GoWear fit Lifestyle and Calorie Management System
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List Price: Category: Health Care See more product details |
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Customer Reviews of GoWear fit Lifestyle and Calorie Management System
Customer Review: Great tool! Works as promised.
Summary: 5 Stars
I have only had my GWF for a few days, but I love it. It is really interesting to look at the graph and see my calorie burn throughout the day. I have a heart rate monitor, and have been exercising hard (above 70% of my max heart rate, 30 minutes to an hour at a time, 3-5 times a week) and eating right, keeping a food journal and everything with NO weight loss results and very little results with the tape measure either. I was getting really discouraged and thought my metabolism must be really really low. Turns out the opposite is true, I am burning way more calories than I thought, even on days I don't work out! I think I have actually been undereating (imagine that!!) so my body is holding on to everything it gets. This monitor seems to be pretty accurate as far as I can tell so far. I can look at the calories burned graph, and see what time I got out of bed, my morning scurry to get ready for work, then the dip in calorie burn during the morning commute, etc. I find it really interesting, some people might not be as entertained by it though. I was skeptical about some of the things this thing claimed to do, but it seems to do everything right so far. It does a good job monitoring my sleep, it caught my nap on the couch and my 3 am trip to the bathroom. Not sure how accurate the step counter is, but the bar graph matches my activities at different times of the day so I'm optimistic that it is somewhat accurate. I am looking forward to running with this next week when the trail is a little clearer to see what that looks like on the graph. I have very sensitive skin and so far have had no issues with this product, just don't wear it too tight. My arm is about 15" and the strap provided is a good size, I think if you are above 17" or so you would probably want the larger strap instead. I purchased the 12 month subscription, I don't think $7 a month is unreasonable at all but I guess it's all relative. I am already thinking about buying the monitor because I like the idea of being able to see my calorie burn without having to plug into the computer. It would be good to see if I want to do that extra 15 minutes on the trail, have that drink at happy hour, whatever, based on where I am with my calorie goal for the day. I read many reviews before I purchased the GWF. I found most negatives had to do with the subscription, which was made perfectly clear to me that it was necessary in the product description, and I do not feel it is an unreasonable amount of money to spend. I have found the online activity manager to be very user friendly, and the food database is surprisingly comprehensive. Plus, you can add a food if you don't find what you are looking for. The recipe feature is also very helpful. So to wrap this up, stop wondering and just buy it, you will be glad you did.Customer Review: After the first three weeks
Summary: 4 Stars
The GWF works well, though for me less as for statistics than as a reminder. I've lost about 2.5 pounds per week, for an 8 lb total.
My 21 day report says I averaged -932 net daily calories, or 19.5k cal. At 3500 calories per pound, that's about 5.5 pounds. That's not really very far off, considering water weight and variability in recording my calories. tried to be as close as possible, but there were two or three days where that was very difficult. There's also natrual variations in food that can't be recorded. To really determine its accuracy I will need to try the arm band out longer. It'd be better if they had an estimated / actual weight loss on the reports, but this is probably too discouraging for most people.
While this information is nice, it's not how I really use the band. The information the band provides is a long term study of your daily habits. The service the band provides is as a (very expensive) reminder tool. Like the proverbial string around the finger, I perform better when I'm wearing it. Perhaps the cost of the device affects the value of its reminder, but in any case I've found it invaluable so far. It really helps when I decide to eat something I "shouldn't" (on the standard regimin), but really have no problem working it into the daily calories. My problem with recording this stuff has always been remembering (it's easy to forget to do so when you already don't want to record the desserts).
I do examine the sleep tracker daily, and it seems accurate, but my numbers are way off for the 21-day report due to a terrible cold that lasted this past week. The daily sleep tracker is my favorite of the statistics, though.
I don't pay much attention to the steps / work-out portion of the statistics page. Calories and activity level do go up when wearing the device in the car, though. I don't always remember to remove the device, but according to my numbers that's not a big deal. If you drive more than an hour a day (total), it might have a bigger effect.
My biggest problem is the cost. If it weren't a recurring fee, costs would be easier to handle. If I could find a cheaper reminder (that actually worked) I'd choose it. As I mentioned above, the fee may actually help with its effectiveness.
By category, I rate the device:
* Usefulness of statistics: 3/5
* Usefulness of sleep quality info: 5/5
* Overall usefulness for weight loss: 5/5
* Comfort: 4/5 (2/5 for the original band, which left no room for stretch)
* Ease of use: 5/5 (I AM an engineer, but it's easy and there weren't any major bugs in the first 3 weeks).
* Cost: 2/5 (Still in my free trial, but I've wanted one of these for a long time and have been turned off by the recurring fees).
Customer Review: Great product - very pleased with purchase
Summary: 5 Stars
I had been sedentary for years. I have a desk job and had not been working out at all. I decided to start using my stepper 5-6 days per week and thought that since my weight was high but stable that the extra calories burned would take off the 30 lbs I needed to lose without any real dieting on my part. After 5 weeks I had only lost 1 lb and was somewhat discouraged. Then I bought this product, and I have since seen steady weight loss that is exactly on target with my goal to lose 30 lbs in roughly 5 months. The website is addictive; and, rather than being a pain, which I've always considered calorie tracking, I eagerly log on several times per day to log my meals and see where I'm at. The meal logging software is very easy to use and the feedback from the graphs is excellent. I still eat basically normally, so I'm not dieting per se, but have definitely found myself making choices to avoid the more egregious calorie bombs so I can stay in the range where my calorie burn is higher than intake. Given my rate of weight loss, I'd say the calories burned calculation from the armband underestimates mine by about 300 calories/day, but since it's consistent it still works beautifully. I'm very encouraged and motivated to keep going until I hit my goal, and then for maintenance. For the first time ever, working towards weight loss does not seem like torture - I can't live on low-cal diets or low-carb diets - I've tried & I simply like food too much. This is helping me lose weight and I don't feel deprived or starved. I highly recommend this product.
