to make sure I keep my heart rate in-the-zone, so to speak.

So, no fitness trackers are not a silver bullet for weight loss, but, they can help. If they are used properly and with dedication.

[alarimer]

13. Having one has made me move around more.

I like the reward of meeting the target. But that, by itself, is not enough for weight loss.

[kcr]

18. Not to be a shill for these things, but simply being lighter isn't what matters.

The fit bit wearers who are not quite as light may very well be in better shape because they are exercising more. If the non-fit bit wearers weight less only because they're reducing calories but not exercising as much, then that's not better. Muscle mass weighs more, so the fit bit wearers will weigh more.

[OnDoutside]

21. I agree that it is a combination of exercise and food intake, one without the other is hard to

sustain.

I bought a Fitbit Surge (smartwatch) last month and I find it to be fantastic. I have it connected to the MyfitnessPal app as well as the Fitbit app, and it's already showing trends in my sleep pattern as well as, pointedly, which is the least active day.

I respond better to accountability, and the Surge is excellent in that I prompt myself to make progress to my daily steps goal etc.

You can wear all the monitors you want, but if you are not also reducing your calorie intake as well as matching it with exercise, then you're not going to succeed.

[Avalux]

22. Trackers are unnecessary.

I am not thrilled with our growing dependence on technology - saw a commercial for a mattress cover that's wired to track a person's sleep patterns. More information doesn't equate positive changes though, as this article points out.

It really comes down to being in touch with your body, learning to listen to it and giving it what it needs. No special bells and whistles needed.

[OnDoutside]

23. I largely disagree with that. Yes, one needs to be in touch with one's body but there are so many

issues in people's lives that affect how you feel and how you react to stress/challenges. If technology could bypass the need for medicine, so much the better. Lots of people need the equivalent of the donkey with the carrot out in front, to give them a goal and direction. Worst case if it helps 10 or 20%, that's another group leading a healthy lifestyle.

[GreenPartyVoter]

24. Some of us are very bad at estimating food proportion and calorie burn. For me,

trackers and scales are the only thing that have worked, especially since I am a compulsive emotional eater and need to see my food and exercise in a clear, unemotional, objective way.

[shenmue]

26. I used my tracker and the doctor said to keep doing what I was doing