Short term numbers, especially in the beginning, will be off due to water retention. The more overall time you use the device, the more accurate the numbers will be over the whole time you've used the device.

The difference between 2.2 and 5 pound is easily explained by water retention and the "whoosh" phenomenon, where some people see their weight come off in chunks rather than more consistently. This is speculated to be because as you lose weight your body holds on to water to keep your body in equilibrium. If you don't fill those fat cells up with fat in the next week or so, your body finally gives up and releases that water and you see the "whoosh."

There are three things that make your GWF seem "inaccurate." The weight of the partially digested food in your body, the amount of water your body is hanging onto on that particular day, and the fact that calorie counting has some amount of uncertainty in it. This is not unique to the GWF -- this is something that all dieters have to deal with.

Thanks to the posters who tried to clarify some of my questions. My "official" weigh-in for the week is not until tomorrow, but as of this morning I have lost 2.2 lbs this week, and that is exactly in line with my GWF numbers. This is just so amazing!! EVERYONE should own one of these, although I dont know if everyone would/could be as diligent about keeping accurate account of their calories consumed. I am a fanatic about it. I weigh everything when possible, and if I am eating out, I will split the food in half and bring home 1/2 so I can weigh it. (the eyeballing the size just doesnt work for me!) My biggest problem is I am tending to rely on frozen dinners alot. I know they contain alot of sodium, but they provide me with variety, convienence, portion control, and calorie count (price also when I get them on sale!!) I try to drink extra water when I eat them to help with the sodium. Does anyone else eat frozen dinners and if so, have you noticed it adversely affecting your weight loss??

Hey guys, how much does the website thing cost a month? And do you HAVE to get it?

cost depends on which device and how long you sign up for. the longer you sign up the less it is a month and YES you have to subscribe. otherwise you can't offload the data to clear the arm band.

I got my GWF today in the mail!!! YAY!!! I'm so excited.. it is charging now, will post later...

I wore my gowear fit or bodymedia FIT or whatever it's called now, to bed last night. It wasn't actually uncomfortable and didn't bother me. I hope I'm wearing it in the right place, they aren't really specific, just says to wear it on the back of your left arm.
Setting it up was pretty easy, i just had to go to the website and register, which did require signing a contract for service with a credit card. No biggie. They won't charge me the first three months, but it will start charging monthly after that since I chose the 6 month option. (I'm hoping to be way way down and not have to wear it, or at least regularly wear it after that). Will post later tonight, I think I'm going to link it after I workout while I'm in the shower to transfer data and power up. They say the charge can go four days or so, but I want to know my numbers now!! :)

My GWF has been awesome but now it's really coming in handy...I've recently dropped about 5 lbs and all things being equal with diet and exercise I can readily see I'm not burning as many calories in the day as I was a couple of weeks ago. Having this information at the drop of a hat (or a sync :)) is going to help me make adjustments here and there. Knowledge is power!!!!

OMG!! Today I was reminded why I got my GWF and just how important it is!! I diligently track every bite of food that I eat, and also keep a separate spreadsheet of all my numbers for tracking everything. The last few days I have gotten rather lax with exercise and even food choices. I have still kept track of all of my food, but I had not logged it into the software. Yesterday I had a commitment to go with a friend to look at the place she is having her wedding and reception. I made a poor choice and let myself think that all that walking around could be my substitute for exercise that day. Boy was I wrong!! Afterwards we decided to eat dinner. We went to Chili's (not my choice) and I tried to make the best decision I could in the given situation. I had the 1/2 turkey sandwich and a salad, water to drink. While I realized it was more calories than I normally ate for dinner, I thought it was a fair choice. WHEW!, was I wrong!! I didnt get around to logging my food until today. I went online to their site and found their calorie info. Just that meal was over 1200 calories, and all the steps and calories I thought I would burn walking around looking at my friend's wedding hall, only amounted to around 1500 steps and just a few hundred calories, not at all what I was expecting!! Needless to say, yesterday was the first day since I have begun my GWF journey that my calories consumed were greater than my calories burned!! I am so disappointed!! Needless to say, this was a big wakeup call that I cant get laxed, I must stay on top of this all the time!! I am so thankful for the GWF because I would have very easily over-estimated my burn without it. It also forces me to track my food intake and calories (in order to get the most out of it anyway), and therefore I was again reminded just how many calories can be in a restaurant meal even when you think you are making ok choices!! Needless to say, this was my wakeup call to again be just as diligent on my cals in/cals out , as I was the first 5 weeks!! My week of back sliding is over!! I feel better already!! Thanks for letting me have such a long post/rant/confession. Continued good luck to all the other GWF/BodyBugg users!!

I have a question I'm hoping someone can help me out with! I've been wearing my GWF for 2 weeks now, but haven't lost any weight though I'm supposedly logging an average deficit of 916 cals. per day. I'm beyond frustrated, and wondering if the issue is that it's setting my food calorie allowance too high - perhaps way overestimating my burn? My burn target is 2890, and food 1980....this is AFTER I've adjusted it slightly downward, as if I let the Activity Manager calculate how much I should be eating, it gives me figures between 2000 - 2300 based on whether I set my activity level as sedentary or light. I can't quite believe that I need to be eating that much more to lose weight - if I was on a plateau, I could see it. But I'm just 2 weeks in, so I should have lost something by now regardless of whether I technically should be eating more cals or not.

