What's that one thing you wear on your arm to count the calories you burn in a day?

Okay, so I suppose my title said it all....what is that thing called?  Bunny something? I think I want one because I'm really sucking it up not counting calories and working out.  I told myself I was going to start with the Couch to 5K this week and now it's Thursday and I haven't got off the couch yet....I'm so mad at myself!  I have all these stupid temptations and I just don't get it as to why I can't control myself.  I have everything I need right here to get healthier and happier.  I just got engaged and am now wondering when my wedding will be and how I will look at my wedding....I want to be slimmer than I am now and I just can't seem to find my will power to start. 

I thought about doing the C25K on Monday-Wednesday-Friday and then swimming on Tuesday and Thursday.  But the problem is, the only time I can do this is at 5:30 AM!  And I am so not a morning person, but I want to be....so I am wondering if an actual calorie counter on my arm will tell me exactly what I'm burning and if it will keep me centered on what I want to achieve rather than rely on my head, because that seems to be letting me down a lot. 

It's so darn frustrating!  I hate feeling so large and awkward.  Just so people know my stats in case it's a factor here they are....

5'5"...206ish hovering between that and 204ish.  I don't look like I weigh that much because I have a lot of muscle, but when I put my fingers around my wrist I can overlap a bit so maybe I'm actually small frame?  I don't know.  My goal right now is to get to 180lbs.  I think i would feel so perfect at that weight, even though it's still technically overweight...but I know i'll feel better.  I just need help to kick me in the butt and I can't turn to my fiance because he says what does it matter, you look perfect.  PSH! Whatever! 

So main question...the calorie thing for the arm...and what else do you think i can do to get my butt in gear and start this fresh? 

Original Post by marsheroyth:

Okay, so I suppose my title said it all....what is that thing called?  Bunny something?

Body Bug?

The other thing you could be thinking of is a device also made by the same people that made the bodybugg - it's called a Gowear Fit and it's a bit cheaper than the bugg but uses all the same technology to calculate your calories burned. 

They sell them on Amazon and you can read the reviews - most people said knowing their calories burned made them want to work out more to increase their total burn for the day.

So do you actually set your alarm for 5:30 in the morning?  Can you tell yourself to get up off the couch in the evening, and go for a 30 minute walk?  Do you have a friend that can help motivate you (schedule a time to go out and do something)?  If you paid for a gym membership, would the fact that it would be wasted money motivate you to get going?

In my opinion, attaching something to your arm isn't enough.  Put up some posters of people whose body's you'd strive for around your house/apartment, like on your mirror, on the fridge, etc.  Join a "Learn To Run" clinic at a local running equipment store (I'm doing this right now).  Find a friend with similar goals, and work together.  Even start small, with getting out once per week for a 30 or 45 minute walk.

You're the only one that can get yourself going.  You have to chose to do this.  When I got started exercising, I had all sorts of excuses that just rolled off my tongue.  But a friend of mine kept after me, shooting down my excuses one by one until I had none left.  So I started swimming to begin with, 3x per week, and got a monthly membership at the Y.  When spring hit, I bought a new bike, and then I was financially committed to riding that on a regular basis.  Then I spent money on new running shoes, and signed up for my Learn To Run clinic, again, financially committing myself to an activity.  And now, I'm signed up for a triathlon in August. 

So for me, spending the money means I HAVE to do the activity.  My wife would nag me to death if I didn't.  It's also worked for me to state my goals to friends... It's harder for me to slip if other people can see that I've slacked off.  And I've had a really good friend who's helped keep me motivated, even though we don't work out together or anything.  But she still keeps me honest to myself.

I went from being a couch/computer potato to putting in 10 hours of cardio this month so far, and more than 10 hours of weight training.  I think I've had 21 "workout sessions" so far this month, in 25 days.  My YMCA has a magical system for tracking calories burned, cardio time, and weights lifted, and I'm over the 90th percentile for my age group in every category for their North American system.  If I can do this, you can too!

Hope this helps!  And I'm not trying to be negative, but YOU are the only one that can decide to make this happen.  Once you get going, I think other people can help motivate you and help keep you going.  But you have to make that first step.  All this is my humble opinion, and your experience may vary, obviously. :)  Good luck!

