Bodybugg/Body Media Fit Questions Thread:

chrisdavey

no skin irritation for me.

I do have a wicked tan mark though :P Got to do something about that.

glassyo

I've had a little irritation but it hasn't happened a lot. Every so often there's a little redness but I always put it down to the velcro on the strap overlapping a bit. And it always goes away.

But taking part of your skin off? No good.

wolfchild59

Hmmmm…I’m not sure how the meal entry works in the BodyBugg site. For the BodyMedia Fit site I can just click on create food, I call it MM/DD Food and enter all of the info from the Summary screen of my MFP app, then I save it to that day’s food log on the BMF site.

And it took a few months for me to be able to wear the armband pretty consistently in one spot without too much pain or irritation. I still get the occasional red marks or dry skin under it, but nothing to the point of it feeling uncomfortable anymore. Nowadays I barely notice that it’s there. But, I do make sure to clean it every day when I take it off to shower as well and sometimes I move it just slightly around, either side to side or up and down, no more than a ¼-1/2 and inch, just to keep it from resting in the exact same spot all the time.

With the elliptical, you can definitely hold the arm thingies, but I’ve read a lot about how not holding onto anything actually gives you a better full body workout since you are having to constantly stabilize yourself on the machine rather than relying on the arm thingies to keep your balance. I did notice that my average heart rate increased overall when I stopped holding on while on the elliptical, so I guess my body is working harder. Lol Also, I use it as cross-training for a workout training program for running, so my focus with the machine is really my leg strength (I do lifting for my upper body two nights a week) and I don’t want to be using my arms to push or pull myself while on the machine, I want my legs doing all of the pedal movement. So that’s why I make the choice to not hold on.

In regards to it learning your body, it’s more about learning about your actual burn rate more than adjusting your calories. Every device is set with general measurements from the factory, but it pays attention to how your body is moving and functioning and the more you wear it the more it can adapt to your own specific movements (do you swing your arms a lot as you walk or do you keep them in your pockets, do you have a long stride or a short stride, etc) and it adjust to make sure that it’s providing the proper calculations for steps and calories burned. Then apparently it also can look at your weight progress (if you’re losing too fast, losing the right amount, not losing at all or gaining) and then somehow make additional adjustments based on that.

I honestly don’t remember all of the nitty-gritty details, but I did a lot of reading on the devices before I decided to lay down the money on one, and they sounded really involved and quite worth the investment, so I went for it. I found everything online, unfortunately it’s been about a year since I was doing all the research (I only waited until Mar to buy it because I had to save for it and I was waiting for a sale at Costco Online. ) so I don’t remember all the links or sites I found at the time. But I’m sure Google will get to the bottom of the matter since that’s all I used.

amberl10

I'm curious about cost. I know you purchase the BMF but then do you pay a monthly fee for something, was it the website to enter food or what was that you pay extra for? I'm narrowing mine down between the Body Bugg, BMF and the Fitbit. I know there's no monthly charge for the Fitbit but just curious if you can use the devices without the monthly charge.

heart_explodes

I've had a little irritation but it hasn't happened a lot. Every so often there's a little redness but I always put it down to the velcro on the strap overlapping a bit. And it always goes away.

But taking part of your skin off? No good.

Maybe I over exaggerated a little. When I took it off it was itchy but I think it was my scratching that has caused a tiny bit of scab there. It was probably no more than you're talking about but I made it worse.

heart_explodes

Has anyone else used it just to measure their exercise and then still use the MFP recommended calories?
I've been considering trying this - simply because I don't want to end up a wicked tan line lol and I think sometimes I rely on it too much and get obsessed with the numbers.

chrisdavey

Has anyone else used it just to measure their exercise and then still use the MFP recommended calories?
I've been considering trying this - simply because I don't want to end up a wicked tan line lol and I think sometimes I rely on it too much and get obsessed with the numbers.

sort of defeats the purpose a bit. I do know what you mean re obsessing over the numbers though. Some people may be better off not using these devices and just eating a healthy diet in general.

