Body Monitors/ Calorie Counters

mandygivens

I think for Christmas I am going to get my husband to get me a Body Monitor/ Calorie Counter - whatever they are, lol. I am wanting to start accurately tracking how many calories I am burning. So I was wondering what everyone was using and what they thought about them. Do you wish you would have went with something else? What do you really like about them and what do you wish was better about it?

I saw this Jawbone Up wrist monitor that you don't take off and I thought it looked pretty neat. So give me some wisdom!

Kristinepage222

I'm interested in hearing these responses. I also asked my husband get me one for Christmas. I thought I wanted a fitbit, but now I'm hearing of so many other options out there!

back2happy2005

I am also thinking of putting this on my Christmas list. In to see what everyone has to say. I have been looking at the Fit Bit Force.

PRMinx

Do you run or walk?

I have a Garmin Forerunner and it's awesome. I can use it to track calories and distance OR select inside only which just tracks calories. It goes on my wrist and the heart monitor goes just under my chest.

MinnieInMaine

What you get depends on what you want it for. Do you want one that gives an estimate of your calorie burn during exercise or do you want one that gives you an estimate of calories burned all day long?

UpToTheChallenge

I have the polar ft watch - its white and pink and comes with a chest strap to more accurately monitor your heart rate, calories burned, etc... My fiance bought it for me for my birthday and I use it all the time!

NRSPAM

I love my Bodymedia! It's from the Biggest Loser. I've had excellent results with it, except when I screwed up my settings with MFP, and gave myself too many calories. Now I'm on a roll. You wear it all day long, and it tells you what you burn for the whole day, it's not just a pedometer, like some, it measures movement, body temperature, and sweat. It even tells you how well you're sleeping at night! )) It definately makes me want to exercise more, to burn more calories. It also links up with MFP, and adjusts my calorie goal whenever I hook it up, based on my calories burned. I've heard that people have had issues with the wireless ones linking up though. I have the bodymedia core, which you plug in to your computer, and I haven't had any problems with it.

fcordingley

I want one for Christmas too, most of my workouts are really varied from walking, gym classes, climbing, cycling, riding etc etc so it will be good to get an accurate measure on what I am really burning.

MrsGreenhill1005

I have a polar FT4 heart rate monitor http://www.polar.com/uk-en/products/get_active/fitness_crosstraining/FT4

I absolutely love it and use it every time i work out. It gives me an accurate reading of calories burnt which really keeps me on track with my calorie counting and weight loss. It holds a lot more features to do with heart rate as well, but to be honest, I dont use that as I mainly use it for calorie counting. I would recommend it so add them to your Christmas lists!

morkiemama

Polar has come out with their own tracking device that can incorporate both normal daily activity and exercise (e.g. it is a combo of a daily tracking device and a HRM). It is the first to try and combine these two aspects. It is also waterPROOF (so you can wear it while swimming, etc.), which no other devices are. Since it is new, I have not been able to locate much data about it though.

http://www.polarloop.com/us-en/

Here is a discussion about it on MFP: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1128827-polar-loop-reviews-to-buy-or-not

For older products, the Body Media Fit from my own personal research is what I would go with (when compared to Jawbone, Fitbit, etc.). I personally did not purchase a BMF due to the subscription fees though. I am considering purchasing a Polar Loop.

NOTE: I do already own a Polar FT7 and it is AWESOME. However, it is a HRM only and not an "activity tracker." I love my Polar products and would feel comfortable purchasing another.

Edited to Add: HRMs are for tracking steady state cardio only. It is important to note that HRMs are not accurate for weight lifting and will not give you an accurate burn. They are also not meant for HIIT. Temperature extremes and daily burn tracking (e.g. I wear it all day to find out what I should be taking in) are also inaccurate. HRMs are for steady state aerobic exercise only! Hence why the Loop is so great!

This is a helpful blog post for understanding HRMs:

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/Azdak/view/the-real-facts-about-hrms-and-calories-what-you-need-to-know-before-purchasing-an-hrm-or-using-one-21472

SJCon

I am wanting to start accurately tracking how many calories I am burning.

First off understand that none of them are accurate but they do help you get a BETTER ESTIMATE. There are basically two groups. The first is activity trackers such as fitbit, up, fuelband, loop etc. These take some activity like steps and estimate calories burned from that. If it is not recording its trigger like steps correctly than it can be way off. I use an Eliptical a lot and my fitbit would not capture that but my Wrist type Loop does more so.
The next category is ones that are "heart Rate" based and they use your HR to estimate calories burned. In this group are the Basis, BodyMedia and the crossover the Loop with the addition of a chest strap. I would suggest reading the pros and cons of each.

