Fitbit VS BodyMedia Fit

I just got a Fitbit Charge HR and years ago I got a BodyMedia fit Core. (Before that I had the BodyMedia Fit Advantage back when it was gowear fit)

I have had the fitbit about 24 hours and have logged 2 workouts. I have not calibrated it for steps yet (well for stride length). This is with the default they use based on my height and weirdly enough it ad my height as 5'6.9" instead of 5'7".

This is from a cize workout. I took screen shots from my computer and my phone so there are a lot.  I forgot to stop the fitbit so it was a 59 minute workout even though it was actually shorter. I did the same time for the bodymedia fit (well 1 minute longer)  The calorie burn was 317 calories for bodymedia fit and was 236 for fitbit. That is a huge difference!

I find it odd how the graph is different and more detailed and has colors when you view it on a phone versus on a computer. I wish I had the colors on the computer!

I added notes to my picture collage so that I could easily see later and also easily share on facebook.

I expected a huge difference again but this time it was only 10 calories off for the workout. That's pretty darn close! Fitbit does base theirs off of steps and dancing the steps are weird so that could be why. I will need to calibrate and try all again.  I have until September 23 before I'll be charged for another month on BodyMedia fit.  

One thing that was close was sleep!  BodyMedia fit counted lying down watching Big Brother so it seems that my efficiency is low but it really wasn't. Usually BMF doesn't count lying down watching TV so I must have been extra restful when Poly was on me.  I'm enjoying this data.

Do you have a fitness tracker? Which one and what do you like best?  I'm still trying to figure this thing out.

3.12

Ella woke up around 7:30 after having slept 10 hours.

After she ate we played with Dave a little and played.  She ate then slept again until 10. I also slept.

I basically had no time all day. I'm not sure why. She was fussy and wouldn't even play lying on her play mats anymore. She'd do her piano but not much. She wanted to eat often so I let her.

We went for a walk around 12:30.  She fell asleep about a mile into it so I kept adding on to the walk and adding half mile loops until she woke up then I turned around and went back.  I walked 2.6 miles. She slept about 35 minutes.

Around 2 we made some cute videos. Then I tried to get my picture taken beside Ella and she kept moving her face toward the camera and blocking me out. I made a couple more videos at 2:30.  We were playing all that time but she didn't want to play on her back.

I fed her and called my parents to tell my mom to check her email. I was too excited to wait for her to see the videos. We talked on the phone for an hour. Ella started eating and ended eating. She napped for almost a half hour in the middle too. She was on me for this nap.

She fell asleep after the nursing session that was at the end of the phone call. I waited a few minutes then put her in her crib.  This time she was swaddled so I thought she might sleep. I was going to go to the bathroom and get lunch. I only got the bathroom done before she woke up crying.

There were more failed attempts at playing.

I attempted food and held her while eating pretzel crisps with pub cheese. I thought back to the walk and how she was good so decided to go for another one. I took chips to eat while walking. I tried to think of other foods but failed.  She fell asleep about a mile in so I continued walking again even though my knee hurt.  We walked over 2.85 miles. (I wish strava went to the hundreth place and that I didn't forget to turn on the strava. I know based on runs that I turned it on a little over .25 into it.  She woke up with a half block to go so I quit adding on.

We got back and I nursed her. I fed Poly and 2 minutes later Dave was home. He brought dinner but Ella would not cooperate so I was unable to eat. I think I ate about 10 waffle fries over the span of an hour. I nursed once and had a few failed attempts at nursing.  I tried all the tricks.   Finally after 1.5 hours of it, I wake Dave up. (He ate then fell right to sleep.) I think maybe we can trick her. Because any time Dave swaddles Ella, she eats right after. At first I thought the trick failed but then I tried standing to nurse in front of the fan like I had to do on the 11th. That worked. I was so weak though. I was ready to die. I figured a way to half lean on the dresser. Ella is heavy. Also I barely ate so it didn't work well.

She ate for 10 minutes or so when I was standing then I managed to sit down for about 5 more minutes. She was dozing off. I was so happy. Finally she was asleep.  Then I ate half my dinner. I was reheating it since it was back in the fridge. I typed this then deleted some pics from my iphone then bed. I am going into bed at 10:30 PM and hoping I fall asleep.

My legs are so tired from walking. My abs are sore. I loaded body media fit and as of 10 PM I had burned 2650 calories with a projected burn of 2800 for the day. My goal is 2150 and I usually only hit that about half the time. (I actually burned 2804 and I was talking to Dave a bit in bed so didn't fall asleep right away.)

(I don't think I fell asleep right away but it's hard to remember.)
Check out more pictures from the day.

Numbers - Calorie Burn

Today I ran 1.5 miles then I was curious how that compared to walking 1.5 miles with calorie burn. I knew it was shorter but with a walk my calorie burn is increased for longer.