A lot of people just use them for a bit to determine rest day cals, training day cals and then sell them.

wolfchild59

I'm curious about cost. I know you purchase the BMF but then do you pay a monthly fee for something, was it the website to enter food or what was that you pay extra for? I'm narrowing mine down between the Body Bugg, BMF and the Fitbit. I know there's no monthly charge for the Fitbit but just curious if you can use the devices without the monthly charge.

I got mine from Costco Online so I came with an extra armband and an entire year subscription to the website. And I got it on sale (it goes on sale every couple of months, more frequently around Christmas and the first couple months of the new year). So I got my BMF, with year of subscription and extra armband for $130 shipped.

glassyo

Maybe I over exaggerated a little. When I took it off it was itchy but I think it was my scratching that has caused a tiny bit of scab there. It was probably no more than you're talking about but I made it worse.

LOL. Sometimes I take things too literally. It didn't even really make sense to me!

In regards to it learning your body, it’s more about learning about your actual burn rate more than adjusting your calories. Every device is set with general measurements from the factory, but it pays attention to how your body is moving and functioning and the more you wear it the more it can adapt to your own specific movements (do you swing your arms a lot as you walk or do you keep them in your pockets, do you have a long stride or a short stride, etc) and it adjust to make sure that it’s providing the proper calculations for steps and calories burned. Then apparently it also can look at your weight progress (if you’re losing too fast, losing the right amount, not losing at all or gaining) and then somehow make additional adjustments based on that.

Thanks for this. It helped a lot! It was one of those things I kept meaning to google to find out how but got distracted with other things. I think I'll stop taking the bodybugg off during exercise now and spend more time on the website entering my mfp calories, weekly weigh ins and measurements and see what happens.

NovemberJune

Thanks for the thread

I'm thinking about getting one or the other. I'm wondering if there is a way to use the BB or BMF with a display and not renew your subscription? I understand that it only holds a couple of weeks of data, but I also read somewhere that there is a way to clear that data so you can continue? I don't understand it very well because I don't have one.

I was also thinking of getting one that works with mobile. They say they are compatible with iPod Touches but when you read how to set it up, it always says you need to go to the Bluetooth setting--no such think on an iPod touch! Anyway, I've also seen so many posts saying they can't get it to sync so I'm worried about that. So I'm leaning toward just getting a display instead although I hate to have something else to carry around unless necessary.

I've also seen posts saying that the BB is more expensive but each place i check has the BMF as more expensive ??? So I'm leaning toward BB with display. there is a 12 month subscription one, with display, for $210

noeys

I need some help!!! My first week using the BB.... I burned anywhere from 2800-3300 calories every day, so I tracked my food here on MFP, to make sure I had a deficit. So I was around 600-800, with a few 1000 calorie intake deficits. HOWEVER I gained a lb??

So I asked on another thread what was going on, and people said I was eating a maintenance diet? and that I needed to deduct my calorie intake from my RESTING calorie burn??
SO when I do that, Its about 1950-2000 (judging by my hourly burn rate during the night when Im sleeping) so if thats the case Ive been overeating by at LEAST 500 calories a day??

Am I supposed to be creating a deficit from my resting burn, or my daily total???

NovemberJune

pretty sure you are supposed to go from total burn. Since it's just been a week, my guess would be random fluctuation, ie water weight ???? good luck and i hope you get some more informed replies

I need some help!!! My first week using the BB.... I burned anywhere from 2800-3300 calories every day, so I tracked my food here on MFP, to make sure I had a deficit. So I was around 600-800, with a few 1000 calorie intake deficits. HOWEVER I gained a lb??

So I asked on another thread what was going on, and people said I was eating a maintenance diet? and that I needed to deduct my calorie intake from my RESTING calorie burn??
SO when I do that, Its about 1950-2000 (judging by my hourly burn rate during the night when Im sleeping) so if thats the case Ive been overeating by at LEAST 500 calories a day??

