BodyMedia or BodyBugg?

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FunkBunny
FunkBunny Posts: 417 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
What are the pros and cons of these? I'm interetsed in them, and want the one that's easiest to use and find out my daily calorie burn! Thanks in advance!

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  • lotusfromthemud
    lotusfromthemud Posts: 5,335 Member
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    In my pre-buying research, the two products are very similar to each other. The BodyMedia is slightly less expensive, but I think the subscription is slightly more expensive, so that might even out. They are both easy to use, you either plug the device into a USB to your computer or sync it with bluetooth.

    I have the BodyMedia, and love it. I find that mine encourages me to stay more active during the day, especially outside of my workouts.
  • SuzanneRogers
    SuzanneRogers Posts: 250 Member
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    I have BodyBugg and you forget you even have it on your arm.. I go to sleep with in on most night but I forget it is even there. I like it b/c I hurt my legs and can't work out so it helps me stay under my calories even without exercise. 8 weeks and having gain weight without being able to workout.

    I log my food her on MFP and then but my Bodybugg numbers in the notes and my deficit for the day... I like seeing how many steps I take each day and see when I need to move more, shows activity by the hour.
  • FunkBunny
    FunkBunny Posts: 417 Member
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    So both of these show an over all burn, even if you didn't do a thing all day, it would calculate how many calories you burned just staying alive. And then it also tracks if you do something?
    So basically it is always gathering info and in order to see it, you plug it into the computer and get your numbers and input your food to see if you are at a deficit?

    now...does it make a big enough difference in how you live your healthy lifestyle to have this? Is it an honestly worthy investment?
  • SuzanneRogers
    SuzanneRogers Posts: 250 Member
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    If you are at a plateau I would say buy it now, if you want to lose weight without starving your body, this is a great tool.

    Yes it tracks every time your body moves, I wore it at night for the first 2 weeks to see how many calories I burned during sleep, more than I thought I did. I was only eating 1200-1500 calories a day, according to Bodybugg I was burning 1700-2300 a day without exercise. Yes if you enter your food on their site it subtracts it from your calories burned that day. When you plug in the device to your PC it will tell you if you need to move more or eat more.

    This is the offer I used to buy my BB online- hope the discount still works. If you can afford a BodyBugg they are on sale right now, use code bbgcj24 for 15% off at 24hourfitness.
  • lotusfromthemud
    lotusfromthemud Posts: 5,335 Member
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    So both of these show an over all burn, even if you didn't do a thing all day, it would calculate how many calories you burned just staying alive. And then it also tracks if you do something?
    So basically it is always gathering info and in order to see it, you plug it into the computer and get your numbers and input your food to see if you are at a deficit?

    now...does it make a big enough difference in how you live your healthy lifestyle to have this? Is it an honestly worthy investment?

    Yes, it measures calories burned at rest, amount you sleep and if you have a sedentary day, you get a total calorie burn for the day.

    I had a HRM for several years, and wanted a better picture overall. I think it was absolutely money well spent.
  • FunkBunny
    FunkBunny Posts: 417 Member
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    So what is the online cost for using their web sites? About even or is there a big difference? I'm leaning towards Body media at this point, because of initial cost. But wonder about monthly fees...
  • lotusfromthemud
    lotusfromthemud Posts: 5,335 Member
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    BodyMedia subscription is 9.95 a month...and the reports are very, very good. I still keep a food diary here, and just log my food there as "1000 calories" and then do 1.something servings for my total calories a day.

    Do bear in mind that the armband without the website subscription is useless, as you must log in there to check your stats.
  • dctucker
    dctucker Posts: 13 Member
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    Been using BodyMedia for a few days now. I'm enough of a numbers junkie (i.e. Geek) that I love it. My Beachbody coach thinks it's overstating my calories burned: 3469, 3975 the first 2 full days, with 500-600ish workouts. I've triple checked my settings (5' 10", 246lbs, mostly sedentary desk job). I've been doing KempoX, Plyo, etc workouts with him 3x/week for 2 weeks. My goal weight is 195 (maybe 175!) at 2 lbs/week loss to start.

    IF I'm actually burning calories like that, I'm worried that I'm not eating enough, with calorie deficits of 1441 and 1423 (tracking intake here). I know I should be eating my exercise and avoid <1000 calorie deficits. It's only 2 days so far, but it appears my BMR is higher that MFP calculates, according to BodyMedia. Is it reasonable that actually BMR could be 300-400 higher than the MFP calculation? I know BodyMedia claims to be 90% accurate, so I'm inclined to believe it, but I'm just a bit unsure... which way to go- target intake + exercise or actual calories from BodyMedia less 1000.

    What do any of you think?
  • ClaireElanB
    ClaireElanB Posts: 94 Member
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    Heres a comparison
    http://www.bodymedia.com/site/blog_files/product_table.html

    Also, bodymedia are having a sale this weekend
    http://www.bodymedia.com/site/landing/holiday_savings.html?utm_source=radio90&utm_medium=radio&utm_campaign=radio

    so the basic armthingy on its own is $159 (w/o bluetooth) - now whats not clear is whether the introductory package is free 3 months plus an extra one month, or just one month.

    If you dont get one this weekend, Target has this version for $179 usually.

