I want one of these... however i can't decide which is better. What do you all think? For those of you who have one or the other... what do you like about the one you have? What do you wish were different? Do you wish you had the other one?

I just need some input on people who use these things.

I'm so glad you asked this - I've been thinking about getting one as well and was trying to figure out which one I'd like more - can't wait to hear everyone's input.

hmmm i never heard of gowear fit.....i guess i will start doing research on it...is it pretty pricey like the body bugg??

I just purchased a BodyBugg as I've been stuck in a 3 month plateau. I started using it seriously on Tuesday of this week and I weighed myself today (a bit early), but I'm down four pounds already.

I'm really happy with it because after I work out if I think I'm not going to make my "calories burned" goal, I'll walk my dogs after dinner. Each day I've made or exceeded my calories burned goal and each day I've fallen a little short on the calories intake goal. Interestingly, the BB website starts you at 1800 calories to eat, but I can barely make 1200 -1500, so I adjusted my program to reflect a 1500 calories intake.

I've already been contacted by a BB coach, but I told them I want to use it for a good week before we speak.

The nutrional content where you imput your calories is pretty good. I've had to manually enter some information, but it's very easy to do that.

Let me know if anyone has any questions on this. So far I'm very happy with it. There are other Threads on the BodyBugg and other similar devices; that is how I learned about it. It seems a lot of folks have good success with this.:crying:

It sounds like you are having a lot of success with it so far! That's great. How exactly does it work, and how much does it cost? Do you wear the device around your wrist and chest? I have been looking at some of the heart rate monitors on amazon, but I don't know too much about them at this point. What makes these more expensive devices like bodybugg better than the cheaper heart rate monitors?

Also, how many calories do you burn each day, and what exercise do you do? Thanks for your help.

Bandster, you actually wear it around your tricep. You enter your vitals on the website (height, weight, age etc.). You also enter how many pounds you want to lose per week. Based on that information, the bugg calculates how many calories you need to consume and how many you need to burn. The bugg monitors the number of steps you take, your exercise activity, and of course, your calories burned. For example, I am supposed to get 30 mintes of activity everyday. I'm also supposed to walk 10,000 steps. I'm also supposed to burn 2450 calories a day. If I meet those goals AND eat only 1700 calories a day, I should lose 1.5 lbs. a week. You enter your foods on the website and it calculates the calories. If your a good food journaler, the bugg will instantly help you achieve your goals. I am not good journaler, but I believe the bugg has helped me in that it motivates me to at least meet my exercise quotas.

In answer to your question, I've been burning between 2500 - 2800 calories each day. Last week I worked out three days, running and walking on my treadmill for 40-45 minutes in order to go 2.5 miles. I only run .25 - .50 miles at a speed of 4.8 and at an incline of 2, but I've also been walking at a speed around 3.5 at an incline of 4. I also lift free weights for my arms when I'm finished on the treadmill. My treadmill and BodyBugg ("BB") both provide the amount of calories burned, and I am happy to say that my BB is right on target, if not a tad more, comparied to what the treadmill reports. This 40-45 minute workout shows that I've burned around 420 - 440 calories.

Walking the dogs for 15 mintues adds another 125 calories burned.

On Saturday I primed and painted my kitchen and hallway. I wore my BB and hoped to goodness I'd be close to by goal for calories burned as I was exhanusted! I was happy to see that by 6pm I had burned over 2800 calories!

I'm seriously digging this helpful little tool!:biggrin:

I have the GoWear Fit. The Body Bugg and Gowear Fit are made by the same company the are branded and sold by different businesses. I researched both for before I purchased the GoWear Fit. It works great, it tracks my calories burned, steps, activity, time that you sleep, and you can log all of your food. If you have any questions feel free to ask me. I have lost 40 lbs since I have purchased it. I am not banded yet.

OMG! Thanks for this thread, Ive been looking for a way to get these last 20 or 30lbs off. I totally forgot about the BodyBugg!

I haven't rewarded myself for all of my hard work, a Bugg or a GoWear Fit it may well be!

Thanks for the replies. I didn't even know about the BB before, but now I'm really interested. The weight loss didn't take much effort at first, but now I'm finding that it's taking a lot more work.

If anyone who uses the BB could answer a few more questions that would be great.

- How does the calorie tracking work? Is is similar to thedailyplate? Can you just enter your total calories for the day, or do you have to spend lots of time tracking absolutely everything?

- Do you wear it all the time or just when you're working out?

- Have you found the expected weight loss for the week to be accurate?

- How many calories do you burn in a day with and without working out (if you could include your age, weight, and gender, that would be great)? I'm trying to figure out which online calculators are the most accurate. I'm female, I weigh 190, and I'm 23. I estimate that I burn about 1600 calories a day without exercise. Does this sound accurate?

Thanks in advance for your help. I think the BB might be exactly what I need to lose the rest of this weight.

