I bought the bodybugg “intelligent calorie management system”

I have been wanting one of these devices for months and months and months. I’ll definitely be keeping an eye on your updates– if it seems worthwhile, I’ll pick one up after I finally get some resistant debt under control.

so how is it going? I hate tracking my food but need some help

Hi, cynthia—I hate tracking food, too, but I’ve never been successful losing weight otherwise, just because that’s where I tend to get way off track; I can easily eat three times what I actually need, and tracking is the only thing that’s slowed that down.

On the other hand, my husband claims that if you are devoted enough to a sport, and just work (really hard!) on improving at the sport, the weight will go away without food tracking. It worked for him, so I don’t disagree, but I haven’t ever felt that passionate about working out.

The SparkPeople website that Josie mentioned is excellent (my username there is bookchiq if anyone wants to connect). I like the bodybugg better, but for free, SP is awesome, and gives us no excuse for not doing at least the minimum of tracking food and exercise.

Hi, Hannah—I don’t mind you leaving comments like this here at all; I’m not aware of an active forum, and I think it’s important for prospective bodybugg owners to get a balance understanding of the product (and the company!) before plunking down all that money.

I’ve generally had a better experience with the company than you have, but I also haven’t tried to call them up, either.

I get the impression that they’re a pretty small division of Apex (actually it seems like some kind of joint venture with BodyMedia, but I’m not sure), so they may very well be having some growing pains, but I hope they get it together soon!

Any other current bodybugg users have any comments on this?

Hi Christie.

Thank you for a swift response! I didn’t expect any kind of reply from the company through this blog, and I appreciate it very much.

I love the device for what it does. It’s been a valuable experience in adjusting my workouts and diet. Being diabetic, I’ve always been very aware of my health issues, and this device is a wonderful tool – there’s no disputing that. I was deeply frustrated more than anything else, because I really want this to work!

I will email you later with the information you requested. At this point, by the time I resolve my technical issues, I will probably lose the data from earlier this week. That is the most disappointing part of the customer support experience – because, as I said, I really love having this level of detail data available.

I’ve worked with trainers for several years, and my trainer at 24 Fitness is definitely the most technically knowledgeable (on fitness – don’t know about his IT skills). He’s also the most professional I’ve ever known, and I respect his opinions a lot. So when he told me about BodyBugg, I was very excited about. Even my doctor is using it! And I expect that my ongoing experience with it will be great.

Because I live in Houston where I pretty much live in short-sleeved clothes. The device is always exposed, and so everyone asks me about it. So I want to tell them great things about it, because I just look like a fool if it doesn’t work! However, as far as results go, so far so awesome.

Anyway, my trainer was very specific when he handed me the device to tell me to remember to upload to a PC and through Internet Explorer and to wear it against the back of my arm. He’ll even adjust it while we work out if he sees that it’s moved out of place a little. So however the cap fell off, I don’t think it was from knocking into a wall or door (which I haven’t, and I’d at least remember knocking part if I had). Maybe it was just a fluke incident for me.

Well, I thank everyone here (the blog host, Christie, and all readers) for their feedback and time. Have a great day everyone!

HJI

Hello everyone,

My girlfriend has been eyeballing the Bodybugg for some time now which has sparked my interest seeing that both of us are now attempting to get back into the swing of things pertaining to weight loss. Since our diet plan is relatively strict with hardly any deviation or variation, we can easily determine our calorie intake without the need of the web program/log and or consultation/pep talks. I guess what I’m asking is can we utilize the bodybug device to determine caloric expenditure without a subscription?

We like the multi-sensor (temp, sweat, motion) approach of the Bodybugg, we just don’t understand what the 200 dollar subscription fee brings to the table when web programs offered by Biotrainer only run about 10 dollars a month.

Thanks for your time

Hi, Jenny, I hear you! It is very expensive, so definitely not for the faint-of-pocketbook, especially because so many people don’t actually use the gadgets they buy faithfully anyway. I struggle with that myself.

For me, the bodybugg is a helpful tool when I faithfully log my food as well. If I’m not logging, though, it’s not that useful. I’ve let my subscription lapse and will start it up again next month when I do my planned “kick start” diet for the winter. Until then, I’m not reliable enough to get much out of it.

I found this all very interesting, I’ve wanted a body bugg ever since I first read about them. Right now I use a -fantastic- site called myfooddiary.com to track my calorie intake and the general consensus on their forums is that the body bugg food diary isn’t nearly as good, and obviously more expensive. Using the body bugg log, is there a way to simply input a -number- of calories instead of logging specific foods? If there is I could just take my daily number straight from myfooddiary.com and not have to bother with body bugg’s food log. I also think it kind of sucks they make you buy two “training sessions” along with the armband and subscription. Is there a way around that?

Thanks for the great post!

-Amelia

I have been reading about this device, thanks everyone for posting about their comments. I’ve been tracking my calorie intake and use via shapefit, if it doesn’t pan out, I may actually invest in one of these. The subscription should be free since the product costs so much. Thats the one thing thats holding me back.

David – right now, no – because they do browser/OS switching. And that’s just the basic problem.

I just started with BodyBugg, and being the geek I am I’d love to check out the raw data it outputs.

I’m going to fish for ways to do that, when I do I’ll write up a nice Python program to capture the data.

However – the bodybugg program is MUCH more than just the counting, its website is really awesome – the articles and food management (plus menu ideas and programs) are very useful.

However that doesn’t mean I should have to subscribe to it forever just to use the device. We’ll see….

Ok.I am not wealthy but I just bought a package at 24H fitness because a trainer that i really trust told me this thing really works……bodybugg for $289.00 minus $50…., 25 sessions of training for $1,500..for grand total of $1758 after taxes. I will let you guys know how it is going for me and whether this gadget is worth it (even at its reduced price). My weight loss goal is 25 pound! Tune in…

Here’s an example

# Type Name Div Channels Bytes
- —- ——– — ——————————- —–
0 16 V6MIN1 1920 8 9 11 12 14 16 17 40 13
1 17 V6MIN2 1920 20 21 23 39 31 254 254 254 9
2 18 UNUSED 0 254 254 254 254 254 254 254 254 0
3 19 UNUSED 0 254 254 254 254 254 254 254 254 0
4 20 UNUSED 0 254 254 254 254 254 254 254 254 0

I have been tracking the comments and considering buying a BodyBugg. For others in the same situation, an FYI. In the past 2-3 days, my fitness center has posted a 1/2 price sale on the BB noting that new models are coming and they are clearing out the old. Maybe this is not news, but for anyone considering a purchase, it might be worth the wait to see the new unit.

For those of you looking for information about how I’ve been able to stick with the bodybugg, I’ve just posted a new entry called My bodybugg results over several months. I’d be interested to hear from any of you who’ve been using it for a while, too.

Yes, I’ve figured out of to get all of the data off. What I have not figured out is how to convert this data to calories and steps (which is all I need). It really sucks that the keep you locked in to that expensive subscription fee. I’m at the point now where I have just about reached my weight loss/fitness goals and I just need to dust the bodybugg off when I want to try something new. It’s really a nice device. I just don’t know why I can’t have my data. It’s MY data. They make a stand alone application (http://www.sensewear.com/solutions_wms.php) so what’s the big deal about giving me a comma delimited text file with a date/time, calories and steps.

Henry – The SenseWear armband does not measure calories burned. It measures, movement, body temperature, heat flux and galvanic skin response and reports them with a time stamp. That’s it. The calculation of calories burned, energy expenditure, sleep duration and physical activity are all based on calculations taken from these five parameters. Contact me at devries77@cfl.rr.com if you are interested in further communication on this subject.

Yes, I understand that it calculates calories from these values. I can exctact the raw data that the armband collects, with a few lines of code. I know what it collects. I just dont know how to turn that into [timestamp, calories, steps]…yet. What aggravates me is that I can’t have a simple application that will give me [startdate, enddate, calories burned, steps] based on that data. In short, I’m passed the point of having to log food every day, but would like to keep my bodybugg to see how changes in my routine affect calories/steps/activity.

I recently bought the digital display for my V2 body bugg and I have to say that I love it. I use the trip meter all the time. Mainly to get an idea for where my calories are after my last upload so I can get a better idea of when and how much to eat. So far I am right on goal for body fat and weight loss and its been 3 weeks. I know thats not very long but considering the fact that I couldnt keep up with calories in and out, even with the body bugg, this was a huge thing for me. All told I have been using the bugg for 35 weeks but the digital display really brought it home.

I am equally stoked to get the V3 when it comes out. I think the device will be even better when it can track heart rate. To be honest I’m not sure how the body bugg is so acurate without that data but the numbers don’t lie, I’m lossing wieght and inchs just as my current program predicts.

