GoWear fit Lifestyle and Calorie Management System
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GoWear fit Lifestyle and Calorie Management System Details
Manufacturer: BodyMediaBrand: BodyMedia
Release Date: 2008-11-15
Model: 100510
Product features:
- Clinically proven to accurately track calories, steps, physical activity levels and sleep efficiency
- Helps you set healthy weight loss goals ? and reach them
- Easy-to-use Online Activity Manager helps you monitor your progress over time
- Optional Display gives you minute-to-minute updates
- GoWear fit Display Device
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Customer Reviews of GoWear fit Lifestyle and Calorie Management System
Customer Review: exact same thing as the bodybugg V3, made by the same manufacturer...I have both
Summary: 4 Stars
First, I will note that the new bodybugg does monitor your sleep since someone said it doesn't.
Because I own both, I will say with confidence...these ARE the exact same. I lost my bodybugg and thought I left it in a hotel, bought this one, and it's the same as my bodybugg which, I found in the pocket of my suitcase when I travelled again!
(That said, the old bodybugg, the grey one, version 1 and 2, did not measure sleep.)
Why the name difference since it's the same thing made by the same company? 24 hour fitness bought the rights to the bodybugg. So the company has this one not under that name.
So, I can tell you all about it knowing they are both alike and having already reviewed the bodybugg
(BUT that said, be sure to check the 24 hour fitness website before you buy this because they often have the bodybugg on sale. It varies and sometimes this one is cheaper and sometimes you get a free display device on that one...changes every month as to which one is cheaper from what I've seen...)
I couldn't find an in-depth review on the bodybugg/gowearfit that answered ALL my questions before I bought mine, so I surfed the net for a week til I got them all answered. Therefore, I'll try to answer most of them I had, for you, here...things I hate. Things I love. How it works.
Am I not losing weight because I'm working out too much and not eating enough?
Is my metabolism just slower than other people's or is it so high I need to eat more to maintain energy to lose weight?
Am I working out enough to burn enough calories to lose weight?
How many calories do I REALLY need? And how much calorie deficit do I REALLY need to lose weight not as an average of other people but based on MY body and what I do each day?
If you ask yourself any of these questions then the Bodybugg/gowearfit may be a good solution.
So let's go over the pros and cons I've found of the system. I'll begin with the pros:
Pros:
comparison to the heart rate monitor: I actually have used a Polar F11 heart rate monitor for 3 years now until I upgraded to the bodybugg when it went on sale for a spell. The F11 is rated the most accurate heart rate monitor by consumer reports as far as heart rate monitors go. Problem is heart rate monitors are not used for scientific diet experiments where the bodybugg is for the reason that they don't offer the same accuracy. Only testing your heart rate can issue wrong results as far as caloric expenditure. If you are taking blood pressure medication or other medications, for example, you wont get accurate results with a HRM and your heart rate alone doesn't tell the full story of caloric burn. The bodybugg measures true caloric burn many ways rather than just by your heart rate: accelerometer, heat flux, galvanic skin response, and skin temperature. Because a calorie is a measure of heat, you get 92% accuracy with the bodybugg. (one study I read said 91%). This is the highest rate of accuracy for any caloric measurement device aside from a metabolic chamber which isn't something you can carry around or typcially afford to install in your home because a metabolic chamber is an entire room in labs measuring how much energy (measure of heat) you give off which is equal to caloric burn :-) .
Also, you cannot measure your entire daily caloric expenditure with a heart rate monitor because you have to wear a body strap that's damp the whole day. It would dry out. So you can only measure your caloric expenditure for a short time like during a work out with a heart rate monitor.
Comparison to the pedometer: The bodybugg/gowearfit includes a pedometer so you can set step goals as well if you get the digital display (read the cons section and you'll know why I think this digital display is even more important)This provides even more motivation for me personally. It's just one part of all it measures. A pedometer measures steps, not energy or how hard you are working to make those steps relating to caloric burn (running vs. walking for example) so it's one part of the equation, but a pedometer alone wouldn't offer near the accuracy.
Also, with the digital display (thats the wrist piece which you can also clip on to your waist band or pocket). Separate. Sometimes free if you catch a good sale at 24 hour fitness on the bodybugg version of this which is the same and made by the same company as gowearfit.) you get immediate feedback on how many calories you are burning without having to download anything into the computer to see where you are. For example, I just stood up at my desk to type this because I have been sedentary for too long and my calorie count that is displayed right now shows that, for my goal, I'm too low right now. I just ramped it up a little. Now I'm kicking under my chair. :-) How's that for motivation? It's like having a personal trainer at work with me, at the grocery store, every second. I now walk circles or do jumping jacks while I heat something up in front of the microwave if I look down and see my caloric burn is low for that time of day. Crazy. But Effective.
