Go Wear Fit!

FiddleFit

FiddleFit

Cathlete
Hi everyone!

Thanks to all the enablers on this forum, I bought myself a Go Wear Fit! I've been wearing it for 4 days now, and blogging about it on my website. It's very interesting to see how my body burns calories, and when. I've learned so far that my workouts do not burn as many calories as my heart rate monitor indicates, but that overall I burn a lot more calories in a day than I estimated :D. I also love seeing my sleep quality results. I'm sleep deprived :confused:.

What do the other GWF or BodyBugg users think? Has seeing your daily calorie burn helped you progress towards your goals? What have you learned about yourself?

My blog, if you're curious, is located at http://www.sandrarastin.ca. I'm not affiliated with the company in ANY way, so my observations are completely from a consumer's perspective, and I receive no gain if you choose to buy the product or otherwise. I'm just having some fun with a new toy :).

Cheers!
 
Congratulations on your purchase!! You're going to love, love, love your GWF!

I have the BodyBugg, but I'm thinking it's similar to your GWF. Although, I do see alot of GWF users talking about your sleep results and I don't think that feature is on the BB. I wear mine to bed and it just tells me my calories burned per minute (like any other time of the day), but I've never seen a feature about seeing if I'm 'sleep deprived' or anything. So that's a cool feature to have!!

As far as what I've learned, I could go on and on. I've learned that running and hi/lo workouts burn way more calories for me than step workouts (and you're so right about the heart rate monitor vs. the BB/GWF - the numbers are completely different), I've learned that I really need to move all day (in some fashion) because I am a slow burning - only 1 cal/minute during sleep and not much more than that if I'm just sitting around - so I make it a habit to take mini walks at work (even for 5 minutes or so), park farther away than usual whenever I go shopping, and just take breaks throughout my day. It sounds dumb, and we've all heard it before, but it really, really does help. I also learned alot about my eating. Having the percentage breakdown is the best feature for me. Before the BB, I would aim for X amount of calories, paying no attention to where those calories came from. Now, while I'm still concerned about the number of calories, I also make sure I get my percentages on track. The knowledge alone is worth so much to me that I can't imagine ever not wearing my BB!! OH - and that whole 'calorie after burn' thing is TRUE!! When I run, then lift weight for 20 minutes or so, WOW - I burn so many calories. Weight lifting is a really low burner for me, but when I start with cardio first, the numbers shoot way up. And on days when I just do cardio, I do burn more calories in the next few hours than I would have if I didn't work out. Have you noticed anything like that yet??

It sounds like you are enjoying you GWF and will for a long time!! Enjoy it and enjoy learning all about yourself while wearing it!:D

Erin
 
I received my GWF about two weeks ago. After 6 straight days down with the flu:( I finally am getting to play with this gadget. I like it so far, but am disappointed because it never seems to be in sync with my display. And today here i am at work walking my tush off and the stupid display is saying my armband isn't set up:mad:. And it is set up, i 've been using it for three days. Other than these glitches, i think i have alot to learn about my activity.
 
Erin -
When doing my shopping, I learned that the difference between the BB and GWF is that BB was created for use with 24 Hour Fitness people (is that a fitness club chain in the US?), while GWF was designed for indivdual, personal use. Hence, the BB has parameters that allow for monitoring groups, although I don't know what those are. GWF, you're right, has the ability to monitor sleep quality, while BB does not. Both are made by the same company. GWF doesn't actually say "you're sleep deprived"; I'm just going by my total amount of actual sleep over the last 3 nights. I'm averaging 5.5 hours over all 3 nights.....not good. My problem isn't insomnia; I just can't get to bed early enough to get a full night's sleep.

I haven't done a step workout with the GWF yet, but I was astonished at how "few" calories I burned during my spin class last night. An advanced 60min class burned around 450 calories. My HRM typically has me burning between 600-800 cals for spin! What a difference!! But like you, I noticed that the post exercise 12 hour period had a higher per minute calorie burn than other days. It's fascinating to be able to actually SEE that!

I LOVE how you've made attempts to incorporate more activity throughout your day! It REALLY makes a difference, doesn't it?