I have always been up for the work outs but sucked horribly at the dieting, the body bugg has been my answer to that problem. It can be monsterously frustrating to spend hours in the gym cranking out the weights or grinding on the treadmill and still have that layer of popin’ fresh dough. maybe now the hard work in the gym will finaly show to its full potentual. So far so good!

Thanks, Henry!

A couple of folks have mentioned gyms with deep discounts – I would love to know which gyms are offering those discounts … please do tell! Thanks!!

My local club is offering a discount on the V1 currently selling for $199. However, it is locally owned, so only useful for people in or near Cleburne, TX. If anyone is interested in more details, please post a comment.

I have been researching and I am very interested in the BodyBugg. Trying to convince the wife I could benefit from it, but of course. I have said that about, hypnosis, 6-7 diet plans, trainers, and god knows what else.!!

24hrfitness.com had them as cheap as $220 a few days ago. Now, they’re back up to $349. Pricing seems to vary a lot! (I almost bought one, procrastinated two hours… and then the discount was gone. )

Hi, Meghan, there was a short period yesterday when I couldn’t get on, but generally haven’t had any trouble. You might want to check with tech support if you’re still not able to get on.

Hi, Stacey,

I’m with you! The bodybugg is saving me this week while I’m at a conference. Otherwise I’d have no idea what I was burning and totally overeat.

I’ve used rechargeable NiMH batteries mostly, and they seem to last a little less time than alkaline batteries, but it doesn’t matter because I always keep one charged.

In my experience, the alkaline batteries last me about a week each, and the NiMH maybe five or so days. I expect this varies based on how often you remove and sync it (my theory is that the buzzing uses way more juice than passive monitoring).

Anyone else have thoughts on that?

So, I bit the bullet and bought the Actitrainer. It’s really small…about the size of a pack of Extra gum. You can wear it on your waist, arm, or ankle. I wear it on my waist–and it’s as comfy as any pedometer. I like that I can see my steps, distance, heart rate, and calories burned all on the device–without having to plug it into my computer or buy a watch monitor like with the bodybugg. So far, I’ve been pleasantly surprised both by how much I burn (in a good way)… and yet how long I’m inactive during certain parts of the day. It’s definitely a wake-up call!

I used the body bugg for the three months. Over all it was a good tool and a piece of the fitness puzzle I am learning about. I am debating on spending another $100 for a year of use. The biggest benefit is writing down what you eat makes you awear of how much you do eat. Calories in does not necesssarily mean calories out. check out http://www.releasingfat.com

Hi, Shawn—it’s a little tricky for a home user to know for sure how accurate any system is, because only with extremely precise lab measuring can you get accurate numbers to measure against.

However, the bodybugg folks claim (I think) 92% accuracy, meaning it could be off by roughly 8%, but is still much more accurate than just guessing at energy expenditure.

Personally, I compare what the bodybugg says to how my weight and body fat percentage changes, and while I can’t claim to keep perfect records, I believe the bodybugg is very accurate for around-the-house kinds of activities and activities that use the accelerometer.

I’ve been less impressed by its measure of activities that don’t activate the accelerometer as much (like cycling), because both perceived exertion and body changes suggest that it’s undercounting a bit.

That said, I’d much rather it undercount than overcount, and by and large I’ve found it to be accurate enough to drop the pounds I wanted to lose (not quite there yet but almost!).

I think it is fairly accurate, too. The first week I had it I wore a pedometer, too. They were pretty much in sync. The only exception was when I took a boxing class – my ped read higher, but I think that was just from all of the bounching/punching (like when I road a train – my ped gave me thousands of steps for sitting still!!). I like it – it is very insightful. If I start leveraging the food log, I am sure it will be even more beneficial. I am only a month in, but am already thinking that, when the time comes, I will probably renew.

I am impressed with the Bodybugg BUT I have to be honest when I say I think its just a very expensive calorie counter. I am a personal trainer and our gym pushes it like crazy. Not to many purchase it after we explain what it does and then the price. All it does is count calories used not consumed so I cant see how it is a vital tool. Now if it counted calories consumed and burned it would be perfect. I tell my clients its nice but not “needed”. If you eat right, do cardio and weight train, you will get the same results with or without a Bodybugg.

I think these body bugs are to much money. The average person can’t spend that much on an item like that. I think that people should write down the food they have eaten on paper or the computer. That is for the people who can’t put a bodybugg. Good luck to all who have it!

doesn’t it feel weird wearing it everyday everywhere?

I bought a heart rate monitor for $50 (which you would still need to monitor the efficiency and safety of your workouts unless you use a machine with a built in HR monitor)

I bought a subscription to calorieking.com for $30, it has a huge updating database of foods and lets you track your favorite foods and enter calories burned per day (and there are other sites like this where you only pay once). You would still need to track your serving sizes and foods consumed with the bodybugg. Calorieking has a palm add-in if you have trouble recalling throughout the day. CK calculates targets within the program like “to reach a BMI of X you need to lose X pounds” .

From there, the only thing left is to set targets – you can get your basal metabolic rate using a free online calculator, then you set your targets for calories consumed and calories burned.

A one-time $80 investment 3 years ago, and I’ve been successfully managing my weight with no worries.

I think it would be a pain to wear something on my arm all the time, and at $400 at the outset, plus a subscription cost, this gadget seems like something straight out of an airline catalog – for people who are lured into paying a lot of money for something very “personalized” instead of doing some simple addition and subtraction to apply readily available formulas like BMR and BMI to their weight loss plan.

After discussing it and potential “experiments” with the folks over at Lyle McDonald’s board, I finally decided to bite the bullet and pick one up. (I got mine through 24 Hour, too– and they gave me a metric butt-ton of protein cookies for free, weird.) I’ve had it for a little over a day, and it’s interesting to see how many calories random things burn– such as playing with the cats, cleaning the house, and rocking out to Guitar Hero on my Xbox 360. :p

Thanks for all the recent comments, folks! For those of you questioning the cost vs. results, you might be interested in my follow-up post that discusses both more in depth.

There have also been several questions about the comfort of wearing the bodybugg. For me (and everyone I’ve talked to about it), it’s pretty much a non-issue. It’s basically like a wristwatch: it feels weird for the first day or so and then you get used to it.

I wear my bodybugg 24/7 with the exception of showers (yeah, even at night), and if it starts to irritate me (feel itchy, whatever) I’ll move it up or down slightly on my arm.

It’s also very inconspicuous. Even under slim-fitting sweaters (which I should mention I can now wear!) it’s not obvious. I do get lots of questions when I wear very short-sleeve shirts or tank top bike jerseys, but I’m quite proud of my progress so I don’t mind talking about it at all.

I purchased my body bugg yesterday and I can tell I will be addicted….at least for a little while. If anyone is interested and has access to a 24 hour fitness check out the following deal I got. I paid $403 out the door and received the body bugg AND 4 – 50 minute personal training session with a 24 fitness personal trainer.

I too was wanting to get a bodybugg’s for both me and the wife, however it was too expensive at this time to do that… however after research into the ActiTrainer that other mentioned above I looked into that and thought that their multiple user subsciption saves me alot of money and makes more sense.. plus the device comes with everything you need to get started the device (rechargeable battery included), software, heart rate monitor from POLAR.. a belt holster, and an arm band for those who would prefer to wear the device on their arms. All in All it made better financial sense for us to get started on our plans to lose the weight in 2008. P.S. we have had them for 5 days now … and LOVE them!

I’ve noticed that the separate display jumps out of sync with the actual Bugg quite often. Usually mine syncs back up when I try to change modes and then hit the button on the Bugg.

I have been using the bugg for a few weeks now. I’m not sure it’s worth the high price, but I am having ‘fun’ with it anyway. Personally, I find tracking calories in to be one of the key parts of losing or maintaining weight, so I don’t have a problem using their site (I used to track my food on Spark People before that).

I do think the bugg has given me a better intuitive sense of how much I should be eating. On sedentary days, I only have 3 (of 5, normally) of the portioned meals I cook out in advance on the weekends. On less sedentary days (let’s say I plan on spending the whole day cleaning, doing laundry, etc), I have maybe 4. On active days (+cardio or weight training), I eat all 5.

