Physical activity trackers

Are you tracking how much physical activity you do?

  • Yes
  • No

0 voters

If so what app you use and do you notice any changes in your diabetes management during active days?

I use a simple FitBit bracelet. I am a walker and track my distance walked in miles. It surprisingly motivates me to get out and walk almost every day. I put the FitBit in service in May of 2014 and I am now just short of 5,000 miles walked since then, about 3 miles per day on average.

I use a predecessor to this model, one of the cheaper FitBits.

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If I don’t walk for more than 24 hours, my numbers start to elevate. When I walk after eating, I can keep the post-meal BG rise often below 120 and certainly below 140. I find exercise an amazing catalyst for controlling blood glucose.

I just use the health tracker on my IPhone and if I don’t get at least a half hour of exercise after dinner then there is a definite difference in my BG’s. It can just be walking. It doesn’t even have to be anything strenuous but if I miss it I will be high all night. Also in addition if I do any strenuous activity then it doesn’t do anymore good than a walk does.

I’ve used a few but I started to get more serious about running so I switched to Garmin. I recently got a forerunner 645. It tracks activity, sleep, stress level, etc., and gives a lot of feedback about your workouts.

Currently use a Fitbit. Blood sugar is so much better when stepsper day. But most days I am over 30,000 steps. It helps walking to and from work, walking my cute little lab everyday and my job helps tremendously with steps. I average around 80 miles a week.

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Wow, @Sally7. that is about 15 miles per day!! That is fantastic!

I’ve tried a few apps for running - GhostRacer, Runkeeper, Google Fit on my watch but none of them are accurate. They all give different results on the same exact path! I also use the step counter on the xDrip+ watchface which is uses the internal sensor on the Sony watch. Google Fit uses the same sensor on the watch so at least these two are in-sync:)

I swim laps for thirty minutes every day at the Ymca. Back stroke and the side stroke are easy, the breast stroke I do slowly, and the crawl is too strenuous. I concentrate on my breathing.

Thanks, it does sound like a lot but much of it is at work. I work in a large warehouse, on my feet walking back & forth, 8 hours a day. That is about 8 miles just at work!

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I use a Fitbit Versa - I have my Dexcom numbers displayed on it as well as steps and using it as a tracker. I don’t think I’ve been doing enough activity lately to notice a change either way, unfortunately. Need to change that.

Please tell me how you do this!!! I have a Fitbit Ionic (I would actually prefer a Versa, and am a little annoyed they came out with that significantly cheaper and better-looking practically feature-equivilent device only six months after releasing the Ionic…) and have been waiting for official Dexcom support. My understanding was that Nightscout and the like didn’t yet work. I would seriously upgrade to the G5 just for this ability.

I mostly use my Fitbit for tracking steps, swims, and gym workouts (mostly bike or elliptical). Works great for these. I’ve also started using it to track my female cycle in hopes of developing better BG management strategies.

I use it with xDrip+, but it works with Spike and NightScout as well. Go to the Clock Face selections in the settings and search for “Glucose” – You will see four choices. I’m using the Glance watchface and find it both helpful and easy to set up, but the other three are nice options, as well.

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Thank you!!! I am getting Spike now. I have a G4 (without Share), but this makes me so tempted to call up Dexcom and order a single G5 transmitter. I wish I hadn’t just ordered my G4 transmitter a few months ago after debating whether to upgrade and deciding against it until the t:slim came to Canada.

im using a fitbit alta HR. i love that it tells me how many steps ive done, what my heart rate is, how many miles ive done, etc. i didnt think i would like it at first but im just loving it. there are challenges that you can do by yourself or with your fitbit friends. they are fun as well as it motivates you to move. it also has how many hours did you sleep feature. i love that because i can see the sleep patterns i may have, etc.

Without Share, you could get a Wixel bridge to make the G4 receiver talk to Bluetooth. A bit DIY, but lotsa folks use them. See the Nightscout website for information.

Do you have G4 version that can be updated to support share? I don’t recall details, but think this was possible for some G4s.

No. Sadly, the Share never came to Canada, so I’ve never had the chance to use it. Our choices here are G4 (no Share) or G5.

Garmin Fenix 5X.

Tried a FitBit because of the hoopla about later synching with DexCom but the FitBit experience was so poor in so many ways that I returned it for a full refund.

My focus was on synching with Strava, because my physical activity is based on running (goal is in “competitive”(!) racing in certain event disciplines), complemented by strength training for running. I wanted to avoid having to run with my mobile phone, so I looked for a tracker with good GPS.

The great divide is between watches (maybe with GPS) that track vs fitness trackers that might function as a watch. Of course they overalp, but the main manufacturers seem to be biased towards one, not the other.

On the Fenix I can record street runs, track sessions, trail runs and orienteering.

It tracks all of the other activities too, but I do not need that. it can auto detect 10’ or more, but I switched that off because sometimes it would record 30’ on an elliptical machine when I was only walking the dog. I must walk in a funny way (only if with the brainless dog?).

I did not look for anything more, but to my surprise I have not minded the Fenix’s tracking heart rates, sleep (various stages), “intensity minutes”, daily goals for steps and stairs, move prompts and even the dubious “stress” levels. I have seen how sedentary my days can be, and how sometimes through work or poor habits I get too little sleep.

So, on the whole, I think I have benefited from the Garmin Fenix watch/Connect App for my general health in ways that I did not look for and would have been too skeptical to pay for.

For my training goals, the Fenix gives me what I need. You need to be experienced in the physiological aspects of my training goals to make use of those features. Perhaps a less featured Garmin would be suitable for others.

I have synched with Strava, MyFitnessPal and Samsung Health, but I really only value the synch between Strava and Garmin’s “Connect”. A person who tracks calories might value more the synching between Connect and MyFitnesspal. For me, the Strava platform is far more useful and readable, and has more “social” benefits to support my running (being a relatively unsociable person).

To help make sense of the many watches and trackers, their claims, the reality of their usefulness and quality, and the many websites doing comparisons, I took more value out of runners on Strava who were broadly similar to me and shared their experience. I finally got confidence to choose based on real experience from my cohort.

The Fenix came pre-loaded with local topo maps. As a bonus, I can use the Fenix for navigation on my m/bike in the boondocks, away from mobile phone coverage (and so do not need a m/bike GPS unit).

The Fenix range is not cheap. I scrounged reward points from hidden crevices and got the watch.
I am just a paying customer, so these comments come from a stingy skeptic. In hindsight, for me, the Fenix 5X has made me better aware of and managing some daily basic health issues and is sweet on the running tracking. Well worth it for my long term health.

iWatch and that talks to my iPhone.

The Health app is pretty much all I need, but there are tons of apps if you want a deeper dive.

My gym’s app feeds data into the Health app as well as other apps I use like my MySugr, Dexcom, Calm, and activity tracking apps.

All of them working together give me a good picture. There are still more things I can track, but I take my watch off as soon as I get home and don’t put it on unless I leave the house.