Fitbit Product Manual

1. Getting Started 3.
   1. Installing the Software 3.
   2. Setting up Your Tracker 3.
2. Using Your Tracker 4.
   1. Charging 4.
   2. Wearing the Fitbit 4.
   3. The Display 4.
   4. Tracking Sleep 5.
   5. Syncing Your Data 5.
3. Using the Desktop Client 6.
   1. The Fitbit Service Manager - Tray Application (Windows Only) 6.
   2. The Fitbit Data Uploader - Service 6.
   3. Upgrading the Desktop Client 6.
      1. Windows 6.
      2. Mac 6.
4. Using the Website 7.
   1. Home Tab - The Dashboard 7.
      1. Header Section 7.
      2. Calories Section 8.
      3. Activity Section 9.
      4. Sleep Section 10.
      5. Your Profile Section 11.
      6. Editing Your Profile 11.
      7. Your Public Profile 12.
   2. Tracker Tab 14.
      1. Track My Food 14.
      2. Track My Activities 15.
      3. Track My Weight 16.
      4. Track My Sleep 17.
   3. Community Tab 17.
5. Troubleshooting 18.
6. Support 19.
7. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Statement 19.
8. Industry Canada (IC) Statement 20.

Getting Started

Installing the Software

1. Navigate to www.fitbit.com/start and download the latest software for your OS.
2. Run the installation file and follow on screen instructions.
3. After installation, you will be taken to the "account setup" screen.

Setting up Your Tracker

1. 
   If you just installed the software, you will be taken to the "account setup" screen. Otherwise, right click on the "Fitbit Service Manager" icon in the tray application and choose "Account Setup" (Windows) or double click on the Fitbit application in the Applications folder (Mac).
2. The first screen is used to create your new account. If you already set up an account at www.fitbit.com, then use the "Log In" link next to the text: "Already have an account?"
3. The next screen will let you enter your personal information on your account. This information will help the tracker's accuracy when calculating the distance traveled and calories burned.
4. The next screen informs you that it is time to plug in the base station, place your tracker on the base station and press the button on the tracker.
5. Finally, the tracker will show a number for you to type in. This makes sure that the tracker you are looking at is the tracker that the software is communicating with.

Using Your Tracker

Charging

• To charge, place the tracker on your base station.
• It takes 60-90 minutes to fully charge.
• A full battery will last 5-10 days.
• While on the charger, pushing the tracker's button will show you the battery indicator.
• A battery indicator is also displayed on the website dashboard in the profile section.
• When the battery gets low, the tracker will enter a power saving mode. You will see an empty battery icon when you push the button. After several presses to the button, the display will stop turning on to save the battery. Please charge your tracker as soon as possible. The tracker will continue to collect data until it enters full shutdown mode.
• To turn off your tracker (other than draining the battery completely), place the tracker on an unplugged base station and press the reset button (found at the bottom of the base station).
• To turn on your tracker, place it on a plugged in base station.

Wearing the Fitbit

• The Fitbit is best worn on your torso. This can include your waist or chest. You can also clip it to undergarments. You might have to try different locations to see what works the best for you in terms of accuracy.
• The Fitbit can be worn in the pocket for more convenience, but the steps and calorie counts will be slightly less accurate.

The Display

• Pushing the button will cycle the display to show you your steps taken, distance traveled, calories burned, and a flower indicating your activity level. The flower grows and shrinks based on your activity level throughout the day. Keep moving to keep the flower growing.
  • Distance traveled is based on your walking steps times your walking stride length (steps x stride) plus your running steps times your running stride length (RunSteps x RunStride). For instructions on calculating and entering your stride length, click here to jump to the "Editing Your Profile" section of the manual.
  • Calories burned is calculated by measuring your BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate) based off your personal information and adding and calories detected from activities.
  • The flower is based off of your last 3 hours of activity. It will adapt as you become fit, so you will find it harder and harder to reach the 12 leaves max.
• Holding down the button for 2+ seconds will display "Start" and again will display "Stop". This is used to track your sleep.
• A flashing display indicates that you are in "Sleep/Trip Mode". If this is a mistake, simply hold down the button for 2+ seconds to exit sleep mode. You can delete the sleep from the "Track My Sleep" page.
• The Fitbit's display will reset to 0 every midnight, provided that your time zone setting is correct. The Fitbit setup process will guide you through setting your time zone.
• The Fitbit's distance screen shows you an estimate of how many miles/km you walked or ran throughout the day. The Fitbit's distance calculation does try to account for whether you are running or walking. You can further fine tune the distance calculation by entering your height or stride lengths on the website.