Wendygurl -
I'm glad you're finally feeling better! Being sick really sucks. And it sucks even more when your great new toy doesn't work properly! I hope you get that sorted out really soon!

Wendy-
Thanks!! I'm trying to post updates every night. I have so many things I want to eventually talk about in the blog. Please leave a comment or two!

Cheers!
 
I've had my GWF since May. I wear it almost constantly. It really opened my eyes to my calorie burn. I've tracked my food for quite awhile so I knew what that was. This was my missing link.

I definitely burn more calories with cardio. My highest burn is with a cardio coach workout vs a step or kickbox workout. I've even found I get a decent calorie burn with a Leslie walk. it has motivated me to move more, even to march in place brushing my teeth :p

Prior to changing things post GWF I was stalled/increased weight. I increased my (clean) calories and changed my cardio. Since tweaking things I've been able to lose. It's now more than 20lbs and I'm still losing - slooooowly - but losing.

The only thing I don't like is the monthly fee. But as long as it's working for me - I'll pay it gladly. :cool:

I have ordered the fitbit and will be wearing them simultaneously to see how they compare. I can't see paying the monthly GWF fee for the rest of my life ;)
 
I've been so entirely curious about this new gadget.

Does it act like a heart monitor? Also, do you have to purchase the subscription to their web site in order for it to work? Is the subscription really worth the purchase?
 
How does the GWF calculate calorie burn? Does it use your HR? My GPS uses speed and distance to calculate calories burned but my HR moniter uses HR to calculate calories burned. I would think that the only thing the GWF can use is HR. Maybe the difference in calories burned is because you have your target HR zone inforomation different in the GWF than on your HR moniter. Or maybe your general stats are different (age, gender, weight, etc).
 
I'm so interested in hearing more about this. I've looked into the Fitbit. Even though it's smaller, it's just now shipping to people that ordered last year.

I like the idea that the Gowear has a display.
 
sancho said:
How does the GWF calculate calorie burn? Does it use your HR? My GPS uses speed and distance to calculate calories burned but my HR moniter uses HR to calculate calories burned. I would think that the only thing the GWF can use is HR. Maybe the difference in calories burned is because you have your target HR zone inforomation different in the GWF than on your HR moniter. Or maybe your general stats are different (age, gender, weight, etc).
Click to expand...

This is the explanation from the company website:

How does the GoWear fit armband measure how many calories I burn?
The GoWear fit armband contains multiple sensors that measure motion, body heat, skin temperature, and conductivity. A proprietary algorithm “crunches” the collected information and the user’s personal body parameters to deliver accurate information on activity, steps and calorie burn.

FiddleFit said:
What do the other GWF or BodyBugg users think? Has seeing your daily calorie burn helped you progress towards your goals? What have you learned about yourself?
Click to expand...

Overall, I love the GWF, although it is not perfect. I ordered mine in the summer but did some extended traveling and didn't really start wearing it regularly until September. IA, it is very informative. I find the summary report feature to be especially helpful. I like that the program crunches all the numbers for me, so I can analyze my patterns and overall averages at-a-glance.

I've used either a Garmin or a HRM to measure calories burned in the past, but what's been eye-opening to me is wearing the GWF all day and seeing how active I am in a typical workday. I have learned that I am still consuming too many calories compared to what I burn in order to keep losing weight. On a side note, I still wear my Garmin to run, and the calories expenditure numbers are very close. (The GWF is lower by about 15-20 calories.)

What I don't love? I purchased the display monitor, which you can either clip on or wear as a watch. The display face twists off, so that you can use it interchangably, but I was having a problem with mine coming loose. One time it actually did fall off during the course of the day, and I'd thought I'd lost it. Luckily, I found it the next day on my classroom floor. But I stopped wearing it, so that I don't have to worry about it. Now if I take it with me, I just keep it in my purse. When I WAS wearing it, I did notice it lost sync with the armband quite a bit, but when you re-sync it, all the info is updated on the display.