I am a gadget freak and have tried almost all of them and to me the winner is Bodymedia followed by the Polar Loop. That said the Bodymedia is big and not waterproof and often visible if you are a woman. It is also expensive with ongoing web service but it has been the most accurate for me and plays very well with MFP. The Polar Loop is new and has a lot of bugs right now and is not supported on Android yet. I like it because I can use my chest strap and get "Activity" credit for my elliptical and swimming. It is comforting to know that even though I only have 4000 steps I have met the activity goals for my age, it age scales its goals somewhat.

Just my two coppers.

mandygivens

Right now I have been working on the C25K program paired with circuit training. I play tennis with my children, we go on walks, we go on the hiking trails and so on. Sometimes I do exercise videos... Basically I am doing different activities. I do not always know how fast I am going and I think it is a bit silly to assume that all circuit training burns X amount of calories. Though I said "accurately" I am aware that nothing is really accurate. I am also on BP medication and I would like something that can help me out with my heart rate. I can never figure it out on my own and I have a watch that is supposed to give your HR but the damned thing is never right or gives me an ERR. As of right now I am only looking for something to wear when going above the call of duty But then again- should I be looking into something I wear all the time... hmmm...

vonnyliz

I do a variety of classes as well as running and gym. I use my Polar FT7 which is ace!

kimberpossible

I have the Jawbone UP. The App is great and it even tracks your sleep. It is very convenient that you just plug into your headphone jack on your phone. I have had it for a couple of weeks and I like seeing the difference. It also links to MFP! Pretty cool!

LoggingForLife

Bodymedia Fit. I believe it's very accurate. Love it.

dpwdash

BUMP

Morgaath

The wife and I have BodyMedias. Very happy with them. After Jawbone introduced the UP, they went out and bought BodyMedia.
I get how the BodyMedia tracks my activities that have nothing to do with moving my arm, as it is much the same as how a hospital would (Sensor touching skin reads electricity, and body temp, is part of it), but I don't know how things like the UP, FitBit, FuelBand, do such.

ikearch

I have a Polar FT4 heart rate monitor w/chest strap. They're a good price and easy to use. It's accurate in the sense that it'll pick up your heart rate very well. I noticed I had to reduce my calorie count by about 18% from what the monitor told me I burned. Needless to say, I'm not particularly sold on how accurate they are for calories burned, but they're just another tool in the box.

flumi_f

Do you run or walk?

I have a Garmin Forerunner and it's awesome. I can use it to track calories and distance OR select inside only which just tracks calories. It goes on my wrist and the heart monitor goes just under my chest.

^^this - Me too. An HRM is great to track cardio exercise.

For your burn in daily life or to track your steps, I think alot people work with fitbit or other types of pedometers. I don't have one of those.

chaoticdreams

I love my fitbit zip. I'm getting the force in a couple of weeks, it's on pre-order now. I get a little confused with the calories between MFP and Fitbit, but I'm losing pretty steadily so no real complaints!

teaparty75

Body Media for me ! i've had it for awhile but thanks to some recent upgrades it now syncs up with MFP - which i think is great and makes it worth the $7 per month fee to use the web-site ! body media works on the TDEE method so no need to do the math because it does it for you , i'm really loving how it "adjust" the bonus calories from your work out - so you're not eating back ALL the calories !!

Sarge516

I have tried two devices, one a SUUNTO and the current one - a Polar FT4. I'd recommend the Polar HRM as it has a chest strap and actually monitors your heart rate. I'm not a fan of the gimmicky ones. JMHO.

morkiemama

Polar has come out with their own tracking device that can incorporate both normal daily activity and exercise (e.g. it is a combo of a daily tracking device and a HRM). It is the first to try and combine these two aspects. It is also waterPROOF (so you can wear it while swimming, etc.), which no other devices are. Since it is new, I have not been able to locate much data about it though.

http://www.polarloop.com/us-en/

Here is a discussion about it on MFP: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1128827-polar-loop-reviews-to-buy-or-not

For older products, the Body Media Fit from my own personal research is what I would go with (when compared to Jawbone, Fitbit, etc.). I personally did not purchase a BMF due to the subscription fees though. I am considering purchasing a Polar Loop.

