BodyMedia Fit????

SteveHunt113
SteveHunt113 Posts: 648 Member
edited November 12 in Fitness and Exercise
Have you ever wondered how accurate MFP is at “guessing” how many calories you burn each day? I’ve heard many people say it usually underestimates calories. To make things worse, it’s hard to know what activity level you should select. I work out 6 days a week, and have a desk job. So where does that put me?

Something else that has always bugged me was that MFP does not take into consideration your muscle mass. I’ve been lifting weights for 10 years and have developed some muscle mass. I know that just having more muscle means you burn more calories. I think maybe some of these calculations that require body fat percentage might make a guess about muscle mass, but that’s just a guess on my part.

Anyway, I got the BodyMedia Fit device, charged it up and created an online account. My first surprise: you get the first 3 months subscription for free! BONUS!! My second surprise, it’s comfortable to ware and most of the time I forget I have it on.

After the first 24 hours of using the device, I plugged it in to upload my information. I was very surprised at what I saw! First, it said I burned almost 2900 calories … and this was on a day where I didn’t even workout. Second, it seemed almost dead on about how long I was lying in bed vs. how many hours of sleep I actually got. At first I questioned the exercise hours it said I had until I stopped to think about what I did during the day. Though calling some of it “exercise” might be a stretch, it made sense.

Loading my second day’s data showed a slight decrease in calories, a decrease in exercise, and an increase in steps walked. All of this made sense based on my activities for that day.

To compare, MFP says I should consume 2580 to maintain my weight. Based on this number, I’ve found that I’m still losing weight, all be it, slowly. Even when I my goal was to lose 1 pound each week, I was still losing 1.5 to 2 pounds each week. All of this makes me believe that the BodyMedia Fit really does a good job at determining calories burned.

Another thing that had me concerned was taking the device off to charge it (you can’t ware it and charge it at the same time … impossible). What I discovered is that, if I took it off before my shower and plugged it in to upload my data, by the time I put it back on 20-30 minutes later, the battery was fully charged. The unit is designed to guess the number of calories when it is off if it’s less than 30 minutes. So you are still getting a fairly accurate idea of calories burned.

I’ve decided this was a really great purchase and highly recommend other try it out if they have the means. It’s only been 2 days, and I plan to spend at least a month recording data to get as accurate a picture as possible of my caloric burn. I have yet to use the device on a day when I workout – I’ve had a cold and there is no way I can consider any heavy breathing with my through being so sore and my lungs being filled with crap! I’ll try to post an update after a month with more data.
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Replies

  • TrishJimenez
    TrishJimenez Posts: 561 Member
    I bought mine today and am currently doing its initial charge right now. I had a bodybugg a few years ago and LOVED it *ex roommate stole it* So am really looking forward to using it again and the new revamped system and how I can wear it while I am sleeping since I know I wake up ALOT and sometimes even sleep eat and dont always remember if I got up and ate and or what I ate now I will know when I need to investigate more. Did you get the one that links to your phone? I got the fit link so I can sinc with my android phone. Looking forward to seeing how that works.
  • SteveHunt113
    SteveHunt113 Posts: 648 Member
    Congrats on getting a new one! Sucks that your BodyBugg was stolen.

    The one I have does not sync to my phone, though that would be cool.
  • nutandbutter
    nutandbutter Posts: 447
    I just ordered one from groupon (they have the advantage for $95 with shipping and the 3 mo subscription). So, I have nothing to add to this thread; I just wanted to let people know about the deal. :tongue:
  • steph1278
    steph1278 Posts: 483 Member
    I ordered through Groupon as well. Can't wait til it gets here to see my numbers.
  • iKristine
    iKristine Posts: 288 Member
    Yeah, I have the BB and find what you say to be accurate.

    All though, I don't charge mine EVER. I've had it for 2 months, all it needs is the charge it gets while I upload the data. Infact, I've never seen it less than 3/4 charged. This was a bonus I thought.

