Since this is a long post, and not everyone is into reading long posts here's what I'd like to know if any of you spiffy ppl have something to add, but aren't going to read my novella.
1. How accurate have you found the device to be?
2. If it has not been accurate how accurate have you been in measuring/reporting your food?
3. What issues you have run into?
4. What do you like?
BodyMedia Initial Review:
Okay, so I wanted to get in an initial review of the BodyMedia before I’d gotten too far in. Since I’ve only had it since the 21st I’m going to go ahead and do that now.
Pros:
• Uncomplicated device
• Clearly defined goals
• Easy to use software
• Detailed reports are easy to obtain and view
• Tons of customization for skins for the device face, and in fact you can create your own (which I did)
Cons:
• Price
• Subscription requirement for website use (monthly after the initial free months)
On a side it is possible to almost lower your subscription cost by about half if you agree to a 12 month subscription (which I did) from $12.95/mo for a “month to month” basis, $9.95 with a 6-month requirement or $6.95 with a 12-month subscription. (It’s billed monthly at the price agreed upon, not all at once).
• Software is web based, so it requires you have an internet connection to update
• The display goes out of sync frequently (this is easy to sync, it’s just mildly annoying)
So those are what I see as the pros and cons. Requiring internet isn’t really a concern for me, since I have NO plans on giving up my internet, but I would have preferred software I could place on my computer and update minus the subscription or monitoring. I just can’t believe they don’t have some sort of reporting software to determine how people are doing via the web thing, I just don’t.
On a Plus I do LIKE the software. It is very easy to use, and I really like all the graphic representations. I am also VERY interested in the sleep monitoring thing once I can handle actually wearing it when I sleep. The one night I did wear it for most of the night it recorded EVERY time I got up and went to the bathroom. I have NO idea how it knows I’m asleep, but apparently it does. I’m curious to see how well I actually sleep on a regular basis.
Okay Issues I’ve run into:
I am not used to wearing something snug around my upper arm, so on the second day I found my arm got kind of sore. I have not yet been able to sleep with it, though people I’ve talked to SWEAR I will eventually get used to it. I think my problem may be I tend to sleep on my arm which means it gets pressed into my arm, which is somewhat uncomfortable.
I have a few problems keeping it up. BUT the band that comes with it I believe is a “medium”. I have ordered a large, and hope to get it soon. I have it as extended as it goes, but it only comfortably sits on my lower arm. This means it occasionally tries to escape.
As problems go, they are pretty minor.
I will say that SparkPeople.com has a far better nutrition logger. The BodyMedia one is similar, and easy to use, but does not allow you to enter all the vitamins & minerals the same way SparkPeople.com does. What if I want to track iron or B, C, or whatever?!
I will admit up front right now I question how accurate it is. From EVERYTHING I’ve read it’s like 98% or something accurate… which is pretty darn accurate. One of the reviews I read said the poster stated the BodyBugg stated they should lose 3.9lbs but she only actually lost 2.4. When the poster called the customer service line for they asked her how many calories were in a slice of her bread. He/She told them, they asked how many grams were in a serving. The answer 26g was a serving. They then asked Him/Her to weigh the bread. The bread weighed 30g. 30 =/= 26. Because the poster was eating 2 sandwiches a day that meant they were eating more calories than reported on that item alone.
(The review above was about the BodyBugg – to note the BodyMedia & BodyBugg are made by the same company. y I believe they are literally the same thing and reading reviews for one is the same as reading reviews for the other unless they’re talking about the web software which is different. This may lead to a judgment error on my part, so know that up front. The review can be found at ichoosethin . com /thinblog/how-accurate-is-bodybugg-a-review/ Sorry for the spaces I can't post links yet)
So that got me to thinking… I wonder how accurately I’m reporting things. I mean honestly I report everything as exactly as possible based on what the label of an item says. I do measure out what I eat, but I don’t necessarily weigh it. I do for meat, but not everything. If a serving is ‘a cup’, then I grab my measuring cup, fill it up, and ta da, there’s my serving. BUT if the accuracy is totally off in what I’m reporting how I can expect to get an accurate “loss” from my BodyMedia. In other words, when possible I think I need to probably WEIGH my food.
SO that is something I will be judging in the future. I think I may end up wearing out my poor food scale, BUT I’m still going to try to do it if what the BodyMedia says I should lose doesn’t occur after a few weeks, and then do my own analysis of how accurate the little bugger is…. I will also be trying the bread test when I get home…. Because I was sooo darn happy to find 40 calories a slice bread that I liked! I’ll be irritated if it turns out its WAY more than I thought. Irritated, and also enlightened. I’ll be honest I wouldn’t have thought of that. I know the information provided are sometimes just generalizations, but that’s still a pretty big change.
Yes there is still water weight, and various other things that can play a part, BUT, that not so little detail could be huge… though I doubt I’m going to go so crazy as to carry my food scale to restaurants to “ensure” my food is actually what I think it is. BUT if I am finding a difference in my personal testing I will know to allow ‘some’ differences
So that being said here is a mini report of how I’ve done since Oct 22.
Oct 22:
Burned: 3819
Consumed: 1775
Deficit: 2044
Weight: ?
Oct 23:
Burned: 3459
Consumed: 1746
Deficit: 1713
Weight: 264
Oct 24:
Burned: 3077
Consumed: 2289 (<-- this does not match my youtube report because I ended up eating a couple more things after I reported. BAD ME)
Deficit: 788
Weight: 264
Oct 25:
Burned: 4131
Consumed: 1728
Deficit: 2403
Weight: 265
Oct 26:
Burned: TBD
Consumed: TBD
Deficit: TBD
Weight: 264
Total Deficit to date: 6948 OR 1.99 lbs.
The scale, however, says I’m the same weight. I’m not “too” concerned about that though since it takes a few days it seems for bad or good behavior to catch up with me, not overnight. I figure that ends up with digestion and all that.
According to my calculations I should be up for about a 3 lb loss. Here is where we find out how accurate my current reporting is. If it’s not at all after a couple of weeks (I will believe my body will fight me or have water weight issues sometimes, but I do not expect it to have it be off EVERY week), I’m going to try to get more stickler (which will annoy me) on weighting and measuring everything out ensuring I am eating EXACTLY what I “think” I’m eating.
This could be a horribly painful wake up call for me believing measuring utensils based on what a labels says though. It also may mean a HUGE forced modification for testing purposes in what I eat… in a way I’m pretty darn sure I’m NOT going to like… though it may be good for the long run.
I may also have to add the .’s in for my weight to get a more accurate/detailed judgment.
ANYWAY… in conclusion:
There are a lot of what if’s I still have to answer, and my quest to find the TRUE accuracy of the BodyBugg/BodyMedia will take some more personal research and probably a whole lot more weighing *blarg*.
BUT I see this as a GOOD challenge. So stay tuned!
IS there anything you guys want to know, or if you use one of these devices what you’ve noticed? I would REALLY love to hear from you guys on this one.