Comparison to just counting calories:
Weight loss is simple. Burn more calories than you take in. Problem is, although you can get an AVERAGE of what many people your age and height burn per day online to figure out your caloric needs, you can't actually know what YOU really burn or need calorie-wise without this device. If for example, you are more or less active on some days, your caloric intake should also change to meet your weight loss goals as well as satisfaction. As the diet channel (you can find this online) mentioned when reviewing the bodybugg (I do LOTS of research before purchasing!) "A 22 year old 250-lb. NFL linebacker with 13% body fat is going to have different caloric needs and ouputs than a 55 year old 250 lb couch surfer." Your needs and caloric burn each day are not cookie cutter. This way there is no guesswork. For example, this week I set my goal for a 500 calorie deficit each day so I can lose a pound by the end of the week. If I have eaten 1500 calories by late tonight and burned 2000 calories according to my watch display (you don't have to wear it as a watch, more on that later) and I am offered a 200 calorie ice cream bar I have a choice. Eat it and then go walk the dog until my display shows I burn that 200 calories or don't eat it or eat it then make up the average the rest of the week. Total control. If, however, it shows I've burned 2,200 already...I get a treat! No guessing.
I also use it with my Weight Watchers points but that's a whole other story. (I use it to guage my activity each day. I love Weight Watchers)
No other device measures the energy YOU truly use the entire day. (calories are a measure of energy and heat; not heart beat. Not number of steps.) The gowearfit is the same as the bodybugg version 3 and that bodybugg and this gowearfit measure your sleep patterns for a full picture.
Comfort: The bodybugg/gowearfit is worn on your left arm. It's comfortable. I don't even know it's there. I wear sleeveless shirts even to a corporate job but it's easily hidden under a short sleeve shirt if you wish. Most people know what it is from the Biggest Loser and ask me questions and love it so for me personally, it's as though it's not there or it's a cool gadget. This version is so compact you could wear a short or long sleeve shirt and really not even see a bump. If I go to an outside meeting I do throw a jacket on over a sleeveless shirt but I would anyway.
You don't even need to turn it on and off. It's that easy...it senses when it's on your skin when you put it on. Slide it on.
When it was introduced in 2005 Popular Science Magazine gave it the "Best of What's New" award as far as research that would change the world.
The good news is that the display device I got for immediate feedback can be worn as a watch OR clipped onto your clothing or even just carried in your purse. This is a bonus for me because I began wearing my heart rate monitor when I used that as my watch but it's not too attractive. Now I wear my dress watch again but still know what I'm burning when working out. It even tells me I have a message at noon if I have reached my goal of activity by that point. It works several feet away...I lay it on a counter when I'm working out at home and it still picks up everything I"m doing at the other end of the room...but the clip is very secure so I usually clip it on my pants top and I cant even feel the display.
It has shown amazing accuracy in ALL I do and I get exact weight loss from it that it says I will.
CONS:
It's not perfect. It's accuracy, according to my readings HAS been perfect though. (In fact, based on what it tells me I should lose each week because of my caloric deficit that it shows...it is WAY more accurate than my heart rate monitor or my own head as far as the calories I've burned when working out & weight loss goals being met) BUT I recommend getting the display face that you wear as a watch or clip to your clothing and opt out of having to log on constantly to the website in order to even know how you are doing which to me seems extremely inconvenient. If you have the display face it instantly tells you how many calories you have burned as you burn them, all you need to know is how much deficit you should have which it will tell you the first day you set your gowearfit up and you can even figure out your calories in a journal without going to the website. (that's what I do. I use the dietminder food journal which amazon carries)
other con: the watch face is really ugly. I don't mean the armband which is compact on the version 3 or the gowear fit and nice, but the display face for the watch (which can also act as a watch and pedometer or keep track of activity minutes in addition to showing how many calories you've burned...all show on it's face at the touch of a button). This is coming from someone who wore a heart rate monitor watch for 3 years without complaint but the numbers on this are made up of squares like cheap digital watches. So I prefer to wear it clipped to my clothes or purse. The watch looks ok but, for my taste, the number display does not. I use the clip. I don't like it on my wrist most of the time.
other con: my biggest complaint is the website. If I want to put in that I had 3 tsp of a new whey powder I found that's not already on their site I can't because it only provides measurement in fluid ounces or grams. Not cups or tsp or tablespoons. Also the steps you have to go through to look up a food or enter a new food is just too complicated for what they could be. (this wont matter if you only eat the foods that are already in their database in the measure given but there aren't THAT many foods in there so it does foil my own efforts.) UPDATE: As of today, September 29, they just updated their website and changed this problem. I had to download a new version and this is now corrected!! Still, it's a hassel for me to update online now that I'm used to doing it in a journal without having to be in front of a computer screen...so I continue to use my paper journal. I wish I could update the unit without having to go to the computer but that's just me.