    I would like to try to BMF, as while the BB shows cals burned at night, it doesn't tell me in bed vs sleep info. It jsut merely shows inactivity as a pedometer would. Small gripe, but if I ever have to purchase another one for whatever reason, I will go this way instead.

    Overall, I've been incredibly pleased with the BB. I have the smartphone sp version, but honestly have only used it in situations where I'm away from home. Otherwise I just merely upload via usb one a day (@night) and find this meets all my needs.

    Glad your experience was as solid as mine. =) Love technology!
  • SteveHunt113
    SteveHunt113 Posts: 648 Member
    @iKristine - I really wanted to get the BB. They sell them at my gym, but the subscription thing turned me off in a very big way. I didn't realize the BB didn't provide sleep vs. lying down. I was just now looking at the sleep data and, wow! I knew I was a restless sleeper, but this thing seems to really have nailed it!

    I wonder if mine needs the longer charge (10-20 minutes) because it is older ... I'm the second owner and the previous owner indicated both he and his wife used it. So it's been used quiet a bit. It still fits into my needs as long as I remember to plug it in while I shower.
  • jenny95662
    jenny95662 Posts: 997 Member
    i have the bodybugg and i love mine!!! Well worth it mfp tells me to eat 1450 in calories but my bb tells me 1700 and i burn 2700 in a day to have a 1000 deficit i love it takes guess work out of wondering how much you burn in calories.
  • jhefti13
    jhefti13 Posts: 24
    I went for the Nike FuelBand instead. I should have it in a couple of days and I am very excited.
  • Jessi40
    Jessi40 Posts: 75 Member
    I used to have a body bug, so this is similar? Do you wear it on your arm as well? i didn't like that my arm got a 'dent' in it. I did like the information. I started mfp about 2 months ago and am doing well... I get a little concerned that it over estimates my calories in my little workouts and so I've been considering something like bb or something...
  • SteveHunt113
    SteveHunt113 Posts: 648 Member
    I used to have a body bug, so this is similar? Do you wear it on your arm as well? i didn't like that my arm got a 'dent' in it. I did like the information. I started mfp about 2 months ago and am doing well... I get a little concerned that it over estimates my calories in my little workouts and so I've been considering something like bb or something...
    Yes, the BB and BMF are actually from the same people (so I read someplace). Yes, it uses the arm band, which I'm OK with. I will adjust it up or down to keep the dents out! :)

    I also have a Polar FT7 heart rate monitor I use to get my workout calories (this uses a chest strap transmitter and watch receiver). It'll be interesting to compare the results of both to see how they fit. The HR monitor simply uses your heart rate to determine calories. The BMF uses body temperature, sweat (forget the correct term), and motion to calculate calories. I think there are 2 different types of motions being monitored. I know that what my HR monitor calculates is lower than what MFP tries to give me. It's also lower than what the elliptical tells me. I like using the smaller number.
  • Narisong
    Narisong Posts: 191
    I got my BodyMedia soon after I started loosing and I love it ! It's great that I don't have to manually figure out how much I've walked at the mall or on the treadmill and know how many calories I've burned. It's also great to see how much sleep I have had as well as how "efficient" my sleep is. I've noticed when I don't sleep well (not how many hours but efficiency) I don't loose well... who knew !
  • TrishJimenez
    TrishJimenez Posts: 561 Member
    I know I have seen a few of you out there who input your calorie burn for the day from bodymedia or bodybugg. How do you calculate what myfitnespal is already giving you from what bodymedia says that you burn so you can input it for your activity on here? I would really appreciate the help. Thanks
  • SteveHunt113
    SteveHunt113 Posts: 648 Member
    I don't use the calorie count from my BodyMedia Fit for my workout. I use a heart rate monitor. I've only had the BMR for a week now, and I'm still analyzing the data it is giving me. But I'm pretty sure that the 45 minutes I spend on the stationary pike (moderate resistance and speed) burned more than the 300 calories the BMF calculated. My HRT calculated 460, and the bike calculated about 600.
  • ChantelleFowler
    ChantelleFowler Posts: 208 Member
    I just got mine in the mail yesterday from Amazon and here's my question:

    Do you guys manually log your exercise you do or do you find that the BMF accurately calculates the calories burned during the exercise? I wore my HRM for my kickboxing class last night AND my workout @ the gym this afternoon as well as wearing the BMF but I can't tell if the BMF was accurate or not. I don't know how many calories I had burned during the day prior to my workout so Im unable to gauge. Just curious what you all do here! :) Too bad we cant sync MFP & BMF together! !
  • SteveHunt113
    SteveHunt113 Posts: 648 Member
    Do you guys manually log your exercise you do or do you find that the BMF accurately calculates the calories burned during the exercise?
    I use my HRM to determine my calories burned. There are a couple reasons why. First, I had heard that the BFM may not accurately calculate your exercise calories. Second, my HRM has immediate information I can use; no uploading of data followed by data analysis. Third, I want to be able to go back and compare what my HRM says vs what the BMF says.
    I wore my HRM for my kickboxing class last night AND my workout @ the gym this afternoon as well as wearing the BMF but I can't tell if the BMF was accurate or not. I don't know how many calories I had burned during the day prior to my workout so Im unable to gauge. Just curious what you all do here! :) Too bad we cant sync MFP & BMF together! !
    I did this once. When you look at your data on the BMF website and click the button to show the details of the calories burned, you can then drag the slicer at the top to the start time of your workout, and the end time of your workout. It will tell you at the top how many calories you burned during that time frame.

    The conundrum I find myself in is: our body already burns calories just to keep our body functioning. You can really see this when you look at the expanded view of your calories; most of the time you'll see a band of blue that is mostly the same height. If you can imagine that band of blue continuing through your workout time, does that mean you need to subtract these calories from the rest of the calories burned during the workout? Or should the be included? I tend to believe that you do not exclude these calories, but I've heard others say you should. Maybe I'm being too simplistic in thinking that the majority of these "just to stay alive" calories are from your breathing and heart beat. But I suppose that's another topic.... :bigsmile:
  • SteveHunt113
    SteveHunt113 Posts: 648 Member
    I just did this first week of analysis to figure out how the BMF compares to MFP + HRM. Interesting! The first thing I notice is that my Circuit training (M/W/F) registers very different between the BMF and the HRM. The second thing I'm seeing is that the BMF has me burning more calories each day than what MFP has, even taking into consolidation the higher calorie counts from my HRM. Here is some information that is not in the graph below:

    Daily caloric goal: 2400
    Deficit deficit calories: 250
    Assumed BMR: 2650 (I set this myself to over-ride the lower number MFP calculated.
    Weight loss this week: 1.4 pounds

    week1-BMF-1.jpg
    (right click > view image) to see all.

    I need to consider how I'm looking at the data, as I'm having a hard time finding any solid conclusions.
  • roro73
    roro73 Posts: 153 Member
    I just got my BMF this weekend and absolutely love it!! I have a question though, is the sleep function really accurate? I mean I know I'm a restless sleeper, but my report came back that I only got 3:13 hours of sleep on Saturday night (I believe it because I was up alot), but last night I felt like I got a pretty good sleep in and it said I only slept for 2:58 hours. Is that even possible? Will it get more accurate with time or is something just wrong with it?
  • SteveHunt113
    SteveHunt113 Posts: 648 Member
    Most days, the information I get looks pretty accurate regarding my sleep. I did notice last night it said I got up for about 90 minutes ... sleep walking? :)

    I'm a light sleeper and make multiple visits to the bathroom each night. I tend to look at the clock to see what time it is when I get up, and that part is pretty accurate. I've also had times where I couldn't fall to sleep, or fall back to sleep after getting up, and that also seems to be accurately reflected.

