[PhotoshopScrapper]

This price also includes a year of the online service. I have a heart rate monitor and have seen the body bugg on BL but was never sure if the $250 was worth the money. From what I read it doesn't seem like the Bodybugg has HRM technology in it but counts the calories much better than most of the HRMs. Is this true?

Anyone who has it ... I'd love to know what you think and if you feel it's really helping you. This seems like an excellent price for the system.

Thanks!

[brandiev]

Wow, that's a great price. I don't have a Bodybugg, but would love one. I don't have a Costco membership either (they aren't in my area), but it leaves me hopeful that I might be able to find a similar price sometime soon.

[SandiC.]

Well, that is a super price for the bodybugg, and for the most part, the reviews were great with one exception. I decided to go for it and I ordered one. I compared prices with several other online sources and this price cannot be be beat. I'll let you know when I get it and try it out. It ships in 7-10 days, but I've found with ordering through Costco that things often ship out sooner than they tell you.

[ScrappingForever]

I am just getting started with mine. I only got the armband, and not the display device part (which is the wrist watch part) so that made it a lot cheaper. I also got 6 months of the online service, which I'm sure I'll renew, since that part is kind of necessary.

You're right, it isn't a HRM. It's a total calorie management system, so it tells you how many calories you've burned during the day. You then input the food you've eaten into the online system, and it will tell if you if you're over or under your requirement to lose weight. It is supposed to be much more accurate than anything else out there because it takes into account several different things going on in your body at the same time. (Can't remember what all they were at this point.)

Today is my first day for wearing it even though I got it for Christmas. Here is my experience so far - their customer service isn't the best. When I started the registration process, it wouldn't take the serial number. I had to wait till this past Monday to call customer service. All he could tell me what, well, that serial number isn't taken by anyone else. Okay, that's good to know, I guess. LOL He had to bump my problem up to tier 2 customer service. They were supposed to fix the problem with the serial number and email me back within 24 - 48 hrs. So, I should have heard by yesterday afternoon at the latest. Nothing. So I tried the registration process again, because the error I got was what gave me the customer service number to call. Lo and behold, it took my serial number that time! So they must have fixed it and never emailed me.

Next, I got hung up after the software install process. Their program wasn't showing that I had installed the software, even though I had and I had restarted my machine. Mike finally logged me in on his PC netbook and finished the process there to set up my account. So I think the software thing was a Mac or maybe a Safari problem, although it didn't work in Firefox either. There was one more problem again last night, I can't remember what it was, but we finally got it working on my Mac and I was able to finish setting up my account.

Fast forward to this morning, my first day for wearing the thing....the strap is too long. The velcro tab hooks on to the back of the strap. By the time I get the thing wrapped around my arm, I have enough strap left to go the whole way across the device and then hook on to what is now the front of the strap, which doesn't have the velcro side on it. LOL I have it strapped on my arm and being held tight with paper clips. We'll see if this makes it through an Insanity workout or not!

I'll keep you posted on how things go as the day wears on. lol Should be an interesting experience!

[ScrappingForever]

Oh, and we compared prices on Amazon, and they were about the same as getting it directly from MyApex/24 Hour Fitness.

[PhotoshopScrapper]

Thanks Jan!

Interesting set up problems you're having. I was actually starting to lean towards getting it and seeing if I like it. Shipping is included and I can return to my local Costco if I don't like it (which is around the corner).

I can certainly wait a day or two cause I'd love to hear more of what you learn! I'm really looking to get back into exercise once the holidays are over. A bit behind again on course work (even though I forged ahead before holidays) but hoping that I get it all caught up again rather quickly. I'm hopeful that my first 'semester' is the toughest because I'm carrying 3 courses and the rest I will be carrying 2....but time will tell.

I have a girlfriend who's interested in doing a 5k in the spring. I haven't even told my family I am considering joining her ... but I am. If I do it, it will be the first one I've ever done. I do need to get moving though to make some progress in the fitness area and thinking the pedometer portion of the BB will help (my HRM doesn't have a pedometer and even though it counts calories burned I know it's WAY off so never bother with that function).

Looking forward to hearing more from you!

[ScrappingForever]

Denise, check out the Coach Potato to 5K program. It tells you what to do every day to train for a 5K, starting with like, 30 seconds of running and then walking and then building up. That's what Mike and I started with.

[PhotoshopScrapper]

ScrappingForever, on 31 December 2009 - 10:23 AM, said:

Denise, check out the Coach Potato to 5K program. It tells you what to do every day to train for a 5K, starting with like, 30 seconds of running and then walking and then building up. That's what Mike and I started with.

Thanks for the advice Jan! Sounds like exactly what I need

[SandiC.]

Hm....sorry to hear about all the problems you're having with yours jan. I did order one and I'll wait and see what happens with it. If I have as much trouble as you are having I'll probably return it. And I got the couch to 5k app for my iphone and just might start working on it very, very soon....like tomorrow.

[PhotoshopScrapper]

Jan - how was your first day using the bodybugg? What's the software like? Anymore problems???