Am I supposed to be creating a deficit from my resting burn, or my daily total???

noeys

Thats what I thought too. Its either that or my body doesnt like sugar and my eating halloween candy (even staying IN my calorie counts) made me not lose. STUPID CANDY!
My diary is open... the past few days have been BAAD though cause Ive been so depressed about not losing no matter what I do. (case in point yesterday I didnt even bother finishing tracking. booooo)

pretty sure you are supposed to go from total burn. Since it's just been a week, my guess would be random fluctuation, ie water weight ???? good luck and i hope you get some more informed replies

I need some help!!! My first week using the BB.... I burned anywhere from 2800-3300 calories every day, so I tracked my food here on MFP, to make sure I had a deficit. So I was around 600-800, with a few 1000 calorie intake deficits. HOWEVER I gained a lb??

So I asked on another thread what was going on, and people said I was eating a maintenance diet? and that I needed to deduct my calorie intake from my RESTING calorie burn??
SO when I do that, Its about 1950-2000 (judging by my hourly burn rate during the night when Im sleeping) so if thats the case Ive been overeating by at LEAST 500 calories a day??

Am I supposed to be creating a deficit from my resting burn, or my daily total???

NovemberJune

I've actually had the same problem for the past 2 weeks. I've been doing well on calories on average, but I've had a few crappy meals because of my birthday and a Thanksgiving feast. So even though my calories have been ok, my weight has been stuck/up a bit for more than 2 weeks. (of course i don't have a BB/BMF but ykwim). Hang in there!

Thats what I thought too. Its either that or my body doesnt like sugar and my eating halloween candy (even staying IN my calorie counts) made me not lose. STUPID CANDY!
My diary is open... the past few days have been BAAD though cause Ive been so depressed about not losing no matter what I do. (case in point yesterday I didnt even bother finishing tracking. booooo)

pretty sure you are supposed to go from total burn. Since it's just been a week, my guess would be random fluctuation, ie water weight ???? good luck and i hope you get some more informed replies

I need some help!!! My first week using the BB.... I burned anywhere from 2800-3300 calories every day, so I tracked my food here on MFP, to make sure I had a deficit. So I was around 600-800, with a few 1000 calorie intake deficits. HOWEVER I gained a lb??

So I asked on another thread what was going on, and people said I was eating a maintenance diet? and that I needed to deduct my calorie intake from my RESTING calorie burn??
SO when I do that, Its about 1950-2000 (judging by my hourly burn rate during the night when Im sleeping) so if thats the case Ive been overeating by at LEAST 500 calories a day??

Am I supposed to be creating a deficit from my resting burn, or my daily total???

wolfchild59

Definitely don't subtract anything from what your overall daily burn is, that's your daily burn including everything you do and then your caloric deficit based on what you ate. It's not MFP or a HRM where you have to do any other math to get "true" numbers.

And if weight loss really was as simple as keeping a caloric deficit each day than I'd have reached my goal over a year ago. But bodies fluctuate, they adjust they like certain things and dislike others. Even with a BB or BMF it's not going to just be automatic because you have higher visibility. So stick with what you're doing and track everything over at least a month, preferably two. If at that time things still aren't moving the way you want, then make adjustments and watch everything again for one to two months.

Basically everything with weight loss is trial and error and you can't make any quick decisions because the body needs adjustment time to figure out how it's going to respond to what you're doing. But stay strong and focused and don't be afraid of making mistakes, because that's just the nature of the beast, it's how we adjust and continue to move on in the face of those mistakes that makes us even better, healthier people in the long run.

noeys

Ok Im sorry I think Im having a blond moment. So are you saying that I need to take my calorie deficit from my total for the day, or figure it from my resting rate? (insert blushing face icon lol)

Definitely don't subtract anything from what your overall daily burn is, that's your daily burn including everything you do and then your caloric deficit based on what you ate. It's not MFP or a HRM where you have to do any other math to get "true" numbers.

And if weight loss really was as simple as keeping a caloric deficit each day than I'd have reached my goal over a year ago. But bodies fluctuate, they adjust they like certain things and dislike others. Even with a BB or BMF it's not going to just be automatic because you have higher visibility. So stick with what you're doing and track everything over at least a month, preferably two. If at that time things still aren't moving the way you want, then make adjustments and watch everything again for one to two months.