Lipsforfrogs, I have a bodybug for sale. I got it about a month ago for my wife, but we are going to have a baby and really dont need it now. Email me if interested. bodebldr2000@yahoo.com

My wife and I both used it. I compete in bodybuilding from time to time and it was really cool to see my progress. My wife loved it to, she said it made her feel more responsible and dedictaed to stick to her diet. The numbers do not lie. lol Just let me know if/when ya want it. I have explained to my wife that while pregnant, I want her to be HUGE! lol

Hi, Matt,

I’m not a nutritionist (or anything like it!) but assuming your body fat percentage is over 5% (as a guy), I would expect that if you eat the high-protein foods that the Body for Life program mandates (up to or maybe slightly above your calorie burn rate) as well as doing their workouts, you’ll probably see your body fat drop while your lean mass, and overall weight, increases.

In your case, you might find Physics Diet almost as helpful as a bodybugg, especially in combination with a body fat scale.

Just ordered from 24hour fitness for $279.99 plus free ground shipping. Leary if it means a new version is coming out next month. Also, there is no way of telling if it is v1 or v2, but I did not order the digital display, regardless.

Hi, Joey, I’ve noticed the same thing happening so I’ve “expanded” my day to start earlier and end later in order to capture everything.

I’m guessing that the sleep mode is a power-saving feature to try to prolong the battery life (or possibly it’s just to try and rule out putting up excess calorie burn for people who toss and turn a lot?). Not really sure, though, so maybe someone from bodybugg will weigh in.

Hello all,

The armband was designed so that anytime you’re actually wearing it, it will collect your data (even if you’re wearing it during a designated off-body time). So if your normal wake time is 7 am, and you get up and put on the armband at 6:30 am, the armband will begin collecting data at 6:30 am rather than 7. In other words, wearing the armband will always trump a scheduled off-body time.

Joey–in the case of your client, based on your description she is probably extremely fit, and as you know, the more fit you are the fewer calories you burn during any activity. 2.5 cals/minute during leg presses is probably correct, especially if she is a small, fit person who regularly lifts that much weight. Remember that during leg presses only the legs are doing the work–the rest of the body is being supported by the leg press machine.

When she burned 6.1 cals/minute, what was she doing differently than when she was only burning 2.5 cals/minute? Was she using her entire body and not just her legs?

In any case, anytime you question your calories burned, you can do two things: perform a firmware upgrade (use this URL http://www.bodybugg.com/firmware.php) and if you continue to see the same results, you can then call tech support to troubleshoot at 866 314 9423.

Please feel free to contact me with any and all questions and feedback. Thank you.

Christie Renick
christie@apexfitness.com
the bodybugg team
Apex Fitness

Hi, Frankie, you make some good points. I’m not sure if you’re aware that the bodybugg subscription also includes tools for planning and tracking food, including nutritional breakdowns and recommendations.

In my experience, the draw of the bodybugg is that it consolidates all of the disparate pieces of info into one location and helps me see how they all affect each other. With the bodybugg, it becomes obvious pretty quickly if I’m putting sand in the gas tank.

Also, I was wondering about it’s use while cycling. Wouldn’t the other sensors help calculate the cal burn even without the movement… or do you have to have the movement. By the way, 24 fitness has them on sale right now, with link at the top of the page for $199…

Is there any chance that owners of the V1 or V2 will be able to upgrade for less than the cost of a new one?

I have also noticed that my calorie burn for cycling is considerably lower than expected (as a previous post noted).

BTW–I love this thing! It has been the best weight loss tool I have ever used.

A

Hi everyone (again!)
I just spoke with an extremely helpful rep with Bodymedia who are the ones who actually write the software ect…..It’s their baby, just google it! Anyway, the new model that has just been released is TINY and thin, water resistant, has the 3-axis feature, and also monitors your sleep and sleep efficiency. For the armband, the display, and SIX months subscription the total price is $459. If you think about it, $224 from 24 hour for the armband (or $299 from Apex) + $99.99 for the display + 6 months subscription…..the brand new one with the new technology is a better deal in the long run! Also, I am a mac user, and no, it is not going to be mac compatible as of yet, but the rep did say that of course they would offer it first (obviously) and that if you already had a unit…it’s just going to be a software update, so no biggie there. Seriously, it IS a lot smaller folks! (and of course more sensitive, ect..ect… newer technology for an already great product!) So that is the price of the new one, and go to the website and check it out!!

Http://www.sensewear.com

The phone number to reach them if you have questions is 412-288-9901

Oh, they also have a great video on the website.

@Sussurro: Thanks so much for this info! It looks like a great improvement; I’m very curious to see how it performs on exercises that I’ve had trouble with, like cycling. Hopefully that 3-axis accelerometer will help!

I’m really surprised that they haven’t made Mac compatibility a priority by now, just because the general demographic that uses Macs seems like an obvious target for something sleek and gadgety.

Thanks for doing the leg-work on this info!

I started using a body bugg the last week of January and have lost 25 pounds! It keeps me honest about what I’m eating and I’ve learned so much about the calorie count of different foods. I’m not starving and I eat foods I like, just smaller quantities. It’s not been a hard ship at all. And the calories burned/day info has made me aware of how sedentary I was and it is an encouragement to keep adding a little more exercise each day. I’m hooked!

I purchased the bodybugg and watch and had great results with it. When I first started the website was a great benefit but once you learn how to eat then it really is not needed if you have the watch that provides instant readout on calories burned.

The biggest problem is that they do not tell you that you have to keep the subscription to their website in order to use the bugg. It only has a two week memory so when the memory is full you have to upload it to the website. Had they mentioned that I would have to continue a subscription to the website, I would have never purchased it, instead going with a top of the line heart rate monitor that had calorie readout. Don’t get me wrong, the bodybugg is terrific, if they provided software that you could purchase and install on your own computer system so you didnt need the website subscription, I would highly recommend the product to everyone.

@bh77: You’re correct. You have to log food to get a (moderately) accurate idea of how many calories you’re taking in, but the point of the bodybugg is to tell you how many calories you’ve burned. It’s the combination that tells you your net calories for the day.

@Roo: if you’re still motivated to spend time working out and tracking food, the bodybugg will probably help you pinpoint the problem. If you are struggling to work out regularly, it might boost your motivation, or it might be an expensive paperweight.

That’s right! You could consume all your calories in vodka if you wanted to. Of course this is purely for weight loss and not for health…

The only problem is, delicious stuff like chocolate normally eats up your calorie allotment too quickly. *sigh*

@Roo: the bodybugg folks will tell you that a calorie is a calorie. I tend to think that’s true, to a point.

There’s two issues, though…

First, some types of calories leave you feeling fuller than others. Amelia mentioned that the yummy stuff uses up your calorie allotment too quickly, and for most people, “junk food” will leave you feeling hungrier than if you ate the same number of calories of “healthy food.”

Second, there is some research that suggests that it’s not so simple as “a calorie is a calorie.”

Bottom line, basic common sense probably does apply.

I love the bodybugg! I have lost 11 lbs. in 3 weeks. As long as you take the time to enter what you eat and be honest, this awesome device will work fo you. By the way…don’t spend $399.00….go to E-bay like I did…. or the 24 hr. fitness web-site: http://www.24hourfitness.com. I saw it there today for only $249.00. I can’t say enough great things. My goal is to lose 50 lbs and I’m on my way…FINALLY!!!!
Good luck.

hi sussurro,

i wish i would have spoken to the salesperson you dealt with!
i wonder why the conflicting quote on the price of the subscription.
based on the $260/year quote i was given, i didnt want to buy the sensewear WMS and have since purchased a bodybugg.
had i been given the $138 price, i would have definitely gone with the sensewear WMS.
whom did you speak with at bodymedia?

thanks!
JOYCE

P.S. Let me also reiterate, it is worth every penny !!

No problem, just confused as you stated you just bought a Bodybugg….
But yes, I purchased over the phone with BodyMedia.
They sent a copy of the order form via email to confirm, ect. (mostly because I requested to write in my own address due to the fact that I live in a historic district that has a similar address and my mail sometimes goes there if the addy is not written “just so”) That is how I know it the part # and prices ect. from the order form itself. However, it did not differ in anyway from what I had been already quoted by the rep.
Hope this helps!

You are most welcome!

And, “Good Luck” in your weight-loss endeavors!

Thanks for all the updates!! I’ve been talking/emailing reps from both Apex (Body Bugg) and Body Media (Sensewear). I was confused on if the products were the same or different or what..here’s what Body Bugg rep had to say “It is confusing because Body Media is our development partner, yet they also sell the product with a different name and a different web interface directly to consumers”. Also, BB plans to release the smaller version late summer/early fall. However, you can get the smaller one already from Body Media. They quoted me the $459 price, but I was told the monthly subscription after that is $20/month…so the $138 per year sounds much better than that!! I am having a garage sale this weekend to see if I can get enough money to offset the price a little! I was worried the website wouldn’t be very good. I currently use http://www.myfooddiary.com and it is a WONDERFUL food database and calorie counter, so I don’t want to be disappointed in the software! I’m glad to hear you like it, Sussurro!

