Bodybugg: not for "non-standard" activities

Thought I would post this as an FYI:

I bought a bodybugg instead of an HRM bc it measures burn all day long, and I thought that would be cool. HOWEVER, what they don't tell you is it really only measures forward-moving stepping activities accurately (oh, and housekeeping?? according to the CSR). Ha, I don't do any of that, so there's my first strike . . .

Standard and Non-standard activities are listed exactly NOWHERE on the BB website or manual, but the Cust. Svc Reps I spoke to (3 of them) all told me the same thing -- my activities of spin, cycling, dancing, weight lifting, and paddleboarding are all non-standard. Say what? Even dancing??

Evidently the BB can't accurately measure dancing if you go backwards!?!?! What?? That's 50% of the time or more in some dances like Waltz, Foxtrot, NC2S, Salsa, Cha-Cha!! Funny enough, I wore it dancing 2 hours teaching a group class of west coast swing (a slow to moderately paced dance where the lady moves predominantly forward) and it read more calories than it gave me for 2 hours of high intensity, dripping-with-sweat salsa dancing out at a club (salsa dancing has a lot of backward and sideways motion; not really any forward moving action like in WCS).

It did give me a reading of 1927 cals burned on a rest day (right in line with TDEE estimate), so I guess that is useful. But in order to really understand what I'm burning in my "non-standard" activities, I'll need an HRM.

I've ordered a Polar FT60, so I'm excited for its arrival on Thurs.

Anyway, just thought I would put this out there for anyone who is already very active with activities other than walking or running -- if you're looking to figure your daily calorie burn, it's better to just use a free TDEE calculator and an HRM.

a few other cons:

you must pay a monthly subscription fee in order to use the BB. (Often comes with a 6-month subscription included, but after that you will have to pay). It does not have a display so you must pay for the subscription and sync it with your phone or computer. (It would not sync with my mac, but does with my husband's pc and with my android phone). Also it gives you 2 different readings on the phone and on the PC. buyer beware . . . .

EDIT: I would like to point out that I did lose all my weight (15 bs.) and maintain for over a year without any electronic gadget. I just decided now to order these things so I thought I'd let you know).

blessings.