Tracking Sleep

• To track your sleep, place the Fitbit Tracker completely into the slot on the provided wristband and wrap the wristband around your non-dominant wrist (so if you are right handed, use your left wrist).
• Once you are in bed, press and hold the button for 2+ seconds. You should see "Start" indicating that you are in sleep mode.
• When you wake up, press and hold the button for 2+ seconds to "Stop" sleep mode.
• While in sleep mode, the display will flash when you check the steps, miles, calories and activity level which will help you identify that you are in sleep mode.
• Sleep mode also displays your steps, miles and calories since you entered sleep mode. Once you exit sleep mode, you will resume seeing your daily total.

Syncing Your Data

• The tracker will upload your data every 15 minutes provided you are within range of a plugged in base station (about 15 feet), the computer is on and not in sleep or hibernate mode.
• While out of range, the tracker will look for a base station every minute until it syncs your data, after which it will wait 15 minutes before searching again.
• You can see when the last successful sync occurred by viewing your main page at www.fitbit.com. Under your profile picture, you will see "Last data uploaded..." with how long ago the sync occurred.
• If you want to force the tracker to upload its data, place the tracker on the base station. (The base station must be plugged in and the data uploader service is running).
• While we recommend you sync your data regularly, the tracker has the ability to store 7 days worth of detailed, minute by minute data. It will store summary data (calories, distance and steps) for the trailing 30 days. If you wait longer than 7 days before syncing, you will not see your minute by minute graphs (except on the last 7 days).

Using the Desktop Client

The Fitbit Service Manager - Tray Application (Windows Only)

• The tray application provides a visual indication that your base station is plugged in and the Fitbit Data Uploader service is running. It also launches the "Account Setup" screen used to link a tracker to a new or current account.
• The Fitbit Data Uploader service is running and the base station is plugged in.
• The Fitbit Data Uploader service is not running. The easiest way to restart the service is to reboot your computer.
• The base station is unplugged. Check the wiring and try unplugging and replugging the wire in.

The Fitbit Data Uploader - Service

• This service syncs all your data with the website.
• By default, the service will start when you log in to your computer.
• Firewall settings (usually those found in a business environment) may prevent the software from communicating with the website, in which case no sync can take place.

Upgrading the Desktop Client

Windows

• Right click on the tray icon and choose "Fitbit" > "Check for update"
  

Mac

• Please go to http://www.fitbit.com/start to check whether there is a new version.

Using the Website

Home Tab - The Dashboard

Header Section

• Your weekly goals can be customized by clicking on the "Select another goal" link.
• Before you can view a weight goal as your weekly goal to display, you must first navigate to the "Track My Weight" page and set an initial goal.

Calories Section

• Click on the progress bars on the right to adjust your daily goal (available for "Today" date only).
• Calculating calories burned (BMR - Basal Metabolic Rate; EER - Estimated Energy Requirements):
  • If you own a Fitbit tracker we use the calories computed from the tracker + any logged activities you logged for the day. When you log an activity, we take the greater of the calories calculated by the tracker for that period and the calories that you should burn from doing that activity based on your height, weight, age and gender.
  • If you do not own a tracker we use BMR + any logged activities + manually logged steps.
  • If you go back and look at previous days we will show the value as computed above if it is greater than 80% of your EER or we will show EER for the day. Your EER (Estimated Energy Requirements) is based on a formula published by the FDA and used by other government agencies to estimate the calories required by an individual based on their age, height, weight, and gender. Your EER is greater than your BMR since your BMR only takes into account the calories burned by your body just for it to exist and does not take into account even minimal motion or activity.
  • If we show EER for a given day, we will display an asterisk next to the total number. Hovering over the asterisk will show a hover tip. The tip will say "Only XYZ calories beyond your BMR were logged for the day. Due to this low number we are instead estimating caloric burn assuming a sedentary lifestyle." Or if the user has a tracker "Only XYZ calories were logged on your tracker. Due to this low number we are instead estimating caloric burn assuming a sedentary lifestyle."
  • You can disable calorie estimation (EER) in your profile settings under the "Preferences" heading. (You get to your profile setting by clicking the "edit profile" link on the dashboard near your picture).

