The Truth about Fitness Trackers

don't rely on technology way too much. You just got to have the guts and the motivation to do what you want to do in life.

So, I've never had a Fitbit or any of these things before and from watching your video I was thinking of getting myself a Fitbit Luxe just to monitor my heart rate and steps, and mostly since it tells the time use it as a watch while walking and out and about. What is your opinion on something like that? I read that the Fitbit Luxe doesn't have any GPS so I should be fine no? Also, do I really need to download the apps to use a Fitbit Luxe or not? P.S. been walking without a fitness tracker or watch for a long time and that's because I reminded myself not some tech reminding me to walk or get my steps.

So I guess she doesn't have a smart phone that is tracking her already. Lame info.

i think them as trackers, theyre pretty precise, specialy apple wiht their new apple watch, their a big cash but theyre pretty good with all they try eveen with sleep and REM, light, deep phases of sleep, i think it more as a tracker than a motvation

Personally I bought an Apple Watch as a smart watch first and a fitness tracker was a bonus but wasn’t the intent of getting the watch. That is likely why I have enjoyed the Apple Watch over the years where I couldn’t enjoy a traditional watch or a Fitbit. I’m now on the Apple Watch ultra making it my 4th Apple Watch and I really enjoy it for some of the things it can do like HomeKit support and Apple Pay and iMessage. I don’t care too much for the fitness tracking although it I do attempt to complete my rings each day.

If you have an Apple Watch I highly recommend you review what data your sharing with third party apps, to see which apps have access to health data go to Settings -> privacy -> health. See what apps have access and question if they need that data and what benefits your receiving from that data being shared. HealthKit is end to end encrypted and isn’t used for advertising or data collection purposes however third party apps don’t have that same requirements. In apple’s privacy policy for advertising they list every metric they’ll use if you enable personalized ads(which can be turned off in settings -> privacy -> apple advertising) however even personalized ads don’t use any HealthKit data(your age and gender is accounted for however this is self reported in your Apple ID info)

In fact it is directly stated in the advertising privacy policy “No Apple Pay transactions or Health app data is accessible to Apple’s advertising platform, or is used for advertising purposes. Apple does not know or make available to advertisers information about your sexual orientation, religious beliefs, or political affiliations.” Third party apps that receive HealthKit data can however generally use this info for advertising purposes so that’s why you want to review who has access and who needs to be removed. For example a food tracking app doesn’t need to know how much exercise I’m doing if I’m not using it as a general weight loss coach so you can disable individual data types both when permission is requested or at any point in the future.

I tried a smart watch for a few weeks. The inaccuracies in the step counting were comical. One day it said a climbed over 70 flights of stairs but only walked down 30. I climb ladders and scaffold most days as part of my work so it didn't knoiw what it was counting. If I rode my bike 10 miles it didn't register any exercise because my arms weren't swinging like when I'm walking. If I play guitar for two hours it said I walked the entire Appalachian Trail in that time. One more reason against using a smart watch. Who wants another device that needs charging every day?

For me, I got my first fitness watch because my alarm clock was so loud, it made the entire household upset. I saw the prices on the watches going down, and got one that could at least send me notifications, and the vibration was enough to wake me up without blowing the house with sirens. Over time, I became more interested in how the data all worked, and that in turn got me into figuring out how to apply the information elsewhere. I used it less to track fitness and more to see what was happening inside, if anything at all.

That, and I still get my notifications, which itself was the bigger reason I wanted it anyway. Everything else is just a bonus I learned to work with.

My fitbit went totally flat while i was in hospital. I set it to recharge and now it lights up fine but wont talk to the app. The app can 'see' it but it cant see the app. Utterly useless

A fitness tracker is just that, to track activity, not motivate you to do anything 💀, if the reason you exercise is because you get a higher number on your watch then you need some other reasons to be exercising otherwise you won't last long

Oh boohoo. If you’re obese, losing weight is healthy. If fitness trackers help you have a perspective of your daily active caloric expenditures, it’s a good thing. Rather than making comfortable excuses for “you can be 150KG and healthy” or “fat is beautiful”

I like my Apple Watch. When I forget it at home and use the treadmill for an hour, it says “hey lazy-ass, you haven’t done anything today “.

