I used WW online for a few months, then BB and WW online and since Feb 2009 I have been only using BB so much of my over 100# loss has been with BB.
I didn't get the display until I had had the BB for awhile but I really like seeing the real time data.
It is a helpful too and seeing the #'s helps some people to be more accountable/make better or different choices, but it IS just a tool, kwim?
I lost about the same w WW online and BB but like the fact that I can eat more w BB and still lose (until lately when I have been playing with 1# and basically maintaing, but I KNOW it is because I am eating too many calories/day).
Good luck, I'd get whichever were cheaper (including the subscription) and if you buy one I'd get and extra strap so you can wash one while you wear one.
1. How different was the calorie burns from what places like daily plate and such say?
I have not looked into this...I do know that it's easy to lie to yourself about how active you are when calculating daily burn on those sites. Basically, even though I thought I was pretty active when I would try to get numbers from those sites, my GWF actually told me I was pretty darn sedentary, especially on my days off of work. When I first started using my GWF, I found I'd burn maybe 2200 calories on my days off and I walked less than 1000 steps with no moderate activity (my housework isn't vigorous enough, ha). On work days, I can easily hit 3400 calories burned and over 7500 steps with 30 to 40 minutes of moderate activity. Knowing this has helped me make better food choices.
2. Is the display important?
I initially only got the armband and after a week found that I wanted the instant numbers the display would give me. If I'm at work and someone brings something for a snack, I can instantly check my calories to see if I can squeeze the snack in and still have my goal calorie deficit for the day. It makes saying "no thanks" easier, and saying "yes" guilt free.
3. If you were already losing weight before you got it did that change afterwords?
I've calorie counted before, and fallen off the wagon more times than I can count. I've now gone 22 days straight of eating with a calorie deficit of at least 1000 calories a day and I'm down 13 pounds. I have not ever gone this long without having an all out binge day.
The GWF keeps me accountable and tells me I don't need what my mind says I want (it's like a little life coach on my shoulder). And it lets me splurge without beating myself up...cause you can totally have lasagna and cheesecake and still have a deficit at the end of the day.
I am wanting a GWF so bad. My dh says that it will not make a difference, this from the man that can drop 20lbs just by walking 2 times a week.
Anyway I have a few questions, if you don't mind.
1. How different was the calorie burns from what places like daily plate and such say?
Any calories burned "calculators" are going to be using simple math based on your height, weight, and age (generally those are the inputs) to give you a ballpark figure. They do not take into account the actual person doing the activity. They are going on the general assumption that people with a lot of excess weight burn the most calories to get through life. But if you are doing repetitive tasks or things that are too routine your burn will be less than someone doing an activity for the first time or however long until it becomes routine. 2. Is the display important?
I don't have it and at first I thought I wanted it but now I'm just not willing to spend the money for it. I've worn my GWF for 5 months and I'm pretty good at knowing what is going on with my daily life. Some people do find it really motivating, though. For me, I know that if I take a 5 minute break to jump around or jog in place or do wall pushups, that will show up on my daily burn when I upload at night and it works for me. 3. If you were already losing weight before you got it did that change afterwords?
I had lost a few pounds before deciding to jump on the bodymedia armband bandwagon and what the GWF offered me was DATA and PEACE OF MIND. My nightly trek with my dog? Has built in intervals and lasts about an hour. At my weight it was counting for a LOT more than I thought! I learned that hey, going balls to the wall everyday isn't necessary! I can do my walk, lift my heavy weights every other day, eat around 2000 calories of healthy food (if I just calorie count and allow for too much crap things don't go as well) and just work on the whole lifestyle and not pushing myself into a sweaty, discouraged mess. Now I make sure I get in the cardio I need for heart-health but know that my other, more relaxed and easily kept habits are enough to power my weight-loss. And when my routine gets too stale (not really the dog walk but other activity) I can see the burn drop and know it is time to shake things up with something new or working out at a different time. I recently read this fantastic advice from http://fitnessista.com/ "change makes change" it is so perfect for me to understand! Every so often things to change, to shake up or my changes will stop and I'll be stuck. The GWF helps me not be stuck. Which isn't to say I've lost weight EVERY week (but I've lost almost 5 inches from my waist alone) but I know things WILL go down because I'm eating good food in the correct portions, I'm moving my booty, I'm lifting my weights and I have the data to prove it.
Any stories that may help my dh understand why it is important. It's not that I he has to say yes I just want him and myself to hear how it has helped others.