Basically everything with weight loss is trial and error and you can't make any quick decisions because the body needs adjustment time to figure out how it's going to respond to what you're doing. But stay strong and focused and don't be afraid of making mistakes, because that's just the nature of the beast, it's how we adjust and continue to move on in the face of those mistakes that makes us even better, healthier people in the long run.

baisleac

Definitely don't subtract anything from what your overall daily burn is,

This is EXACTLY what you subtract your deficit from. Your overall daily burn (i.e. TDEE) minus calories eaten = caloric deficit (also known as "cause of weight loss")

noeys

Definitely don't subtract anything from what your overall daily burn is,

This is EXACTLY what you subtract your deficit from. Your overall daily burn (i.e. TDEE) minus calories eaten = caloric deficit (also known as "cause of weight loss")

Ok thanks, cause that really confused me lol!

So my not losing... is it WHAT Im eating you think? Cause Ive had a deficit from my total burn EVERY DAY, enough that I should have lost at least a pound..... Im so confused with all this weight loss stuff. lol!
Back in the day it was simple, eat my weight watchers points, and lose weight lol! Now I have to think about exercise calories, and eating too much, or too little.... and not losing. I am at the point Im ready to throw my hands up and say F' this.

Low carb didnt work, eating exercise calories didnt work, eating too little didnt work, now this.... booooooo

baisleac

Definitely don't subtract anything from what your overall daily burn is,

This is EXACTLY what you subtract your deficit from. Your overall daily burn (i.e. TDEE) minus calories eaten = caloric deficit (also known as "cause of weight loss")

Ok thanks, cause that really confused me lol!

So my not losing... is it WHAT Im eating you think? Cause Ive had a deficit from my total burn EVERY DAY, enough that I should have lost at least a pound..... Im so confused with all this weight loss stuff. lol!
Back in the day it was simple, eat my weight watchers points, and lose weight lol! Now I have to think about exercise calories, and eating too much, or too little.... and not losing. I am at the point Im ready to throw my hands up and say F' this.

Low carb didnt work, eating exercise calories didnt work, eating too little didnt work, now this.... booooooo

Are you measuring and weighing everything you eat? Or eyeballing portions? It's incredibly easy to screw up estimates. A decent scale that measures in grams and ounces can be purchased for less than $20.

It could also be that you were eating too little for too long and your body needs to catch up and realize it's getting what it needs and can let go of the excess (this was my original issue).

noeys

Definitely don't subtract anything from what your overall daily burn is,

This is EXACTLY what you subtract your deficit from. Your overall daily burn (i.e. TDEE) minus calories eaten = caloric deficit (also known as "cause of weight loss")

Ok thanks, cause that really confused me lol!

So my not losing... is it WHAT Im eating you think? Cause Ive had a deficit from my total burn EVERY DAY, enough that I should have lost at least a pound..... Im so confused with all this weight loss stuff. lol!
Back in the day it was simple, eat my weight watchers points, and lose weight lol! Now I have to think about exercise calories, and eating too much, or too little.... and not losing. I am at the point Im ready to throw my hands up and say F' this.

Low carb didnt work, eating exercise calories didnt work, eating too little didnt work, now this.... booooooo

Are you measuring and weighing everything you eat? Or eyeballing portions? It's incredibly easy to screw up estimates. A decent scale that measures in grams and ounces can be purchased for less than $20.

It could also be that you were eating too little for too long and your body needs to catch up and realize it's getting what it needs and can let go of the excess (this was my original issue).

yes I measure everything!!! I have a postal scale I use for that. (and postage of course lol)

I definitely did mess up my body doing low cal stuff. I was on medifast in April, and was eating like 900 calories a day OMG!! But how long does it take your body to relax? cause over the summer (after stopping medifast) i was a huge pig and ate way too much food, so my body wasnt starving lol! Its just been the past month and a half. did southbeach for almost 2 weeks, didnt lose, and probably cause my calories were around 900 each day, but after that point I started doing the MFP plan, and eating exercise calories etc and still not losing.....

wolfchild59

With BB and BMF data the system does everything for you.

