Rebellin

So I’m still wearing my trusted BodyBugg, and I thought I’d give you all an update.  So I bought it in mid-January, and proceeded to lose 8 pounds within 2.5 weeks, which included a vacation to NM, and it was highly impressive to lose weight while eating Mom’s good cooking and indulging on New Mexican food.

Anyhow, then I got sick, I traveled, and I just stopped wearing the darn thing, because it was too depressing to see how low my calorie burn was when I was sick and not up to working out.

Anyway, I’m back up 2 pounds (net loss of 6 still), and wearing the BodyBugg again, but I’m having a hard time being strict on my food.  You know, life gets in the way.  I have found some quirks to this thing, too.

It measures calorie burn based on movement and body heat.  This means that it tells me that I burn less calories in a really intense spin class than I do walking for 45 minutes, as all of my pedaling doesn’t necessarily measure as output.  I’ve also noticed my calorie burn seems to be magnified when I’m wearing warmer clothes.  For instance, one warm day I was skiing, and I was supposedly burning 10 calories per minute.  I then took off my jacket and was just wearing a thin fleece, and my burn dropped immediately to 6 calories per minute.  I’ve also found that walking while wearing a sweatshirt measures an impressive burn, and I just don’t belive that is the case.

I have found that I tend to want to do activities that I know will measure well on the BodyBugg, like running and walking.  Running measures highly impressive burns, as I can burn 700 calories in a 4 mile run during a lunch hour.  But then I come back to work and get REALLY hungry, so it’s at least good I’m tracking that binge after working out before it gets out of control.

So anyway, that’s the deal.  I’d really like to lose 10 pounds by summer, but we’ll see how I do.  Right now, I’m tired, and a bit stressed, and monitoring calories just seems to be another thing on my never ending to-do list.  Excuses, I know, but perhaps I’ll be more motivated next week.

I’m in Day 3 of the great BodyBugg challenge.  I have to admit this thing is really geeking me out.  I can’t stop logging into the website to update my calorie burn by synching, entering my food intake and monitoring my calorie burn.  Weight loss has never been so tangible.  For the first time in my life, I feel like I know exactly what I need to do.  (Let’s hope this works and that my balloon just doesn’t get deflated by my old lady metabolism).

Here are some of the charts from yesterday:

So you can see I burned over 3,000 calories and consumed 1709 calories, leaving a deficit of 1349.  I guess I went a bit extreme on the cutting back, but I’ve lost 3 pounds since Wednesday….  That man (the founder) stays in the same position.  I think he should do a little cheer or dance every once in a while…

For physical activity, you can see my Box Jump workout that I did from 1-2pm, and then the other spikes are me just running around doing every day things with Little Miss or around the house/office.  This thing also works as a pedometer, and I took over 12,000 steps yesterday (with a goal of 10,000). 

Here is a sample chart of the food analysis you get.  My fat was a bit high because I think I overestimated the amount of avocado I ate with my salad, and instead of building a custom recipe to analyze the chicken tortilla soup I made, I just selected the default calories from the Boston Market chicken tortilla soup.  I sure know I made it a lot leaner than they do.

So as you can see, I think I’ll be able to really monitor my calorie intake and exercise to make a difference, as I’ve been in a plateau ever since I lost the baby weight.  More later.

Goodness.  I’ve had all kinds of things to say on this blog, but have found myself running around like a chicken with its head cut off lately.  So the big news around here is that I’m bugged.

Literally.  I am now the proud owner of a BodyBugg, which is a device you wear on your arm to track your calorie burn each day.  You then synch it to the BodyBugg website, where you also keep track of your food intake, and the program helps you manage your ideal calorie deficit to meet your weight loss goals.  I’ve been wearing this thing for about 24 hours now, and I have to admit the data I’m getting from it is so intruiguing, and I really like having such tangible goals for calorie burn and intake each day.  It’s fascinating to look at the chart showing how many calories I burn throughout the day (shown by the minute).  I can’t wait to wear this during my workout today to see what it says.  I’ll post a sample chart once I get a full day of data on this thing.

So far, it has been a bit annoying to have this thing strapped to me, and it really bugged me (ha!) as I tried to sleep last night (yes, you’re supposed to wear it at ALL times except when you shower).  But I think it will be worth it.

If you’ve watched America’s Biggest Loser lately, you’ll know that the recent contestants are wearing BodyBuggs.  I think there really is something to this thing, but will keep you posted on my progress.

So if you see me, now you know why my right arm looks extra fat!  I have to admit I feel like I’m participating in a science experiment.  I also am initiating a social experiment — how long can I wear this thing before my husband notices it?