Thanks
I think the armbands (GWF, bodybugg, sensewear) are great because it is a known fact that people underestimate their food and overestimate their exercise. Although the armbands can't weigh your food or keep your food log for you they can show you a more accurate picture of what you burn. Probably if you're not willing to also food log/calorie count/use a food scale the armbands will not give you as much benefit but they will still give you some! And the longer you do weigh food/log calories the easier it is to estimate.
Do any of you notice you burn more cal while sleeping if you have very vivid dreams? The first couple nights I burnt around 600 cal a night, well the past couple nights I have had some crazy dreams that were a bit stressful and I burnt over 700 cal those nights.
Heck, every once in a while I have such vivid dreams that I "sleepwalk" out of bed and sometimes all the way downstairs without being really awake! On those nights I end up with a huge break in my sleep and a pretty impressive calorie spike from me running down the stairs! XD
Anything that makes me kick and move in my sleep does affect the burn and vivid dreams account for a lot of that.
This is the second time my GWF has adjusted (down both times) in about 2.5 months - I'm hoping it doesn't go lower again for a while! It was motivation to start working out in the morning and I finally hit my burn goal again today!
The weather was finally nice here again so I got in an hour walk on the beach tonight. It was enough to do it after the 30 minutes of quality time on the exerbike this morning. No snow on the beach, but lots of soft sand. And a really happy pup. We had a stretch of cooolllllddddd weather here that cut way into his beach time.
hh, when my burn jumps down sometimes I can shake it back up by putting something new (or something I haven't done in a while) in my routine instead of same old same old.
Did my first weigh-in this morning since starting the GWF a week ago...I lost 6 pounds....whooooohooooooooo :-) I'm sure much of it was water weigh...but at least I got rid of it ;-)
I have been exercising everyday, and watching for that 1000 difference in my cal burn to cal eaten...I know some days my difference was more than 1000 but it is hard for me to eat late when I realize I have 500 cal or so that still needs to be eaten.
I'm trying not to get obsessed with the scale...used to I would weigh myself probably 20 times a day...This time I waited 1 week which was hard, but felt so good this morning to get on and see the loss...instead of everyday getting on and worring about that half pound that went up or down.
My best friend wants to only weigh in once a month...I told her I would after this first weigh-in.... So I will weigh in then like I promised her I would...no obsessing over the scale...I'll post another weigh-in in a month.
PS...loving this GWF!!!! Love having the #'s right infront of me..such an awesome help!!
yay! congrats!
My weigh-in habits change. Sometimes I weight in every morning, or whenever I shower in the morning (shower time changes) but only record it on weigh-in day and sometimes I go longer if I'm pretty positive the scale isn't "cooperating" because I've been building muscle while burning fat. I'm sooooo happy I started lifting heavy weights right off the bat because it is much easier to see a new body (and my boobs haven't been completely sacrificed, vs last time I lost a bunch of weight).
I am gaining! I have had the BB for over two weeks now and I continue to gain. Its so frustrating as I thought getting the BB would help me.. apparently not. Sad thing is I have tried to just move more overall but I havent changed anything else since I got it. I still eat the same 1800 calories and workout 4-5x per week... Last week I gained a pound and the WI on monday showed another pound. Frustrating to say the least.
I'm so sorry things aren't working well for you!
Are you calories burned in a good range? Do you need to change your workouts? Is food the problem? Do you use a food scale? What is your process for knowing you're eating 1800 calories? What is your average daily burn?
Second-side, are you sure the weight gain isn't water weight from TOM or illness, muscle swell from working out, or anything unrelated to gaining fat?
I hope that you find the tools in the BB to your advantage soon! Keep posting with us! We are all here to support each other with our successes and difficulties.
On non-workout days I am burning about 2500-2600 on workout days I am normally up to 3000-3200 depending on how hard long I work out that day. I track my calories by the old fashioned way of writing everything down that goes in my mouth. I have and use a food scale and measuring cups for anything that goes into my mouth short of pre-packaged single serve portions such as yogurt.
I really dont know what it is but I do hope it stops! Last time around I lost consistently each week ranging from 1-2 lbs weekly. I did what I do now yet this time I am gaining. Its very frustrating to not see results.
Tomorrow I am going to start calorie cycling and see what that does for a week. I am changing my WI day from Monday to Wednesday (sometimes I WI daily but only count one) , im going to tighten up my food intake and see what happens.
On non-workout days I am burning about 2500-2600 on workout days I am normally up to 3000-3200 depending on how hard long I work out that day. I track my calories by the old fashioned way of writing everything down that goes in my mouth. I have and use a food scale and measuring cups for anything that goes into my mouth short of pre-packaged single serve portions such as yogurt.
