bodymedia/bodybugg??

JossFit
JossFit Posts: 588 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I'm looking for thoughts/suggestions/reviews from anyone who owns one and what they think of it!

Is it user friendly? Accurate? Has it helped you determine your TDEE?

Replies

  • JossFit
    JossFit Posts: 588 Member
    bump... Nobody?
  • DKrisAn
    DKrisAn Posts: 43 Member
    I love my bodymedia armband! I have been using it since January 2013. I have lost almost 12lbs since using it. I would recommend it to anyone. I have the Core armband instead of the Link version because I preferred the smaller device.

    It has kept me motivated to keep moving a pushing through my workouts to burn more calories. I find it is accurate for my readings. I have it set to losing about a 1-1.5lbs a week. I had to tweek the goals on the armband because I needed daily targets to be reachable.
  • melbogg
    melbogg Posts: 135 Member
    I've been shopping and researching the different devices for a few months. I've decided to purchase the FitBit Flex this spring (should be out next month)
  • JossFit
    JossFit Posts: 588 Member
    I love my bodymedia armband! I have been using it since January 2013. I have lost almost 12lbs since using it. I would recommend it to anyone. I have the Core armband instead of the Link version because I preferred the smaller device.

    It has kept me motivated to keep moving a pushing through my workouts to burn more calories. I find it is accurate for my readings. I have it set to losing about a 1-1.5lbs a week. I had to tweek the goals on the armband because I needed daily targets to be reachable.

    So, you feel like the TDEE it gives you is fairly accurate then? I'm not wanting to use it as a motivator to workout more... I do a TON of that; I want to use it to get a good baseline of what my TDEE really is and not based on some website calculator.
  • DanielleJoy129
    DanielleJoy129 Posts: 46
    I'm curious to know this question too.

    I just ordered mine, waiting on delivery.

    I'm going to add you so I can keep you updated.
  • Holdenke1
    Holdenke1 Posts: 137 Member
    I have a fitbit. It is very accurate in the miles it tracks. Probably the steps too, although I'm more interested in the miles for my hikes and daily exercise goals. Other than that the thrill of tracking has warn off. So that's basically all I use it for.

    What does TDEE mean?
  • omma_to_3
    omma_to_3 Posts: 3,265 Member
    I'm so tempted to buy one just to verify my TDEE. I've had my BMR tested in a lab setting so am confident on that but TDEE estimates have no good validation method. But I can't imagine wearing one every day.

    Jillian Michael's website just sent me a special today for the BMF device for $99 with one month free.
  • fpd226
    fpd226 Posts: 2
    i previously owned a bodybugg about four years ago and loved the info I got out of it. It helped me drop almost 35 pounds. Due to bad habits and sloppy eating, I've put about 10 of those back on so i recently purchased the bodymedia. From my experience with both, I feel like they are both pretty accurate and obviously very helpful.
    The bodymedia unit is smaller and a little easier to cover up. To me, both give about the same daily reports. I like being able to look at my activity level during the day and see when I was burning the most calories. I have found it to be very useful and am halfway to goal weight already. I linked the bodymedia to the myfitness account and it works without a hitch.
    I have two friends at work who have one on the way now after seeing what mine does. i would recommend it if you're considering a purchase.
    This is strictly my opinion based on my experience. I'm no trainer or health professional.
  • DKrisAn
    DKrisAn Posts: 43 Member

    So, you feel like the TDEE it gives you is fairly accurate then? I'm not wanting to use it as a motivator to workout more... I do a TON of that; I want to use it to get a good baseline of what my TDEE really is and not based on some website calculator.

    Yes, I have compared on the online calculators and it is fairly close. The bodymedia armband with exercise ranges from 2460-2550. If I were to do no exercise my calorie burn for the day is about 1900 calories. The online calculators average TDEE it to be around 2430.
  • tallieterp
    tallieterp Posts: 257 Member
    I have the bodymedia link and I love it... I find it's pretty spot on with a lot of my calculations and the sleep tracker has been super valuable on forcing me to get on a schedule since I was getting less sleep than I thought...

