My bodymedia and learning something new.

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So, I have the bodymedia arm band, love it! It tracks my moves, calories, sleep etc... Well, I have been exercising my butt off. To date I have lost 80lbs, still have about 28 to go. I have learned something new and quit surprising. I have been reading post on how people have lost weight with little or no exercise and reduced calories. I became very interested in this. Went to some of the sites with scientific articles, started with Time and searched many others. They all say that exercise is good for your health, I couldn't agree more BUT that it is not the BIG reason you lose weight! Most people, and I can agree with this, will exercise and because you have now burned those calories and your blood sugar took a dip you are now hungry so you reward yourself with those extra calories you now burned because if you are a woman especially, you are now starving. So even MFP is guilty of this! When you put in your exercise it now says in the foods that you have earned these extra calories and so most people are excited and eat these calories plus some!!! We are all guilty of this. SOOOO this is where my Bodyfit armband comes into play. I wear it all the time, except in the shower etc... Well, I have been going to the gym every morning, 4:30am like a good weight loss subject does. I downloaded all the reports from the week. I get a read out of by actual calories burned everyday. This is from tracking my calories to my exercise and everything, this is what I found out. On Sunday this is the day my hubby and I grocery shop, I burned 300 more calories that day, then I did on the days I did 30-40 mins or cardio at the gym! I also had a higher burn the day I did housework, laundry etc... I am in shock! I now have to agree that exercise is not as big a part of this weight loss journey as I thought. My bodymedia is proof of that! Just getting up and moving, walking, and not sitting is so important. Soooo please read these articles, don't get discouraged because the gym is not paying off like you thought it would. Get an arm band from bodymedia, bodybugg etc., and get the whole story of what your body is doing. Also read these articles in Time. I not saying don't exercise, I still will go to the gym but I now know I will do alot more of just walking and standing then I used too!

Replies

  • smilebhappy
    smilebhappy Posts: 811 Member
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    bump to read later :)
  • FinerthanB433
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    Thanks for this post! I have been contemplating getting the bodyfit media band, but not sure if it really worked. Now that I know it does, I am definitely buying it! Thanks girl!
  • Chairless
    Chairless Posts: 588 Member
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    Eat less, do more. I was also a little bit shocked when i figured out that thats all there really is to it.
  • PoleBoy
    PoleBoy Posts: 271
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    I guess you use stationary bikes at the gym. The bodymedia doesn't pick them up very well. (err... at all) I can cyclye at 100 watts and my BM can't tell I'm not sat at my computer.
  • tammy510
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    Nope, don't use the bikes, I use the elliptical, the ABS elliptical, and the treadmill. The only time I burned more was in the spinning class. I am very active in the gym.
  • rebel_girl11
    rebel_girl11 Posts: 17 Member
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    I just got my bodymedia arm band this week and I love it! I love to see all the data it measures. And that cleaning up around the house counts as workouts lol.
  • carolann_22
    carolann_22 Posts: 364 Member
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    I agree. Now that I am wearing my armband again I am MUCH more aware of how long I sit on the computer at work or watching TV - and I get up and MOVE if it's been more than 15 minutes. And it really adds up.
  • katrina1025
    katrina1025 Posts: 74 Member
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    Because of our BM armbands my co-workers and I walked inside today at work to get some extra steps, (as it is miserable outside). So we beat the halls in our small community hospital. (we lapped the hospital about 7 times in 15 minutes). But we squeezed in 1500 extra steps at lunch instead of sitting after lunch!
  • DoubleE615312
    DoubleE615312 Posts: 173 Member
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    I love mine, the only thing I hate is that it doesn't measure (or very little) your exercise if you are on a bike or elliptical. I have thought about putting mine on my leg somewhere to see if it would measure better when I am on the elliptical.
  • sweetptgrl
    sweetptgrl Posts: 25 Member
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    I agree. I love my bodymedia and it is so nice to be able to see everything it measures. My only dislike is when it comes to exercising, my heart rate monitor might say I have burned about 300 calories, while my bodymedia doesn't seem to measure it all. It is nice to see how well I sleep at night. Most people don't realize how much sleep affects weight loss and so it is really nice to see improvement in the amount of sleep I get. Before I got my bodymedia, I would notice how tired I was in the morning, but now I have proof of a bad nights sleep and know to try to get to bed earlier the next night to get in more sleep.

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    Created by MyFitnessPal.com - Free Calorie Counter
  • MaximalLife
    MaximalLife Posts: 2,447 Member
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    Eat less, do more. I was also a little bit shocked when i figured out that thats all there really is to it.
    So, I don't need to read all those articles now?
    THANKS!
  • gregavila
    gregavila Posts: 725 Member
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    I also really like my FIT. Unlike you guys I don't seem to have the problems with it not tracking calories when I am spinning. I don't get nearly the steps as I do on a treadmill or elliptical but the calories are about the same as my heart rate monitor records.
  • kodibear123
    kodibear123 Posts: 185 Member
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    Thanks for posting this. I just bought the Bodymedia Fit and I really appreciate all the information you took to provide :)
  • I LOVE my bodymedia fit. I've had mine for a bit over a year now. I've learned so much! Like for me sleep is the key (more important then the burn - because when I don't sleep I struggle with food all day). I've learned that I burn more calories in an hour at the grocery store with four 5 year olds then I do at my zumba class (trust me - zumba is more fun though).

    Feel free to add me any other bmf'ers. I'm not always great about logging here but I do always log at bmf and I usually try to post my weekly summary here too. I'm trying to get better at posting here because I need the support!
  • SergeantSunshine_reused
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    Eat less, do more. I was also a little bit shocked when i figured out that thats all there really is to it.

    Yup!

    I found out my TDEE is about 500 calories higher than what mfp puts me at
  • Eat less, do more. I was also a little bit shocked when i figured out that thats all there really is to it.

    Yup!

    I found out my TDEE is about 500 calories higher than what mfp puts me at

    Yep - same here 500-700 higher then MFP's suggestion
  • kaspily
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    When on a bike I put my armband on my leg. It does a good job tracking the bike workout then.
  • PoleBoy
    PoleBoy Posts: 271
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    I just add exercise to the calorie value the bike says I did - it knows how many watts I was working for how long, so it's going to be as accurate as anything.