Body Bugg / Body Media & BMR

Fortheloveofbacon
Fortheloveofbacon Posts: 2
in Health and Weight Loss
I've been using a body media FIT for about a week now and LOVE having so much info to work with. Am a total data dork! Problem is, even though the activity monitoring is creepy accurate, the calculations for calories burned are impossibly off.

I know the FitBit calculates calories burned using a sort of BMR algorithm based on your age/height/weight. If you know your BMR, you can tweak your input to achieve a more accurate calculation. For example, I'm 5' 10" and weigh 155 with a BMR of 1410 (had it tested at an exercise lab). FitBit support folks said if I change my height to 5' 6" the device's calculations will be based on a BMR of about 1400.

Unfortunately my FitBit bit the dust the second time I used it so I never got to test this out. I ended up getting a FIT instead, but the support is fairly nonexistent. Anyone here have any suggestions on how to similarly tweak the FIT? I'm sure there's some piece of data I can use as a baseline, but I'm a complete math spaz.

Help?

Replies

  • mibrewer413
    mibrewer413 Posts: 78 Member
    I have the Bodymedia Fit Core. I still use MFP to log food. I find BMF's site a pain to log food so what I do at the end of the day is I hit "create food" and just put my total calories for the day on BMF's site and all the fat/carbs/protein, etc info in and name it today's date. That way I still know my calorie deficit but I'm not about to log my food into 2 places. MFP still tops it for food logging. I love my BMF. I have the display and it beeps at you when you meet your targets and that's fun. Good luck!
  • Fortheloveofbacon
    Fortheloveofbacon Posts: 2
    I love the FIT too -- it's just that the numbers are so off.

    Example:

    Yesterday's calories burned: 3291
    Calories consumed: 1698

    With a calorie deficit like that, I would have evaporated a long time ago! Yesterday's activity level and food intake were pretty standard for me, meaning I didn't just start a new diet or exercise routine. My meals are very structured so food is easy to log accurately. It's the calories burned that's the problem.
  • annhjk
    annhjk Posts: 794 Member
    Your numbers might it be that far off. I had my rmr tested and I was at 2000-2200. Add in a 500 cal workout, teaching, taking care of my family, and just general movement, I bet 3200 isn't that far off. If your numbers are right, you're only getting half of what you need a day. You're body thinks there isn't enough food so it's hoding on to it as much as possible. Try eating at a 500 cal deficit and see what happens, you might gain unt your body realizes it calet go of the fat. Look up metabolism reset and see what you find.

    This is actually why I'm getting a BMF. I have no idea I need to eat. I didn't gain or lose eating 2500, so I think it's somewhere higher than that, but I want to know so I can finally start losing again.
  • BodyMedia
    BodyMedia Posts: 46
    Hi there,

    Could you give us a little more information about your issue? We’d love to help you out.

    BodyMedia FIT device does use several real time metrics to calculate your burn and therefore our stats can be very different from devices that just use an algorithm based on average users of the same height and weight and even exercise machines that only use one metric such as your temperature or heart rate. We collect 5000 data points a minute from your body, our algorithms have been validated in multiple clinical studies and it’s been proven that bodymedia is the most accurate device on the market for measuring calorie burn.

    Feel free to contact me at nwilson@bodymedia.com and we’ll figure this out.

    Thanks so much!

    - Nic

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