    I've had mine since christmas and have lost about 20 lbs in that span - would be more but i've had two weeks where I was out of town and a 2 week bout of bronchitis that kept me from working out...

    however - when I check in on my steps and burn on here I know what I need to do when I'm running behind on a day - holds me super accountable and the app just got an upgrade to hopefully fix some of the issues it had with consistent uploads to the server...
  • Vicki66C
    Vicki66C Posts: 37 Member
    I have body media and LOVE it! I have also used body bugg in the past. I find the body media to be extremely accurate and it uploads to MFP. It motivates me each day.
  • verdemujer
    verdemujer Posts: 1,397 Member
    I ordered mine last spring and I love the accuracy of the calories in/out. I will say, that because there isn't an option for bar code scanning the food you eat, that's why I'm at this site. There also isn't a community side to the bodymedia website. So this sites food loads to the activity manager. I tend to use the data from Body Media though to really understand what is working and what isn't. The reports there are much more complete. I did buy the LINK because I have a smart phone and wanted to be able to load my data where ever I was. You still need to plug into a computer though to really power it up and to be able to upload the sleep data. The phone upload doesn't pick up the sleep data still. Since I'm tracking way more than just TDEE, I perfer this over fitbit or some of the other options. Good luck on what you decide to use.
  • omma_to_3
    omma_to_3 Posts: 3,265 Member
    Here's the deal I mentioned if anyone is interested: https://www.jillianmichaels.com/bodymedia.aspx?promo=F486CE93-8BB6-4C92-B7CB-714DD605ECFB&variable=&awardid=marketingemails&visitid=0&xid=ME_20130318_JMFreeNL100_BodyMedia360_
  • karaks
    karaks Posts: 108 Member
    I bought my armband years ago, when it was called the GoWear Fit. I never knew if the results were correct, but loved seeing the numbers anyway. When my weight loss stalled, I figured the BMF wasn't accurate. I thought I had low thyroid function and that the armband wasn't registering my slowed metabolism. I stopped wearing it and started concentrating more on counting calories. This went on for a few years. Anyway, after not being able to figure out why the scale wasn't moving, my doctor recommended I get my RMR tested. The test said my RMR was 2140 and TDEE was anywhere from 2800-3400 on workout days. That was exactly what the BMF numbers were. Turns out the armband was accurate, but I wasn't losing because I wasn't eating enough. Three weeks ago, I upped my calories. My weight has evened out, I've stopped gaining, and have gone down one pants size. I highly recommend it, and for me at least, it is *very* accurate.
  • swtiajenice
    swtiajenice Posts: 12 Member
    I personally think it's gives you a pretty accurate TDEE because on the days I'm less active (basically sitting all day) vs. the days I'm semi active (shopping, running errands, etc.) vs. active (gym workout), it gives a very good gauge on how my body did that day. I really don't think you'll regret the purchase at all. The only thing I would do differently is purchase the Link instead of the Core (had to buy the display to be able to get the real-time data throughout the day).
  • johnnylufc
    johnnylufc Posts: 39 Member
    i have the polar FT7 i use it for exercise. but to day its my day off so i was up at 5am and i put it on to see how many cals ill burn off till i go to bed and so far 2352 . i am on 2300 cals a day
  • scottyg70
    scottyg70 Posts: 388 Member
    I think the BodyMedia armband is a good investment. I bought mine in December and so far it seems to be very accurate. It's a great tool to gauge your activity level during the day and to help keep you on track if you've set any goals. I like the sleep feature, and this too seems to be pretty accurate even though I was skeptical when I first got it. I'd recommend it to anyone who wants to keep motivated getting in shape in addition to fitness addicts!
  • JossFit
    JossFit Posts: 588 Member
    Thanks everyone! I did order a Bodymedia so I'm excited to see how it goes. I don't have much to lose, I just want to fine tune a bit and at this level the devil is in the details. If I know exactly what I REALLY burn I can make those small adjustments a lot easier.
  • michellekicks
    michellekicks Posts: 3,624 Member
    I had a Fitbit for a long time and thought it was neat for the first little bit. But after getting a week or so of data it confirmed what I already sort of knew: my TDEE was higher than MFP calculated. It didn't calculate running burns very well... it would give me an extra 300 calories for a run where I'd burn more like 700 (according to my very accurate Garmin Forerunner 410).

    I just started using a Body Media Link yesterday... first day and it said I burned 2800 calories throughout the day but all I did was lift weights for a half hour. I am pretty sure my real TDEE average is closer to 2500 daily. I'm not sure what went wrong. Some friends tell me if you go for a long drive it will think you're walking/moving. I drove about 80 minutes yesterday so that could have contributed. I'm still waiting to decide what I think of it.
  • omma_to_3
    omma_to_3 Posts: 3,265 Member
    How do you guys deal with wearing the armband all the time? I just think through my work wardrobe, and most of my clothes are either short sleeve, or thinner material so it would definitely show pretty much every day. And that just seems weird and unprofessional to me. I used to wear a FitBit and that was easy enough to hide in my bra.

    Anyone else have that problem?
  • JossFit
    JossFit Posts: 588 Member
    I have a fitbit. It is very accurate in the miles it tracks. Probably the steps too, although I'm more interested in the miles for my hikes and daily exercise goals. Other than that the thrill of tracking has warn off. So that's basically all I use it for.

    What does TDEE mean?