Well here are some numbers for an hour time.
Random hour: 77 calories burned
Hour that includes a 2.2 mi walk: 288 calories
Hour that includes 1.5 mi run: 365 calories

The random hour involved watching TV and some random stuff.

Looking at my BodyMedia fit data reinforced that running is better. I was hoping that was the case.
I'll need to note when I do an ab workout next time to compare that.

Is this what you'd expect?

Weight Graphs & BodyMedia Fit Data

Most of you know I keep a weight graph. I started it back in 2003 but lost the file so I'm missing a few years of data in the middle so most graphs only go back to 2006. I just now realized, they go back over 6 years of complete data and 10 years of incomplete data. Crazy.  These graphs are all on my site, but I don't elaborate on them at all like I will below so that's why I'm making a post about them now.

Sometimes on this blog I mention how I started losing weight around the time I found out I was going to move. I even dropped to my pre-wedding weight for the first time (graph at end for proof.)  I've also mentioned that I started watching TV nonstop around August/September. Look at the weight graph when that happened. Insane.

The weekly graph shows how steep it is a little more. And you can see I became more stable more recently. I did stop watching TV all day, every day so that stopped my weight gain but I didn't start to loose weight yet. 

The monthly graph used to always be my favorite. In April 2009, I joined the gym and I steadily went down every single month for awhile. I liked that. In the spring of 2011, I started increasing. I was injured and even after I was done being injured, I still kept gaining until I visited Callie. I have said I need a Callie visit to drop this weight now. She'd probably have it off me and more within a week. She's so active that I was constantly on the go.

My steps over time are interesting to look at. In the spring of 2010, I was training for my first half marathon and I mostly followed a training plan. My steps are higher on average (the black line) than they are later when I was training for longer races even though later on I'd have specific days that were much higher.  More recently my number of steps took a huge dive. I even wear my armband all day everyday now. In the summer of 2010 and 2011, I didn't wear the armband in public when it was visible and it was always visible if I wore short sleeves.   It's interesting how all this data helps tell a little bit of a story of my life. I also need to run longer than a 50k if I ever want to have a new maximum number of steps.

Sleep duration is something that has increased since I stopped working. I was always fairly consistent with a few days of almost nothing.  Granted when I spent a million hours watching TV, some of that time, the armband thought I was sleeping so maybe it didn't increase as much as it shows.

This shows the number of calories I burn a day. I feel like I was fairly consistent for almost two years and it would actually have been longer but since I didn't wear my armband all day in the summer of 2010, it didn't show how much I'd burn at work when I was zipping around to meetings. then just look at that drop off starting around August of this year.  I've been saying I got fatter because I was burning about 500 calories less a day than I had been before and this is evidence to that. It actually looks like more than 500 so I was just being kind when I said 500. Even though I may have been eating fewer calories it wasn't the full 500 so the weight was just piling on.

Body Media fit does moderate activity and vigorous activity. For me I really only get vigorous activity when I'm running. I get moderate activity all the time. I get it when I'm cleaning sometimes. I get it when I'm walking. I sometimes get it when I'm in social situations. Three years worth of data is hard to see on one graph, but I like it because it just shows that there isn't as much recently at all. 

 

To be able to see the physical activity a little better, I did weekly averages.

Then I did monthly averages. In July of this year I had a lot of moderate activity with all the unpacking I was doing. In August, I ran 55 miles so I did pretty well there but I also started to fall off the exercise wagon. Then in September I never did anything. I barely slept. I didn't leave the couch. All that shows. In November and December, I started walking to the store a lot more. Well that is also partly because Dave started driving to work daily so I couldn't drive to the store if I wanted to. I did start walking to Sprouts more often to buy fresh vegetables. I love Sprouts.

I spent entirely too long making these. I wish the export button for BodyMedia fit would allow more than 28 days at a time. I also just updated the old file I had. I probably have so many better ways of doing things now that I'm more proficient in excel. I just didn't feel like trying to change it all until I had some graphs updated but once a few were, I just did them all. I even have graphs that aren't on here or on my website. Numbers and data are my favorite things. I really wish in September, I didn't lose my desire for data. That is probably why I fell off the exercise wagon. Sometimes now I go running just to get more data. 

BodyMedia Fit Data

A few years ago I did a post about the calorie burn based on different exercises.  This post is just about the BodyMedia fit data itself not really based on each activity.  BodyMedia fit is similar to Body Bugg but BodyMedia fit does sleep duration and sleep efficiency. 

The night of 11/25-11/26

I set my own goal to 8 hours but I think that might be the default goal though.  The dark gray is when I was sleeping and the light gray is when I was lying down.  Sometimes when I toss and turn a lot, I will look at my data and it shows it.  Note if you sleep with your arm above your head, the armband won't register that time as sleeping or lying down.  This doesn't seem to affect me unless I wear my armband on my right arm but it affects my husband nightly.  For the most part this is accurate.  Sometimes I am lying down almost asleep watching TV and it registers as sleeping, but that is rare.  