If you have to log your food with the BodyBug, what is the purpose of the armband? Are the calculations of calories coming from the website or the armband? What does the armband do? I looked on the website, but it seems they are trying to sell the product more so than explain how it will help.

Beth

I have been very interested in a body bugg, but am glad i found this blog because it’s brought up some good concerns. My question is (i apologize if it has already been answered. I read through the posts pretty quick)..You track your calories eaten on the computer. Do they somehow get on the watch so it will show you how many burned and consumed? or does only the computer tell you the consumed? Can you imput you calories consumed into the watch or is it simply to show you the amount burned. On the official website, it shows a display of burned and consumed and the difference. I was hoping this info would be available on the watch, but is it only on the computer? I don’t want to have to check the computer every time I want to input calories and stuff, I’d like to do in right on the watch. I would buy one today if I could input my calories into the watch itself and didn’t need a subscription to the computer. That is way too unreasonable for me. Thanks in advance for any answers!

@Darcee: The watch only displays calories burned, not calories consumed, and it doesn’t provide a way to log consumption.

The watch is basically just a shortcut to track what you’ve burned without logging into the computer, for instance, during a workout.

Honestly, after using the site, I can’t think of any way I’d be able to put in that level of detail with a watch interface… just too clunky to use (at least all the watches I’ve owned).

I definitely see your point, and wish there was a way to use the device without a subscription, but the website is really one of the best parts of the package (much better than the watch, frankly).

Bottom line, the bodybugg is not for everyone. I like it and it works for me, but it might not be a good fit for you if you don’t like computer logging.

@Nerd
Hi, Since I have had the unit I wear it 24/7 except for shower/bath, pool, and jacuzzi (water!). My schedule is that I wear it all week and charge it on Saturday evening. It uses USB connection to recharge. I have no clue how long it lasts over-all as I have only had it for a month!!! I know on the shorter term, I didn’t have time to charge it one Saturday and ended up waiting until after I jogged on Monday morning which would have made it 8 or so days. It never beeped at me or anything though!

As far as how long it takes to fully charge via USB… it has never taken more than 2 hours at most. I will go look for the book that came with it and see what it says you should *actually do* , length of time, ect.

Hope this helps.

Hey guys, There is something that I really (REALLY) love about my sensewear WMS that is unlike the bugg that I keep forgetting to mention! The software (as well as the “hardware) are different as you know, on the software front you get not only more information, but my favorite part is that you can print incredible reports on a daily, weekly, monthly, or a whenever, and how ever often you like! basis!! This is great! You have the reports in your hands in black and white, you can see exactly what you are doing right or not so right! Another benefit is that it will also track your sodium in the report, (well numerous things, sodium is just one I am very interested in) and your sleep! (as well as the efficiency of your sleep. I have a sleep disorder doc who is my next door neighbor who I have showed this to, and it seems to be spot on!) Another use for being able to pick any days (weeks, months) and print as many reports as you like, is that you can take it to your doctors appt. with you! It will also include your blood pressure on a daily basis if you enter it in every day!

Geez, I need to find the time to write a review! LOL

@ Joyce
I was just wondering if you ever spoke with the BodyMedia reps again about the subscription price and found out why they were telling you TWICE what the yearly cost was!!? Thanks!

@Sally
Hi Sally,
The Sensewear unit is worn the same place on the arm that you would wear the BB, a bit higher, a bit lower… seems to be more personal preference as far as I can tell. (as long as it has good contact it’s fine.)
Even though the newer unit is considerably smaller, I personally think that there are occasions that either the Sensewear, or the bugg are both going to be noticeable! Depending on the shirt, the material, how the sleeve hangs ect… there are going to inevitably be times when it’s “noticeable”, or “seen”.
Now, if you knew me, the question about my answering questions about it would make you laugh!!
Since you don’t!, here is my story so far , most of the time I only get a few strange/curious looks. As to date I have not had one person bold enough to ask what it is!! If someone did, well I would explain to them what it was and what it did… depending on my available time to do so and their interest! If it was asked rudely or some other unacceptable tone… well let’s just say I am a very outspoken person, very articulate (when I need/want to be!!) and have absolutely no problem speaking my mind!
~ As far as the money and expense, that is a very personal choice, all I can do is tell you how *I* reached MY decision. First let me say that there ARE differences besides the obvious smaller size! which is not to be overlooked in *my* opinion as you will be wearing it alot! (especially at first), and my comfort is extremely important to me!! LOL
But the new unit that Sensewear has (and ultimately what will most likely be replacing the current Bodybugg down the line, is smaller, it has a 3 axis accelerometer where the current BB only has a 2 axis accelerometer, it has a longer life battery, and comes with a USB to recharge. (I have found and the book states that it should last a week without recharge (I think the book that came with it actually states 5-7 days, but I have worn it longer, without needing to be recharged) and it has never taken more than 2 hours to fully recharge – most weeks less. (I don’t sit and watch it so I can’t say exactly!) Now the *biggest* difference to *me* is the software. It is NOT the same web program, or server, that the BB uses. It is much more detailed, it supplies more information, and as I stated above, YOU are in control of when, how often, ect, that you want to see, print reports either for yourself (they are VERY helpful!) or say.. for your doctor. You control that! No need for a “coach” to do it for you. And my thought was, if I am paying for the software subscription, why shouldn’t *I* have the access to my own progress reports! Why (like my girlfriend who has a Bugg) should I have to pay for a coaching session (yes I know you get 2 free ones… do you only want two reports in the lifetime of your use?) or pay a trainer to access the reports for you!
It is YOUR information, you did the hard work of logging your own food (and watching what you ate, losing the weight, ect, ect) so why shouldn’t you be able to access any particular day or week or month that you want to!! Say you get in a slump and two months prior you were doing fantastic… you want to go back and see what you were doing EXACTLY so that you can replicate it to get that scale moving again! In my opinion, I pay for the right to do that on my own when I pay for the subscription! It is afterall MY data! Now the BB site says it doesn’t really mean much without at least 30 days of data (I won’t quote because I do not remember the exact verbiage, but something to that effect – that annoys me, and I don’t agree. (all the men in my family are physicians as well as a few females, so I grew up in that environment. I also was an E.R. nurse for years myself) If I want to micro-manage my weight loss and health then that should be MY choice as long as I pay for the use of the program!
Bet you would never guess that I am a type A personality!! LOL
Which comes to another point. For me, the unit is most certainly worth the expense because it *does* motivate me to make better choices. It gives me real time data that I can depend on. I don’t have to wait a few days or a week to see if what I “did” affects the scale the way I had hoped. Also, for me, it takes away that “oh crap, I messed up! Oh well, I will start again next week. No! because you can start again… right then! Go walk around the block, clean the house, do whatever you need to do to fix it THAT DAY.!! Before you go to bed that night, you can possibly “undo” whatever “slip” you had (depending of course on how big the “slip”!! LOL But within that day, maybe the next, you can be back on track! Of course you can do *that* with the BB as well!
Ok.
How I made the decision between the two on a financial level:
First, trying to compare “apples to apples” wasn’t really possible because at the moment sensewear has the newer, smaller, more advanced technology unit available. So in just breaking down price, this is what I did: At the time of *my* purchase, the Bodybugg: $249.00 (or $299.00 from Apex)
Display: $ 99.00
= $349.00 (plus taxes and shipping)
Now with BB you get 3 months subscription to the web program, but Sensewear gives 6 months (twice as long) so you have to add another $39.95 for another three months with the Bodybugg, bringing the total to $349.00 + $39.95 = $388.95
*** I do not have a 24 Hour Fitness where I live (no access to ne of there trainers , ect… so *I* would have purchased directly from Apex which made my total for the Bodybugg $299.00 +$99.00 + $39.95=
$437.95 (plus tax? , plus s&h)
The Sensewear unit was a flat $459.00 for the unit, (newer tech, and smaller) the display, and 6 months subscription. (plus any applicable taxes – and s&h)
So for ME:
Bodybugg = $437.95
or
Sensewear= $459.00

Why would I buy the older unit?
Hope this helps!

Sorry @ Sarah for this being so long!!

hi Sally,
I just spoke with them and apparently I did!
Now I must say that if they changed the price of the subscription and do NOT honor or “grandfather” in the folks that had already purchased BEFORE the price increase….well…….

I am sorry to have been quoting the price that it was when *I* purchased mine!
They almost DOUBLED the price of the subscription!
They are aware they are losing business due to that fact so perhaps they will lower their price point.

@Sally
yes, I knew about the $159 activation fee with Apex.

