There's No Whining When Getting Sexy!

[thehobbes]

Red is in da house! I'm going to follow your bodymedia experience closely, considering buying one myself. My only holdup with it is the thought of having to wear something on my upper arm 24/7, not sure what that will do negatively if anything. I assume you have to take it off to shower and swim so it estimates those cals and fills them in?

All clear on the PT now? Finally? Uh oh, need to find an alternative nickname for Boot Woman.

[gobbles23]

Yay, you've got it! Exciting!

[Cardioconvert]

Yeah - no more PT! (I kinda like "Boot Woman" though!)

Have a great night!

CC

[Echo814]

That awesome about not needing anymore PT! I bet you are itching to start busting out full workouts again

Yay for Body Media! Did you get the bluetooth one or the regular?

[marathonmom262]

<--- is anxiously awaiting Body Media report from Red.

Hope the camping was great - expecting our first snow here tonight - only 1-2 inches but the kids will love it

[dreahere]

Yay for the bodymedia! I'm just about ready to resume wearing mine.

[Redfizz]

This is a quick drive-by update.

I lost 3 pounds. Woo! But i haven't had salt in a while. Oh well. At least it's a nice change in direction since breaking the ankle. I guess the hiking pup, camping, chopping wood, etc is paying off.

I bought the bluetooth version of Body Media. *Fingers crossed that it will work.*

It comes in one of those packages that are difficult to cut open. So my honey helped me out.



The Body Media does not come charged. I didn't realize that until now, so I just plugged it in. Hopefully it doesn't take a while to charge up, because I want to play with it tonight. It charges using a USB cord, but it does not include the USB adapter to an outlet. Boooo! Oh! The instructions state that it will take ~3 hours for it to charge.

It can store up to 14 days of data. This item is "not defibrillator proof", so remember to remove it when you're having a heart attack. Just sayin'. (Did someone actually complain that their BodyMedia not working after having to have a defibrillator used on them? Wouldn't that be the least of their concerns?)

"Do not incinerate." Good to know. (Darn, now I am tempted.)

Huh. So that's all that was in the manual.

Oh, now I need to begin my "weight loss journey" by completing my profile on www.bodymedia.com. So I am off! See you on the other side.

[marathonmom262]

This is a quick drive-by update.

I lost 3 pounds. Woo! But i haven't had salt in a while. Oh well. At least it's a nice change in direction since breaking the ankle. I guess the hiking pup, camping, chopping wood, etc is paying off.

I bought the bluetooth version of Body Media. *Fingers crossed that it will work.*

It comes in one of those packages that are difficult to cut open. So my honey helped me out.



The Body Media does not come charged. I didn't realize that until now, so I just plugged it in. Hopefully it doesn't take a while to charge up, because I want to play with it tonight. It charges using a USB cord, but it does not include the USB adapter to an outlet. Boooo! Oh! The instructions state that it will take ~3 hours for it to charge.

It can store up to 14 days of data. This item is "not defibrillator proof", so remember to remove it when you're having a heart attack. Just sayin'. (Did someone actually complain that their BodyMedia not working after having to have a defibrillator used on them? Wouldn't that be the least of their concerns?)

"Do not incinerate." Good to know. (Darn, now I am tempted.)

Huh. So that's all that was in the manual.

Oh, now I need to begin my "weight loss journey" by completing my profile on www.bodymedia.com. So I am off! See you on the other side.

Yay on the weight loss! Awesome!

Maybe someone at the gym was having a heart attack, got defibbed, got angry their BodyMedia stopped working, and threw it in their fireplace in disgust only to cause a home explosion. Now if they had just read the manual first that home explosion *could* have been avoided. Guess they know now, huh?

[Luvdogs]

Oh, this is exciting! Can't wait to hear what you think of it.

The warnings are kind of like the warnings for every drug on earth! Take this lovely drug, but it could cause: death, shortness of breath, blood clotting, fainting, loss of vision, thoughts of suicide, BUT you will not be depressed anymore!! Probably because you'll be dead

[Redfizz]

Yay on the weight loss! Awesome!

Maybe someone at the gym was having a heart attack, got defibbed, got angry their BodyMedia stopped working, and threw it in their fireplace in disgust only to cause a home explosion. Now if they had just read the manual first that home explosion *could* have been avoided. Guess they know now, huh?

LOL. Is it sad that this totally seems plausible?