The other issue involves the software. It's free for the first 6 months, and after that, it is $6.95/month. I wouldn't have an issue with paying for the service EXCEPT that I do have technical issues with the software. It wants you to run earlier versions of IE or Firefox and uses an earlier version of Java. Maybe I'm just not technically savvy enough to get around it. Although it does work for me, I can't say it's a smooth experience. I get annoying pop-ups and sometimes error messages that force me to exit as I'm logging in my food intake. I don't LOSE all the information when that happens, but I do have to exit that particular window and start again. It's a few extra clicks and minutes spent that shouldn't be happening for a paid service, IMO. I do have an upcoming appointment with tech support, so I'm hoping it can be ironed out. Otherwise, I'm not sure what I will do...In all candor, I like the GWF enough and find its information useful enough that I might just put up with the inconvenience.
 
I have resisted this for so long, afraid that it will feed my fitness obsession too much. That being said, can I wear it in conjuction with the Garmin Forerunner 305 I'm hoping to get for Christmas? :D

And given that it uses heat and sweat to measure calorie burn, what if you are running outside on a cold day, as opposed to the middle of summer? Does the calorie burn calculation go right out the window?
 
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Brenda -
I think my biggest surprise has been that there isn't a huge difference in calorie burn between really intense exercise and moderate activity. Yes, there's some, but it's not the gap that it feels like when you're exercising! The benefit of vigorous exercise really does seem to come in the afterburn effect, and in conditioning the heart and lungs. But for straight calorie burn, it's over rated. I'm thrilled to see that you've lost 20+ lbs, just because you've become informed about your body!! The monthly fee is a stinker, for sure. At least when I was on Weight Watchers, the meetings were free after I hit my goal! LOL!

Kali1 -
No, it doesn't act like a heart rate monitor at all. Your heart rate doesn't come into play at all. It uses 4 measures, one of which is skin temperature and I can't remember the other 3. Plus, this accurately tracks your calorie expenditure 24/7, not just when exercising. If you purchase the display (which is optional), you could get away without the monthly subscription to the Activity Manager. The display will tell you your calories burned, your steps taken, and how many minutes you did "vigorous" or "moderate" exercise. But when you upload your information into the activity manager, you get sooooo much more feedback about your day. I purchased the GWF & display from their website, and got the subscription for $6.95/mth, for a year. That's reasonable to me. Keep us posted on how you like the FitBit!

Sancho -
Nope. As I wrote to Kali, it uses different measures altogether. Let me grab the book and see what those are (nice music playing while Sandra grabs the book). Here we go:
1. accelerometer
2. heat flux
3. galvanic skin response
4. skin temperature
Their website goes into more detail about those. Heart rate monitors work by correlating heart rate to calorie burn. This correlation is not 100%, and when not exercising, or when doing certain activities like weight training, the relationship is much weaker. There are many, many activities where our heart rate increases, but our caloric burn does not. Devices like GWF are much more accurate for calculating caloric burn in all activities. Or at least, that's what they're saying :)

Cathy -
Doh! If I'd scrolled down first, I'd have seen that you've already done the work for me. Thanks! The details are informative. I'm using Safari 4 on a Mac to run the Activity Manager and even though it tells me the browser is not supported, it still runs smoothly. I haven't had the problems you're mentioning. Thankfully. It's very annoying when stuff like that happens and I agree, they should be creating software that keeps up with the browsers. Let us know if Tech support is helpful. Customer service is also what we pay for, so please give us a review of how it went.

Cheers!
 
FiddleFit said:

Kali1 -
No, it doesn't act like a heart rate monitor at all. Your heart rate doesn't come into play at all. It uses 4 measures, one of which is skin temperature and I can't remember the other 3. Plus, this accurately tracks your calorie expenditure 24/7, not just when exercising. If you purchase the display (which is optional), you could get away without the monthly subscription to the Activity Manager. The display will tell you your calories burned, your steps taken, and how many minutes you did "vigorous" or "moderate" exercise. But when you upload your information into the activity manager, you get sooooo much more feedback about your day. I purchased the GWF & display from their website, and got the subscription for $6.95/mth, for a year. That's reasonable to me. Keep us posted on how you like the FitBit!
Click to expand...


Ok....so if you want a heart rate monitor, you'll have to purchase that separately. DO you find the Go Wear is more accurate than what a heart rate monitor offers?

It sounds like if you want the full effect of the system, you need to purchase the subscription. Now, you could do without the display though or do you find that gives you good feedback during the day instead of waiting till the end of the day to get your stats?