    I don't know how it determines when you are laying down, or when you are sleeping. Is it possible you toss in your sleep? It may be recording the motion and assuming you are awake when you are asleep? I just dunno.
  • mab33
    mab33 Posts: 242 Member
    You can use a heart rate monitor with the Body Media Fit: http://activitymanager.bodymedia.com/heartrate/setupHeartrate.do

    I think it has to be a Garmin, though.

    I love my BodyMedia Fit (I have Core). According to it, though, I sleep 1-2 hours a night. I love knowing how many calories I burn!
  • MikeSEA
    MikeSEA Posts: 1,074 Member
    I love my BMF, it also showed me that MFP was a little low for my calories burned, but not all that off. Really what I like about it is that it motivates me to exercise more because it's harder to kid myself about how active I am. I have a desk job and unless I make an effort to exercise, I don't burn that much. I have the LINK so I link it with my phone, which is nice.

    I'm not super fond that I can't seem to adjust their recommendations for how many carbs I should be getting on the website interface. I keep getting notices that too few of my calories come from carbs (not even doing low carb by any means). The reports it generates are nice. I haven't exported the data to play with it in excel yet.
  • cardbucfan
    cardbucfan Posts: 10,571 Member
    I just ordered one through Groupon too and I can't wait for it to get here so I can play with it! I have always used a HRM for my exercise calories rather than MFP or any machine calculations but I'm most curious about my non-exercise calories. I've been plateaued for quite some time losing and gaining the same three lbs. (and technically I'm in maintenance so shouldn't care about the scale but you can't change a lifetime habit like that!) so I'm hoping my new toy will help me figure out truly how much I burn and how much I should be eating. We'll all have to report back!
  • mab33
    mab33 Posts: 242 Member
    I love my BMF, it also showed me that MFP was a little low for my calories burned, but not all that off. Really what I like about it is that it motivates me to exercise more because it's harder to kid myself about how active I am. I have a desk job and unless I make an effort to exercise, I don't burn that much. I have the LINK so I link it with my phone, which is nice.

    I'm not super fond that I can't seem to adjust their recommendations for how many carbs I should be getting on the website interface. I keep getting notices that too few of my calories come from carbs (not even doing low carb by any means). The reports it generates are nice. I haven't exported the data to play with it in excel yet.
    I get that same message about not eating enough carbs. I'm trying to up my protein and eat fewer carbs. Oh well. I love the reports and seeing my weekly and daily deficits. Keeps me honest!
  • ronw52
    ronw52 Posts: 1
    I have just purchased a BodyMedia device and I am wearing it. I am still learning the details and meanings; however, my first night's recorded sleep was 5 hrs, so this has caught my interest. I figured out how I can see the minute by minute data (there is an "up" and "down" arrow on the right hand side of the dashboard - and this expands the details/data collected by the minute). Sure enough it is very close to my sleep pattern. The device correctly noted the several times that I got up. So now I understand why I am tired during the day. Right now I am going to both web sites, myfitness pal and bodymedia, entering the identical meals. Is there a way that the two web sites communicate with each other? I see that I can enter just calories in the Bodymedia log, and I may switch to this approach to say time and redundancy.
  • SteveHunt113
    SteveHunt113 Posts: 648 Member
    I've never logged calories into the BodyMedia website. MFP is my primary tool. The BMF is what I'm using so I can get an idea of what my maintenance calories should be.
  • roro73
    roro73 Posts: 153 Member
    I emailed the support team on bodymedia.com regarding the sleep issue (mine still only shows 1-3 hours per night). Apparently I must be a heck of a rough sleeper because my band shows that it loses contact with my body...even though when I wake up it's still on correctly. They also said if I sleep with my arms above my head (which I do because I sleep on my tummy alot with my arms up under my pillow) that it thinks that I'm awake. Oh well, the sleep part isn't as big of a deal to me as the calories burned although had I known that I would have gotten the body bugg because I think it's a little less expensive. I really do love seeing my actual calories burned!!