Each day you can view your calorie burn.  You can see when your calorie burn was higher.  Most likely you know what you did during that time so it's no surprise.  Sometimes it's interesting to see the elevated calorie burn when you are socializing, shopping, or cleaning.  Shortly before 4:00 when my calorie burn is the highest that is when I went for a run. Over an hour later I'm elevated again because I went ot the gym. I started with elliptical and then did weights.. 

11.4.12 Run

You can move the slider at the bottom to zoom in on part of the graph.  Above shows when I went running (and a little before and after).  Note there are dips. Those dips are each walk break during my run.  The 3 dips that are down further than the rest are actually when we stopped at water fountains.  Normally walking wouldn't be anywhere near 8 calories an hour but your heart rate is still elevated from the run so you keep burning calories but you get some recovery time so you can run longer.

Also on the website you can see your physical activity. Moderate activity is from 3-6 METs and vigorous is over 6.  I mainly get vigorous exercise when I run.  In the past I've gotten maybe 3 minutes out of a 45 minute spin class as vigorous and maybe 18 minutes of a Body Combat class as vigorous.  A lot of normal activities count as moderate for me. Meetings at work, walking, cleaning, and some socializing are all things that count as moderate activity for me.  METs is not calories per minute but it is very smilar for me since I normally burn 1.0 or 1.1 calories a minute so everything is very similar for me.

 Here's another screen shot of calorie burn.  By default BodyMedia fit only shows me what I told it at one point are my standard waking up and going to sleep times.  They are way off based on my current jobless state.  The increased calorie burn there after 8PM is when I went to the gym.  I ran 1.25 miles. Then I got water and decided to run more. You can see the dip.  Then the next 20 minutes were lifting weights.  Then I increased again at the end because I ran another half mile.  I could probably guess my calorie burn and what the graphs would look like based on what I did because I'm so used to seeing these.

 I love when FIT coach tells me Great work but it barely happens. About a month ago I changed my calorie burn goal to make it lower since I was never meeting it.  Back in March my average calorie burn for the month was ~2400 calories and for October it was under 1900.

FIT coach really does give you some interesting tips.  But as you can see by all these screen shots, I don't listen to any of them.

I don't only get warnings about my poor eating habits but sometimes get warnings on my calories burned for the day. I do notice that it will give me different amount of times to use the exercise bike to meet my calorie burn for the day.  I haven't actually done their suggestions yet but maybe some day.  The other day at the gym, I ran an extra half mile at the end because based on my mental calculations I would be a few calories short of my goal otherwise.  

The following are from 11/27

Look at these FIT coach warnings. No wonder I'm fat.

Fit coach tries to be encouraging. I've gained weight since I set up my weight loss goal.  My goal is higher than I was mid September so don't get any ideas that I'm trying to get too skinny or something.

This is a pie chart that you see daily if you enter your food online.  Today I had a lot of fat because I had dinner at 5 Guys. (This was actually before I ate a S'mores ice cream sandwich.)

Is there anything you'd like me to show or explain about my BodyMedia fit? I have more graphs at the bottom of my weight graph page if you want to see some other stuff I didn't mention here. 

5.14

Pants: VS, Shoes: Kohl's, Sweater: B. Moss, Tank: NY&Co.

On my way to work I saw a specialized license plate that I never saw before. Choose Life. PA seems to have so many specialized plates.

Dave and I finally put skins on our BodyMedia fits.  We had the skins ever since Dave got his armband. I think I got him the armband last summer. We had more to choose from but we went with these ones.

North Park Run then Walk (12/30)

Jen and I ran in the morning. She was ahead of schedule so I rushed in the morning to get there.  It ended up much warmer than either of us anticipated and we were too bundled up. It's funny how 40 degrees with a lower windchill ends up too warm.

The run was a struggle for me (well both of us).  We did our normal run:walk routine but we had to slow it up.  We were having difficulty talking while running.

I wore my new compression socks. I got them for Christmas. I didn't ask for them but was debating getting t hem for myself. My shins just bother me so much lately that my running in December has severely been lacking.

I also wore my new arm warmers.  They were quite warm.  I had on a tank + arm warmers, then a light jacket on top. I ended up removing the jacket after about 4 miles. I removed my gloves much earlier than that.  I left my headband on because I didn't want super messed up hair.

After we were done with a shortened loop, we walked the entire loop including the big hill. The walk went by so fast. We got so much talking in.  We were walking pretty fast.  It did start to rain a little during the walk, but it wasn't bad.