I haven't purchased the FitBit. I'm torn between the BodyBugg, the Go Wear and the FitBit.
 
Morningstar - Yes, this is not a toy to get if you're already spending too much time in fitness endeavours! LOL! But I imagine you can wear it with the Garmin, although I don't have that product to say for sure. The armband goes around your upper arm, and the display can either go in a wristband, clip to your waistband, or be left at home. The Garmin goes around the wrist, right? And is there a chest strap? That's an excellent question about the air temperature. I don't know the answer. That's one to research on the website (note to self: research this).

Kali1 - Yes, the GWF wins hands down in terms of what it has to offer. The information is more accurate, and it calculates your energy expenditure 24 hours a day, not just when doing aerobic exercise. So, you can kiss those general formulas about caloric burn goodbye, and learn the real truth about your body. I've been astonished at how many calories I actually burn in a day. For years I've been trying to eat in a 500cal/day deficit, quite unsuccessfully. Turns out, I burn way more calories/day than the forumlas led me to believe (but conversely, fewer calories during exercise). So, I've been undereating by a long shot, and unable to sustain the deficit long enough to get these last few pounds g.o.n.e.

The display is optional, but it all depends on how you plan to use the device. Personally, I prefer to have the information available to me throughout the day, so I can modify my activity or eating to reach my targets by the end of the day. You can upload the data from the armband whenever you want, as many times of the day as you want, so if you have quick and easy access to a computer all day long, you could get your feedback that way. It's really simple to upload the data to the computer. One of the features of the display that is not in the Activity Manager is the ability to monitor a specific time period within your day. For example, if I want to see how many calories I burn during a cycle class, I press the "trip" button on the display and it will start the count at 0 (the daily total is unaffected by doing this). At the end of the class I can see how many calories I burned, how many steps were taken, and how many minutes of my exercise were "vigorous" versus "moderate" intensity. That's a fun feature.

HTH,
Sandra
 
So it tells you if the activity was "vigorous" or "moderate" intensity? WOw! It sounds like it does more than the FitBit which only tracks burned, steps taken, distance traveled and sleep. The FitBit from what I gathered on the website has a tiny display that only shows the daily info. Doesn't appear it had a 'trip' feature like you've just described.

I can be wrong but I don't think there's a heart rate monitor out there that does what the GWF does. Do you find that you still need a heart rate monitor to see where you are during a workout or does the GWF take care of that?
 
Kali1 -
Yes, it rates "moderate" activity as 3-6mets, and "vigorous" as 6+mets. You can change those parameters, if you like.

As far as I know, there is no HRM that does any of this. In the past I've only used my HRM to get an estimate on my calorie burn. I use perceived exertion to gauge my work intensity. So, I don't see much use for my HRM now that I have the GWF. However, if you're someone who makes a point of training within heart rate zones, then you will still need a heart rate monitor.

Cheers!
 
I just wanted to add that I have had my GWF since the beginning of May. I found it invaluable in the beginning and I still wear it daily (99% of the time).

What I learned was how much the little stuff adds up and how spending most of the day doing yardwork can really burn a lot of calories.

I haven't paid that close attention to the afterburn effect of intense workouts. I'll have to check that out.

One thing I want to correct. The GWF will only store 14 days worth of information, so my understanding is if you don't upload it to the Activity Manager after 14 days the GWF will stop working. This means that you do need to pay the monthly fee. If anyone has the display and has let it go further then 14 days and found it still works, please correct me. :eek:
 
Dawn - Hi! How are you doing? Thanks for the info about the armband storing info for 14 days. I'd forgotten about that. Right now I'm still in the honeymoon phase, and am downloading the data at least once a day. If one truly didn't want to pay for the website subscription, I suppose they could just log their daily results into a journal, or create a spreadsheet in another program. I'm finding the Activity Manager is worth the cost.

I just discovered the "edit off body" feature, which is terrific. They thought of everything :D. This feature lets the program estimate how many calories you burned when you weren't wearing the armband (showering, swimming, etc.). You tell it what activity you were doing during that time, and it approximates how much energy you burned, based on the information that it's been gathering about you.

Cheers,
Sandra
 
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