hi all! not sure if this is the right place to post this, but i've gotten a lot of questions about it and thought it might save some headache to copy a post i'd made in response to questions about these monitors. i don't work for either of these companies (wish i did, it might have been cheaper) but for me personally, it's been a great thing to have. (i use some Beck phrases because i originally posted this on the Beck board - "no choice" is a Beck tool and the teeth brushing thing gets discussed there as well.)
there are two companies that i know of that sell them: sensewear (also called body media) and bodybugg. it's exactly the same technology, but sensewear is the group that developed it. they've already released the 3rd version - bodybugg is releasing theirs in the fall. that's why bodybuggs are cheaper right now; they're trying to clear out the old inventory. you can buy them from 24hourfitness.com, or the sensewear one from www.sensewear.com. the new version is smaller and lighter - less noticeable under clothes. this was important to me when i first started wearing it, but i don't really care anymore. if people notice it and ask what it's for, i just tell them it's a calorie monitor, and usually they want to know where to get one too. they only notice it though when i'm wearing short sleeves and you can actually see it. otherwise, it's hard to tell i've got it on.
it's wonderful, fabulous, really does what heartrate monitors or pedometers try to do, but not as well. (it also functions as a pedometer, in case you're tracking that too.) i'm 100% accountable when it comes to movement and exercise, and it shows in how i've changed my thinking. i don't even think NO CHOICE about working out (most of the time, anyway.) it's gotten a lot more like teeth brushing. it's like letting the air out of the tires in terms of internal dialogue - it's just part of my day. it's also made me a lot more aware of how much sleep i am or am not getting, and i'm a lot more conscientious about getting to bed earlier. still have to work on being overscheduled to make that more automatic, but it's step #2 in the process.
the website has also been a really good tool for meal planning and logging. if i do my meal planning carefully and realistically, when it's time to log my meal, i just click a single button ("I ate my meal plan") and i'm done. so now i'm working on making it possible to just click that button more often.
the monitor was expensive, but it's the first thing to really make a difference (over the course of months) in getting me accountable. i spent about $450 on it, which included the armband, the monitor, and 6 months of the website. my subscription is up in a month or two and i will ABSOLUTELY renew. the ability to create reports, export data, and see how my intake stacks up against my burn over time is incredibly helpful. it also helped me get religion about tracking my calories. i used to use Fitday, but i was never sure about the exercise calories so subsequently i didn't trust what it told me i should be eating/losing.
net net, wearing the monitor has made it easier to figure out how much i should realistically be eating. before, i tried a couple of diets that made me miserable, simply because most calculators grossly underestimate my metabolic rate. i wouldn't have known that without my monitor. when i was on the 6 week body makeover, i was ravenously hungry almost 24-7. the support person i IM'd told me it was because i had stretched out my stomach through overeating, wasn't drinking enough water, hadn't given it enough time, yada yada yada. i gave up on that (and three or four other perfectly good plans) because i wasn't getting enough food and it was too hard to be hungry all the time. i'm still trying to figure out what the right amount is to eat and still lose weight, but it's 100 times easier now i know more about my body.
if anyone still has questions, or wants to see a sample report, let me know!