NOTE: I do already own a Polar FT7 and it is AWESOME. However, it is a HRM only and not an "activity tracker." I love my Polar products and would feel comfortable purchasing another.

Edited to Add: HRMs are for tracking steady state cardio only. It is important to note that HRMs are not accurate for weight lifting and will not give you an accurate burn. They are also not meant for HIIT. Temperature extremes and daily burn tracking (e.g. I wear it all day to find out what I should be taking in) are also inaccurate. HRMs are for steady state aerobic exercise only! Hence why the Loop is so great!

This is a helpful blog post for understanding HRMs:

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/Azdak/view/the-real-facts-about-hrms-and-calories-what-you-need-to-know-before-purchasing-an-hrm-or-using-one-21472

I did more research on the Polar Loop and I was disappointed with the results. There is no good way for it to even try to estimate strength training burns, since it purely relies on the motion and HRM functions (both are inaccurate for lifting). Plus, it is having TONS of Beta issues (I think they released it too early). Not saying it won't turn out to be a good device, but I would definitely stay away for now. That is JMO.

I am again considering the BMF and I think I will purchase it. It seems to be quite accurate and there has been enough data gathered by users to make me feel comfortable with how it performs. I can use my Polar FT7 to substitute in for workouts the BMF cannot track accurately (e.g. cycling, etc.).

SJCon

I can use my Polar FT7 to substitute in for workouts the BMF cannot track accurately (e.g. cycling, etc.).

The BMF measures the same way for ALL exercises. The other "goals" on the app and website are just activity ones and DO NOT enter into the calories burn which is all done by the sensors that capture skin resistance, temperature etc. That is what makes it and HRM different from "activity trackers" that calculate activity from a "step" or change in altitude etc. It is a concept that many people do not fully understand. If your step count is off your estimated calories from that is off this is not the case with BM or HRM. If your oxygen burn is off than the BMF and HRM are off which is why they do not work as accurately in strength training. This is also why estimating your own VO2 makes the calories calculations from a HRM more accurate for you as an individual.

B_TEEN

I have a Fitbit One. I was going to wait for the Fitbit Force but prefer to stick with the 'One' because the steps will not be thrown off by arm gestures which I understand to be the case with Fitbit wrist-band varieties. I input food into MFP which interfaces with Fitbit automatically.

I purchased the Wahoo Fitness HRM because it linked with MFP and Nike Run app. I'm not sure of the accuracy of the monitor but its sufficient. When the calories burned seem unrealistic, I do not eat to the max calorie count suggest to accommodate for false readings.

I purchased both through REI with a member's discount. Total cost was probably around $130-$140.

WaterBunnie

I've had great success with my FitBit One. I personally wouldn't trust one that you wear on your wrist because it's not just measuring movements you make with your whole body. Just imagine how many steps a drummer would generate during a band's set!! The activity monitors (rather than HRMs) are perfect for spurring you on to do more on a day to day basis.

GiGiBeans

Body Media Fit armband - very accurate for me running and lifting! Wish I had used one from the start, I could have lost on a lot more food instead of slowing my metabolism down. Thx to BMF and patience those last lbs are finally coming off.

Ajrenee

Are there any calorie counters that can track daily activity and weight training that aren't huge armbands? Like a wrist one that has biometric sensors? I don't want something on my arm all the time. I don't think I can as a nursing student

SJCon

Are there any calorie counters that can track daily activity and weight training that aren't huge armbands? Like a wrist one that has biometric sensors? I don't want something on my arm all the time. I don't think I can as a nursing student

Last I looked the "Amiigo" was not fully released but it uses two sensors to "know" what you are doing.

Morgaath

Bodymedia.
I've tested it a lot, love that it lets me pinpoint when I was really killing it, and when i was just going through the motions. Friends tried testing it against the Fitbit type armbands (He got one as a freebee from work), found too many times the armbands didn't really get good readings, like when she was riding a stationary bike with her hands on the handle bars. Armband didn't get much as it records movement and her top wasn't moving, while Bodymedia said she was burning more cals from the moment she started.

Although I'd be interested in seeing how it compares with the new Basis fitness tracker they advertise on here. It has a heart rate monitor in it, but I can't see wearing a huge non watch watch, wereas I don't even notice that I have the Bodymedia on, and my short sleeves cover it.