Calories burned - calories consumed = daily caloric deficit

When you set up the device it already gave you a goal burn and goal consumption. Aim for that approximate burn and that approximate consumption and you will be hitting your deficit.

Do not add or subtract anything else from the data that you are provided by the device.

E.g. When you set up your info you told it you wanted to lose one pound a week and based on the data you entered it said that your average daily burn would be 1850 calories. It would then, in turn, already be giving you a daily calorie consumption goal of 1350.

So if you were to burn exactly 1850 cal and eat exactly 1350 calories, the. Your data readout at the end of the day would say:
Calories burned: 1850, you met your goal
Calories consumed: 1350, you met your goal
Caloric deficit: 500

You never have to add, subtract or otherwise calculate anything with the data at all. Just set it up and follow what it tells you to eat and burn.

wolfchild59

Definitely don't subtract anything from what your overall daily burn is,

This is EXACTLY what you subtract your deficit from. Your overall daily burn (i.e. TDEE) minus calories eaten = caloric deficit (also known as "cause of weight loss")

She's asking about the BB data that is being given to her, not trying to create her own deficit/goal amounts. With BB and BMF daily data everything has already been calculated out based on the initial set up. So if she subtracts anything additional from her overall daily burn based on the BB data she will be creating false data since she would be altering from what her body actually burned. Her caloric consumption goal is already given to her based on what she entered that she wanted to lose when she set up her BB account.

If she were manually trying to sit down and work the numbers to create her daily/weekly numbers, then yes, you are exactly right. But for BB data, it's already done all of that for her.

NovemberJune

I don't think it's what you're eating or not eating so much as just a random weight fluctuation. Like PP said, give it a few more weeks of doing what you're doing and you will see results!

noeys

With BB and BMF data the system does everything for you.

Calories burned - calories consumed = daily caloric deficit

When you set up the device it already gave you a goal burn and goal consumption. Aim for that approximate burn and that approximate consumption and you will be hitting your deficit.

Do not add or subtract anything else from the data that you are provided by the device.

E.g. When you set up your info you told it you wanted to lose one pound a week and based on the data you entered it said that your average daily burn would be 1850 calories. It would then, in turn, already be giving you a daily calorie consumption goal of 1350.

So if you were to burn exactly 1850 cal and eat exactly 1350 calories, the. Your data readout at the end of the day would say:
Calories burned: 1850, you met your goal
Calories consumed: 1350, you met your goal
Caloric deficit: 500

You never have to add, subtract or otherwise calculate anything with the data at all. Just set it up and follow what it tells you to eat and burn.

Well I dont track my food on there I do it here, so I have to sort of figure out the math. Plus the bb site gave me a daily burn of like 2400 or something, and I burn more than that. Im not sure how to change it to what Im actually burning. (plus I burn different amounts each day depending on how active I am, or if I work out etc) Im a stay at home mom, so some days I sit on my butt in the afternoon and relax, other days Im running around cleaning and doing 80 loads of laundry, so there is no "set" daily calorie burn for me.

Edited to add... basically what I do is go onto the BB website and look at my burn for the day, so say its 2800.... Then I go to MFP and look at the foods Ive eaten for the day, and say IM at 1500... so I know that is too much of a deficit, so Ill eat to 1800. SO my deficit for that day is 1000... which if done every day would lead to a 2 lb loss correct?
And Ive read studies that say calories in calories out, there was that dude who did a twinkie diet, but lost weight cause he was UNDER his calorie burn for the day.... So Im really really confused, and wondering what Im doing wrong.

wolfchild59

I track all my food here too. But I enter it each day in my BMF tracker so I can see all the numbers and how they correlate. Trust me, it's a lot easier to just use the data that you're paying to get rather than try to calculate anything out.

