Bodymedia and MFP

mijohnst

I just purchased a BodyMedia Link and have been using it for the past few days, but it's connection to this site is making no sense to me so I'm hoping smarter minds will help me figure it out here.

As an example:

I slept with my bug on last night. This morning it says I burned 554 calories in my sleep. Sounds high to me, but OK.
This morning I log into MFP and see that 165 calories has been ADDED to my calorie count even though it shows up a -165. Where did it come up with that number?! I have the calorie limit set exactly the same on both sites. In my mind, adding calories to my base should not happen until I've gone over. So if my base is 1500 per day and burn 1800 then that means 300 should be added to my base. This isn't making any sense to me.

Thanks!

evileen99

It adds calories based on what it sees for the day. All it saw was your sleep, so it added calories based ONLY on sleep. If you had synced up later in the day, it would add more calories.

And since we burn anywhere from 1-2 calories a minute just being alive, your calorie burn during sleep seems reasonable.

Sorova

I have a BodyMedia armband which I link with MFP. It's awesome.

Based on your current rate of burn, it is estimating you'll burn 165 calories more than your target. Think of it like a projection for the day, based on the data of what you have done so far . Like the previous poster said, the calories it calculated so far only take into account what has happened so far (i.e. not much, since it's morning). If you sync again later in the day, the number will change to reflect additional activity.

As for the minus...it subtracts extra calories you burn from your net (hence the -165) and then adds the extra calories you burn to the calories you're allowed to eat for the day (hence the +165). Both those changes are based on MFP's assumption that you should eat more if you burn more to hit your target deficit.

For example: maybe MFP has 2000 calories as your base burn, and recommends you eat 1500 per day for a deficit of 500. If you actually burn 2500 that day, the armband will update the site, and your total burn will be listed as 2500, and your eating target will update to 2000 to keep the deficit at 500. Nobody's saying you have to eat the eating target exactly, but it will update. As I said above though, it updates its estimate based on what has happened at the time you sync, so it won't show your day's total burn accurately until the day's end.

mijohnst

Thank you all very much for your response. That really does help clear it up for me. I guess I just have it in my head the old way of manually adding calories that you burn over your daily base. It's going to take getting used to with this projection method. I'll just sync my armband before dinner so I have a better idea of what I can eat.

YogiMomNj

I am new to Bodymedia too! I have the link so I like looking at my stats throughout the day. After 2 days (and confusion) I have decided to use both in conjuction with each other. I will enter food in MFP but focus on my calorie deficit on Bodymedia. If I have some time I may play with the Bodymedia nutrition entry and see if I like it...

mijohnst

Thanks Yogi! Glad to know I'm not the only one going through this. I like your idea about stating your food here but going off the BM site to know exactly what to go by. I've been looking at both for a few days tore as what to do. If you come up with any hints, let us know!

vkmcewen

There's a group for BMF people here on MFP. Also, there's a group of us on facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/BodymediaFitFriends/

Most people enter their food here, and let BMF handle the activity. From the reviews I read, the MFP food database is much more robust.

I've had my armband for 2 months (I started BMF and MFP together at that time) and am 10# down. You're going to love it!!

mijohnst

Thanks very much for the info Vkmcewen! I'll go and sign up for that group here. Sound good. Today is my second day and I'm just now starting to NOT notice it around my arm.