Oh, this is exciting! Can't wait to hear what you think of it.

The warnings are kind of like the warnings for every drug on earth! Take this lovely drug, but it could cause: death, shortness of breath, blood clotting, fainting, loss of vision, thoughts of suicide, BUT you will not be depressed anymore!! Probably because you'll be dead

So it's a win, win!

Setting up my account
The website gave me three products to select from as "my product". I was confused, because it offered Core, Link, and Advantage. My BM said none of those. While digging around, I think it's a link (blue tooth). Why didn't they just say blue tooth? (Oh, it states Link on the package pictured above. Good thing I had a picture of it!)

Then you have to provide them with an ID number that comes on the package. Luckily if you don't have it with you, the SN on the item itself works.

Ahhhhhh (that's an enlightened ahhh, not a scream), my subscription to BM.com, which is required to make this thing work, is a SEPARATE purchase. Also, if you have any questions regarding your system, customer service is ONLY open Mon-Fri, 9am - 5pm est. That's not very convenient, now is it?

When purchasing the subscription, it doesn't automatically state that the first three months are free. According to the guy, it's just how it automatically set up. *Shrugs*

My goal is to lose a pound a week. If that's too much, I will change it to .5 pounds a week.

I am a little confused on how to set up my exercise goals. This is where I am currently stuck:

I want to do 30 minutes of walking each day (at least), and 45 minutes of lifting at least every other day, or 5 days a week. then how many steps am I supposed to take? It's confusing the blond!!! I ended up selecting the Very Active option.

In order for the Body Media device to download the collected data to the account, I have to download a syncing software.

Okay, it's set up. I just have to download that sync software onto my personal computer once I get home. Btw, weightlifting is under cardio training per the exercise calculator page. So I hate to tell you all this, but according to BM.com, we're all cardio bunnies.

[Echo814]

I often wonder about disclaimers and warnings places on products. The other day I noticed a very disturbing warning on my curling iron "Do not insert into any orifice." Umm, WTF?

When I set my BM up I had to enter the same info, the ID code tells the system if you have free months or not, mine came with a year free. The activity plan is only there to set up the calorie goal, once you wear it for a week or so with you typical routine you can adjust accordingly. You do not have to meet the goals everyday for it work, the goals are there to give a point of reference. I've never had any issues with the service and they emailed me back in a reasonable time when I asked if my model was bluetooth compatible. There was one issue about a year ago where the site glitched and deleted everyone's stats for that day, they gave a free month of service to compensate without ever having to speak with them, I just got an email saying what happened.

I never really paid attention to the exercise calculator, even though its pretty accurate. I've only had to manually enter in times when the band is off for longer than 15 minutes, usually for a shower ect. it will give you the option to edit on the dashboard when you select the first header.

[thehobbes]

Interesting. If you didn't even bother to set up the thing on the website could you just wear it and it would still tell you how many cals you burned through a day of wearing it? That's pretty much all I want it for, hoping I can get away with not filling out anything or reading stuff. BRB spends hours a day on bb.com but too lazy to fill out one online form, yep that's Ham. Step count is weird, I guess they had to pick something that everybody could relate to. That's really badass they have as much info on that thing as they do.

Google searching to find whatever crazy lawsuit prompted that curling iron warning, holy crap!

[geek23ka]

echo, thanks for the warning on not inserting a HOT CURLING IRON into any orifice. LOLOL who in gods name did this and why. bc you know someone, somewhere did.

redfizz i hear you on wanting to blow up something that says DO NOT BLOW UP DEVICE. hahahaaa!

p.s. Who you callin cardio bunny?

[Echo814]

echo, thanks for the warning on not inserting a HOT CURLING IRON into any orifice. LOLOL who in gods name did this and why. bc you know someone, somewhere did.

redfizz i hear you on wanting to blow up something that says DO NOT BLOW UP DEVICE. hahahaaa!

p.s. Who you callin cardio bunny?

My public service announcement of the day

[swooshie]

Hey all! The blow dryer I just bought had the warning .... Do Not Use While Sleeping Damn.....what an awesome timesaver that would be.



I'm still laughing at "BM.com" ... Ham, I can't believe you didn't catch that one!


Hi Red

[Redfizz]

You all are cracking me up. Now I actually want to go through and read warning labels to most everything. My honey and I were about the curling iron. And now I just want to figure out how blow dry my hair while I am asleep.