THANKS!

[ScrappingForever]

Okay, here's my first impressions after the first couple of days.

It's a great tool for keeping track of everything, but it definitely has its bugs. (May not be as much of a problem for PC owners.)

First, Safari compatibility. For the most part, it works, but every once in a while, when I go to update my calories burned and click on the link to do so, it gives me the box telling me that I have to install the software. I then have to quit out of Safari and bring it back up. It then works fine.

BodyBugg does not work on Firefox. I believe for the PCs it's Internet 6 and 7 and Safari for the Macs.

Be prepared to enter a LOT of your foods at first, or to build your recipes. Be prepared to have to convert a lot of things into grams. I find that rather annoying, because that's not how I measure things, but apparently it's the most accurate way to count calories.

Things I love:

That it keeps track of everything. I can see what my calorie burn is for a specific time period, I can see how many steps I've done during the day, I can even see how many calories I burned (estimated) while sleeping! It's a great tool, despite its quirks.

Things I hate:

It's HARD to get in 2100 calories burned (my goal) each day! It's EASY to eat 1600 calories a day! LOL Maybe that's why I'm having problems losing this last bit of weight! The BodyBugg will help with that, I believe. Yesterday, I burned 2259 and consumed 1704, so I still had a 555 calorie deficit. Yaay! And I walked 12258 steps, thanks to the run and then spending 3 hours in the kitchen baking and walking back and forth and back and forth. lol Today is going to be a more sedentary day altogether, so I'm going to try to eat really well today.

Anyway, there you have it. It takes a little time and patience to get used to, but in the long run, I think it will be worth it.

HTH!

[PhotoshopScrapper]

Thanks Jan! I placed my order figuring if I don't like it when it comes ... I can just take it back to my local costco which is around the corner pretty much. I do appreciate your feedback on it!

[SandiC.]

I got my email that mine had shipped. I'm a little nervous about all these quirks. The reviews were for the most part really good. nothing ventured, nothing gained (or in this case, lost).

[PhotoshopScrapper]

I'm feeling the same way Sandi. I don't like using IE at all but will try it for the bodybugg. My thinking is that it is probably the only product on the market that is that good at calculating calorie consumption and burn. Hoping that we can get by these quirks easy enough (with Jan as our leader of course) ... or ... take it back to Costco with a sad face if we can't make it work.

So am thinking for myself ... really have nothing to lose.

[ScrappingForever]

Hey ladies! Did you get your BodyBuggs yet?

I did my first weigh in this morning to update my measurements. Lost a pound! Yaay! Now, I may have lost a pound regardless of whether I was using this fancy gadget or not, but I feel I can be much more successful with this since I know exactly what I need to do. And that's even without burning as many calories as I need to every day. It's hard to get to 2100 when you live a mostly sedentary lifestyle.

It has gotten easier over the past week to deal with this thing. Or maybe I'm just used to the quirks now. Either way, I'll be sticking with it.

Let me know when you get yours and what you think.

[PhotoshopScrapper]

UPS has mine arriving sometime to day Jan. I plan on setting it up as soon as I can (coming to the last few weeks of my 3 classes and trying to get everything done for them).

I can't wait to see how many calories I'm not burning (even though I'm sure I won't be TOO surprised given you work out like crazy and are still having trouble burning 2100!).

My eldest DD loves watching Biggest Loser for some reason and now we're watching it too (even though DH doesn't like it). I spent last season trying to figure out just HOW those people were hitting those huge numbers every week and how could any doctor be saying that's healthy. Yes, I did figure it out ... they're told to burn at least 5000 calories/day and eat only 1200. I figure they must be working out 5 to 6 (or more) hours each day. Course normal people at home don't generally have that kind of time to devote to exercise but chances are we have more time than we put in (at least I'm sure if I managed my time somewhat better I probably do).

So - I'm looking forward to having the extra data from the bodybugg to help me along this path.

Thanks a bunch for your continued input and feedback!

[PhotoshopScrapper]

Well ... my bodybugg arrived on time yesterday. I charged it and had no problems logging in and setting up the account and downloading the software. It's on my arm for today. I decided I'm not going to change anything for today other than wear the BB. I haven't been feeling 100% all week (lack of sleep and sinus issues - bites when you can't breath easily). Just want to see how many calories I'm burning while not doing much at all other than course work. Then (hopefully tomorrow) get back into the routine of exercising.

Jan - are you wearing the BB 24x7 or are you taking it off when you go to sleep? I'm having a hard time imagining I'll be comfortable sleeping with it.

Sandi - have you gotten yours yet? Have you started using it? What do you think so far?

[ScrappingForever]

I take it off when I sleep. When you set it up, you put in the hours you want ti to keep track of, so I put 6 am to 10:30 PM and it then assumes you're sleeping the rest of the time. When you strap it on in the morning and sync it, if you happen to do it first thing, then it will show how many calories it thinks you burned while sleeping.

[PhotoshopScrapper]

Funny ... I put in those exact same hours. Thanks Jan. Can't wait to see what it has to say at the end of the day .