UPDATE: After nearly 4 months of using this, I've steadily lost 23 lbs and am still motivated and interested in the data the armband provides. I'm about a month away from my goal weight. I no longer use the display at all, but it was useful in the early stages. I still enthusiastically recommend this product.
UPDATE: After 14 months, I still absolutely love this product! I use it in my maintenance now, since I lost 40 lbs, with this being a huge factor. My original goal was 30 lbs, but I just kept going; and this armband & website were a big part of the motivation. I'm somewhat shocked that it still keeps me motivated to track my data and log my food, but the habits that it has helped me build are invaluable. I originally figured I wouldn't want to re-up the website subscription when the first year ran out, but I didn't hesitate to renew for another year. This helped me go from borderline-obese to right in the middle of the healthy BMI range. I can't understand how this product isn't more widely used. Yes, I put in the exercise work and eat better (not great, but better), but this has been more helpful in those changes than I could have ever hoped. If you are considering purchasing, don't hesitate to get this....
Customer Review: I wish I had bought this sooner.
Summary: 5 Stars
This item arrived nicely packaged from Amazon. Everything was easily opened and recyclable. The armband charged in about two hours. I have been using it for six days and have increased my activity significantly. It has also been a real eye-opener. I also ordered the watch (I think it is essential) and a year subscription to the software.
Pros:
- I think the price is great for what it does. I am very happy with the battery life, features, and ease of use.
- For me, it makes working out much more rewarding as I can see the calories burned, activity and steps taken. I have already seen progress towards weight loss and fitness goals.
- The software is amazing. I was impressed with the calorie tracker, the sleep tracker and how you can break down your information.
- It is fairly discreet looking.
- The numbers seem accurate most of the time.
- The monitoring distinguishes between moderate and vigorous activity and you can see exactly how much you did and when.
- It is comfortable to wear and I didn't experience any skin irritation (which is amazing, as I have sensitive skin).
Cons:
- The calories burned and activity monitored doesn't seem as accurate to me when on a stationary bike. This may be user error. Maybe I am overestimating the calories I am burning? I will experiment some more and post an update.
- This product has not gone 'mainstream' yet. When more people are buying them, the prices might come down a little and the technology is likely to get even better.
- I would prefer a watch that was a little more stylish, but this goes back to con #2. It isn't a dealbreaker for me, the display on the watch comes off and can be clipped on.
If you buy the watch, don't overlook the 'trip' feature. It is my favorite part of the package. You can start a trip and record how many calories you burn walking the dog, raking the leaves, shopping and playing basketball with the kids.
UPDATE: According to the armband I burned 350 calories in a 40 minute spinning class, I haven't been able to replicate the results at home, however, I don't have an 'drill sargeant' spin instructor barking at me and a room full of fit 20 year olds to compete with at home. So, maybe the armband is accurate on a stationary bike after all...
Also, I have started using the software to track calorie intake and nutrition. The more I use the software, the more features I find to like. I had been using SparkPeople and decided to change over to avoid advertising. The nutritional database is comprehensive. It even lists iguana eggs. Iguana eggs are not my first choice for breakfast, but who knows when the opportunity might present itself.
Customer Review: Worthwhile For Calories Out Approximation
Summary: 3 Stars
I measure calories in and calories out daily.
After more use, I tried to raise this to 4 stars from the original 3 but was unable to change.
I use a Polar Sx625 (an excellent device) heart rate monitor to approximate my exercise calories and have my basic metabolism approximated regularly using a BIA, and a DEXA.
I have been using the gowear fit device for a little over a week and am generally impressed. It responds to my physical activities (martial arts, weight lifting, hiking, spinning, et al) in a reasonable way. I have found the hour by hour activity burn but am not sure how to correlate the calorie burn to my activities themselves (how many calories did I burn weight lifting, for example.)
I did calibrate it (by inputting a weight other than my actual that generates the basic calorie burn BMR I know to be true)
I am a bit nervous about reliability since the case doesn't seem too water resistant and I can envision the USB port getting wet with sweat.
I think this device is interesting and likely worth having. I will update as I get more feedback.
I tried (and hated) the actitrainer when it first came out as unreliable and generally not useful. I actually bought a $20 pedometer and got the useful part of actitrainer from that. I think I read that actitrainer has modified their software to use the heart rate data (they didn't when I had it) but still I don't want to wear a heart rate monitor all day.
The gowear fit approach seems much simpler.
Update... While I get different results from the Polar s625x (which have proven correct over a couple years) during exercise and the gowear fit.. .at the end of the day the two approaches are pretty close at approxamating calories out. For example during a recent weightlifting session the gowear fit showed about half the calorie burn as the polar, and the gowear was including my BMR (basic metabolism) while the polar was not. But at the end of the day they were within closer than 10% of each other. With the Polar I add the BMR to the exercise calories. With Gowear the total is provided.
The calories eaten (in) approximation on gowear is very limited, to the point of not being useful. Gowear assumes that one eats about the same calories each day. In my case as well as many others I know calories in (eaten) vary drastically depending on the exercise that day. I woudl be happier not having to factor that out of the reports (which are very good by the way) I use myPersonalDiet (www.vidaone.com) to track calories eaten so I dont need this from gowear anyhow.