The Bodybugg: The World's Most Intelligent Calorie Management System

"What's That On Your Arm?"

The Bodybugg Personal Calorie Management System

If you have a Bodybugg you've probably heard that question more times than you can count. If you're thinking about purchasing a Bodybugg get ready because this is the question you'll hear whenever your Bodybugg is visible. And if you're reading this and have no idea what I'm talking about then keep reading! So what exactly is a "Bodybugg"? In short, my answer when anyone asks, is that it's a device that you wear that counts the calories that you burn throughout the day and by logging in the food you eat online, it can help you lose, maintain or gain weight. While that answer is true and gives the person who asked a basic understanding of what the Bodybugg does, the Bodybugg Calorie Management System is so much more than what I've just stated! It's a simple but powerful and effective tool that I would recommend for anyone who wants to keep track of the calories they are burning and taking in day to day. It truly is, in my opinion, the key to managing your weight for the rest of your life.


How It Works
So if you're one of the people who began reading this and had never heard of the Bodybugg before, I'm sure you're thinking, "Okay... so how does it work?" Well, let's get down to the facts! Combined with a user-friendly web-based program, the Bodybugg makes it easy to manage the calories you consume and burn so that you can stay in control of your weight. The system uses specialized sensors to monitor calories burned with over 90% accuracy. Calorie consumption is monitored through a web-based program which comes with a free 6 month subscription (after the initial 6 months the online subscription renewal fees are: $9.95 for month to month, $49.95 for 6 months or $79.95 for 12 months). This subscription also includes a free phone coaching session with a certified Bodybugg coach to help you get started - so no worries about possibly "doing it wrong". The Bodybugg tracks your steps throughout the day with a built-in pedometer. It runs on a rechargeable battery and is both PC and Mac compatible.

The Bodybugg system uses a patented process to measure calorie burn. The process is based on:

• Motion: The armband contains an accelerometer that measures motion from multiple perspectives.
• Steps: The accelerometer counts steps by measuring the distinct patterns created by running or walking.
• Galvanic skin response: When you sweat, your skin becomes more electrically conductive. This measurement helps the device understand how active you are.
• Skin temperature: There’s an electronic thermometer inside your armband that monitors how hot you are.
• Heat flux: When you move, your muscles produce heat. Your armband measures the heat that’s flowing from your body into the environment.

Digital Display

After you upload data from the Bodybugg armband to your computer, you can use the web-based application to see how many calories you’ve burned throughout the day or during specific activities. The Bodybugg will actually calculate your calorie burn per minute! After you enter the foods you eat, you’ll be able to see how you’re doing towards your goals. You set your own goals and time frames. The software is completely flexible to your needs. If you want to know how many calories you've burned, or how many steps you have taken without plugging into a computer, the Digital Display will provide real-time results. The Digital Display device is sold separately but is the perfect companion to the armband and I definitely think it's worth the extra money to just go ahead and get both from the jump. To see more on exactly how this whole system works, check this video out now: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EovR--qx-wI&feature=player_embedded


My Review...  
The Pros

Bodybugg Personal Online Food Journal

This product, in my opinion, is a winner. The pros far out weight any con you could think of! If you are even somewhat concerned about calorie consumption this is the product for you! Before buying my Bodybugg I tried keeping a food journal of my own but it never seemed to work, I either became unmotivated and annoyed with writing all my meals down throughout the day or became frustrated with trying to calculate the calories myself, but with the Bodybugg all this is done for you! You just log into the online management system with your account username & password, then start looking through the Bodybugg's database for the foods that you've eaten throughout the day. You now have your very own online food journal! The Bodybugg's database is huge so you're almost guaranteed to find the foods you are eating in there. So what if something you've eaten happens to not be in the database? No problem! The Bodybugg allows you to keep your own custom foods lists and add in new foods by putting in the nutrition facts from the nutrition label or if cooking from scratch, inputting the ingredients and building your own food meal/recipe. Another big plus about this is that the Bodybugg stores all the information you input for as long as you have a subscription so you can always go back to any particular week or day to see to see what you ate and your amount of activity and calories burned. So let's say you remembered that 2 weeks ago you lost 3 pounds in one week - that's pretty awesome, so you might want to try eating and doing the same things that you did that week to possibly get the same results this week.

Another pro is that now I can finally see exactly how many calories I'm burning in my workouts!!! This is a major plus for an exercise junkie like myself! And if you are trying to lose weight, calories in vs. calories out is an essential part of any program. Just by wearing this little device you can see not only how many calories are being burned while exercising by throughout the day and then can evaluate exactly how many calories you taken in and help you decide whether it's okay to eat more or less for the rest of the day.

The big pro is that through the Bodybugg's online food journal and calorie tracking, you can actually set goals and use this system to lose weight! When you first get the Bodybugg and log in for the first time, you are asked to create a program to either lose, gain or maintain your weight, giving the program a set date when you want to achieve your personal goal. The system will then calculate how many calories you need to eat and burn each day in order to lose or gain the necessary weight you need to meet your goal on time. This is the perfect weight management tool!

To read reviews on the Bodybugg click here.

The Cons
To be honest, there really aren't many cons that I can think of, in fact I only have 2. The first obvious con is the price. While I personally don't put a price limit on my fitness and nutrition wants (if I see it and I think it will be beneficial for my health, I'm getting it), there are products that I have to save up for and this would definitely be one of them. You can only buy the Bodybugg through either 24 Hour Fitness or the Apex Fitness website. The price of the system is regularly $249 but there is an online price of $175. The Digital Display is regularly $99 but the online sale price is $74. So all together, even using both sale prices, the complete Bodybugg System with Digital Device is $249. It's all definitely worth the money but it's not cheap, no getting around that. 

The other con is that the only way that the Bodybugg really works as a way of losing weight is counting every single calorie and being super exact on everything that you log in your online food journal. That means measuring all of your food (if not already prepackaged). So buying a food scale if you don't already have one is essential. I had never weighed my food before so I bought a food scale shortly after buying my Bodybugg and I now I actually enjoy weighing my food but it can be somewhat of a pain/annoyance. With the Bodybugg you are truly counting calories and if you're not up for that it will be hard for you to meet goals and get the results you're really after.


So in conclusion, I think the Bodybugg is a great addition to have in your weight management arsenal! Even if you don't plan on using it as a way of losing weight it's a fantastic way to keep track of the calories you're taking in vs. the calories you're burning and that's what successful weight management is all about! The Bodybugg lives up to its name and I definitely recommend it!

If you're already a Bodybugg user and would like to connect to other BB users for support and encouragement, check out these 2 Facebook pages: Body Bugg Users Unite and the official Bodybugg System page.