Bodymedia Armband

I've been looking at buying one of these to calculate the calories I burn while cycling. I have a indoor bike trainer that I use every day for about an hour - would the BodyMedia count these calories? I've heard it can only calculate calories when moving and obviously my arms don't move while biking. Any information is greatly appreciated.

A bit late to this conversation (sorry!). I have the Bodymedia Link and I also have a Wattbike indoor trainer. The Wattbike has one of the most accurate calorie assessments because it's based on energy output, ie Watts (wattbike!). The Bodymedia tracks the calories displayed by the Wattbike within a few %. Conclusion a) the Bodymedia does what it says b) it will report your indoor cycling just fine - the Bodymedia isn't calculating calories based on steps but rather body metrics measured by the sensor.

I used the BodyBugg to get off the last 60 of 100 lbs a few years ago. I just bought the BodyMedia link back in october and have had good success with it - particularly on rest days and long run days where I really have no idea otherwise what I can eat. It's also great motivation to get to 10,000 steps. I just don't wear it when I'm out on date night and wearing sleeveless or shortsleeve tops. I also don't wear it to bed as I don't like seeing that I already know I'm not sleeping enough. that makes me tired lol.

I bought mine on either Amazon or eBay (IDR which one) for liek $60. Brand new in packaging. I would probably buy a new one out of box if I could have found one and washed the band and sanitized the sensors.

It's only $7 a month - I can easily spend $7 on coffee, scratch off lottery tickets, or other junk I don't need in a month so I think it's worth it. I love the integration with MFP as I hate the Bodymedia food database.

I will likely be returning this BodyMedia Link tomorrow ... I've only had it 3-4 days but I can't get it to read my calories burned even close to where it should be. Right now it's usually reading about 40% of the calories burned versus simple heart rate calculations. For example, I'm 46, weigh 160 and over the 6 treadmill workouts my average heart rate was 135 for 90 minutes that's over 1100 calories .. this device is showing about 400 calories burned and that's after I purposely added several inches to my height profile to help compensate .... tell me where this is remotely correct? I have used several calorie counters this is just one I used. http://www.shapesense.com/fitness-exercise/calculators/heart-rate-based-calorie-burn-calculator.aspx

I am wearing my BodyMedia now since a week and I am amazed of all the data it provides. I still log my food through MFP. I can even see the co-relation between my weight and myt sleep pattern. I am a shift worker and often don't get enough sleep. It also turned out that I walk almost 5 miles each shift or more then 10,000 steps (which is my goal). Also my TDEE is much higher then I thought. So I burn actually more calories then I thought, but it still fits with my calorie deficit I am striking for.
I even cut back on my weight loss supplements I was taking, and after a short increase in weight I am back on the beginning weight BodyMedia started tracking.
I am a cycler as well and thankful for the advice given here at an earlier post. I was actually thinking wearing the armband regular. If I sweat and increase temperature while cycling, it should recognize the activity, and even if it is a little below - hey, that's another deficit....:laugh: .
I was just wondering, if climate with high humidity gives higher reading in activities. It is currently very warm and humid in South Georgia and while I do my walking at work (outside) I sweat some.

I will take the advice and order 1-2 additional armbands, just to have them as I need it. I am wearing the armband currently all recommended 23 hours.
It took me sometime to get the synchronizing program downloaded and working. After up-dating my internet explorer and some other items (I use windows) it is now working as a charme. It was frustrating and I was almost ready to ship it back :huh: , but I am glad I didn't.
As much positive feedback I see here, I think it was a good investment. I use the core version, because I can wait each day until I get home. I try to stay in my calories and if I found out I had some more to spare...well mission accomplished:happy:

For the cyclists out there. I wore my BodyMedia armband on my arm today for my cycling trip and recorded it just fine. I earned about 1046 calories for a 3 hour ride. My app on my phone which calculates distance and speed calculated about 960 calories. So the BodyMedia armband worn on the arm while biking keeps track on your burned calories. The numbers a fairly close so I think it is accurate. Since I bike on a regular base I will keep track and keep you posted of my experiences.

If you bike fast and out of your comfort zone, the rise in body temperature and sweat would be enough (and that's what the armband tracks) to have the indicators that you are exercising.

I guess its just me...I had it for a while but didn't like it at the end...

It did give me pretty close reading to the result of online calculator...so with it or without it in my case it didn't make much difference since I am pretty consistent with what I eat and do everyday...

I had a body media fit for several years and loved it. Found it very accurate in terms of my daily calorie burns but not for spin class (even if I wore the band on my calf). I would remove it and manually enter the activity into the body media activity manager. I used MFP for my food diary and still entered my exercises based on my HRM and the to would sync up when I plugged in the body media to the computer.

I got a fitbit for my birthday last month because I wanted to be able to sync on the go vs being tied to the computer and I was sick of wearing the arm band ( and boy was my husband tired of looking at it!). I like how discreet the fitbit is but I don't think it's as accurate in terms of my overall calorie expenditure. Additionally, when I enter my exercise calories from my HRM (less my bmr) the fitbit still wants to reduce my calories by a lot! I'm basically using it as a glorified pedometer now and even ats not too accurate as I I'll get up in the morning and it will show I have a LOT of steps while sleeping. And no, I don't sleep walk!

I think the body media is the most accurate of the activity trackers out there but it's not the most discreet and you do have to pay the subscription.