Also, if indeed Bodybugg does eventually get this newer model hardware AND they keep their subscription price the same, then I don’t know what the value of the sensewear HARDWARE would be worth, since they would then be using the same hardware unit.
Then the Sensewear unit would be worth only what the “new” version of the Bodybugg was worth at the time. And *only* to the folks who were willing to pay $5.00 per week to use it!! (that is the price of a lot of Gym memberships!)

Let’s hope Sensewear lowers their subscription price because everything I have said about it is true! It is a great unit and a MUCH better software program as all my posts have said! Is it worth $5.00 per week though?

I doubt many people would be willing to pay that.
Especially since it is something that is a recurring cost over the lifetime of the unit.

Again, I would like to apologize to everyone for my ignorance as to the price changes. As I said, I asked several times and was assured that the renewal rate after the initial 6 months, was $138, and saw it in black and white on their order form.

@ Sarah
Well apparently I don’t have quite as much “insight” as I thought I did!!!

Anyway, thanks!
(I get long winded sometimes! Especially when I feel passionate/ and or strongly about something!)

I am buying a bodybugg from a former trainer at 24hr fitness. She said it has everything I need, but not a wireless adapter. Is this a problem? She said it’s no big deal, but a lot of people ask her about it. What will I not ba able to do without it?

Ok, well now I have purchased the bodybugg from the former 24 hour fitness trainer. I am attempting to up the armband and the usb cable doesn’t fit into my pc! What is the deal? Does anyone have a clue why I wouldn’t be able to just plug it in and go?

Yes, it’s a pale grey cord and the other end does fit into the bugg. This is frustrating. When I look at the end that is supposed to go into my computer, it like there are black “pins” that are what is blocking it going into the computer. When I compare it to the end of the usb cable for my digital camera, there is nothing there to block it going into my computer. When I look at the end of the bodybugg one, I see black squares alternating with square holes. I’m sure this makes no sense. One of those things you have to see. I’m almost wondering if she broke something inside her computer when she last took this out and what I’m actually seeing is something that broke off the inside of the computer and is now stuck in the cable.

so ive been using the bodybugg since monday nite and so far, i love it!
i dunno if i weighed heavier than i really was last monday, but today, im about 8 pounds down.
HOLYMOLY!
again, im not sure how accurate that is, but im sure i did lose some of it!
im going to be in vegas for the next three days, so this is going to be challenging.
im up for the challenge.
ill just walk from casino to casino in the 90 degree heat!
ugh.

-JOYCE

I recently bought the digital display for $99 without knowing I need the armband and accessories. Do you think it is worth the extra $249? This has turned out to be an expensive venture.

Donna

@joyce
Vegas!? I LOVE vegas! Have fun! U can def get lots exercise there by walking. Just watch the drinking. Everytime I go to vegas I go all out and drinking, its so much fun. I got kicked out of a nightclub last time I was there cuz security said “I had too much too drink”.LOL

Question: How bad is drinking hard liquior? I think of as eating a double quarter pounder. Besides I only drink special ocassions.with graduations and summer vacations I think I should watch my drinking huh?

vegas was very fun and relaxing.
i did do a lot of walking and im pretty sure it is because i was wearing the bodybugg.
i really dont think i would have walked as much without it.
in the past, i would have taken a cab or shuttle.
one afternoon, i decided to walk back from the hard rock to the rio.
tis about 2.5 miles or so.
the last morning i was there, i did a round trip walk from the rio to mandelay bay.
(i forgot to redeem a ticket the night before at mandelay)
that was about 4 miles total.
im not much of a drinker, so alcohol wasnt a big deal.
i had one drink with the bride and groom.

i burned as many calories as i consumed while i was there.
so for me, that is a victory!

I am looking to sell my Body Bugg. I used it 3 months and it works fine. Just no longer have a need for it. Anyone interested please email me. jfrendle@gmail.com

It’s farther up in the comments on this thread, but they basically DOUBLED the price of the annual fee for the sensewear unit. That makes it completely financially unfeasible to switch to from a BodyBugg.

The Sensewear product has only been out since March. There used to be breaks on subscriptions with the “older” version, but not the new. You still get 6 months free with purchase, which will give one plenty of time to decide if $5 a week is “worth it” or not.

There ’s a lot of talk about how the bodybugg & Sensewear are the basically the same except for size, which is false.
Without even talking about the web based portal, here are the differences from a functionality standpoint that Sensewear does measure or operates, that bodybugg does not:

Sedentary duration
Measuring of Vigorus physical activity
Measuring of Very vigorous physical activity
Customized activity levels
Measuring lying down
Sleep duration
Sleep efficiency
On & Off body detection & duration
Blood pressure tracking
Rechargabel battery
Water resistant
Improved accuracy
More memory

Sussurro,

Please email me directly. I should be able to help you.

Just so I’m clear, you were promised after year one, a price of $138 correct?

Please email @ lccck5@msn.com
I actually work for BodyMedia

Carri, did you get yours? did you get the BB or Senswear? How do you like it?

@Sally, just a p.s.
I have not had a chance to call them yet about it, so I don’t have a clue why it stopped working. I have only had it since April 1 2008. I didn’t wear it for the past couple weeks, but it seems like the battery shouldn’t give out in that short amount of time! I take VERY good care of it and it has never even been remotely close to water (I don’t even wear it on days it is suppose to rain!!) so other than the battery I can’t imagine what it could be. When I took it off I knew I wouldn’t be wearing it for a couple weeks, so I put it in the original box it came in and put it in the top drawer of my dresser so, … like I said, no clue why it stopped working!

just checked out the BB again and they are having a sale at 24 hour fitness. only $199 for the band and $74 for the display. that’s the biggest sale i’ve seen so far….might have to go that route instead of the Sensewear. i’m just concerned that it’ll be so noticeable since it’s bigger!

So, I bought a Polar F 11, which just measures calories burned during exercise along with a heart-rate monitor but now I’m wanting something a little more advanced so I’m thinking I want a Bodybugg(I had no idea about Sensorware)–so now I’m a little stuck. It sounds like they both cost about the same but the Sensorware seems to offer more in the long run–I was looking for more reviews (the bodybugg as a lot of reviews) but I guess because the sensorware is farely new…so I’m wanting more advice–more reviews on it–can anyone lead me somewhere else?

@ Sam
p.s. I have the F11 also and can tell you this is infinitely better!

Good for you Sally!
That is probably the route I would have gone if I knew then what I know now!! But like they say, hindsight is 20/20. (I say this ONLY, and I do mean ONLY because of the rip off subscription deal- otherwise, I would still be advocating the sensewear. Unfortunate.)
Good Luck!

And I think you made the right decision !

@sam,
from what i understand, you have to order the sensewear by phone. there is a number on their website. in order to use the BB or sensewear, you have to pay for a subscription to their website. with the BB, you get 3 months with the initial purchase and then it’s $99/year. other pricing is available (per month, per quarter, etc) but the annual rate is cheapest. with sensewear, you get 6 months included in the initial purchase. then it’s $5/week. pretty pricey! but apparantely, they have a better site. good luck!

I did it, I bought one, I will keep you people updated on how it goes—the sensewear should be here Tuesday or Wed. , I hoping for good things to come! I have high hopes, I really do hope I’m not disappointed!

help! got my BB in the mail and i want to set it up, but i don’t have a username and password. i ordered it online through 24 hour fitness and that login doesn’t work on myapex.com. am i missing something here?

Sally,

There should have been an instruction card in the box; however, if there was not, or it was the wrong card, and you don’t already have a myapex account, all you need to do is go to http://www.bodybugg.com/activate, complete the fields and follow all instructions. If you have any problems, you can call Customer Service at 800.656.2739.

There are generally two reasons people have trouble with the serial numbers. One is that they don’t properly enter the last 7 digits as instructed; two is that 24 Hour recently repurposed a batch of bodybuggs without having the serial numbers added to our database, resulting in the database being unable to recognize the number. At that point someone on our staff has to manually enter the serial number into our system for you. This second reason is also why the wrong card may have been in your box. Please feel free to follow up with me directly if you have trouble.

Thanks,
Christie
christie@apexfitness.com

@ Sally
Hey, I feel you’re pain! Part of the reason that I just bought the sensewear was because I had tried for DAYS (as in several times a day!!) to speak with someone (leaving messages- all I ever got was voicemail!! LOL morning, noon and night!) anyway, I just wanted to order the dang thing but I had a couple questions. When I FINALLY got a hold of a real live human being, he told me they can’t/ don’t take orders over the phone under ANY circumstances! GRRR then I asked about the questions I had and he didn’t know the answers, so I asked if he knew someone who would know the answers who he could direct me to…”nope. sorry.” LOL I REALLY wish I would have thought about getting Christie’s email addy before I got fed up. I did write her and she seems to be a really great gal, and helpful. If I were you, I would leave Christie another email and I am sure she can straighten it out for you!
Good Luck!
(I know it must be really frustrating to not be able to use something brand new that you have paid for, but like I said, I’m sure Christie can fix it for you! Hang in there!