Clint

Okay!  Thank you for your help with the options for the bodybugg and Gowear Fit.  I will look at those and decide if I can get them!  Thank you so much!

pbear999:  Okay, so my fiance gets up at 5:30 for work and goes, and I do wake up, but then I go back to sleep and I tell myself I'll just eat less instead of exersice...i'm such a poop.  Seriously.  I even have a membership and I waste it!  I don't have any friends in town :( which is super sad.  I stay at home at night because I am a computer player and I have alotted times to play stuff, i'm a super geek...I need to change it all!  I need to start getting up and at em'! 

I like your ideas, really....like the pictures and things.  I feel so stupid putting them up because I am embarresed for others to see them and know that I'm striving to work out....I don't know why.

I signed up for only a one mile walk-a-thon on August 29th to do a drive for the down-syndrome society in my community.  I hope by then I can run instead.  :)

I wish my town were bigger and we had a running store thing where I could learn to run correctly.  Unfortunatly the place I have is stupid and we have high school kids working there who don't even know how to tie shoes. (harsh, but true)  The Y we have here in town only has the pool open in the mornings for laps and the work out area is only open in the morning because of summer hours and they close up that area so they can have kids in the gym for their summer activities.  It's so stupid.  Anyway, I suppose I am creating excuses for myself, and the thing I need to do is just do what I know only I can decide for myself.  Either live unhappy, or change.  Simple as that!  I just need to get off the darn computer and out in the sun. 

Thanks for the reply's.  I really appreciate your support and advice.

Body Bug is what you're thinking about. They are expensive.

I got a Polar F7 heart rate monitor. It comes with a chest strap and a watch.   I use it to monitor my heart rate (the higher the rate=the higher the burn). I love it. i use it swimming too. It does have a calorie counter, but the only downside is it really doesn't measure your cals burned sitting around.

it cost about $120 and i'm really happy with it (in case you were thinking of other products).

I use a Body Media, too.  I've got the SenseWear though, not the Bugg.

http://www.bodymedia.com/

We're twins! I'm 23, 5' 4'' and 205 lbs (down from 230!). you sound exactly like me when i started my weight loss about 3 months ago. tired of being fat, i thought 'if only I had this, then I could start losing weight'. So I would go out and buy whatever 'this' was, and it would sit in my car for the next month. I bought so much weight loss crap and always told myself I would start using it the next day. It never happened. I bought a gym membership, and din't use it for three months because I didn't have the right pants, or the right shoes etc...Sooooo many excuses. One morning, i woke up and it all clicked. I started eating healthy that day, and went to the gym for the first time. three months later I have yet to use any of that fitness crap I spent sooo much money on. I am losing weight without it, and it feels great! I have no idea if you're doing the same thing I did, i'm just sharing my story. I guess I'm telling you this because you can't buy weight loss, you have to be truly ready first. When you're ready, it will happen, no matter how much money you have spent. Sorry if this was out of line, I know you were just asking a simple question, but your story clicked with me. Good luck, and I hope you have a beautiful wedding :)

NO! It's not out of line at all!!! Thank you so much for sharing your story!  I'm so glad i'm not alone with this stupid head of mine.  I'm so happy I think I'm going to add you to my friends list!  Congratulations on the lbs lost!  I don't even know you and I'm proud of you...maybe because you said exactly the same things in your reply as I'm saying in my head all the time! 

Thank you for your help!  I hope to wake up and to just have it all click and just want to do it, but I'm holding myself back for some stupid reason....I'll get there, I know I will!  :) :)

My advice?  Get up when your fiance does and go for a walk/run.  Use him to make sure you get out of bed.  Get him to take the blankets/sheets with him to the living room, if that's what it takes.  Tell him that no matter how much you whine and cry, you want him to do this for 3 weeks.  And get to bed early enough that waking up isn't a problem.  Set a reward for yourself if you do this for a week, then 2 weeks, then 3.  By the time you get to 3 weeks, it should be a habit.

