I have owned my Fitbit Flex for about a month now, and I have fallen prey to the fitness band craze. If you're unfamiliar with these products, a few different companies have created fitness trackers (similar to pedometers or calorie burning monitors) that you can wear on your wrist like a bracelet. There are a few comparable models to the Fitbit Flex, such as the Jawbone Up and the Nike Fuelband. They each have different features, so if you're interested in getting one, please do your research first. Not all fitness trackers are created equal, and they are not accurate for every single activity you do.
I happened to get my Fitbit Flex at 65% of retail cost, so I couldn't resist the opportunity to try a fitness tracker at that price point. At $100, the Flex is much less expensive compared to the Up ($130) and the Fuelband ($150). The main features are tracking steps, calories, and my favorite--tracking my sleep. I love the wireless syncing too! All I have to do to sync my Flex with my computer is to hold it nearby. Amazing!
For most people, fitness trackers serve as gentle reminders to stay active. I'm a decently healthy person (with a soft spot for sweets, of course), but seeing as how I spend the majority of my weekdays sitting at a desk for work, I wanted something to remind me to take a lap around the building once or twice, or to get up and move around from time to time. I want to know how many "steps" I take on an average day, and see how that compares to when I'm working out.
At the end of day 1, I managed to walk about 7,100 "steps". That's a decent amount of steps on my off day from the gym. Anytime I take a cardio class, I usually hit my goal of 10,000 steps. Each week, Fitbit sends me an email with my weekly stats: how long I sleep, how long it takes me to fall asleep, my most active days, my least active days, etc.
While the device isn't perfect, it's pretty awesome overall. The band gets a little dinged up, you have to tell it when you're going to sleep, it doesn't have a face, and it doesn't give you specifics prior to synching. However, it does what I need it to do, which is serve as a friendly reminder to get up and move around at work.
And yes, in case you were wondering, I am that person who runs around their living room for 5 minutes before bed if I'm 500 steps short of my goal.
Do you have a fitness tracker? Which one, and what do you think of it?