    Last night, I knew I was going to be close to not hitting my goal and I had company over watching a movie in the living room so I didn't want to be rude & go in the bedroom to walk on the treadmill...so for the first time ever, I marched in place while I watched the movie just to make sure I hit my goal...felt great!! Best investment in my health I've ever made :)
  • wolfchild59
    wolfchild59 Posts: 2,608 Member
    I emailed the support team on bodymedia.com regarding the sleep issue (mine still only shows 1-3 hours per night). Apparently I must be a heck of a rough sleeper because my band shows that it loses contact with my body...even though when I wake up it's still on correctly. They also said if I sleep with my arms above my head (which I do because I sleep on my tummy alot with my arms up under my pillow) that it thinks that I'm awake. Oh well, the sleep part isn't as big of a deal to me as the calories burned although had I known that I would have gotten the body bugg because I think it's a little less expensive. I really do love seeing my actual calories burned!!

    Last night, I knew I was going to be close to not hitting my goal and I had company over watching a movie in the living room so I didn't want to be rude & go in the bedroom to walk on the treadmill...so for the first time ever, I marched in place while I watched the movie just to make sure I hit my goal...felt great!! Best investment in my health I've ever made :)

    I'm a stomach sleeper as well and don't have any problems with it not recording my sleep, even when my arms are above my head. What I typically do at night anyway is to move the armband a bit lower on my arm and re-tighten it to fit that part of my arm. I do that mostly to give the area that I usually wear the BMF the night to "breathe" and I've found that it helps reduce some of the irritation I got when I first started wearing it.

    So maybe try at least tightening it at first, and see if that helps with maintaining the body contact through the night.
  • wolfchild59
    wolfchild59 Posts: 2,608 Member
    For the meal entering that I saw previous people posting about, I track all of my food in MFP as normal, and then I enter a single food item using "Create Food" in BMF. I just name the food for the date it's going for (e.g. yesterday's was 03/19/12 Food) and then, using the summary page from MFP, enter the entire days calories, macros, etc. as that single food item.

    That way BMF can see and record my calories consumed vs what was burned and what I've lost (or gained). I've worn mine for just over a year now and have seen adjustments since when I first started wearing it of how many calories I burn doing certain activities. Which makes sense because in the reading that I did about the devices before purchasing, it was stated that the longer you wear them the more they look your data and "learn" about your body and your burn.

    But part of how it learns is looking at trends between what it says your burning, what you're consuming and then if you're gaining or losing. So if you aren't recording calories consumed and/or a fairly regular weigh-in, you might be cheating yourself out of increased accuracy in results over time.
  • roro73
    roro73 Posts: 153 Member

    I'm a stomach sleeper as well and don't have any problems with it not recording my sleep, even when my arms are above my head. What I typically do at night anyway is to move the armband a bit lower on my arm and re-tighten it to fit that part of my arm. I do that mostly to give the area that I usually wear the BMF the night to "breathe" and I've found that it helps reduce some of the irritation I got when I first started wearing it.

    So maybe try at least tightening it at first, and see if that helps with maintaining the body contact through the night.

    Thanks for the tip! I'll try that tonight. Last night it was a little more accurate. It recorded 4 hours of sleep and the times I got out of bed were right on.
  • beachgrad05
    beachgrad05 Posts: 85 Member
    I just goe my Bodymedia LINK (bluetooth) on Friday. At first I wasn't wearing it on my back of my arm (Tricep area) and was affecting it being able to read my exercise. Since moving it to the correct position it is reading now correctly. Love the sleep feature.
  • Phrak
    Phrak Posts: 353 Member
    I have the BMF, id trust its numbers over a HRM any day. HRM are bad for calculating calories burned during weight lifting.

    However i find the BMF causes shoulder pain during upper body workouts as it applies pressure to the tendons in a weird way.

    Id love to see them allow you to wear it on your calf as an alternate.
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