    The bluetooth one is about $100 more.
  • lotusfromthemud
    lotusfromthemud Posts: 5,335 Member
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    Been using BodyMedia for a few days now. I'm enough of a numbers junkie (i.e. Geek) that I love it. My Beachbody coach thinks it's overstating my calories burned: 3469, 3975 the first 2 full days, with 500-600ish workouts. I've triple checked my settings (5' 10", 246lbs, mostly sedentary desk job). I've been doing KempoX, Plyo, etc workouts with him 3x/week for 2 weeks. My goal weight is 195 (maybe 175!) at 2 lbs/week loss to start.

    IF I'm actually burning calories like that, I'm worried that I'm not eating enough, with calorie deficits of 1441 and 1423 (tracking intake here). I know I should be eating my exercise and avoid <1000 calorie deficits. It's only 2 days so far, but it appears my BMR is higher that MFP calculates, according to BodyMedia. Is it reasonable that actually BMR could be 300-400 higher than the MFP calculation? I know BodyMedia claims to be 90% accurate, so I'm inclined to believe it, but I'm just a bit unsure... which way to go- target intake + exercise or actual calories from BodyMedia less 1000.

    What do any of you think?

    mine took a few days to sort of "settle in", and my initial calorie burns were a bit higher than they are now. But, if you're doing those workouts and have a high percentage of muscle, it just could be accurate. As there are so many factors that figure in to what your BMR is, it's possible that MFP's calculations are low. For example, MFP has my BMR set to around 1300, but I had it tested in a lab and it's closer to 1600. According to the armband, on a completely sedentary (I was ill in bed) day I was at 1675, so there you go.

    Maybe a compromise would be to slowly increase your calories and see what happens? I know that now that I'm eating what initially felt like a large amount (my new base is 1800, plus exercise) I'm smaller than I was three weeks ago.
    HTH:flowerforyou:
  • ClaireElanB
    ClaireElanB Posts: 94 Member
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    BTW, the big difference for me is Bodybugg offers the sleep evaluation, that shows how much quality sleep you are getting - very impirtant in losing weight actually - and an almost round the clock calorie count - so I would think that would make it much more accurate than Bodybugg.

    They are made by the same company and whichever you choose join their sites on facebook if you are an FB user - they are both (being the same company) awesome at answering questions on there.
  • dctucker
    dctucker Posts: 13 Member
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    mine took a few days to sort of "settle in", and my initial calorie burns were a bit higher than they are now. But, if you're doing those workouts and have a high percentage of muscle, it just could be accurate. As there are so many factors that figure in to what your BMR is, it's possible that MFP's calculations are low. For example, MFP has my BMR set to around 1300, but I had it tested in a lab and it's closer to 1600. According to the armband, on a completely sedentary (I was ill in bed) day I was at 1675, so there you go.

    Maybe a compromise would be to slowly increase your calories and see what happens? I know that now that I'm eating what initially felt like a large amount (my new base is 1800, plus exercise) I'm smaller than I was three weeks ago.
    HTH:flowerforyou:
    Thanks! I just looked at the BMR calculation here at MFP, 2007 calories, completely sedentary all day. According to the BodyMedia, I'm burning 1.4 to 1.8 cal/minute while sleeping -call it 1.6 => 2304 as my actual BMR. I actually do a bit of walking and lifting heavy objects at work, plus it's a flight of stairs every time I go in and out of the office a few times a day. I've very anxious to see the patterns that emerge over a week or few. I want to trust the the BodyMedia numbers, as I said.

    I ate a bit more today, for a 558 calorie deficit currently (darned Thanksgiving leftovers!) vs the BodyMedia report at 8 PM. I really need to get a better scale, my current one gives me 3 different reading in 3 attempts, 1/2 to 3 lbs apart, so it's a bit tough to get a decent weight to check against.

    I think I'm going to try to eat to BodyMedia less 1000 for at least a week and see how it goes.
  • HollyMac20
    HollyMac20 Posts: 259 Member
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    I just ordered my BodyBugg yesterday and looking forward to seeing how it works and what information it tells me. Dctucker, I am super intersted to see how you make out with adjusting your caloric intake. Keep us posted!
  • Mindful_Trent
    Mindful_Trent Posts: 3,954 Member
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    BTW, the big difference for me is Bodybugg offers the sleep evaluation, that shows how much quality sleep you are getting - very impirtant in losing weight actually - and an almost round the clock calorie count - so I would think that would make it much more accurate than Bodybugg.

    They are made by the same company and whichever you choose join their sites on facebook if you are an FB user - they are both (being the same company) awesome at answering questions on there.

    BodyMedia also does the sleep evaluation....

    I've read (can't remember where) that these are actually identical products, just branded under two different brands because 24 hour fitness owns the rights to the bodybugg name. I'd buy whichever one has the better deal on price and website subscription...

    I use the GoWearFIT (precursor to BodyMedia FIT) - I love it! I would love the new bluetooth version that syncs to my android phone, but I'm not willing to put out the money for that when the one I have now works just fine.
  • Sweet13_Princess
    Sweet13_Princess Posts: 1,207 Member
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    I have the black Bodybugg and watch. I only used them for three months, so I have the boxes and manuals as well. If you're interested, I can sell them to you for $150. I paid $300 for them new.

    Shannon
  • ClaireElanB
    ClaireElanB Posts: 94 Member
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    BTW, the big difference for me is Bodybugg offers the sleep evaluation

    Sorry my mistake - I mistyped and meant that its the BodyMEDIA that provides sleep evaluation!
    :embarassed:

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