Glad you got it all set up and working.

@Steve Bass
Hi, I have a question, if you work for BodyMedia as you stated, and have the ability and authority to fix *my* situation for me; why did you list a non-identifying and a generic email address? (which was why, coincidentally, that I did not email you! ….as we all know, this IS the internet and anyone can say they are anyone they like! LOL )
Just curious, not accusing!
Just that we all know who Christie is, she posts her email that actually is to Apex!
Thanks!

@ Steve Bass
As I mentioned above, I had already sent 2 emails to two different customer service reps with no reply or even acknowledgment.
I wasn’t being sarcastic, I was asking a genuine question – but thank you for *your* sarcasm !! it falls right in line with the rest of my BodyMedia/sensewear experience thus far!
Have a nice day!

@sussurro,
don’t regret ur purchase. the sensewear seems like a great product.

i too am now starting to go down that fun road of reserach, everyone! i love to obsess over a gadget before i buy. i think i want a sensewear. i love data and excel spreadsheets and i think on the video it shows u can export it to excel.

I haven’t read through all the comments here but I have found the Bodybugg to be a valuable tool on my weight loss journey thus far (5 weeks) and found the Apex people wonderful in responding to my questions. Luckily I haven’t had any technical issues with it and hope I don’t. I get error messages from time to time when trying to log food in or update my calories but I can usually just close out my browser and restart it. That does the trick.

My only complaints are that the device is large/bulky and now that it’s warm it’s a bit of issue fashionwise. My office is chilly so I usually just wear a sweater anyway. It would be great for the winter months! The other is that since I am wearing it practically 24/7 the battery needs replacing once a week!

I tried contacting BodyMedia to oder a SenseWear WMS but was unable to get a live person. Anyone have better luck?

that was a lot of information to take in. i too have been looking at the body bug for quite sometime now and recently found 24 hour fitness offerring them for 199. i want to get one for my birthday this month but am not sure if this is the v1 or v2 they are offerring?? i really want the v3 is it out yet ??? if so the price ?please let me know , thank you all!!!!

If you look at the “details” tab on the 24 hour fitness site, that shows the bugg, it shows the bugg version to be 2.

bodybugg is not MAC compatible. boddybugg offered is Version 2.

http://mystore.24hourfitness.com/product_details.php?item=400005298004

Kelly,

None of the versions are compatiable with Mac. All versions work with a display. The version 3 as you call it, is available through Bodymedia, which is called Sensewear. 24hr will- later on this year have the product, although it will not have the same functionality as the Sensewear. There is another product that will be coming out later this year by Bodymedia (the maker of the bodybugg) that will be geared towards consumers.

As far as the two products you mentioned, lets start with Biotrainer. It uses a tri-axis accelerometer as its means to calculate calories burned. BB & Sensewear have this also, but have 3 other sensors that go far beyond just the tri-axis. The same for the Actigraph. Heart rate is not great at measuring calories burned, but is a good tool to keep one’s heart rate at targeted value. Bodymedia plans down the road to add HR, which will most likely come from an added algorithm, rather than a strap.

Hope this helps.

Can anyone comment on the “watch” displays? It appears that both BB and Sensewear have them. How well do they work as far as being a watch? Do you get the basic day/date/alarm etc.?

The display just keeps time. Nothing else.

I just purchased my bodybugg about a week ago (already down 3 pounds, after nearly a month of food tracking and excercise at a plateau!)

It is interesting, because my BMR/RMR seems to be lower than the actual math calculation found on most websites and books, which is good to know, because that is likely why my weight loss had stalled.

I mostly just wanted to post to talk about the visibility of the BB. I haven’t tried other similar units, but the BB is pretty conspicuous. The thing is that here, in body conscious Los Angeles, I have RARELY had to explain what it is. I was seeing a movie at the theater on Friday, and the ladies restroom line was full of people saying “Oh my Gosh! The bodybugg! My boss/trainer/girlfriend/sister has one, and I so want one! Do you like it! Is it Awesome? Has it worked for you?” I’ve only had to explain it to one person, who is a programmer at work, who saw it and said that he recently started wearing a pedometer on his ankle, and wanted to know if the one on my arm was better.

No one has judged me or scorned me or anything negative for wearing it. It seems to be something that just connects people on a friendly level, when no one in this town can live up to the body-perfect hype.

Anyways – that’s it. Just wanted you to know that while it garners attention, it is usually very supportive “Good for you!” attention… which can be nice… and help you stay on track.

I love the bodybugg. Thank god I’m running bootcamp on my MacBook Pro. Talk about close minded marketing and missing out on profit. Do they realize that not just PC users work out? When are developers going to realize that porting over to a Mac is no big deal now. Why would you shut out a market that is growing like crazy “thanks to Vista” heh. The bodybugg is great. The developers of the app, not so great.

No to mention they could easily make and iphone SDK version that would allow you to enter your food anywhere, anytime. The Apple Store just posted 10 million applications downloaded since it opened the application store for iphone this month. Bodybugg would score on that one for sure! But I still love the dang thing….LOL

jlamb to answer your question:

many have said that heartrate isn’t an overall accurate way to monitor Total calorie expenditure.

Now this could be propaganda to sell more of the accelerometer based devices, i don’t know.

I also contacted Polar and they claimed to “never had heard of Bodybugg” – Also they said they only have one watch that doesn’t use a chest strap (that one you would have to push a button to calculate heart rate) so you would have to wear a chest strap all day

I recently contacted bodybugg because i was interested…
here are my questions:

1. Will you offer a desktop solution rather than the website as i am not always able to be connected to the internet.

2. the watch seems like it might help with this… if i’m not able to connect to the internet will i still be able to use the band and the watch to monitor calories for the day?

3. will bodybugg be coming out with a new version soon (like just a watch) the bugg is a little bulky on the arm all day.

4. will bodybugg get one that includes a heart monitor?

here’s what they said:

The program is a subscription-based program, and you need to have internet access on a Windows based operating system using Internet Explorer as your browser.

In order to use the bodybugg program, your subscription must be current.

The following link addresses how the program is subscription based;

http://my.apexfitness.com/vip/help_bodybugg.php#gen4

The armband has approximately 14 days of data collection memory.

http://application.bodybugg.com/help/armband.do#memory

As a consequence, without having an active subscription to “upload” the information from the armband….the armband will fill up with 14 days of data collection in its memory, and no longer be able to provide additional information, which the “digital display” would be able to retrieve.

So….in essence, you will need to have an active subscription to be able to upload the armband, so that the armband will continue to be able to acquire information to transmit to the “digital display” without the limitation of memory.

With regards to your question about a newer version of the armband….

The Version 3 armband, will be waterproof and be smaller (more sleek and less bulky). The waterproof basis would only benefit the armband from intrusion of water into the unit…..however, the unit will still be unable to measure calories burned while in the water, since the skin contact and sensors will not be able to provide/obtain sufficient and accurate data which are used presently to measure calories burned. The proposed availability of the waterproof version is proposed to be available late 2008.

Due to the placement of the armband on the back of the upper arm…..usually sites ideally suited to obtain heart rates are on the chest or wrist…..we are not aware if the back of the arm is suitable to obtain heart rate, and consequently it is highly unlikely that heart rate will be a feature of the bodybugg. We are aware of this request and have shared this with the designers and developers of the bodybugg program.

Kevin,

Hey there, I found out that even after you take the battery in and out to clear the memory the data will the watch is displaying will all be way off. The bodybugg won’t have the program to upadate to and to tell it your current weight, gender, height ect… I find the monthly cost to be low (only $10 a month). Totally worth it because of all the feedback and accuracy I get. I’ve lost 20 lbs with it and my mom has lost even more, it really helped her learn portion sizes and how to stay avctive.

I’m addicted to it for now I guess. I changed my program to a matinence one so I just eat as much as I burn.

TGIF!

