Fitbit vs Body Media

It depends on what you are looking for... Fitbit does not do any actual on body monitoring. It is a pedometer that can also detect acceleration and elevation.

BodyMedia's monitors are a bit more complex. I will post a link for you:

http://www.bodymedia.com/Products/Learn-More/Sensors

I owned a fitbit and wasn't that impressed. I now have a Bodymedia and I love it!!! I have lost over 10 pounds in the past 2 months with Bodymedia after being on a 3 onth plateau!

LOL!!! Just be careful to remember to take the bodymedia off your arm before showering... I can honestly say that once I put it on, I forget I am wearing it :-) I ALMOST stepped into the shower with it on once!

Fitbit only credits calories based on steps so if that is all your doing than it should give you a fairly reasonable estimate of calories. It will not give an estimate for effort so if you house cleaning contains lifting moving furniture and equipment it may lack a little. Body media will give a better total estimate of daily calories burned.

Can I ask what is the point of monitoring your daily activities surely they are mostly the same before you started MFP? they should be not real differnce I think measuring extra excercise is important but why the rest of your day.

Confused here

Unless you do it once to work out TDEE

Finding your TDEE is exactly what's it's for. I don't necessarily care about how many calories I burn specifically while I cook or do chores (though it can be interesting and surprising), but I do like knowing what I burn in a full day. After wearing one for about a year and a half I know that when I have a truly lazy day around the house I burn around 1800-1900 calories total for the day. When I'm doing chores or running errands, maybe I burn 2100-2300, depending on how long I'm at it. An average workout day is 2700-2900 or so and long run days would have me around 3500-3800. Heck, I even know that an average day of walking around San Diego Comic Con or Disneyland burns around 4000 calories.

So, with that knowledge of averages after the amount of time I've worn it, I know how to adjust my calorie levels and eat to keep my deficit where I really want it to be. I'm much more informed about my general day to day activities as well as the occasional ones, and I appreciate having that knowledge to help keep me on track.

I also appreciated the sleep tracking as I was able to spot patterns on nights that I woke up more frequently, or how I felt in relation to the amount of sleep I was getting. And was able to make adjustments to that as well.

Overall, I feel like it was an invaluable tool to have. But it's not something that's needed forever. I wore mine for 18 months and felt like I had a strong grip on what each day would say when I synced it, and so I said goodbye to it and cancelled my sub. Which I think is ultimately the goal with all of these tools, including MFP, to be able to learn enough about yourself to be able to move on from the constant tracking and just live and maintain your healthy habits and eating. I still track here because I still have weight to lose, but once I've hit goal and maintained for awhile, I'll likely start to wean myself off of MFP as well.

Can I ask what is the point of monitoring your daily activities surely they are mostly the same before you started MFP? they should be not real differnce I think measuring extra excercise is important but why the rest of your day.

Confused here

Unless you do it once to work out TDEE

Finding your TDEE is exactly what's it's for. I don't necessarily care about how many calories I burn specifically while I cook or do chores (though it can be interesting and surprising), but I do like knowing what I burn in a full day. After wearing one for about a year and a half I know that when I have a truly lazy day around the house I burn around 1800-1900 calories total for the day. When I'm doing chores or running errands, maybe I burn 2100-2300, depending on how long I'm at it. An average workout day is 2700-2900 or so and long run days would have me around 3500-3800. Heck, I even know that an average day of walking around San Diego Comic Con or Disneyland burns around 4000 calories.

So, with that knowledge of averages after the amount of time I've worn it, I know how to adjust my calorie levels and eat to keep my deficit where I really want it to be. I'm much more informed about my general day to day activities as well as the occasional ones, and I appreciate having that knowledge to help keep me on track.

I also appreciated the sleep tracking as I was able to spot patterns on nights that I woke up more frequently, or how I felt in relation to the amount of sleep I was getting. And was able to make adjustments to that as well.

Overall, I feel like it was an invaluable tool to have. But it's not something that's needed forever. I wore mine for 18 months and felt like I had a strong grip on what each day would say when I synced it, and so I said goodbye to it and cancelled my sub. Which I think is ultimately the goal with all of these tools, including MFP, to be able to learn enough about yourself to be able to move on from the constant tracking and just live and maintain your healthy habits and eating. I still track here because I still have weight to lose, but once I've hit goal and maintained for awhile, I'll likely start to wean myself off of MFP as well.

That is exactly what I want! MFP has me at 1650 calories a day. I have been eating around 1200. I do not eat my calories back from my exercise. I have been faithful for over 4 weeks and only have a 9 lb lost. As I read the forums, I am wondering if I am burning more calories than what I am logging because I do not log the "everyday" activities. I work in my yard landscaping it on the weekends and I know I am doing a serious burn. I clean my house top to bottom and do all the laundry on the weekends. I think that is a burn. I want to know if I should up my calories and I thought Fitbit would be a great tool for letting me know. I see some people on this website and they are logging a weight lost of a half a pound every other day. Some have already lost 10-12 lbs in 3 weeks! I measure and weigh everything I eat or drink. I cook all meals and do not eat out. Something has to give. I think I am going to cancel Fitbit and look into this Body Media for sure. Thanks! :happy: