BodyMedia Fit Calorie Data

I will warn you that this is a lot of data. Yesterday a friend even said that I might need something like AA but for Data (DA was her suggestion).

BodyMedia Fit Data

You can compare this to NutriStrategy data.

I'd like to first state that this is ONLY during the exercise and not including how your calorie burn is increased for a certain period of time after a workout. For example during body this one body pump class I burned 257 calories but during the entire time I was elevated I burned 450. I stayed elevated for 50 additional minutes after class was over.  Also, in general I notice my calorie burn staying elevated for longer periods of time after a run or after body pump.

Also note all "Run Race" data is from 5k races. I ran so many it was easier to use that. After I created the image, I thought I should use half-marathon and 10k info too.

How I got my data: I wore my GoWear fit (now BodyMedia Fit) during all exercises. I would write down the date, time, exercise, and duration of specific activities.  After 6 months of this, I just write down specific calorie burn in my spreadsheet every now and then but I still document what exercises I do what day (because if it isn't documented it didn't happen. I know I need help.) I have had my armband since October 2, 2009. I have a lot of data on this thing.

To create the table above, I went through my lists and randomly picked 5 times that I did an activity and put the info in a table. The calories you see above are the averages of doing an activity 5 times (with a few exceptions.)  I only ever did Zumba once and hated it so I won't be doing it again. I also only had 2 data points from using a rower. I did tae bo maybe a dozen times but didn't mark down the duration and usually I did another activity before or after so I only have 1 data point for that.

Why I didn't use extended calorie burn:
I didn't use extended calorie burn because sometimes I shower right after an exercise, sometimes I do another exercise right after, sometimes I left work and had to go to a store in my workout clothes and I had high calorie burn during the shopping.  There are actually very few times I just do one activity.

My favorite activities:
I like Body Pump and Running the best.  Body Pump goes so quickly and I have great calorie burn.  The hour feels like 10 minutes and I love the group setting. Also, I actually have some muscles.  I like running because of the awesome calorie burn, because I can use running time to think, because I get great data on splits and mileage.

Exercise (1 hour)	130 lb	155 lb	180 lb	205 lb
Running, 5 mph (12 minute mile)	472	563	654	745
Running, 5.2 mph (11.5 minute mile)	531	633	735	838
Running, 6 mph (10 min mile)	590	704	817	931
Running, 6.7 mph (9 min mile)	649	774	899	1024
Running, 7 mph (8.5 min mile)	679	809	940	1070
Running, 7.5mph (8 min mile)	738	880	1022	1163

Observations: My calorie burn is the same per hour when I run, unlike the table shown above.
Stressful situations at work or social situations sometimes cause me to burn way more calories than actual exercise.   I prefer Fall, Winter, Spring so I can wear my armband 24/7. I love knowing when I burn an insane amount of calories at work when I'm super stressed.  I burn roughly 1600 calories on a day that I don't do anything (Calorie Count shows I would burn 1630).  I have a friend who has a Body Bugg and he burns 3300 calories on a day he does nothing.  Caloire Count calculates that I burn 2340 calories a day based on my height, weight, age, and level of activity, but I only burn about 2000 in a given day.  I burn more when I have a stressful day in addition to exercising for over an hour. 

Christmas Eve 2009 wearing a dress and my armband

Sometimes if I'll just be around family, I still wear my armband even though it is visible. 


This armband has caused me to eat more food. I eat less than I burn and I didn't want to lose weight due to not fitting in clothes as it is. I wanted to be healthier with a lower body fat percentage but without weighing less. The BodyMedia Fit has helped me achieve that (except I've put on a few lbs lately.) I feel like just knowing that you document what you eat, you try to eat better and that knowing it keeps track of my calorie burn, sometimes I workout just a little longer since I can see the results. 

Surprises:

• Exercise Bike/Spinning: In looking at the data, I am surprised at how high the exercise bike at home calorie burn is. I feel like I'm so much more dead at the end of spinning class. I think at spinning, we change resistance and speed but at home I try to go the same fast pace at the same resistance. (Update: This is inaccurate. My division was wrong but I'm still surprised how spinning is above Tae Bo but below elliptical.)
• Shoveling: Shoveling is so hard. I'm surprised the calorie burn was so low. My shoveling calorie burn is much lower than NutriStrategy shows. Perhaps the slope of my driveway makes it a lot more challenging just to balance but that does not increase my calorie burn.

I do not have the display watch but I'm OK with that. I hear it is wonderful though. If I had it, I would love it. I did not get it when I got the armband as a gift so I just settled with what I had. 

I do have a complaint in that the armband won't sync with my new computer. I have to use my netbook. I took a picture of the BSD and will complain to their customer support, but I have not had the time. I'm hoping they can fix it because it is really annoying to charge it now and to load my data.


I weighed between 125 and 130 for all of this data. I have numerous graphs that show my weight. (It hasn't been updated since October 28; I have been busy.)


I also love the sleep efficiency that the armband shows. I didn't even know I'd like it, but I love it.


I'm so obsessed, I could write more but this is probably already my longest post ever but ask questions if you have any.


(Just noticed the division was wrong for exercise bike. I updated the table but didn't update wording on the rest of the post besides where noted.)