I’d looked at getting the bodybugg, but when I found out that it does not track calories consumed, I changed my mind. Right now I use the Garmin Forerunner to track calories burned during running and biking and I have found a wonderful website to track calories consumed and calories burned on the same site. It’s my-calorie-counter.com and you simply start a free diet and exercise journal with them, then you can track what you eat (if the food you ate is not there, you can enter all the food values and it keeps it the list for you), and you can also type in the activity you did. You can virtually track for 24 hours, it has everything from calories burned while sleeping, to sitting at a computer, to sweeping your floor to playing with your kids. Through this website, I am finally able to tell when I am actually burning more calories than I am consuming and it’s all finally making sense now. The best part is that this website is totally free to use, you can upgrade and subscribe if you want to, but it’s totally not required. If you have to input your caloric intake for the body bugg, might as well save some money and just input calories burned and taken in on the calorie counter site.

LOL!!! Good luck in writing your “software”. How pray tell are you going to do this without knowing the algorithm equations. This is the heartbeat of the unit and without those codes you will be stickly guessing.

As far as being upset at paying the subsciption, are you equally upset at your cell phone provider for making you pay monthy? How about access to the internet? Phone & TV?

anyone who refers to him or herself in the third person (and the added “the” was nice) cant be trusted.

yea… that was a rant. lol

i have tried the manufacturer route every time. there is a handful listed, but like i said, there isn’t anything up to date. i was even eating one of the ‘clasic’ dishes and since the database is so old, one would think that would be on there… nope. i guess the kicker was the menu items that haven’t been in the American market since 1993.

other than the crappy database, i’m happy with the system. well, i wish it was mac compliant. considering it ONLY works on PC and ONLY works on Internet Explorer, why is there a box to click for the site to remember you? it never does. i have to enter my login everytime. not a huge complaint, but these are some major drawbacks. i can understand the armband not talking to a mac computer, but at least make the website mac compatible.

just giving some constructive criticism. the database is horrible and taking an hour a day to track down the normal stuff is really a pain and not easy at all. nobody has that kind of time, especially when we are paying a nice subscription fee for somebody to do that already.

i work with a software company for auto dealers. it’s subscription based and let me tell you, if our VIN decoders weren’t up to date or whatever, then the subscription is worthless and we would go out of business. Apex really needs to invest some $10/hour workers to walk the supermarket and pull the info for the database asap!

The bodybugg stores data. The hardware device is going to do the data collecting.
The hardware drivers have already been written.
I just write the software to get the data off of the device and reset the device.
The equations are very simple. If you know the calories/min and the interval, voila–total caloric expenditure for any interval you wish.

The only thing that gets in my way now is how to talk to the device–which will be hacked =0).

Plus, after this, it will be trivial for anyone to port this to a web application, stand-alone application on an OS of choice (as long as the drivers can be emulated or interfaced).

The next step after this is hacking the drivers, which should be a moderate task.

After the drivers have been created (totally re-written so as to not infringe on any copyright laws) it can be ported to ANY OS on ANY hardware, as long as those who know the OS and Hardware are willing to port the code.

NOTE: The phone companies give their phones away in hopes of keeping you as a customer–they don’t make anything on the phones (hardware). The internet companies give away the hardware in order to provide their service to you.

When I buy a printer, I don’t expect to pay a monthly fee.

When I buy a computer, I don’t expect to pay a monthly fee to use it.

When I buy a car, I don’t expect to pay a monthly fee.

When I buy a BodyBugg, I don’t expect to pay a monthly fee.

Plus, it should be a very nice learning project.

Go GNU!

@Kevin

you said:

Question: When you bought the armband, were you not aware of the subscription price? Why is Brandon angry now-LOL!!!

well, I don’t know Brandon, but I know I bought the sensewear unit and asked 3 times what the subscription cost would be, and that it was my deciding factor… three times I was told/assured that it was $135 per year ($36 more than the bodybugg, and I had not used it yet so had no knowledge of whether the software was good bad or indifferent ), two weeks later the price almost DOUBLED to $260 per year. I contacted BodyMedia numerous times by both phone and email to see if they would honor the price that they quoted me just for my first year renewal (things go up in price, I was just asking for them to honor it for the first year at the price they quoted when purchased) I could not even get a response or even so much as an acknowledgment that I had left several voice mails as well as emails (and this is to SEVERAL different CS reps not just one) FOR ME, it was the equivalent of “false advertising” so to speak. Anyway you slice it, that is a dirty way of doing business. I wasn’t asking for them to honor the subscription price to remain the same for the lifetime of my unit…. just for the very first renewal – nothing more, nothing less. I was angry yet could still be extremely reasonable… they on the other hand could not. This type of thing is what leaves a bad taste in consumers mouths.

I am from a family of physicians, and even a doc as a next door neighbor- two of them were possibly interested in purchasing units for their practice (one is a sleep disorder physician) …. none are interested in doing business with this company after watching what was done to me. I lost $550 by them coning me, BodyMedia on the other hand lost thousands in hardware an goodness knows how much residual income.

Also just for clarification, as a reader of this blog for a long time, and one who enjoys it and the *honesty*, you are a rep with Wellsource/ Healthy Innovations NOT BodyMedia correct?
(your email addy is to healthyii.com – see website here : http://www.healthyii.com/
Just when their is an “expert” on the boards, or at least acts as such, I like many others like to know where their expertise comes from, or which company .
(I noticed you trying to “hook someone up with an armband in an earlier post – read SELL someone a unit on this blog. Unless you actually are the owner of the above mentioned company then you work for that company, and selling the units is your personal income/livelihood, which is not necessarily and unbiassed opinion!

As far as Brandon goes, you both mentioned cell phones as an example, when the iphone came out, there were plenty of die-hard Apple fans that wanted an iphone – an Apple product, but did NOT want an AT&T product! So they hacked the iphone to work on TMobile ect… the people still have to pay for their cell service, but to a carrier that provides decent coverage for their needs (look at AT&T’s coverage map and you will see that there are certainly areas that are seriously lacking coverage!!) Do I personally believe in this? I don’t know. Is it done everyday with alot of things , of course! Would *I* do it? I doubt it.
Just throwing up another high end product example. For the record, I own the original iphone and have been with AT&T as my cell provider for over 8 years. (and NO, my iphone has never been “jailbroken” ect…)

@Sarah
sorry for the loooong post hun! LOL

@Kevin

P.S.
On an upside, I absolutely think your idea about purchasing a sensewear or bodybugg device as you would a cell phone is very viable! And a lot more honest for everyone involved! We purchase our cell phones with a contract because we know we have to have service in order for it to work, and on an “as used” basis as you stated. Perhaps, since the device will not work without the subscription, it *should* be marketed more as a “service” than a “product” – just like cell phones! You need the “service” first and foremost, the product that “gets you there” can be from free to hundreds of dollars!

So like I said, your comparison/analogy of the two seems viable to me!

I like the idea of a subscription fee base pricing.

That way you wouldn’t have to fork over the initial cost of the hardware, or at least not as high a price all at once.

Most cell phone providers don’t make money on the hardware, it is all on the subscription. You can get cell phones for free, perhaps not the absolute latest product. Then pay for the subscription model that fits your lifestyle which would vary between people.

That would make it easier for people to get the product.

Yeah, I realize… but at least it’s less of my money since I already paid for my subscription a while ago. I just didn’t want to fork out another few hundreds for completely different (but smaller and nicer) hardware and software if I didn’t feel good about it.

I probably won’t renew my subscription when it’s up; having the BB for the last several months didn’t really tell me anything I didn’t already know (I’ve been making decent weight loss then fitness progress on my own since 2002 or so). I’m just a sucker for tech gadgets.

On a different note, I know I had promised Sarah and the board in general a detailed review of the Sensewear unit, and I did not deliver. There is a reason, while I have no qualms at all about “selling” the *unit*, I feel (at this time anyway, perhaps things will change) that while the sensewear unit itself and the software are both excellent, I can not in good conscience, “sell” the *company*.

I humbly apologize to Sarah especially, and want to thank her for this wonderful blog! Keep it going folks, we learn a lot from each other! And if you have a minute…. I’m sure Sarah wouldn’t mind a thank you every now and again! We all learn so much and sometimes forget that if it wasn’t for Sarah we wouldn’t have this great place here to come to!

LOL @ Josie!!

YEP! I am right there with you! I have *always* been a sucker for the newest, greatest, smallest, (insert adj. here!!) tech gadgets !!

And also like you, unless BM honors both their voiced as well as my copy of the WRITTEN invoice! and lets me purchase my first renewal at the rate that is stated on my purchase… I will not be renewing mine !
As it is I have not even used it in the past 2 months…why get “hooked” on something that I will not be able to use come the first of October! I paid apprx. $550 for unit, display, shipping, handling blah, blah, blah… LOL
If you break that down over 6 months, that is $91.67 PER MONTH!!!
What an expensive paper weight!!!