Another issue with the website: lets say the serving size of something is 8 fluid oz. (1 cup). and you eat 3/4 cup. No way to input that. It only offers you half of the serving as the next notch down. Not .75 Update: this was also corrected on 9/29/09
Another issue with the website: I can't even enter foods that accurately. Luckily I have a scale so if I'm not using fluid ounces which is only for fluids, I can measure grams for tablespoons or shredded food, chopped apples, etc. But I dont know that everyone has this kitchen gadget. So I decided to do my calorie counting in a journal and just use the web to download my gowearfit data. If you have a deficit of 500 calories per day you'll lose a pound a week. If you wanna lose more, adjust accordingly. Either burn more calories or eat less or both. Your bodybugg/gowearfit account will set up a caloric suggestion for you personally so you don't eat TOO LITTLE or TOO MUCH.
other issue with the website: when inputting nutritional information it asks you for the milligrams of calcium contained in the food but American nutritional labels, in most cases, only show percent of daily requirements in calcium (for example 30%)
because of the grams and fluid ounces and the above glitch, my guess is it's a European-designed website.
another con: for many it may be the price of the gowearfit. I figure I save on my grocery bill enough that it pays for itself in 2 months time. Not to mention my health and new lack of medication in helping me keep my weight down along with the rest of my weight loss lifestyle. Also it's half the cost that it was when it was first introduced because I wanted one then and wouldn't splurge. Now it's half the size and does more. So I justified it. Also, with this kind of technology I expect to pay for it until there is equal competition that works as well on the market. There isn't right now.
CONCLUSION: It ROCKS as a motivator and taking ALL guesswork out of weight loss!! However, I'd not love it so much had I not gotten the display device that shows up to date how many calories I've burned without having to download any info to the computer. I know each time I look at it throughout the day, no matter where I am, how I'm doing and I ramp up my activity or cut down my calories accordingly so that I also have a deficit for weight loss. I'm not a big fan of their website but I have heard others love seeing the graphs of movement and caloric burn throughout the day so you can just gauge your love of it on your own through experience.
Do you lose weight clearly with it? Yep.
And guess what? It makes your house WAY cleaner. (When I see my caloric deficit is not high enough for my daily goal I get out a mop and work away or scrub the stove or anything off the couch!)so it pays for itself there in that you become like maid service in order to up that caloric burn!
also I love one of the buttons on the display device where I can set it to tell me exactly how many calories I burned during a workout (I don't stop til I hit my goal) and how many calories I am burning per minute during my workout (if it's low I ramp up my intensity)
It will also give me a message on my display device when I've hit my activity target and caloric burn target for the day. Nice!
It's a personal trainer on my arm....and after 6 months, I'm the thinnest I've been in 10 years!!
Description of GoWear fit Lifestyle and Calorie Management System
Do you ever wonder how many calories you burn playing with the kids? Or how many steps you take on the way to work? GoWear fit is a clinically proven system that turns your body's everyday information into a tool to help you manage a healthy lifestyle. The GoWear fit armband measures how many calories you burn, how many steps you take, how physically active you are, and how much sleep you're getting.
Want to know how you're doing right now? Purchase the optional GoWear fit display and clip it onto your shirt, pants, or bag. It'll give you minute-to-minute updates on your data--all day, every day! The GoWear fit Online Activity Manager is FREE for three months with Amazon purchase. A small subscription fee applies thereafter: $6.95 per month with a 12-month commitment, $9.95 per month for a six-month commitment, or $12.95 per month with no commitment.
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The GoWear fit system is different from all other performance monitors on the market. It's not a heart-rate monitor, a GPS device, or a simple pedometer. Instead, it's a system that includes:
click here for specifications | |
| Multi-Sensor Armband Your armband is a small computer that measures a variety of physical characteristics, including motion, steps, galvanic skin response, skin temperature, and heat flux. It's the only multi-sensor monitor that can accurately track:
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Your GoWear fit has multiple sensors. Those innovative sensors take five different "views" of your life: | |
Your Online Activity Manager is a personalized Web page that helps you see the information collected by your armband, including:
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 The Manager is what makes it possible for you to view your data. It also features tools that allow you to set goals, record your weight and waist circumference, assess your average daily caloric intake, print reports for later review, and monitor your body's progress over time. Your monthly subscription gives you unlimited access to your data, the nutritional assessment tool, printable reports, and the ability to see your trends up to 90 days at a time. |
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