survey for bodybugg/gowear fit users with a BMI of 35+

I am trying to determine the accuracy of bodybugg/gowear fit with obese individuals particularly with a BMI of 35 or higher. I have read that the bodybugg/gowear fit can overestimate calories in people with a very high BMI, but was looking for proof in any real life examples. So, if you have a BMI of 35 or higher:

do you feel the bodybugg/gowear fit is overestimating your calories?

how does the bodybugg/gowear fit compare with other calorie expenditure tools, such as online calculators and BMR formulas?

if you follow the figures that bodybugg/gowear fit gives you, how does it affect your weight? do you gain lose or maintain?

thanks!

I am 6'1, 279, 36.8 BMI (down from 356/47). I bought a GoWear Fit armband on April 22nd and have been using it pretty religiously since. GoWear do state that the readings can be off by 10% during low physical periods and 5% off during high physical periods. 

I found the readings to be surprising at first. I just generated a 7-day report and it claims that I burn on average 4145 calories a day, I consume 3269 leaving an average deficit of 876 a day. This is sharp contrast to what CC suggested. They claim I burn 3070 a day under the moderate activity setting. I usually burn 500 cals extra 3x a week at the gym. Incorporating this into CC's estimation would leave an average burn of 3285 / day. Although, CC of course can't monitor exactly what I'm doing all the time; I teach which does require extra movement, I also walk around campus a lot etc etc. As a result, I've upped my calories a little to try to get a ~750 daily deficit. I'm yet to weigh myself this week and when I do I will post the values.

The only 'calibration' I've been able to do is compare the readouts on the cardio machines I use with the armband. When I'm on the elliptical burning my 500 in 30 mins, it claims an average cals/min at around 17/18. The armband said I was doing between 16-19 during that time. Also when I run / jog the armband gives very similar numbers to CC, maybe off by 5-10%. The difficulty there is correctly computing your average speed (I hate the treadmill).  

As for BMR. The BMR for my weight is 2555 (http://www.bmi-calculator.net/) and the BMR for my ideal weight is 1938. According to that I should currently be burning 1.7 cals/min resting. The armband says I burn 1.8-2 cals/min while resting. This isn't off by any stretch. 

I have confidence in the GoWear fit. I wasn't loosing before I got it and it might be because I was eating too little. I was consuming ~2500 a day. If I really am burning ~4145 a ~1645 calorie deficit seems a little steep. I will give this a month or 6 weeks using their numbers strictly and see what happens before modifying anything.

Having the data the GoWear gives you is fantastic IMO. The pedometer is really accurate (I took 24 steps going to the bathroom at 3:30am last night haha), the sleep meter is cool, the calorie burn graph is great and how it tracks your physical expenditure is really useful.

Frankly, I think the food database is better than CC's. The interface is a bit more fiddly to use, but overall easier to enter your data than CC's once you get used to it. The food database is really comprehensive and quick to access.. For example I can just type "kas cho" to get the kashi chocolate cherry tlc bar immediately. The food breakdown could be better, CC does win in that respect and there is no diet "grade". 

I only wish the following: 

1. It was waterproof (could swim with it)

2. It monitored your heart rate / pulse ox.

3. It could tell you your body fat % 

4. It sync'd over bluetooth / wifi.

5. There was a LCD readout on the band, not a $100 watch extra.

(I know 2/3 would skyrocket the price and might be technologically infeasible).

To sum up, I don't think its overestimating by much. I think its safe to cut the number by 5% and be right on the money. I love having it constantly track my expenditure. I don't know if its successful yet, but I am tracking EVERY bite of food honestly; I will weigh some time and post the results.

thanks for the info. I am 5' 11" and 278 with a bmi of 39. I havent even had the go wear fit for 24 hours but have had it on since 6:30pm last night (22 hours) and it says I have burned 3242. plus I have a leg injury so my dr said no exercise, so I have been sitting on my butt all week while usually I workout 50min 3x/week. So my burn is similar to yours. I bet on a workout day where I got to school and walk around campus all day I would probably burn like 4200. I think that has been my problem also that I havent been eating enough and my deficit has been to large, when I thought I was gaining because I was eating too much.  CC also says my sedentary bmr is around 2500 and about 3000 on  moderate. I have been eating around 2500 cals a day. I actually noticed that this week, while I could not workout I actually ate a little more and lost!

I will also keep you posted.

What are other people results with the bodybugg/gowear fit if you have BMI of 35+?

also, mgoyder

gowearfit does have a wireless communicator as an alternative to usb. dont exactly know where to get it. they mention it in the manual and faq but dont seem to sell it on their site. it does exist though.

also, amazon sells the watch display for 79.99 with free supersaver shipping. but like other items on amazon, the price varies from day to day. just 2 days ago when I bought my gowear fit it was 69.99  everywhere else I have seen it it is 99.99. I am probably going to get it when I have the money. :) 

My BMI is not 35+, so in that way I have no 'right' posting here ;-) but I thought I might add this: what I found is that GWF is really very helpful to find out what our N.E.A.T. is, which stands for Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis, you can read up on this subject on this here website. I think especially for people who have higher BMI this can be very important to measure, like you stated mgoyder how you move around on campus and in the classroom so much!
Exactly for that reason GWF is a wonderful and helpful tool!
I will keep an eye on this thread, I am also very curious about the outcome, but I think it is going to be a winner!
Happy losing !!