Lol but I use my watch for messages, music control, and Apple Pay. The fitness part is extra but my main tracker is my phone’s camera on the treadmill’s workout stats at the end.

The only thing i use my smartwatch for is as a stopwatch and timer. I bought it solely for that, exercice wise.

WOW this sounds like some BULLSHIT

I have been a tracker addict since FitBit first came out. But I noticed that it turned my behavior towards compulsive. If I didn't get my step goal in by bedtime, I would jog around my room unable to deal with the feeling of defeat that I hadn't met my goal. It also ruined my eating to where I would meet my calorie goal for a few days and then binge because I felt so deprived. That never happened until I started tracking my calories. I forgot how to feel for myself when I was hungry or tired. It has taken me a long time to learn what it feels like to be hungry and honor that instead of following an app. In the beginning I only wanted to lose 15 lbs. But it ended up with years of yo yo eating and compulsive eating and mental anguish over why I was failing. It totally screwed with me mentally and physically. I still wear an Apple Watch to keep track of notifications or texts from my kids but I no longer track my calories or steps. Breaking up with all the tracking caused me a terrible amount of anxiety, much like quitting anything (smoking, drinking) and it was a long process. I feel more in my own body now and have less stress in my day.

Now, don't 100% rely on this, I could be wrong, but I have like 5 smart watches, from Samsung, Garmin, and Pebble. I just like watches, and I like the look, switching faces, the pedometer, HR, etc. I can use mine and get that data WITHOUT attaching it to an app. By doing so I don't get the long term data, ie., charts, but if you're working out and want to know your HR, or steps, see how you slept the night before I can see it on the watch. And it's not connected to the phone. This means I don't get notifications and won't get that long-term data collection if I want to digitally track progress, but I can see daily stuff. I'm pretty sure, on the one model, I can, using my computer with it plugged in, add music files, and then use it as an mp3 player via Bluetooth headphones. Again, you don't get all the features it's capable of, but you get steps, sleep, HR, regular watch stuff, etc.

I bought a mi smartband 7, specially because I wanted to track my heart BPM during exercise. I am a little bit disappointed with the precision! Sometimes it seems to work, and sometimes it gives completely wrong readings like saying I have 100 BPM when I cleary have more than 150.

I’d love a video on how social media has ruined social interactions/ our standard of beauty/ self esteem or what we think about ourselves

i work in retail. fitness watch remind me to STOP WALKING ON YOUR DAY OFF lol

I've always loved walking vs traditional gym exercise but I could also go days without getting out of my house. Getting a fitness tracker was a game-changer for me to get out of my house and get those 10 000 steps even if I wasn't in the mood. After a month I felt significantly better and although I didn't lose much weight (I need to change my diet which is a bigger challenge) it was beneficial for my overall mental health bc I kept myself away from any screen or social media for at least an hour every day.
Before I got my fitness tracker I would usually overestimate how much exercise I was getting but now I can easily see and change my behaviour bc there's (sometimes inaccurate) data I can rely on than a mere ''guess''.

Can you do a look into those family genetic testing services - the ones where you send in your DNA to find out your ancestry? I've never done it because the thought of sending some arbitrary corporation my DNA just creeps me out.

It's not the fitness tracker, it's the user.
Yes, data/privacy can potentially be an issue, just like how a A380 can land on top of your house right now.
Yes, it can stop you from getting the health insurance that you're attempting to obtain via deception, let's blame the fitness tracker.

It’s honestly awesome if you dont check stats again and again. Like oh, I burned 2200 calories today. Nice

For me my Garm8n is just a tool and usually only wear when I go for walks and or runs. I would never wear it all day. I think that, for example, measuring my sleep would only cause me more stress. While I like to measure my mileage and other data related to my running, I don't want it to rule my life.

Yall should look into Discovery Vitality, groundbreaking stuff in the insurance/health space!