Quick update:

Last night was my first night sleeping with device. It kind of reminded me of when I was a kid and my mom had this thing about cute PJs with elastic in the sleeves to create some form of puff. It wasn't uncomfortable, but different. And the results are in!

That's pretty darn accurate. Like scary accurate. Supposedly I burned 456 calories last night, which really surprised me. (Note to self: Sleep more often.)

Anywho, I will be lifting this morning at some point. I cannot risk lifting during the conference call again. This time I checked the agenda and I AM supposed to be reporting, so had better bring my best to the table...er...phone?

[gobbles23]

Wow, you sleep SO much better than me! Nice!

[marathonmom262]

That is very cool. I think I need to ask Santa for a new toy for Christmas

[Redfizz]

So far I am not impressed with their food diary doo-hickey. It's REALLY cumbersome to put together a recipe. If you start to build a recipe, and your item not on their list of choices, you have to enter the info yourself. Once I entered it, I then went back to the "recipe" section only to find that the recipe had to be reset and I had to start again. Also, you have to save this item as a food that you have already eaten for the day or it won't save it. UGH.

In the end, I am having to enter the data, save it as eaten for breakfast, then build my recipe by pulling from "My foods" (a list created ONLY from foods that you state you have ALREADY eaten), and then go back and delete these ingredients from my breakfast. Not very user friendly. Also, they have "serving size", which is what is according to the label. However, if you have two servings of the serving size, you have to double the service size rather than just say, "I had two servings of this item".

Is there a way to set dietary goals? Percentages of protein/fats/carbs would be very useful. That's the feature that I find super useful from MyFitnessPal.com.

Is there a way to just input the nutritional data in manually? For example, can i just track my diet via myfitnesspal.com, then transfer the summary to the bodymedia.com file. I shouldn't have to do that to begin with. I am not happy about the lack of versatility. Grrr. brb. Going to send them an email letting them know that they haven't completed sufficient usability testing 'cause I am a nerd like that.

[Redfizz]

Oh my Lord, now my phone is constantly pinging me asking to enter the device PIN over and over and over again. It's already been matched already! My phone is now chiming at least once every 1 to 2 minutes. I emailed BodyMedia to see what's going on with both the food list and this constant re-linking issue.

By the way, I am noticing that there is a correlation between the rate of calories burned and the number of PIN requests from my phone notifications I am receiving per minute.

I almost wonder if I should return it and get the regular (non-blue tooth) version. I have to hook it up anyway to charge it, right?

You know how people being idiots and rude and abuse equipment at the gym sets off Hobbes' Hamrage? Well, technology that doesn't work like it should sets off my Hamrage.

[Echo814]

I don't bother with the food journal on there, it was annoying to use, so I count calories on myfitnesspal.com and punch in the number on the bodymedia site after I'm done counting. I mainly use it for seeing cal burn and sleep patterns, what affect things have on calorie burn ect. The cool thing is you can run reports that give you a weekly deficit with a bunch of other info. My sleep looks like a bloody bar code man, I wake up so much in the night, jelly of dat der sleep efficiency hopefully you get an answer on the phone pinging soon, that seems like it would get annoying pretty quick.

[Redfizz]

Good to know about the food diary. That's kind of a shame considering I will be paying $6/month for the service. menolikes.jpg

Realizing that this is my first day and all with it, are the reports really that useful?

I don't see where I can punch in the number from myfitnesspal.com onto the bodymedia site after I'm done counting. Can you point me in the right direction?

EDIT: Never mind. I found it. They're going to think I am crazy at BodyMedia. *sigh* But I do wonder how useful the reports are.

[Echo814]

Good to know about the food diary. That's kind of a shame considering I will be paying $6/month for the service. menolikes.jpg

Realizing that this is my first day and all with it, are the reports really that useful?

I don't see where I can punch in the number from myfitnesspal.com onto the bodymedia site after I'm done counting. Can you point me in the right direction?

EDIT: Never mind. I found it. They're going to think I am crazy at BodyMedia. *sigh* But I do wonder how useful the reports are.

I never really thought about the food diary portion as being that important, I think they threw it in for convince and what not, but didn't put much effort in to it. The reports are good to see patterns of activity, non-activity and sleep efficiency. I've used them to pin point things before, I wish I would have gotten the bluetooth to sync with my phone, I may still brake down and get the display face for it.

