The menstrual health tracking on Fitbit is honestly a total game-changer, at least for me. No more guessing when Aunt Flo will show up – my Fitbit app knows my cycle better than I do!
In this article, I’ll cover how to log your periods, record symptoms and track your average cycle lengths over time.
How to Track Your Menstrual Cycling Using Fitbit App
Let’s dive into how to actually track all the menstrual cycle data with your Fitbit! I’ll make it super easy – just follow along step-by-step.
Step 1: First things first – make sure your Fitbit app is up-to-date and that you have one of the tracker devices that supports cycle tracking (I use the Charge 3).
Step 2: Open the app and tap the little female icon on the dashboard. This takes you to the women’s health tracking section. Tap “periods” and then “log period” to input the start date of your most recent period. Do this every month.
Step 3: Next, open your daily stats page and tap the little drop icon to log details like flow level, symptoms, mood, etc. You can track as much or as little info as you want – go with whatever feels helpful for you!
Step 4: You can view your monthly cycle history and average cycle length at any time. Just tap the “periods” section in the women’s health dashboard. Nerd out on all your cycle stats!
The Fitbit app will use the period start dates to predict when your next cycle will start and display your estimated fertile window. How cool is that?
Is Fitbit Common for Tracking Menstrual Cycle – The Science
Let’s look at the figures, after all, they will show if the Fitbit app is really worth it to track our menstrual health:
- Over 50% of Fitbit users utilize the menstrual health tracking features available in the app (Fitbit 2022 User Survey)
- Women who track their period with Fitbit are 20% more likely to identify changes or abnormalities in their cycle length compared to those who do not track (Journal of Women’s Health, 2021)
- On average, women who use Fitbit to log their periods can predict their next cycle start date within 1-2 days of accuracy after inputting data for 6 months (Fitbit Internal Data, 2022)
- Fitbit users are 15% more likely to know their average menstrual cycle length compared to the general population of women (CDC Health Survey, 2022)
- Women aged 25-35 are the most frequent users of Fitbit’s menstrual tracking features, with 65% claiming they use it daily (Fitbit Internal User Data, 2022)
What Information Can I Track in the Fitbit Menstrual Health Feature?
Sometimes you want to avoid surprises. Other times, you want to be super accurate when having plans to conceive. Whether these are your reasons or you simply want to become more in tune with your body’s rhythms, Fitbit can be the answer in just a few taps!
But with the Fitbit Menstrual Health Feature, you might ask yourself? Just what can I track? Here are your answers:
- Period start and end dates – Log the first and last day to calculate cycle length. No more surprises!
- Flow – Light, medium, or heavy. Helpful to see patterns or changes over time.
- Symptoms – Cramps, acne, fatigue, etc. See if they correlate to certain times of the month.
- Mood – Energy level, motivation, positivity, etc. on a scale of 1-5. See how your period impacts your mood.
- Sex drive – Yup, because this thing definitely fluctuates during different cycle phases!
- Fluids & vitamins – Log your water, caffeine, alcohol, calcium, and iron and see how they affect your cycle.
- Notes – Custom notes section to add anything else you want to remember.
And the best part? All this data syncs with your other Fitbit stats – so you can see how your cycle interacts with sleep, diet, exercise, and more. Crazy insights!
How Do I Set Up and Remove the Feature in My App?
Okay, setting up the cycle tracking feature is super easy. Here’s how to do it:
Step 1: Just open the Fitbit app(Google Android or Apple iOS) and tap the pink flower icon to get to the women’s health dashboard.
Step 2: From there, tap “periods” and then “log period” to record the first day of your most recent period. Do this every month to track your cycle length over time.
Step 3: If you want to track symptoms like mood, cramps, etc – just tap the droplet icon on your daily stats page to log the details.
To remove the feature, go back to that women’s health dashboard and tap the gear icon to access settings.
Toggle off “Female Health Tracking” and poof! No more period tracking. All your data will be deleted.
Is the Fitbit Fertile Window Accurate?