Start by walking for 30 minutes, 3x a week.  Then the next week, do 2 minutes of walking, and one minute of running for 20 to 25 minutes.  The next week, 1 minute walking, 1 minute running.  The next week is 1 minute walking, 2 minutes running.  Every week increase the running minutes by one.  By the end of 10 weeks or so, you'll be up to 10 minutes running, and one minute of walking (10&1's).  Some people use that same pattern to do long distance running, like marathons.

Clint

Not to hijack, but I was thinking of getting one of these. I want it mainly just to count my calories being burned throughout the day. Logging intake and all that other stuff I can do for free.

If I purchase it with a display watch, after the first 3 free months do I need a subscription for it to work? If I just want to use it to know my daily expenditure, the display is all I should need for that, isn't it?

I read a review how it can only hold up to 14 days worth of information before you have to upload it to the website and clear it out. Is this true just for calorie burn as well?

Yes the GWF and the body bugg have to be uploaded to the computer.  Once the memory is full there is no way to clear it without uploading the information to the proprietary web site.  You do have to have a subscription.

The positives:

It tracks your calorie burn 24 hours a day.  Even when you sleep.  this is really helpful if you can not get a handle on how much you burn.  My burn varies as much as 700-800 calories a day because of my work.  I could never calculate my actual burn with the online calculators.  There is just too much variance in my day.

It tracks your activity level.  This is important because as you lose weight you will see your burn fall a little. By seeing if you have maintained the same level of activity you have a much better idea if the lower burn is due to slacking off or lower weight.  It also helps to see just how much you have actually done in a day.  It is shocking when you think you have been busting butt but can clearly see that you really spent 6 hours or more sitting on your butt.

It tracks your sleep.  It will show you when you are sleeping, lying awake or sleeping deeply.  It will tell you how long you spent sleeping and how many calories you burned.  And, I discovered, it even tracks sleep walking.  Very weird to see a few dozen steps in the middle of the night when you know you did not wake up!

The cons:

The accuracy is +/- 10%.  That means some people will burn more than the device says and some will burn less.  Some will have a burn that is right on with the device.  This is only a slight con as having all of that data at your disposal it is pretty easy to figure out if the device is 100% accurate for you.  If not then all you have to do is adjust the numbers a little.

You can not wear it showering or swimming.  But the software has an edit off body feature that allows you to plug your burn in manually. 

It is not accurate for cycling and the eliptical.  But again, you can edit your burn manually or even try wearing it on your leg.  I just dont worry about the difference.  I call the extra burn a bonus.

Some people mention the price - but really it is only the same price as a decent HRM.  You do get a quality product with a lot of information for the price.  The subscription is pretty low (7 bucks a month) if you sign up for a year and they only charge you by the month.  Not all at once.  The subscription is 13 bucks if you want to use the device for only a few months.  I know I spend more than than on coffee. 

Frankly my GWF has been as valuable to me as a really good pair of athletic shoes.  One big way it helped me this past week was being able to look back over my burn for the last 3 months.  I thought I had been slacking off and was getting down on myself.  But being able to compare where I was in the beginning with where I am now I could see that I have actually imporved my activity level and burn rate.  A good dose of reality is always welcome. 

I also got the optional display and this helps me keep tabs on my effort level and seeing my burn rate helps me to keep moving. 

Obviously I love mine. 

Does anyone know of any other devices which are simpler and don't require subscriptions etc?

I just want to look down and see a number each day, that's all.

I bought a pedometer recently so that I would be encouraged to get my butt off the couch. 

So far it has worked really well.  I'm one of those people that does well with a very specific goal.  My goal is 12,500 steps per day and I make sure that I get it.  If I don't I actually feel like I've failed, which, for me, is the WORST.  Plus, I really think that having a very specific daily goal, instead of something weekly or monthly, helps me out a lot.  I don't have to think too far in the future, I just have to get through the day.  And once I get through one day then the next day isn't so hard because I've already done it before! 

My pedometer was only about $20 (from Target) and it tells me how many steps I've taken, how many miles it is, and how many calories I've burned.  It's been very helpful.

Thank you, madamq, for all that info! I'm still considering one, and I suppose trying it won't hurt. If you sign up for the year subscription and find you don't like it after the 3 months trial can you cancel?