Levi looks weird

Solid points were made but the conclusion and overall frame the video took was cringe.
Still keep up the good work even if this one was a miss.

Please cover “detoxification”

kudos on the new channel, love it.
Please make a video on the false blue light claims and glasses!

love the new channel! looking forward to seeing great content from Sher and this channel in the future :)

In my experience, fitness trackers can be beneficial if you think of it as an optimization tool. I like walking on its own, but I tend to default to being sedentary if I don't remind myself to move. I feel much more motivated to walk when I can quantify my progress (my personal goal is 7,500 steps since the benefits tend to stop around there, not 10,000). Additionally, I enjoy knowing how many calories I've burned during intense exercise, because I want to have a realistic idea of how much I can and should eat (including eating back at least some of the calories I've burned). I track my food so that I can maintain my weight, build muscle, and ensure that I'm getting enough protein, fiber, vitamins, and minerals.

I've even been monitoring my heart rate and stress levels. I had an extremely difficult adjustment period recently, and I'm so relieved knowing that my heart rate is finally starting to go back down to its previously tortoise-esque levels. I couldn't monitor this so easily without wearing my fitness tracker! I don't rely on it for everything (the sleep tracking is still kind of iffy), but I prefer being informed about these details.

i whole-heartily enjoy my Galaxy Watch, not tired of it at all. i find myself walking more with it on than just using my mobile.
thank you for this & iam looking forward to future episodes.

Really enjoyed this. The host is very good. I’d like to see a video about all of the weight loss programs, ie: NOOM , WW, KETO, Nutrition system, Do Fasting. Would like to see some reviews on exercise equipment ie Pelaton..

you should do a video about calorie counting! it’s become super prominent in gen z and i wanna get an outside opinion :)

Studies and science also made you take the clot shot and wear a muzzle for the past 2 years. While I'm wearing my Garmin watch, getting out there and making a difference. You're a sheep, and I'm a wolf. My $0.02

damn these videos are so high quality

Great video and food for thought! I'd say the final part about checking privacy options could be a little longer, and/or show the privacy options screens of more popular devices for those less tech savvy.

Since you discussed privacy so much, here's some food for thought. What do criminals know about you? What about other people? How much do computers know about you?

The first category is the most important so, so follow the commonly recommended security practices and you can easily make a meaningful impact. The second one can be managed by not publishing every little bit of your life on Tweetbook and Snapstagram. The third one though... That's a bit of a game over TBH, but fortunately it's also the least harmful one on the list IMO.

You can reduce the amount of data the Big Five have about you, but each step in that direction comes with a price. Just tweaking a few settings reduces that data just a little bit and the practical price is very low. Going completely de-google will take time and effort, and it will also cripple your digital life, while not really putting a proper barrier between you and the Big Five. The cost is high, and the benefits are more philosophical than practical. I've tried that extreme option, and realized it's not worth the price.

Could you do a video about whey protein, because it's really suspicious how a waste product of the cheese production became according to some people the best protein source. Don't get me wrong. I use whey protein and cannot say they are bad for your health, but it is still an interesting topic.

Looking forward to many more health related videos!

no. f u; phone trackers aren't accurate.

u got better voice than the original guy, u can do both channels

Pedometer on F-droid is a step counter which is also free, open source, works offline, doesn't use GPS instead uses your phone sensors (works surprisingly well), less than 1 MB, and barely uses any battery...

damn i love sher hair lol

Not trying to be a hater, but don't believe any of this info is scientific in any way. It's purely anecdotal, and I disagree with most statements, other than "If you have no prior motivation to exercise, a watch won't give that to you." I mean, yeah I agree, but isn't that kind of obvious?

I had literal decades to learn that for me there is no intrinsic motivation to any form of exercise (not bicycling, dance, running, sports). A fitness tracker lets me know when I can stop. It's essential. Phone based trackers are uniformly terrible. A wrist-worn tracker works much better.

The 10,000 steps thing was just add that they used to sell the first speedometer in Japan realistically you probably need to get like 40,000 steps a day just to lose significant weight