Here are some pros and cons that someone on another website wrote about the BB. It's pretty basic stuff, but it might be informative for people who are just learning what this device is.

a) it is a little more accurate than the body-gem (the one you blow into)

:sneaky: you get a whole computer program that runs with it. You upload the info from the body bug and it gives you all sorts of pie graphs and charts so you can see where you stand, not just in the day, but across the week and month! Also, there is a nutritional database and it will tell you were you should be, as far as calories go, with regard to your goal and activity level and how much calories you expended that day.

c) you have to wear it all the time to get the benefit because it doesn't just measure your intake, it measures what you burn through out the whole day.

The problems:

a) you have to wear it around your arm all the time. The guy I knew that had one, wore it for like 10 months straight (except when he slept. I think he said he even wore it in the shower, but I can't remeber) jsut to compile data on himself as far as dieting goes. The wearing it everyday gets annoying. he wore it during all of his workouts too.

While it is a little more accurate as far as the body-gem goes in telling you how many calories you should be intaking, and it does tell you daily what you burn.....do you need to be that accurate? I mean honestly, The body-gem is easy...you go in fasted, you blow into it for like 10min or 15min, it spits out a RMR for you. You take that and set up your diet. Wait about 4 weeks and go back and see where you are at. Do you really need to know day to day details? People diet efficiently without any of these things, just by journaling what they eat and knowing their intake.

c) it is expensive and once you have it, you register the software in your name and it is yours. All the data base stuff is set up for you, so no one else can use it. That really keeps me from buying one. If I bought one, i wouldn't be able to use it with multiple clients. Essentially, all the clients that want one would have to buy their own and, they aren't going to wear it for more than a week, to get an idea where they are at and to know what to do to get where they are going. After that, it is useless until you are ready to re-asses. So, $300 for one week of info and then you might never use it again? Seems steep to me. At least with the body-gem, you can go into a gym, get your RMR taken (sometimes for like $75-100) and then know where you stand. Plan your diet and just go. It is easy from there.

I love my GoWear Fit! It is such a great motivator. I highly recommend it!

The last post is interesting, although I don't agree with the “problems”, especially the last “problem” of not using it for multiple clients. I don’t think this tool is meant to share with others – it is meant for individual use. As such, I think the BB is a helpful tool, and I personally benefit from having the information it gives me each day. Without it, I wouldn't have a clue how many calories I've burned as my days vary in activity.

I've had my BB for 2.5 weeks now and I'm very happy with it. I put it on as soon as I get up in the morning and I take it off right when I'm going to bed. Also, you do need to take it off when showering - sure way to kill it if you don't.

For the two days I thought the BB was very annoying with it being on my arm. But now I’m so used to it that I don’t even feel it’s on. There have been a couple of instances where I thought I didn’t put it on or I lost it, only to realize it’s still there…

In answer to your questions:

- Calorie tracking: You enter the food you eat, not just the total amount of calories. BB has a lot of foods in its database to choose from, but I have had to enter some things manually. This is very easy to do, and once something is entered once, you do not have to enter it again. I have been able to find calorie & other nutritional information online. I just search “calories for x” and several sites pop up. Usually the information I find on several sites is fairly consistent with the other sites. To enter a food, it probably takes 10 seconds if you have the nutritional info handy.

- I put my BB when I get up in the morning and I take it off right when I'm going to bed. Also, you do need to take it off when showering - sure way to kill it if you don't. I keep it on when I’m working out. I reset the trip when I’m working out to compare the calories burned info to my treadmill’s reading, and the readings have been very close, which I’m happy about.

- I thought that the expected weight loss for the week was accurate, but I’m still on the fence on this one (which is probably one of the key questions asked here.) Last week I lost four pounds (I only intended to lose two pounds), but this week I’m back up four pounds. My goal is to keep a daily deficit between calories burned and calories consumed at 1000 or more, which I have done but for two days this week. But, in actuality, apart from those two days, my deficit has been about 1500, so my weekly average is still 1000. So, I don’t know why I’d be up four pounds, unless it’s new muscle… I will update next week to see where I’m at on this.

- If I work from home and don’t work out, I burn about 1700-1800 calories a day. When I go to the office, I burn 2500-2600 calories (I work in the city so I walk to get from the train station to my office). If I work from home and work out, I burn over 2600 calories. I would say your calorie burn rate is accurate. If it helps, I’m 33, 5’10, 236 lbs and a female.

Feel free to ask any other questions! Good luck!

Maggie, thanks so much for taking the time to answer my questions. I found your response to be very helpful. Wow, you burn a lot of calories walking from the train station! That makes me want to go for a long walk now.

When you are working out, does the BB tell you how many calories you burn just from working out, or does it tell you your basal metabolic rate + calories burned from exercise? I know you have to get the display to have instant calorie feedback.

I just bought the GoWear Fit, and got it in the mail on Wednesday. Happy early birthday present to myself.

I love it so far, i'm a very visual person, so i love being able to see the charts and what not. The GWF is comfortable most of the time, i usually forget it's there.

So far, so good. I cant wait to see the results I get with it.

Can you wear these things under your clothing?