Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Go Wear Fit Review


The BodyBugg has been pretty popular on shows like The Biggest Loser, but have you heard of the Go Wear Fit? I had the priveldge of trying this device for the past few weeks for myself. The Go Wea Fit is designed by the same company that makes the BodyBugg. They share the same revolutionary technology of counting your calorie burn with minor differences.

So what is the Go Wear Fit?

The Go Wear Fit will measure the number of calories you burn all day long, 24 hours a day. No more do you have to wonder what your RMR is. The GoWear Fit does the work for you. Strap on your armband and go. The GWF then is easily uploaded onto your computer so you can view your calorie burn—visualize the data for yourself and even see how many hours at night you are actually sleeping (Personally, I thought this was one of the coolest features of the device!)

If you track your calorie intake carefully, you can accurately determine your caloric defecit to help you reach your weight loss goals. GWF has their own activity manager that you can subscribe to and they will calculate this defecit for you.

The Go Wear Fit is not a heart rate monitor. Its not a pedometer. It has a 3 part system that includes the multi-sensor armband, the online activity manager and the display. The armband is a small computer that measures motion, heat flux and skin temperature to accuately measure your calorie burn, physical activity, steps taken, sleep duration and sleep efficiency.

Now I'll be honest. The biggest thing I was skeptical about when I went to try the GWF, was the accuracy. GWF claims that they have less than 10% error with the caloric burn. So I took this information for myself—strapped the armband on for 24 hours a day for 1 entire week. I measured and tracked every morsel of food that went into my mouth. The results shocked me!

*First of all—my average daily calorie burn was about 2300 calories. My highly active days, I burned as much as 2800. Low activity, non-workout days, were as low as right around 2000.

*I ate an average of 1600-1800 calories the week I wore the armband.

*My sleep efficiency was only 89%. I would be lying down for 8 hours but only sleep 6. What was I doing? Not sure! Haha!

*While I burn less calories during a workout than a larger person, I burn more calories during the day than I thought I did!

*From the GWF data, I should have lost a pound at the end of the week. I did in fact loose 1 pound at the end of the week.

So here are the PROS/CONS that I saw with this device:

PROS:

*Accuracy. I back up this device in terms of accuracy. I did all the number crunching, included the error that is possible and it did what it should have in terms of caloric expenditure.

*Learn more about your body's sleep habits.

*Makes you more aware of your daily activity—not just working out but an extra walk around the neighbohood

*Easy to use

*Helps makes weight loss clear and concise

CONS:

*You are wearing an armband. It looks like a radio on your arm. Its lightweight and I barely noticed it… BUT to get the most accurate readings you need to wear it as much as possible. This included a wedding during my week and I did in fact wear the armband. Did it match my dress? Not so much.

*The price. It IS cheaper than the bodybugg, but still not cheap. Its an investment in your health, however. Technology at its best.

*Tracking your food is still a challenge… you still have to do it. You still have to measure in order to loose weight


Overall, I was very happy with this device. As a personal trainer and nutrition specialist I would love for my clients to utilize this to help them reach their goals. I liked it so much, that Body Life Works is now offering the Go Wear Fit here.

Here's to our Health!

1 comment:

Christina said...

I just rec'd my GWF in the mail Friday and I am loving it! Now I can know how many caloried I actually burn while doing and teaching Turbo Kick!


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