Activity Section

• Click on the progress bars on the right to adjust your daily goals (available for "Today" date only).
• Your activity section shows your number of steps taken, your distance traveled, active score and whether you have any manually logged activities.
• If your distance traveled appears off, you can adjust your stride length in the "Edit profile" page. For that portion of the manual, click here.

• For a description of your "Active Score", just hover your mouse over the * on your dashboard. You will see a tool tip with our definition of "Active Score".
  • The Active Score captures how active you were compared to if you were completely sedentary all day. Your score will be 0 if you were sedentary, and typically a 3-digit number if you were active.
  • You may prefer the Active Score over Calories Burned, because the Active Score just captures your level of activity and is not dependent on your height and weight, as calories burned is.
  • For those who understand what a MET (Metabolic Equivalent) is, the Active Score is a rough translation of the sum of your METs for each minute minus 1 for each minute elapsed in the day.

Sleep Section

• This section shows information about your longest sleep of the day. If you recorded multiple sleeps, click on "View all your sleeps on this day"

Your Profile Section

• If you own a tracker, your profile section of the dashboard will display the last time the tracker had a successful sync, such as "Synced 3 minutes ago".
• Below the last time synced, you will see the status of your battery level. This is currently displayed as High, Medium or Low and represents the status of your battery at the time of the last sync.

Editing Your Profile

• To edit your profile, click on the "Edit profile" link on the dashboard near your picture.
• Most of the options are self explanatory with the following exceptions.
  • Stride Length (walking) and Running Stride Length are calculated by default based on your other profile information (but displayed as 0).
  • If your distance traveled is not close with the default values, you can calculate your stride length by walking a known distance (like a track) and counting your steps. Most tracks are .25 mile if you walk on the inside ring.
  • You can also walk a straight line using a GPS to calculate the distance traveled and your Fitbit tracker to calculate the steps taken over that distance.
  • To calculate using a treadmill:
    1. Just stand on the treadmill and hold down the button on the Fitbit until it says "Start".
    2. The tracker will start counting your steps from 0.
    3. Now start the treadmill going at a normal walking speed (taking normal sized steps, not big - workout type steps). The longer you go, the more accurate your stride length will be.
    4. When you've gone far enough (a quarter of a mile should be okay, but the longer the better), stop the treadmill and check the steps on the tracker. Make note of the distance traveled on the treadmill. You can also "Stop" the recording and the number of steps will be listed as an activity on your page.
    5. Now do the math. There are 5280 feet in a mile and 12 inches in a foot (63360 inches per mile). So the formula you need for your stride length in inches is:
       
       63360 * Miles / Steps = Stride in Inches
       
       To calculate your stride length using a track, do the same as above but press "Start" when on the start line and know the distance you are walking/running (or use End_Steps - Start_Steps).
       
       If you know the distance in feet, then:
       
       12 * Feet / Steps = Stride in Inches
    6. Repeat the above for running stride length. Just go your average running speed.
• You can disable calorie estimation under the "Preferences" section of the dashboard.
• Calorie estimation will only be used on days where you didn't log activities or sync any data from the tracker. Essentially, it assumes you lived a sedentary lifestyle for the day and didn't exercise, keeping your graph somewhat accurate.
• If calorie estimation is used, you will see a * next to your number of calories burned on the dashboard. Hovering over the * with your mouse will give the following description:

Your Public Profile

• To see your public profile, click on the "View profile" link under your picture on the dashboard.
• At the top, you have the option to view your page as it is seen by one of your friends or to a member of the public.

• Use the "Public Page" link at the top right to direct people straight to your page.
• Use the "Privacy" link at the top center of the page to adjust the following default settings:

• Your "About Me" box, last logged foods, last logged activities and friends list are public by default.
• If you are having problems viewing the entire pop-up:
  • Press the F11 key to put your browser into full screen mode.
  • Press Ctrl+- (Control and the minus key) to zoom out.
  • If that doesn't work, you can adjust your screen resolution temporarily (right click on the desktop, choose "Properties", click the "Settings" tab and then drag the slider to the right. You may want to write down the settings prior to sliding the bar so that you can put it back where it was.)
• Your public profile can be viewed by anyone that clicks on your picture/name in the forums, through site searches or anyone that you give the link to.
• Below your picture on your public profile, there is a link labeled "Add as Friend" which is visible to anyone viewing your page who is not already a friend. Clicking this button will allow people to invite you as a friend without knowing your Email address.