[Cardioconvert]

Wow Red - seems like a bit of frustrating experience for you thus for w/ your BM unit / tracking. Hope it works out.

Hilarious all the warnings that come on things....orffices, using products while sleeping....funny stuff. My hubs contributes to the contents of labels as part of his work - he has seen some crazy stuff come across his desk (like the time he had to include a warning about not stapling your body w/ the staplers - that one actually stemmed from an incident at one of the work sites where a dude lost it on another dude and staple gunned him in the chest )

CC

[Redfizz]

LOL. What the heck? CC, your husband had better start a blog or write a book one day. That's hilarious!

Thanks for the info, Echo. Srsly. It's a love/hate relationship between me and technology. I love the data, but sometimes it's a pain to get it.

I heard back from BodyMedia already (you all were right about their customer service!). They said the issue with the phone constantly asking for a PIN may mean a faulty Link chip, which means I would have to return it. They won't send me another until they receive it and process it. Suck! That's how many days that I cannot play with it? I ordered it before I went camping just so I wouldn't have wait, because I am so patient like that.

Alrighty, I am still trudging through the learning curve.

[Luvdogs]

I'm still laughing at "BM.com" ... Ham, I can't believe you didn't catch that one!


Hi Red

I caught that!

You all are cracking me up. Now I actually want to go through and read warning labels to most everything. My honey and I were about the curling iron. And now I just want to figure out how blow dry my hair while I am asleep.

Quick update:

Last night was my first night sleeping with device. It kind of reminded me of when I was a kid and my mom had this thing about cute PJs with elastic in the sleeves to create some form of puff. It wasn't uncomfortable, but different. And the results are in!

That's pretty darn accurate. Like scary accurate. Supposedly I burned 456 calories last night, which really surprised me. (Note to self: Sleep more often.)

Anywho, I will be lifting this morning at some point. I cannot risk lifting during the conference call again. This time I checked the agenda and I AM supposed to be reporting, so had better bring my best to the table...er...phone?

Oh gosh! Now I want one of these!!!!! Noooooooo.....more ways to analyze and count things! I could still use my FitDay (which I LOVE, software version) and input the numbers as suggested for you. I would be curious to see my sleep patterns: wake up at 2-3am to let Genie out to potty, get kicked my Genie turning around, try to turn over being sandwiched between Genie and Bruizer...I'm thinking mine would look like a bar code too!

[Redfizz]

You guys are cracking me up about the BM.com.

This was my activity and steps/day report. The peak was walking pup.

I was talking to honey about the blue tooth issue. He said that he had a similar issue with another blue tooth device and so he's going to try to troubleshoot.

Echo is right: The reports are worth the hassle of the initial set up. I am already seeing the disparity between what I am eating vs working out.

It's only the first day.

[thehobbes]

Oh man you are winning me over with all the charts and graphs, that's sweet! You get excellent sleep wow! And it even tracks nighttime pee breaks, omg I need to get me one of these lol. I hope the phone issue is sorted out and you don't have to send your device back (I hate waiting too, brb tracking every 5min, where's my damn package?! )

BM.com lolol

Hilarious all the warnings that come on things....orffices, using products while sleeping....funny stuff. My hubs contributes to the contents of labels as part of his work - he has seen some crazy stuff come across his desk (like the time he had to include a warning about not stapling your body w/ the staplers - that one actually stemmed from an incident at one of the work sites where a dude lost it on another dude and staple gunned him in the chest )

Not gonna lie, the mental image I have from that is hilarious.

[rickiecoombs]

Hey Red!

Congrats on the weight loss!

Also - I come bearing good news! (At least, I hope it's good news). Go to the BodyMedia website, to your personal page. On the top where it has the options: Summary, Nutrition, Tools, Settings, Apps - click on Apps. Scroll down. There's a MyFitnessPal app. You can sync your BodyMedia with MyFitnessPal! This means that you log your food with MFP as per usual, and when you sync your BodyMedia (for calories/reports, etc) all of your meals that you've logged with MFP come up in the "Calories Consumed" section!

Hope that's remotely useful to you.

Also - awesome sleeping skills!!

[Redfizz]

Rickie,

Do you know about those moments in people's lives when they are super desperate and ready to throw in the towel, and an angel comes along and there's heavenly music and light surrounding them? Okay, that might be a bit dramatic, , but oh my goodness, THANK YOU!

brb, gonna play with the myfitnesspal.com and body media device. Will report back shortly.