The short answer is – it depends! Fitbit uses your logged period dates to estimate when you’ll be most fertile each cycle. For many women, these predictions are fairly accurate.
But every woman’s body is unique. The app can’t detect ovulation directly – it just makes an educated guess based on average cycle lengths.
So for women with super regular periods that rarely vary, the fertile window is usually pretty spot-on. But if your cycles are irregular, the predictions will be less reliable.
Other factors like stress, diet, exercise, and medical conditions can also impact ovulation timing and throw off the app’s estimates.
The more months of data you log, the more dialed in the predictions will become to YOUR unique cycle. I’d say after 3-6 logged cycles, Fitbit has a good sense of your personal patterns.
So I wouldn’t rely on it alone for natural family planning or conception purposes. Use ovulation test strips too for the most accurate fertility insights! But for most of us, Fitbit’s estimates are helpful guidance.
How Do I Log Ovulation Test Results in My Fitbit App?
Tracking your ovulation helps you pinpoint your most fertile days each month. To record at-home ovulation test strip results in your Fitbit app, follow the steps below:
Positive Test
When one of those test sticks shows a peak fertility result, you’ll want to open the Fitbit app and go to the female health tracking section. Tap “log info” and choose ovulation test. Select positive for the test result.
Logging a positive outcome will automatically adjust your fertility window and predict next period in the app. It assumes you’ll ovulate the day after the positive test.
Negative Test
If the test shows negative results, meaning no ovulation detected, just log a negative result in the app using the same process above – only this time select Negative. This won’t shift your predicted cycle details.
One important note – you can only log a maximum of two positive test days per cycle in the Fitbit app. And they need to be back-to-back days. More than that will mess with the app’s ability to pinpoint your fertile window that month.
Which Fitbit Are Compatible With Health Tracking Feature?
When it comes to tracking your period and fertility with Fitbit, it’s important to know which devices support this useful feature. Not all Fitbit models offer menstrual cycle tracking capabilities.
The health tracking features are available on many of the newer Fitbit devices, as well as some older models. Specifically, you can use period and fertility tracking if you have one of the following Fitbit trackers:
So if you have a newer model like the Fitbit Sense or Charge 5, you’re all set to start logging your cycle details and fertility predictions.
If you have an older tracker like the Fitbit Alta or Flex 2, unfortunately, those don’t support the women’s health features. You’ll need one of the compatible models listed above.
Final Thoughts
It’s amazing how much you can learn about your health just by tracking your period with Fitbit. I feel so much more in tune with my body now. Give it a try and let me know how you like it! You got this.
Common Questions
How do I start tracking my period in the Fitbit app?
Open the Fitbit app and tap the female health tracking icon. Tap “periods” and then “log period.” Input the start date of your most recent period. Do this each month to track your cycle length over time.
What period details can I track?
You can log period flow (light, medium, heavy), symptoms like cramps and acne, mood, fluid intake, sex drive, and custom notes. Track as much or as little info as you’d like.
Does Fitbit automatically track my period?
No, Fitbit relies on you manually logging your period start dates. It does not automatically detect when your period begins. Be sure to open the app and input the first day of each new cycle.
How does Fitbit estimate my fertile window?
Based on your logged periods, Fitbit predicts your fertile window by estimating when you will ovulate each cycle. It is an estimation and could be a few days off. Consider using OPKs as well.
Can I track ovulation test results in the Fitbit app?
Yes! You can log positive or negative OPK test results which will help refine your estimated fertile windows. Log positive tests on the day of your surge.
How far back can I log my period history in the Fitbit app?
You can log your period history for up to one year to get insights into your average cycle length and trends over time.
How accurate are the cycle predictions?
For women with regular cycles, they are generally accurate, especially after 3-6 months of logging. Irregular cycles will be harder to predict. Fitbit gets to know your personal patterns over time.
Does Fitbit integrate with other period tracking apps?
Unfortunately no, the menstrual tracking data only syncs between your Fitbit device and the Fitbit app. Consider tracking in both if you use a different period app.