And I wish it was as simple as calories in/calories out. I'd have hit my goal weight about a year ago and have been maintaining my awesome new body since then if that's all it took. Instead I've spent the last year learning that I needed to be eating more, but I needed to up my calories slowly cuz jumping too fast didn't work and I gained, I can't do low carb (when I do I both get *****y and I gain), if I don't balance my fats with my proteins then I don't lose, I can't eat my exercise calories because I won't lose or I'll gain, cheat meals/days don't work for me because it spikes my weight the day after and I spend the whole week re-losing that weight, and all sorts of various other tidbits of info.

Over the course of learning these things over the past year, I gained almost 20 lbs back as I tried everything I could to break what was originally a plateau of weight loss while within 8lbs of my goal. And I gained it all while keeping a deficit of calories at least six days a week (see previous note about cheat meals/days attempt).

So now I eat about 45-50% carbs, balance the remainder with an even split of protein/fat, don't eat myself into a caloric surplus, don't eat more than maybe 100-200 of my exercise calories, if any, and follow my BMF guidelines on calorie goals, I've lost 11 of those 20 regained pounds, look better and generally feel better overall.

But that came from a lot of trial and error, massive amounts of frustration, a good dose of anger, times of wanting to give up entirely and a few tears along the way. So I totally understand how that gain on the scale feels. But trust me when I say that you can get it moving back the right way, it just may take some difficult times.

noeys

New question. Do you need to input your body fat info and measurements in order for the BB to work properly?

chell53

Hi, new to this site.....i had the bodybugg, but do to my heart condition was told not to use it. Has any one tried the slimcoach??

Jess5825

Definitely don't subtract anything from what your overall daily burn is,

This is EXACTLY what you subtract your deficit from. Your overall daily burn (i.e. TDEE) minus calories eaten = caloric deficit (also known as "cause of weight loss")

Ok thanks, cause that really confused me lol!

So my not losing... is it WHAT Im eating you think? Cause Ive had a deficit from my total burn EVERY DAY, enough that I should have lost at least a pound..... Im so confused with all this weight loss stuff. lol!
Back in the day it was simple, eat my weight watchers points, and lose weight lol! Now I have to think about exercise calories, and eating too much, or too little.... and not losing. I am at the point Im ready to throw my hands up and say F' this.

Low carb didnt work, eating exercise calories didnt work, eating too little didnt work, now this.... booooooo

Give it some time. After I got mine, I realized my daily deficit was huge, sometimes 2000 calories, so I upped my calories. I knew I had a deficit, but my weight after going up a tiny bit, went back down, then for 5 weeks I maintained my weight, even though my deficit was still sometimes over 1000 calories. Finally with 7 weeks of no loss, the scale finally started moving again. So give it some time. The waiting sucks, but you need to keep at it so your body can adjust. It was just in shock that I started feeding it more.

noeys

Definitely don't subtract anything from what your overall daily burn is,

This is EXACTLY what you subtract your deficit from. Your overall daily burn (i.e. TDEE) minus calories eaten = caloric deficit (also known as "cause of weight loss")

Ok thanks, cause that really confused me lol!

So my not losing... is it WHAT Im eating you think? Cause Ive had a deficit from my total burn EVERY DAY, enough that I should have lost at least a pound..... Im so confused with all this weight loss stuff. lol!
Back in the day it was simple, eat my weight watchers points, and lose weight lol! Now I have to think about exercise calories, and eating too much, or too little.... and not losing. I am at the point Im ready to throw my hands up and say F' this.

Low carb didnt work, eating exercise calories didnt work, eating too little didnt work, now this.... booooooo

Give it some time. After I got mine, I realized my daily deficit was huge, sometimes 2000 calories, so I upped my calories. I knew I had a deficit, but my weight after going up a tiny bit, went back down, then for 5 weeks I maintained my weight, even though my deficit was still sometimes over 1000 calories. Finally with 7 weeks of no loss, the scale finally started moving again. So give it some time. The waiting sucks, but you need to keep at it so your body can adjust. It was just in shock that I started feeding it more.

Thank you for that. Its good to know someone else had the problem lol! Bodies are so odd!!!!

bbarr66

I own a bodymedia. How do others do it, do you track in both places? Any help appreciated