Bodymedia Accuracy and Adjusting Caloric Intake

I have been noticing that the BodyMedia armband seems to be reading less calorie burn than it should.. I was wearing my heart rate monitor while doing elliptical interval training for 30 mins for the past 3 days, 2x a day, and each time, I get approximately 360 calories burned showing on my HRM, and approximately 330 burned showing on the machine itself (pretty close, in my opinion). However, BodyMedia is only showing approximately 230 calories for the same actifity! It's frustrating because now I feel like all my burn info is inaccurate..

ive found it to be fairly accurate - except on the elliptical which ive read as a common "problem". you can try wearing your armband lower (closer to your elbow) and see if that helps at all.. i havent really had a chance to test it much though.

Hi neacail,

The longer you wear the Armband and the more data it records, the more accurate it will be. As some other members have mentioned, there are some activities that are not measured as accurately as others (and we’re constantly striving to improve) so you can either move your Armband as they’ve suggested or remove your Armband for that activity and record it through the edit off-body feature. If you still have any concerns,feel free to browse our FAQ or to contact our Customer Support team at 888-850-2639, and we’ll be happy to do what we can to make sure your experience is as accurate as possible!

Laurie

I have worn my armband for years. I got it back when they were called GoWear Fit. I always assumed it wasn't very accurate because my numbers came back so high. But I recently had my RMR tested and come to find out, the armband was underestimating my calories burned because my RMR is much higher than most formulas use. I have it adjusted now and feel like I'm getting a more accurate burn.

I think for most people it's the most accurate readings you're going to get from any kind of device you wear. It does have a tendency to underestimate activities that do not use the arms as much, like spinning, and overestimate things that use the arms more, like boxing. And keep in mind that while you might not be exercising every minute of the day, you are burning calories doing things like cooking and cleaning, picking up the kids, etc. These things might not raise your heart rate enough to qualify as exercise, but they do contribute to your overall TDEE.

If you want to compare your numbers, use the spreadsheet created by heybales. It's a great tool and can be used as a guideline, along with your armband, to figure out your numbers. http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/813720-spreadsheet-bmr-tdee-deficit-macro-calcs-hrm-zones

I just got mine tested as well and my RMR is also higher than online formulas calculate for my age, height and weight. How did you adjust your device (Body Media/ Go wear fit) so it was correct for you? I feel my device reads too low as well. Thank you!

I just sent you a message.

I have been wearing my MediaFit armband, on average 22 hours a day for the past five months. Two months ago I added a Garmin FR70 to my aresenal of fitness gear. I have found that the armband records significantly LESS of a calorie burn than the HRM.

I got the MediaFit armband just so I wouldn't have to worry about entering calorie burns into MFP and it has worked great. I have been loosing on average 4-5 pounds per month.

As I have gotten better at logging my activity, it has become increasingly frustrating. When I started my fitness journey back in Dec 2012, I was just doing cardio. As I trolled the forums and learned more about weight lifting, I have incorporated weight lifting and HIIT into my routines. I started out just entering what I was doing into the "exercise notes" area, but find it easier to actually log what I am doing, including all strength training exercise.

So....what I have been doing is:
1) log my activity in minutes into MFP journal (10 minute walk, 20 minute run, 30 minute strength training, 10 abs, 15 minutes stretching) so it shows my time spent exercising.
2) enable the negative calories from BodyMedia Fit (it will subtract anything from your total that your armband didn't record)
3) make sure I have a surplus of calories at the end of the day to compensate for any negative calories I may have to account for.

I would rather underestimate my calorie burn than overestimate.

If anyone else has a better way of doing this, please feel free to let me know.

I have a question about the body media. I wore mine every day and my food intake is at 1600. But, my body media has me having "extra" calories that were burned by exercise...even if I didn't exercise. Does anybody eat those extra calories? It puts it on their everyday and I have been just deleting it or not eating those extra calories.

I love my bodymedia band and it’s helping me stay on track as far as my steps.

This. Same to all other questions on why the armband records less calories burned (your TDEE is lower than MFP predicted, hence it "takes" your exercise calories and "adds" it to your estimate) or more was showing more calories burned than expected (your TDEE is actually higher and it "adds" the extra calories + exercise) . I love my body media as it gives me the actual calorie burned not just the "estimate".

I have a question about the body media. I wore mine every day and my food intake is at 1600. But, my body media has me having "extra" calories that were burned by exercise...even if I didn't exercise. Does anybody eat those extra calories? It puts it on their everyday and I have been just deleting it or not eating those extra calories.

I love my bodymedia band and it’s helping me stay on track as far as my steps.

Basically what you have calculated in MFP is lower than what you are actually burning every day according to your body media. This means you should be eating back at least some of the extra calories your body media is giving you.

Hi I am new to this site and bodymedia. I have had the armband for about a week. I wore it for 24 hours the first day and it didn't track my sleep. So i took it off the next day and then wore it only 10 hours the next day. It shows I burned 700 cals by 10am and all I am doing is sitting at my desk. Any thoughts? Mahalo,

Thanks. I realized that I had not turned on my armband and bluetooth when I am sleeping so that's probably why it didn't track.

ive read that sometimes the BMF isnt accurate on things like treadmills and ellipticals... some people put the band on their calf and have more accurate results.