I really dont know what it is but I do hope it stops! Last time around I lost consistently each week ranging from 1-2 lbs weekly. I did what I do now yet this time I am gaining. Its very frustrating to not see results.
Tomorrow I am going to start calorie cycling and see what that does for a week. I am changing my WI day from Monday to Wednesday (sometimes I WI daily but only count one) , im going to tighten up my food intake and see what happens.
Just makes me MAD!
One thing I would suggest is using ONLY the food scale for measuring. Volume and weight are two drastically different measures. For example: a half cup of oatmeal is supposed to be 140 calories for 1/2 cup or 39 grams dry. If you weigh 1/2 a cup of dry oatmeal, it comes out to 54 grams!! So you're talking, just for the oatmeal, 15 extra grams or about 55 calories more than you have counted. Imagine if that happened with every food you ate all day!
I am wanting a GWF so bad. My dh says that it will not make a difference, this from the man that can drop 20lbs just by walking 2 times a week.
Anyway I have a few questions, if you don't mind.
My husband is the same way loses 20 pounds by walking 2 times a week...even now that I have the GWF he likes to poke fun at how he can lose weight without a GWF...I just tell him we aren't the same, and if this works for me then so be it...he is supportive in his own little way...he has just seen me fail at weightloss so many times I think he is just waiting for me to fail "again".... but that isn't going to happen!!! I love the numbers and calculating everything, I love how the #'s are right infront of me.
1. How different was the calorie burns from what places like daily plate and such say? GWF is the first site I have ever used to calculate anything.
2. Is the display important? I really like the display, if I am out and about I can pull it out of my pocket and see real time of what I have burnt. I like the setting where I can put everything back to 0 say for a workout...that way I can see in real time what I burn during that workout, without having to head to the computer to load the info.
3. If you were already losing weight before you got it did that change afterwards? I had lost a few pounds from my highest weight before GWF, but I always had a hard time figuring out if I was exercising enough. Also when trying to lose weight I always seem to starve myself till I failed and gave up....with the #'s right infront of me I realize I don't have to starve to do this.
I have only had the GWF for 1 week but I am loving the program and seeing all the #'s right infront of me. If you are going to keep up with the program online and log all your meals I would recommend it...such a neat tool!
My weigh-in habits change. Sometimes I weight in every morning, or whenever I shower in the morning (shower time changes) but only record it on weigh-in day and sometimes I go longer if I'm pretty positive the scale isn't "cooperating" because I've been building muscle while burning fat. I'm sooooo happy I started lifting heavy weights right off the bat because it is much easier to see a new body (and my boobs haven't been completely sacrificed, vs last time I lost a bunch of weight).
Thank you :-)
I am thinking about weighing once a week after I do the one month deal with my friend...maybe once I get closer to my goal I will go back to daily weigh-ins just to help me stay on target....at this point I think weekly is good for me, and trusting the #'s that show with GWF.
(I too worry about how weight-loss will affect certain body parts)
Anyone with BB ever have the display and online data be way different? This has happened to me a couple of times already.. online will say that i have burned more calories (usually) than my display...
Which would you trust most? I write everything from BB in my notebook and I dont know which one to write down!
dangerousfish - seeing an 1800 burn for a day certainly motivated me to get back on track with exercise!
I hit 3000 today for the first time since my burn bumped down but it took:
45 min HIIT on the exerbike this morning
30 min on the gazelle this evening and
1 hour walk with the dog on the beach tonight
to get there!
I have started trying to get some cardio in before lunch. It seems like I get more bang for my buck doing it earlier - that my burn stays a tad higher for a good part of the day.
One thing I would suggest is using ONLY the food scale for measuring. Volume and weight are two drastically different measures. For example: a half cup of oatmeal is supposed to be 140 calories for 1/2 cup or 39 grams dry. If you weigh 1/2 a cup of dry oatmeal, it comes out to 54 grams!! So you're talking, just for the oatmeal, 15 extra grams or about 55 calories more than you have counted. Imagine if that happened with every food you ate all day!
Good luck with finding what works for you.
I did not know that! I mean I knew they were different but assumed if it said 1/2 cup I could just use the measure cup! GRRRRRR I just ate oatmeal 3x last week. That would be an extra 160 or so calories.. Im gonna go play with my scale and the oatmeal...lol
So you're talking, just for the oatmeal, 15 extra grams or about 55 calories more than you have counted. Imagine if that happened with every food you ate all day! 
I did not know that! I mean I knew they were different but assumed if it said 1/2 cup I could just use the measure cup! GRRRRRR I just ate oatmeal 3x last week. That would be an extra 160 or so calories.. Im gonna go play with my scale and the oatmeal...lol
