One of the biggest challenges people face when it comes to weight loss is motivation. Whether you are trying to get rid of fat or just increase your overall fitness level, having a way to track your goals and progress is essential to long term success. In this Fitbit Review, you’ll find out just how well the Fitbit and the Fitbit Ultra can help to motivate you to reach your goals.

Fitbit Tracker Fact: Trackers average 43% more steps each day and lose an average of 13 pounds!

Isn’t the Fitbit just a pedometer?

You may have heard that the Fitbit is just a pedometer. But the truth is that it does so much more than a pedometer that it doesn’t even deserve to be in the same category. Sure, one of it’s primary functions is to count your steps but that is where the similarity between the Fitbit and a pedometer end.

These are the core features of the Fitbit:

• Tracks your steps.
• Tracks the distance you have gone.
• Tracks your sleep patterns.
• Counts the calories you have burned.
• Uploads it’s data wirelessly to your computer for ease of use.
• Rechargeable with the included charger.

In addition, the Fitbit Ultra (which replaces the Fitbit) adds the following features:

• Tracks the amount of floors you have climbed.
• Available in two color options: Blue and Plum.
• Has a built in clock and stopwatch.
• Allows you to decide what function the display shows.
• Can be personalized with your own personal greeting.

When you buy the Fitbit you also get access to the online tools and community. Not only can you get a great visual representation of you activities, you can also use this to help motivate yourself by comparing your daily activities to yourself or to others in your age and fitness range.

The ability to compare and share your activity levels should not be overlooked! Nothing motivates more than a little healthy competition and a supportive community. The Fitbit community allows you to share with a small personal group or with the entire forum. And if you are not comfortable with that, you can log the information for you own personal use.

The online tools also let you enter in the food you have eaten during the day so you can see you calories in verses those you have burned.

The online database contains over 100,000 food items and allows you to enter specifics from you own workouts like Yoga or Pilates. You can also track you weight and measurements with the online tools.

And if you have an iPhone…well, there’s an app for that too!

How does the Fitbit work?

The Fitbit Ultra is a neat little piece of technology. Built into the Fitbit are an accelerometer and an altimeter. The accelerometer measures you motion and is used to determine how many calories you have burned, the number of steps you have taken, how far you have traveled and your sleep quality. The altimeter is used to determine your vertical climb… how many hills and stairs you have climbed.

Using the Fitbit tracker is simplicity in itself. Simply clip the device on your clothes or put it into you pocket and it will measure you activity throughout the day. The data uploads automatically whenever you are within 15 feet of the base station (as long as it’s plugged into a computer and the computer is turned on).

The base station doubles as a charger and takes about one hour to fully charge. The average user gets between 5 and 7 days out of a full charge.

What can’t the Fitbit do?

There are some activities that the Fitbit cannot measure accurately since it’s primary goal is to measure steps, distance and changes in altitude. Activities like bike riding or weight lifting won’t show accurately, although you can modify the activity on the website once the data has synced for more accuracy.

The Fitbit is not waterproof, so you won’t be able to use it while swimming. It’s also recommended to protect the device from high amounts of moisture.

Your Fitbit tracker comes with the following:

• 1 Fitbit Tracker
• 1 Wireless Base Station/Charger
• 1 Sleep Wrist Band
• 1 Belt Holster
• Free membership to the Fitbit Community and tracking/logging tools.

Is the Fitbit worth it?

At 99.95 USD the Fitbit costs a lot more than your standard pedometer but, as you have seen in this Fitbit Review, the additional features you get certainly make it worth a look. There are other devices out there but for the average user who isn’t training for a marathon the Fitbit certainly fits as a way to help motivate you to stick with it and reach your goals.