Tracker Tab

Track My Food

• The main purpose of this page is to log foods that you ate for the day.
• Click on the star to mark logged foods as favorites.
• Click on a logged foods name to see all the nutritional information.
• After logging foods, hover over them to see the options for adjusting food size and deleting the item.
• You can drag and drop logged items between time slots.

• On the right side of your food log screen, you will find any foods you marked as a favorite (by clicking on the star by any food), your meals, most logged foods and recent logged foods.
• By creating a meal for any food combination, you can quickly log full meals with just a few clicks of your mouse.

Track My Activities

• Use the activity logging to log any activities you do without your tracker as well as those that the tracker does not adequately track, such as weight lifting, cycling, yoga and other exercise activities where your body is relatively stationary.
• "enter my total daily steps" will adjust steps from the tracker by the entered number. So if you use a tracker, only estimated steps taken without the tracker being worn need to be entered.
• When an activity is logged with a start time, the activity will overwrite whatever the tracker picked up for that time frame. If you have a tracker, when you log an activity we take the greater of the calories calculated by the tracker for that period and the calories that you should burn from doing that activity based on your height, weight, age, gender.
• As with food logging, you can mark your favorite activities for easier logging in the future as well as create programs to log regular routines.

Track My Weight

• Use the weight tracking page to log your weight, set your weight goal and view graphs of your progress.
  
• Logging your weight every day is not necessary. Your weight can fluctuate throughout the day based on many factors. For best results, weigh yourself at the same time everyday.
• If you do log your weight every day, don't get overly worried on the ups and downs you see. Look at the overall trend in your graphs.

Track My Sleep

• In addition to seeing your latest sleep data (as shown on the Dashboard), you can use this page to see multiple sleep data sets. This can be particularly useful if you take naps throughout the day.
• This page also gives the additional "delete" link to remove erroneous sleep annotations.
  
• The 30 day graphs can help you see your sleep patterns.
  

Community Tab

• The community tab contains all the social aspects of the site.
• Currently, you can find our public forums housed there.

Troubleshooting

• My data is not syncing to the website.
  • If your data has never synced, make sure you followed all the instructions in the "Getting Started" section (Install Software and Setup Tracker).
  • If you still can't sync, try pointing the computer to the drivers manually by:
    1. Unplug and replug the base station into your computer. The Add New Hardware Wizard dialog should open.
    2. Please select 'Advanced' and point the wizard to the following location:
       Windows XP, Vista 32 bit, Windows 7 32 bit: c:\program files\fitbit\base station
       Vista 64 bit, Windows 7 64 bit: c:\program files (x86) \fitbit\base station
  • Make sure the base station is plugged in and try unplugging and replugging the base station.
  • Follow the instructions in the "The Fitbit Data Uploader - Service" section to verify the service is running.
  • Follow the instructions in the "Upgrading the Desktop Client" section to make sure your software is up to date.
  • Most corporate firewalls will block the data transfer with our servers. Try setting up your base station on a personal computer with internet access.
  • If all else fails, a good old fashioned restart of your computer can solve many problems.
  • If your problems persist, please contact support@fitbit.com.
• My tracker seems to be frozen.
  • Place the tracker on the base station. If the tracker is functioning correctly, the battery indicator should display.
  • Most tracker related problems can be solved by restarting the tracker. To do this:
    1. Place your tracker on the base station (with it plugged in an the computer on).
    2. Using a pen or a paper clip, push the button on the bottom of the base station.
    3. The tracker should restart and display the firmware version (ex. "FITBIT 1.02").
• My numbers reset to 0 during the day.
  • Verify that you are not in "sleep/recording mode" (display is flashing). When in "sleep/recording mode", your numbers displayed will be your steps, distance and calories since you entered sleep mode. Upon exiting sleep mode, you will resume to see your daily totals.
  • Make sure your time zone settings are correct (from the dashboard, click on "Edit profile" near your picture).
• The tracker keeps falling out of the provided wristband when I sleep.
  • If you were clipping your tracker to the pocket, try inserting the tracker all the way inside the pocket.
  • If you still have problems with the tracker falling out, insert the tracker all the way into the pocket and turn it sideways.

Support

Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Statement

Industry Canada (IC) Statement