    Total Daily Energy Expenditure - how many calories you burn per day.
  • michellekicks
    michellekicks Posts: 3,624 Member
    How do you guys deal with wearing the armband all the time? I just think through my work wardrobe, and most of my clothes are either short sleeve, or thinner material so it would definitely show pretty much every day. And that just seems weird and unprofessional to me. I used to wear a FitBit and that was easy enough to hide in my bra.

    Anyone else have that problem?

    Yeah I can't imagine wearing this thing every day. For now it's fine since I can wear hoodies to cover it (I'm a SAHM) but in the summer when I'm in tank tops there's no way I'm going to subject myself to the questions lol
  • mywise
    mywise Posts: 43 Member
    Keep in mind for people who are just starting out with the armband...it says u need to wear it a few days for it to get used to u and what u do....so the readings most likely wont be exact the first few days.
  • onu1978
    onu1978 Posts: 1
    I love my bodymedia CORE. I like seeing how many steps I have walked, my sleep patterns, and calories burned. It is fun and a great tool with MFP.

    As for how to hide it...I haven't tried it, but on another site, someone said something about wearing it on your left calf. The data is supposed to be similar. I can't say for sure since I haven't tried it.
  • steph1278
    steph1278 Posts: 483 Member
    I have had the BodyMedia for about a year now and love it. I have the link because I got it through a Groupon deal so it was a lot cheaper. I was surprised to find out how many calories that I burned on a daily basis. I actually wear mine tucked into the side band of my bra now instead of on my arm. The readings are virtually the same. I still wear it on my arm when I exercise, but I like to keep it hidden for everything else.
  • ShannonMpls
    ShannonMpls Posts: 1,936 Member
    I wore my bodybugg for about a week before getting utterly sick of it. I hate the armband, I hate that you have to plug it in to sync, I hate that there is no display to get immediate feedback on steps taken (mine IS a smartphone one...but it rarely worked when I wanted to sync).

    I've been wearing my fitbit every day for months and I love it. Both gave approximately equal TDEE numbers, but the fitbit is WAY more user-friendly, discreet to wear, and I much prefer it.

    Plus with fitbit, there is no monthly subscription fee.
  • Ploogy
    Ploogy Posts: 115 Member
    BMF bases BMR on the inflated Harris-Benedict equation. Go look at Haybales' spreadsheet to adjust your BMF TDEE downwards, often by 200 points.
  • scuddy58
    scuddy58 Posts: 5
    I have the Fitbit and I wouldn't use anything else. I can't wait for the flex to come out. I've got my name on the list. Fitbit is so easy to use and you can run reports to see your progress. That is what I have to see, results. It is easy to use and it is easy to buy. I got mine at Best Buy. If you have any reward points with them it really makes a good buy.

    Good luck!!
  • scottyg70
    scottyg70 Posts: 388 Member
    How do you guys deal with wearing the armband all the time? I just think through my work wardrobe, and most of my clothes are either short sleeve, or thinner material so it would definitely show pretty much every day. And that just seems weird and unprofessional to me. I used to wear a FitBit and that was easy enough to hide in my bra.

    Anyone else have that problem?

    If I had to list one drawback to the Bodmedia Fit, it would be that the armband is kind of bulky. I work in a business environment, so I usually always wear long sleeved shirts. You can still kind of see it through, but between the t-shirt and the dress shirt it's not very noticeable. During the winter months, I've usually worn hoodies but most of my t-shirts will cover it up.

    There is another product out there that is very similar and I am very curious about. It is called Up by Jawbone (https://jawbone.com/up) . It is a wristband that you wear 24/7 and is a little bit more discreete than the Bodymedia armband. Unlike the Bodymedia product, you log everything through the mobile app. I don't know anyone who has one so I don't know how much of a pain it is to do it that way. It is currently only available for the iPhone, but there is an Android app coming down the road.

    Edit: I just went to the site and it appears they have an Android App now.
  • karaks
    karaks Posts: 108 Member
    I have had the BodyMedia for about a year now and love it. I have the link because I got it through a Groupon deal so it was a lot cheaper. I was surprised to find out how many calories that I burned on a daily basis. I actually wear mine tucked into the side band of my bra now instead of on my arm. The readings are virtually the same. I still wear it on my arm when I exercise, but I like to keep it hidden for everything else.

    I wear mine in the side band of my bra all the time too. It does give pretty accurate results this way, but then again, I've been wearing mine for years, so I pretty much know what my numbers are going to be. I would recommend wearing it on your arm for awhile before switching to the bra...just so you know what you would normally burn on active days and lazy days. Also, BMF recommends making sure you wear it on the left side of your bra and have it in the same position in your bra as it would be on your arm. :smile:

Categories