My reasons for quitting the Fitbit may or may not resonate with you, but there are four main reasons I stopped.

First, I noticed my Fitbit didn’t really change my behavior in a significant way. I consistently work walking and running into my weekly routine, having a Fitbit just logged me doing it. If having a fitness tracker of any kind would cause you to change your behavior, then I highly recommend getting one. It just isn’t something that makes a difference in my overall level of activity.

Second, I was seeing duplication in data recording. When I went for a run and used Runkeeper, the steps I logged on my Fitbit were duplicated when the Fitbit data and Runkeeper data were fed into MyFitnessPal, which I use to track what I eat. Double counting the data makes it less useful to me in tracking my overall calorie consumption and expenditure.

Side Note: While a fitness tracker isn’t a significant behavior modifier, I find logging my food consumption is definitely helpful in keeping my food consumption in balance with my calorie expenditures. MyFitnessPal is the one food log I find myself sticking to.

My third reason for quitting using the Fitbit is erroneous data. I started riding a motorcycle for my daily commute sometime in 2013. My Fitbit picks up vibrations from the motorcycle and translates those vibrations into an extra mile of steps each day. This makes the data no longer trustworthy from a quality standpoint. I realize that’s not something that applies to everyone, but if a motorcycle throws off the data, what other scenarios were going to make it less accurate?

The fourth reason is the addition of reliable step tracking into smartphones. Sometime in late 2013 or early 2014 the majority of new smartphones started including enough sensors to accurately track your steps without a separate device. As I note in the video, I occasionally forget my Fitbit, but my smartphone goes with me everywhere.