Fitbit Launches Premium Memberships

You know I love my Fitbit... when I can remember to wear it.  It's totally unobtrusive, I love all the stuff it tracks and it's been fun to use... if you're one of those people who is retentive like that and likes to track things. I am one of those people.

So far, the Fitbit memberships have been free to one and all -- and they still are, so don't panic. But they've also released a very reasonably priced premium service that I may check out.   At only $49.95 a year (not a month, which is what I thought it was at first and almost fell off my chair), you are able to track pretty much whatever you want. In addition to all their awesome free services, you can also create custom tracking (i.e., if you want to track how many cigarettes you smoked  -- assuming you're trying to quit! -- or sodas you drank or sit-ups you did -- you can make a custom tracker for whatever you like!), "benchmark" yourself against your peers (others in the Fitbit community -- if competitiveness is your motivational thing), and apparently, get more "in-depth analysis" of your data than you do with the free version. AND, you get a Fitbit trainer, which takes your activity level and calculates a 12-week fitness program to help you meet your goals. Fancy schmancy!

There's a free week trial of the Fitbit premium services, which I think I'll check out and see if it's worth the $50/yr.  I've been considering putting my Weight Watchers membership on hold temporarily because at $15/mo, I just don't use it as much as I do my free Fitbit profile. I feel the exercise is more accurately tracked on my Fitbit (WW crushes my juju when I sweat for 30 minutes and only get 2 measley Points® for it ) and find logging food in two places is becoming tedious and time consuming. 

Don't get me wrong, Weight Watchers is a wonderful program and I lost a lot of weight on it. But when you do it for a long time, sometimes you just need to shake things up a little.  Fitbit's calorie-counting lets me see at a glance how I'm doing and look at food in a more reasonable, matter-of-fact way. I'm less obsessed with Points and counting and cutting corners to squeeze out an extra half a Point so I can have that Giant Fudge Bar later tonight.  I am enjoying the more simplified "calories burned/calories consumed" method right now.  Counting calories used to be such a pain in the ass, which is why Weight Watchers is so great, especially for new dieters. But now with tools like Fitbit (and it's similar competitor, Bodybugg), it's not as much of a production.  What I've been calling Calorie Reality™ has been effective for me lately. 

Whether I keep my WW membership active or not, I'm definitely going to keep using my Fitbit.  I don't use my sleep tracking as much as I thought I would (I tend to remove the wristband in the night and found myself being concerned I'd lay on my wrist and turn off the recording), but I like that it has the option if I want it.  And with more features being offered by Fitbit, it's looking to be a strong contender in the fitness market. 

Do you have one? Do you love it? Do you think you would try the paid membership? Yes, no?

[I am not paid by Fitbit or anyone, for that matter, for my product endorsement -- at least not yet!  And even if I were, I'd never endorse something I didn't believe in. I dig this product, simple as that.]