My BodyMedia fit even had me at vigorous activity during the walk. I can't think of a time that ever happened before.  Probably because it was so soon after the run.  Jen and I tend to run then stand at our cars talking for 15-30 minutes so we might as well walk and get some more exercise.

My garmin had distinct differences between "Time" and "Moving Time" and I don't understand it. Each mile almost has a 1 minute difference.  We were moving the entire time.  I only remember my old garmin having a 2-5 sec difference and usually that was when I did an out and back so I thought it was the couple seconds that it didn't realize what specific point I went to.

The slight dip after 5 minutes was the bathroom break.  The next dip was the stop back at the car to remove some layers.  I can't believe the walk had me at such a high calorie burn.

I tried the compare feature on the Garmin and it just gave me all of the things above.  They weren't all at North Park. I think it just did a distance compare.  I put check marks by the ones I think I ran with Jen.

So we did 9.5 miles total the day before a race.  Probably wasn't the smartest idea.  My legs were so fatigued all day. Which is the opposite of rest the day before a race. Oops.

BodyMedia Fit While Sick

My husband has been sick all week. On Wednesday, he sent me his Tuesday's data and asked if he was doing it right.  Look how many hours he was lying down.  Isn't that nuts. I've had my armband for 2 weeks short of 2 years and my maximum lying down is a little over 13 hours.  He woke up Tuesday and thought he might go to work. He decided against it and I said the same thing. Looks like his day wouldn't have been so productive if he tried to work.  Dave didn't go to work Monday or Tuesday (the sleep cycle is from noon to noon).  He did telecommute on Wednesday.  He got lightheaded walking 20 ft to pick up his laptop bag and carry it over to the bed.  He told me later that after 2 hours he did move to his desk. He went into work on Thursday. He was still unable to eat. He had some broth and crackers over the previous few days.  Poor guy.

I didn't document my food on Tuesday but I did on Sunday and Monday when he was sick.  When he's sick it is like I'm on a diet because I feel bad eating around him. Also I don't want to cook just for me.  My weight showed a drop in weight too.  To remedy this, on Wednesday I stopped to buy dinner and bought myself a pumpkin pie. I ate 1/4 of it that night and 1/4 the next day. It helped my calories consumed number. Too bad those were all the wrong kind of calories.

13 Miles (9.11.11)

I went running this morning.  I took too long before I left. I downloaded an app used for run/walking.  I didn't get a fancy app.  I just wanted one that does the timer. I didn't need a GPS because I already have that. Also, I figured the less it does, the longer the battery will last.
I started off just running. Then decided I would run 3.25 miles before I started run/walking. I extended that a little bit to make it an even 30 minutes of running before I walked for 1 minute, ran for 4 and repeat.

Close to the end of 5 miles, I just ran the rest of the way to get to the car. I got my water and paced back and forth and back and forth until I drank about half my bottle.  Then I walked over to the loop again.

I ran in the opposite direction this time.

I continued with the run 4 minutes/walk 1 minute ratio.

There was an Ovarian Cancer walk going on and it was awful. It just kept getting worse. Walkers don't understand the concept of making room for a runner. They walk 5 across and even block half the road. I had to go to stops a few times just because people won't shift over when I'm on the very edge.

At 9 miles I had to change my ratio. That was the point that I turned around too.  I walked an additional few minutes just to recover a little bit.  I tried 3:1 ratio for maybe one time. That was still too hard and I was going too slow so I tried the 3:2 ratio.  Right after I got to 10 miles I switched to a 2:1 ratio. At 10.77 miles I had to walk for 5 minutes. Well I was trying to walk for a minimum but my shoulder/chest were hurting. I couldn't pump my arm without the pain and I didn't want to make things worse.  Then I ran for less than a minute and just knew I couldn't run any more based on my chest/shoulder pain.  At this point it was 11.15 miles.

Finally after walking until 12, I decided to try to run a bit. I ran .5.  At that point I finished the loop. When I turned around at 9, I forgot to account for all the walking I did by the car right at 5 miles.  I looped back and forth in the parking lot until I got to 13. 

I finished my run! I beat my goal time. My goal time was so slow to account for all the walking. I hadn't run 13 miles since March and I only ran more than 7 miles once since then.  I knew it'd be a hard run. My weekly mileage is 18.65 for this week which is pretty impressive for me but according to the training plan I should have run 25 miles.

My calorie burn only slightly dropped with the run/walk but it was a lot easier to do and I went further.

I ran 6.53 miles on August 7.
I ran 10.07 miles on July 31.
I ran 6.58 miles on July 10.
I ran 18.9 miles on March 26.
I ran 15 miles on March 13.
I ran 6.77 miles on March 6.
So those are all of my runs above 6.5 miles the 6 months. Not many! I should have had a lot more. I guess that makes me more proud of my completion today.  The run/walk method really helped. What also helped was being 2 miles from my car when I wanted to quit.