My new toy! BodyMedia Fit Core and Display

As you may recall, I have been toying with the idea of a new toy for awhile. I still hadn't gotten my birthday present and my birthday was almost 2 months ago! I hemmed and hawed and finally decided on the BodyMedia Fit Core and Display. Here is the link to tell you about it if you are interested.

http://www.bodymedia.com/Shop/CORE-Armband/CORE-Armband-Activity-Manager-Display

It looks like this:

The display here is shown on the arm as a watch. The watchband is an optional accessory. You can also clip it to your clothes. For now I'm opting to clip it to my clothes. Reviews of the watchband itself have been iffy (and people say it looks cheap, which I believe as the display itself looks cheap - like a cheapo kids watch you can buy for $5. 

Yep, Jillian Michael's is an endorser for the product. It is basically identical to the BodyBugg that is used on The Biggest Loser, but better, from what the reviews say. It's made by the same parent company, but the BodyMedia Fit is supposedly less "buggy" (couldn't resist) and also tracks sleep. (Like the FitBit). Plus, it's monthly fees are cheaper.

I decided on the Core and display instead of the BodyMedia Fit Link because that seems to be buggier and you can't 'really' see your progress as you go. Maybe over time the Link version will be better, but for now it appears the Core with Display is more apt to work without issues. Plus, the Core is smaller in size (the say 30% smaller), less obtrusive on the arm. Compare these two (ignore the one on the right in back):

The Link is the one on the Left (in blue and a darker gray band). The Core is the one front and center. Not sure what the third one is. (The clips are the FitBit.)


I find it kind of funny that I'm getting something that is promoted on The Biggest Loser and by Jillian Michaels when A) I have never watched The Biggest Loser and B) I have never watched anything with Jillian Michaels. Though I do own her 30 Day Shred DVD... I've just never watched it or done the workout. Should I feel ashamed to say that? I'm not. I've opted to go to the gym instead of working out at home!

I'm curious to see what it has to say. The first day or so will be "off" as it gets information from my body. Plus, today is my slow day with less activity. Tomorrow I'll be cleaning around the house and doing Yoga. Wednesday, I'll be cleaning around the house and doing that double class of strength training and step.

So, around 10 am it arrived. I charged it up, set up my account and now I'm wearing it. I rode the BuddyBike to get my son from school and it registered 3 minutes of activity. OK, it took me longer than 3 minutes to get there, but really, when you ride a bike, are you 'active' all of that time? And it registered 2 minutes for the ride back (it's mostly downhill coming home). Then my son and I rode to the boathouse and back. (about 1.75 miles in all school to home, boathouse to home) and that boathouse ride registered as 4 minutes. So, 9 minutes of activity. It didn't count any of those minutes as steps (well maybe a few bumps) as well, it's not steps!

Things like strength training, biking and other such things where you aren't moving much don't register well on any of these fitness monitors. That's just the way it is. That is why I will also wear a heart rate monitor. The Garmin heartrate monitors can by synced with these fitness montors, so hopefully over time, I'll get a truer picture of what I'm burning, taking in and will learn how to base my calories for when I get to maintenance. Right now I just try to eat around 1450 calories a day to keep losing. It averages out to about that, but day to day I could be 200 under or 200 over that amount depending on how hungry I am.

Do I need such a fitness gizmo? No... but I figure if it helps me to stay focused and helps me get those last 20 pounds off faster, then it's worth it. It's making it a bit of a game, I guess as I go along.

Oh, and you all should know me. I never, ever buy things full price. I got it through Amazon and then got both pieces from their warehouse deals (returned items). For much less than the price you will see on the BodyMedia site. Is it cheap? No. But you can get it cheaper. I'm kicking myself for not getting on their half price sale before the holidays! That would have been sweet and more timely for a birthday present. Oh well. I didn't really know about these back then.

Stats for 2/6/12:

Highest weight: 275  Now: 176.6