Hello, I am Jenny. I believe I am one of the original posters here- over a year ago- maybe 2. I think its interesting how this has come full circle and has even gotten worse with the price increase!!!. Today’s posts have finally nudged my response.
In my original post, I think I stated that I am absolutely offended that a company would sell such an over-priced object and then make an internet based subscription. As a result, I refuse to give them money. No, I didnt’ buy one.
I have been mostly satisfied with my high-end polar heartreat monitor 810i- which now comes with a couple more features, but it is still the best. It retails for about $450 but you can find it on the internet for about $275. I can workout for up to about 45 hours and it records HR based data every 5 seconds. Then, I can download it to my computer without any website needed- A CD comes with the software (though you CAN download all the software and upgrades free on the website.) – oh and there is a price for the infared communicator- about $30. My only objection with polar is that you they have only 3 -5 places in the US that are approved to change the battery- and only one if you want it changed under the 2-year warranty- which means you pay a lot of postage and are without your unit for that amount of time.
I found the bodybugg et al- very interesting as I liked the multiple measures and the focus of all day data, rather than just measuring workouts. BUT I WILL NOT LET THEM SWINDLE ME INTO BUYING A 200-600 THING AND THEN A SUBSCRIPTION. HOW REDICULOUS!!!!!!!
As far as the phone service analogy- It looks good on the surface, but it falls apart here. In order to make a phone call or use the internet, there has to be a large physical network built with servers and storage units. By definition, you cannot do everything local and need these outside resourse- since you are communicating with the outside world. And that is money and an opportunity for profit. This is a service that will cost someone somewhere and is unavoidable. Like the polar, This is not the case. Bodybugg is making a ton of money on every unit they sell. – probably $100 if it is through 24hr. Probably $400 for the direct sales ones of $569. I would say that is a nice profit. And if polar can do it without a subscription, so can Bodybugg/Sensewear.
But they chose to demand the subscription model becasue now they make gobs of money. And all you rich people that throw money at them, buying even the unit… you are supporting this greedy business practice which does nto encourage them to revise it.
So I would like to submit that people should be encouraged to stop purchasing this until they revise their business practices- (and increase customer service as well).
So that is my 2-cents.- Thanks-
Jenny

You’re offended? Read what YOU wrote. What did you mean by this paragraph and what was the purpose in writing it. Please don’t de-value my opinion because I’m supposed to know what you meant, rather than the words YOU wrote. Also, it seems you spoke for the general population when you wrote” I like many others like to know where their expertise comes from or which company”. I suppose if I knew you and your sense of humor or generally kindness, I could’ve read between the lines to figure out what you really meant, but….

YOU WROTE:
Also just for clarification, as a reader of this blog for a long time, and one who enjoys it and the *honesty*, you are a rep with Wellsource/ Healthy Innovations NOT BodyMedia correct?
(your email addy is to healthyii.com – see website here : http://www.healthyii.com/
Just when their is an “expert” on the boards, or at least acts as such, I like many others like to know where their expertise comes from or which company”.
(I noticed you trying to “hook someone up with an armband in an earlier post – read SELL someone a unit on this blog. Unless you actually are the owner of the above mentioned company then you work for that company, and selling the units is your personal income/livelihood, which is not necessarily and unbiassed opinion!

I’m confused – I just went to the website and the subscription rates look the same as they did last time I looked (months ago). Has something changed? Thanks!

That does help – thank you! Guess I am not up to speed on the Sensewear. I just went to their website – sounds a lot like the BodyBugg, no? I suppose I better get caught up on old posts before I ask any more questions! Thanks again!!

Thank you for the email and lets move on.

Kevin

Just a quick tech note to resolve two points of confusion: many commentators have checked the “Notify me of followup comments via e-mail” box, so they DO see new comments as emails. That is probably why the term “email” came into it.

One unintended side effect of the email feature is that some people hit “reply” to the email and send their comments that way, instead of going to the blog. Unfortunately, that doesn’t put the comments on the blog at all. If you receive an update via email and want to add a comment, click through to the blog first and then type in your comment.

P.S. I did request that SenseWear send me a device to review, since this post has become a hub of discussion, but they didn’t reply. In retrospect, it seems that I’m not the only one having a hard time getting a response, so maybe it’s better that I don’t have the opportunity to praise the device.

sussurro,

I was referring to your post: 248. On August 6th, 2008 at 5:52 pm

No, they did NOT tell me it was subscription based.

Now, I feel even more adamant about hacking it.

No, they don’t have $170 in the equipment.
It’s a flipping COM device hidden by a USB port (easily available).
I bet it costs them no more than $20.00 per device.

Kevin, as a representative of the company/device verses a consumer, do you really think this post was constructive or professional? I am not trying to be ugly, but why are you here?

Laughing at people, making fun of, name calling, being condescending and sarcastic … is really of no value, and is NOT what this site is all about. Since as you stated in a previous post you are an “expert”, so why would you want to lower yourself to these type of posts? They only serve to discredit you and the knowledge/expertise that you have that could be used here to be informative and helpful to the people who come here looking for information. If you want to hang out on this board you have every right to of course, but in the end these type of posts just end up making *you* look bad, and since you are representing the the company…… by proxy the company as well.

If this continues I know I for one will stop coming here. As an adult, if someone says something you consider really stupid… let it go, don’t engage and keep perpetuating the situation. It’s that simple.
This is a blog for reviews, and personal experiences, sharing of information ect.. I know I personally have been following this blog ever since Sarah put it up almost, and yes, it has some “rants”, from people who are less than happy with the product, but again, they are sharing an experience they had!

I just don’t see the point of posts like this.
There are a lot of us here, did you you notice any of us really replying to Brandon? or just “letting it go”?
He is angry, that’s all. He appears to be a consumer who is venting. If you are going to attack, name call, make fun of the people who have a less than stellar experience, and goodness forbid actually post when they are ticked off, then I imagine that is going to seriously cut down on the number of posts from people who are less than pleased with their purchase/experience.

The topic of “hacking” it , especially in relation to the the inability to run for us mac users, has been around for well over a year! Just an example.

Until you have gotten bored with this site and moved on, I don’t think I’ll be back so there is no need to post yet another sarcastic/condescending or argumentative post. Not to me anyway.

@Sarah
I have really enjoyed this blog over the past year, thanks so much for it. I have learned a lot. You’re awesome!
Take care and I wish you the best!
(you have my email)

I have a Mac Air laptop and an Apple Home computer.
For those who have been successful in Using their Mac with the BB ..please tell me what I should invest in. I really wanted this to be in my face at home for entering info and reading my feedback.

I also broke down and bought a bodybugg with a watch. I’ve only been using it about 20 hours. I’ve already found a problem that I hope someone can explain to my little pea brain. After I have synced with my computer and immediately after I synced with the watch there’s a discrepancy with the calories burned between the two instruments. Now how could that be? Would the device transmit the same number within seconds of each other??

Hi,

I want to get the Sense Wear kit but they dont sell it abroad .

Anyone have any clues on when the new BB model is likely to be released?

UK Red

I purchased from 24 hour and can tell you it is not worth the discount! They collected my money and sent me only the digital display and a free brownie! No explanation as to when or if they would send the actual BB. No phone number to call to inquire and they do not answer emails. I cancelled payment through AmExp and will buy somewhere else.

So just to update… 24 Hour Fitness “customer service” is worse than non existent it is a complete waste of time. Apex on the other hand is first class. So I told 24 Hour Fitness to shove it and sent back my partial order without ever having heard one single word as to if and when they would send the actual BB. I then drove to the local 24 Hour Fitness and purchased the BB and DD. BB $169. DD $99. Came home called Apex customer service and was running quickly. The only thing I don’t like about the BB is that it relentlessly holds you accountable!

I just heard about the BodyBugg for the first time today (it seems I’m a bit more behind the times than I thought! lol). My trainer at 24 Hour told me about it today and said it was 199 for the arm band and 99 for the watch. How did you get it for 169? I’m really interested in this little gadget because I think it will do me a ton of good to know exactly how many of those yummy calories I’m actually burning off in a day. My only reservation is the cost as I’m a college student and so money is flowing OUT not in. ) I’m great at counting my calories – been doing it for so long it’s pretty much second nature – but is it really that much more helpful to know how many I’m burning? $300 plus repetative subscriptions more helpful?

Thanks in advance for any responses!

Tristan

I was just wondering if anyone knew how to add new foods to the myapex website? I can’t seem to get it goin.
thanks

Has anyone received any more information about when version 3 is going to be released? Also, is version 3 going to be compatible with the current digital display?

I bought version 2 a month ago because I didn’t want to put my weight loss on hold until version 3 came out. I got it from 24 hour fitness with the $100 off, so I think it is worth it even if I end up selling it for half the price when the new one comes out.