I'm currently 275, and nearing my wits' end!!! I'm eating healthier than ever, drinking lots of water, and walking at least 4-5 times per week for a minimum of 30 mins. I just can't believe that I haven't lost a single pound!! Something's screwy. Do you all let the software calculate what you should be eating, or do you set your own calorie level? I'm thinking of setting my calorie target to 1800 - I'm afraid to go lower as it seems possibly too low given my starting weight. Gah - I thought this would make things easier but now I'm more confused than ever and not sure if I can trust the numbers the GWF is giving me!! :( Any ideas?

Suesays
Your numbers sound great to me. I have found that if I wear my BB while cutting grass on a riding mower it will overestimate my calorie burn. Some have said just driving overestimates the burn. Have you been driving on rough roads?
I also measure everything. And sometimes I probably overestimate my calorie intake. Not by much but if I am unsure how many calories are in something I tend to guess high.
A daily deficit over 900 is great. I am not so consistent. Keep you the good work and the pounds will come off.:goodluck:

SueSays:
My first week wearing my GWF I lost 1 lb. The next week I actually gained 3lbs on the scale, even though based on my GWF numbers I should have lost. In the 3rd week I lost another lb or two, and by week 4 I was steadily losing. I have come to the conclusion that a couple of things might have happened. 1. Maybe I was just retaining alot of water the first few weeks because I had increased my intake. Maybe my body was just shocked by the increase and had to adjust. 2. Maybe since I decreased my food intake my body was just watching to make sure that I wasnt go to starve it. There could be a lot of reasons. I have found that the most important thing is to accurately track your food intake. If you are using the food database with the GWF software, not everything is listed, so sometimes you have to try and make the closest choice possible. Sometimes if an item is not found or if I question the numbers in the database, I will then google the item on the internet to see what other calorie info I can find, and then I will adjust the numbers to agree with the info I found. ex. if the data base says 1 item is 100 calories, but i find on the net it really should be 120, then i will adjust the amount in the software to something like 1.3 items so that the calories = 120. I also dont go by the recommended calories given by the software as to how many I should eat. I believe it tells me around 1900 -2000. I never eat that high unless it is a special occasion type situation. I dont considered a day's cal count too low in calories unless it is under 1200 (for me at this weight right now anyway). I also think it is important to spread your calories throughout the day. I try not to go more than 4 hours without eating something. I also try to not "eyeball amounts", whenever I can, I weigh things. If I get something in a restaurant, I will divide it in half and bring home 1/2 of the meal. I then weight the items so I can have an accurate account of how much I actually ate. It is amazing how inaccurate your eye can be. I have guestimated things too high, and too low, but I am hardly ever right on the money with my guess in comparision to the actual size. That can be very important in your calorie count, especially since you are already eating such a high number. You might also want to try eating a low day, then a high day (ex. 1300-1400 one day, then 1800-1900 the next) that seems to help me also.
I know I havent solved your issue, but hopefully some of the tips that I follow might be helpful. Good Luck as let us know if you have any changes in the next few weeks.

Thanks very much for the help! I'm glad to know that it took a couple of weeks for everything to kind of come together - I think that may be the case with me as well. As of this morning, I'm seeing downward movement on the scale...yay! I have adjusted my calorie target down to 1800, which I think is perfectly reasonable - I eat mostly whole foods, so I get a lot of food for 1800 calories and really can't manage more without adding junk (or eating beyond full). I'm just going to keep plugging away....the alternative isn't an option! It's tough, though, to put so much effort into this without seeing any result at all. The boost I felt this morning, seeing the numbers go down, did wonders to solidify my resolve so I'm determined to have another great week.

Your GWF will adjust your burn down if/when it sees that your numbers aren't matching up.

Hi --

First time poster here! :)

I've had my BodyBugg for a week, and it's really quite interesting--and certainly an eyeopener to see that sitting at my computer burns the same calories per minute as sleeping!

How do y'all clean the armband? Mine gets drenched with sweat each day when I run, and despite handwashing it with a some liquid laundry detergent and warm water it is, uhm, funky. It's really holding on to the stench of sweat!

Thanks!

Hi everyone! Well I am starting week 4 tomorrow and I weigh then. I hope I see some weight loss. It's been an adjustment with some overeating and the addition of exercise but I love my GWF! The information is so amazing to see.

I have lost 3 lbs since the start of wearing my GWF on July 6th so I will take that. I am so proud of myself. I have survived quite a few birthday cakes so far this month. I usually burn 2700 and eat 1700 and I am pretty diligent about my calorie counting. I have found that the GWF database is OFF and I don't use it unless it is a brand name or restaurant name food. I use the nutritional info from the actual restaurant and calorie king usually.

Can you guys believe The Biggest Loser doesn't start back until September 21st this season :(. It feels like forever.