BodyMedia Fit armband-RASH!!!!

bummer:sad: have you tried to keep it clean with wipes? maybe not put body lotion on under that spot. my husband moves his body bugg from his right t to left arm and it seems to read everything the same. good luck!

I just canceled mine. Too many flaws. Not worth it. I was starting to get the rash thing too.

I put my final summary here:
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/taso42/view/no-more-bodymedia-fit-and-overthinking-calories-88384

I have some random babblings about it in a couple previous blog posts as well.

I have the bodybugg and I haven't had any problems but I heard some people are allergic to nickel and that is what may cause the rash. I also read somewhere they will return it if you have an allergic reaction. Not sure how accurate the info is but it may be worth checking in to.

The first couple days I wore mine it did bother my skin a bit. I fiddled and moved it around a lot trying to get it to be more comfy. After about a week I didn't even notice it anymore, I forget I'm even wearing it.

taso42- Thanks so much! I have all the same ideas about the band. I'm tempted to just not even use it. I have a hrm with chest strap but it always estimated about 80-120 calories higher than the bodymedia and I just don't know if I should trust it or not. And if not, why am I using it??? I might as well type a generic exercise into a caluclator somewhere and see what that says.

Do you think the HRM would be more accurate than that? I don't want to exercise and then end up gaining because to be honest I usually DO eat back my exercise calories because I feel like I don't get very much to eat otherwise!

My HRM vs BMF numbers were similar to yours. HRM always showed higher. A few ideas are
- Subtract your BMR from your HRM reading. (Divide your BMR by 1440 to get your calorie burn per minute, and subtract that from what the HRM says)
- Leave a few of your exercise calories uneaten every day as a buffer
- Set your activity level a little lower and eat back all exercise calories

What I decided to do for the moment was this: I was going to increase my daily caloric intake, because it's about that time again. But now that I'm back on the HRM which overestimates calorie burn, I will leave all my settings as they are, and eat back the HRM calories. In effect, I am increasing my daily caloric intake after all, since the HRM is reporting more calories burned.

We can do these weird calculations and adjustments till the cows come home, but at the end they're still rough estimates. My best advice would be to stay in tune with your body. If you're always hungry, increase those calories a bit. If you feel like you're force-feeding, bring them down a bit.

This is the best we can do until they invent a magic device that can truly and accurately measure the calories we burn and consume

I got a rash in the beginning, even with using wipes to clean off. I place the unit on both arms and legs and get readings very close to each other. I don't get rashes any more but have soreness after wearing it for awhile. I don't want to return it because it's the only thing that seems to be working (tried many different diet programs).

zombie thread!