BodyMedia Fit Review

Just over a month ago I got in contact with Body Media about reviewing their Body Media Fit Link Armband. Two days later I got a package in the mail containing the goodies!

I’ve always been interested in products like this, especially watching Biggest Loser and other weight loss show contestants use similar products. I wondered if they really worked or if it was just hype. Before I did a full BodyMedia Fit Review, I wanted to give it a fair shot. So I used it consistently for a month. The first week or so it was different getting used to it. The armband works in conjunction with an online tracking system. They also have an iPhone app that you can use on the go. If you have the BodyMedia Fit Link armband it links to your smartphone with bluetooth.

The first few days of food tracking were tricky as I had to enter in a lot of the foods I eat into the tracker manually. It seems as though their database of food isn’t that large. While some people may see this as a con, I saw it as a Pro. It made me look more intently at nutritional information of foods I eat on a regular basis. It also made me more hyper aware of the nutritional value of foods I was eating when we went out. Rather than just focusing on calories, I started looking at the bigger picture: Fat, Sodium, Cholesterol. I noticed that I ate a lot more sodium than I thought.

One of my favorite things about the BodyMedia Fit is being able to see at a glance my activity level and calorie deficit for the day. This is a screen shot of the app on my iPhone. I check this a few times throughout the day to see where my activity levels are and if I notice them lower than normal I try to walk around some more or do a few squats to get in some extra activity.

When the whole kit arrived it came with one armband, however, I would suggest investing in at least one more so you can clean one and let it dry (especially after a sweaty workout!). Also, the online tracking system does require a subscription which is an additional cost each month. That can add up, but I feel like I would be more likely to track my food regularly if I am paying for the service.

This is a snapshot of the online tracker, it has several different categories. This is actually showing a summary of my Calories burned and Physical activity for all of August. It has great visual graphs to help you see where you are meeting your goals and where you need to work on it.

Some people have complained about not liking to wear it all the time. To be honest, that didn’t bother me at all. I literally wore it nearly non-stop the whole month. There were a few times it got kinda itchy so I took it off for an hour. I wore it during the color run! The BodyMedia link is a bit larger than the BodyMedia Core, but I’d rather have the bluetooth capability than a smaller device. Here are some “action shots” of me wearing it…

They also have tons of additional options for add ons to make it a bit more stylish. They have different style and sizes of armbands as well as skins you can put on the front to personalize it more. After realizing I should have an extra armband on hand I decided to order the zebra one for fun, and they are having a 2 for 1 special, so I actually got 2 of them!

When I started using this mid-August I was 198lbs. I ended up down to 190 after just over a month, which was great for me! I didn’t use it regularly while traveling these last few weeks, but I am back to using it regularly now because I have some weight loss goals to reach this month!

Now, what I will say is that this is not a guarantee that you will lose X amount of pounds. This is simply helpful information to assist you on your journey.  It made me more aware of my habits, which gave me more control of changing them. If I didn’t reach my activity goals I would do some jump rope or go for a run. If I saw I ate a lot of sodium one day, I would take it easy on sodium the next few days. This is not a cure all for weight loss, it is just another tool in your arsenal. I have been really happy with this so far, and while I was provided with this product for the purpose of reviewing, I can easily say it has helped me enough that I would purchase it. If you are looking for a visual way to see your activity, calories and progress… this is a great tool.

Have you ever used a BodyMedia Fit or something similar to track activity and calories?
What are your thoughts on it?

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