Yesterday I got an email from Fitbit congratulating me on having walked 250 miles since January 9 of this year, when I first started to monitor my steps. I patted myself on the back and danced a jig, but now it seems that not all steps--or step trackers--are created equal.
Maybe I have only walked 200 miles--or, perhaps, as many as 300!
Maybe I have only walked 200 miles--or, perhaps, as many as 300!
Here's a revealing graphic from ABC News about the great disparity of "steps" counted by three different self-analytic devices: Fitbit, Jawbone, and Nike:
The reporter wore five different devices on different parts of the body and measured steps, calories consumed, calories burned, and hours of sleep. Take a look at the box on the left labeled "Steps per Day." The Fitbit bar is in blue, the Jawbone in grey, and the Nike device is represented by the orange bar. I don't have the actual step count data, but it looks like there is a discrepancy of around 10,000 steps between Jawbone and Nike devices over the course of three days, with Fitbit falling in the middle. Ten thousand steps just happens to be my daily goal. Am I wrong, or is that a lot of discrepancy?
I am glad I have the Fitbit, which racked up the median number of steps between the Jawbone and the Nike devices. Too little, too much, or just right? Which brings me to thinking about porridge. I wish I could take a look at the differing data from the caloric burn. Does Fitbit fall in the middle on that score too? And what about the hours slept?
The reporter wore five different devices on different parts of the body and measured steps, calories consumed, calories burned, and hours of sleep. Take a look at the box on the left labeled "Steps per Day." The Fitbit bar is in blue, the Jawbone in grey, and the Nike device is represented by the orange bar. I don't have the actual step count data, but it looks like there is a discrepancy of around 10,000 steps between Jawbone and Nike devices over the course of three days, with Fitbit falling in the middle. Ten thousand steps just happens to be my daily goal. Am I wrong, or is that a lot of discrepancy?
I am glad I have the Fitbit, which racked up the median number of steps between the Jawbone and the Nike devices. Too little, too much, or just right? Which brings me to thinking about porridge. I wish I could take a look at the differing data from the caloric burn. Does Fitbit fall in the middle on that score too? And what about the hours slept?
I won't go into the caloric intake numbers as I have yet to find a food tracker that easily and accurately measures non-processed, healthy, organic, unsweetened foods--like porridge. I have signed up for Lose It!, which the ABC News reporter used also. At first glance it looks like the Lose It! data entry program might be superior to My Fitness Pal and the Fitbit food logs in that Lose It! allows me to enter amounts as small as 1/8 of a cup. We'll see what happens when I have to enter quinoa salad into their program. . .
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